The trek started with a short bus ride for around 1 hour, as the bus was already full when it reached us we had little choice but to climb on top and ride on the roof.
This was fun at first but extremely uncomfortable due to the sharp metal edges of the roof rack we were sitting on, We were the only tourists on the roof we were joined by Nepali locals and a cage of chickens.
After we made our first check point for permits we were over our first swing bridge over the river and into the mountain foot hill villages, from this point on until we got over the pass on day 10 everything food etc had to be walked in on foot or by donkey or mule. The first couple of days were very warm with lots of steep climbs in the heat of the middle of the day; we were walking through very pretty villages and up though the rice and millet terraces.
By day 3 we were now in a more jungle climate and had some great close up views of waterfalls. Typically the walking time on the first few days was around 6 hours a day and lots of leisurely tea stops and long lunches, we had the local staple of Dal Buck each lunch time and ever time it was slightly different.
By day 4 we had reached a height of around 2500 and it soon became very cool in the evenings, so we were always looking for a hostel which had a fire in the dinning room, otherwise we were keeping warm in the kitchen. Food in the evening was pretty much the same sort of thing each night, there was limited meat on the menu, and really all they could use was tinned tuna, eggs, cheese, breads and potatoes and rice dishes, so by this stage I was getting a little board of the same sort of meals every evening. The scenery had now changed into alpine forest and then into a very rugged look like the grand cannon in the USA.
Day 6 and we reached Lower Passang, and for the first time on the trip a close up view of some of the larger mountains, Annapurna 2 & 4 both well above 7000m high, We went for an afternoon walk up to Upper Passang and there is a Buddhist monastery with great views of the valley and the mountains towering above, we were up there for a couple of hours waiting for the sun to go be hind the mountain for the best possible photo opportunity. On the way back down we discover the local crop growing there, very fresh Bud!!
Day 7-8 Manning
At this stage we were about to reach Manage and our scheduled rest day, it is advice to reduce the risk of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) to rest up whilst ascending as much as this trek involves, so we had the luxury of spending 2 nights at a reasonable hostel, On the afternoon we went to a lecture all about what to look for regards AMS, and at this point we started to take the recommended dose of Diamox which can help with the altitude, the side effects it makes you get up several times during the night to go P!!
On our rest day we did a short walk up to 4000m to view a mountain lake and glacier, and once back to Manage we went to the Cinema to watch the very appropriate “In to Thin Air”
The next 2 days of trekking were much shorter, again because you can not ascend too far in any one day, also because there simply are not enough places with in walking distance, so choice is limited, also as we were trekking at the height of the season, we had to start early in order to better our chances of getting a room for the following night, So for the next couple of days we were walking from 7am in the cold and arriving at our evening hostel at mid morning, so lots of card games to pass the afternoon.
When we reached throng Pedi, which is the last hostel, be for the pass, we had another afternoon walk to help with acclimatization. This was up to the high camp at 5000m; we had a good photo opportunity that afternoon.
The following morning after the coldest night sleep I have ever experienced. we got up at 4am and started walking up to the pass at around 5, head torches lit the way at first, it was extremely cold with full layers and down jackets on, we took it steadily and reached the summit or pass of 5400 ( aprox 1000m climb that morning) in 4 hours.
One member of our group was getting severe head aches so we could not stay around at the top for long. We took a few photos and took in the moment, a real sense of achievement.
The Decent.
From the top at 5400 our evening town was at 3800, this meant a very tricky and long period of descending, I find this much tougher that going up as you have to concentrate harder as 1 slight mistake can be very serious, So we again took our time to go down and reached the town of Muktinath by around 2pm. Suddenly we had opened back into civilization again as there were motor bikes, many more people and things going on in the town. The place felt like out of a western movie as it had a strip of accommodation and a dusty wide road. The hostel we got to was probably the most comfortable so far on the trek, it had power point in the room which was a bonus and a good hot shower for the first time in 4-5 day.
The next few days of walking were very different, firstly it was mainly flat with steady down hill sections, and secondly we were walking along a track with the odd Jeep kicking up the dust. And we were now walking 7-9 hours a day to get to our preferred destination. We stopped the night in Jonsom where apparently Jimi Hendrix spent some time in 1968. It has an ATM which we were in desperate need of, and the town has a small Airport, some of our friends we had made on the trail departed from here as they were on tighter schedules.
The long days of walking were worth it when we reached tadopani where there is a hot spring, and you can sit in this large pool of warm fresh water and drink beer and eat popcorn for a couple of hours. Also at tatopani we were at the beginning of the 5 day Hindu festival of Diwali so we joined in the with the dancing and had some more drinks!!
Our next landmark was Poon Hill for Sunset, but this firstly meant a very long and hot day of going up again, we walked up 1500m in 8 hours of walking, This was hard work but by this stage we were at a good fitness level and there was no altitude effects as we started the day around 2200m. We arrived at the foot of Poon Hill and stayed in a rather quirky hostel, basically main from strip metal and plywood, but it had a lovely warm fire to socialize by in the evening, another early start at 5am to get up the hill (1hour) in time for sunrise, and it was worth it, some of the most breath taking views of the whole Annapurna range and a real sense of achievement, as I could say to my self, that ” I have walked around the back of those giant peaks of 7 something thousand M. When the sun hit the snow capped peaks for the first time that morning it was really breath taking, and I took something like 80 photos that morning.
After Poon hill we had 2 and a bit days left on our trip, again mainly descending through very English forests and we got our first rain of the trek. So slippy conditions descending on the stone paths. Then out of the forest and again walking down through the picturesque villages and in through the Millet and rice terraces.
Due to the final day of Diwali we had to extend the trek by a day due to no bus service to Pokhara, but got the trek finished in 16 days which I believe is below average. The trek finished in a little rush as we got tom the bus stop and the only bus that morning was about to leave, so we literally ran for it and jumped onto the roof for 2 hours.
I was landed right at the front of the roof rack again so as the bus speeded up to around 60mph down the hill and round the bends, I was holding on for dear life, it was like a 2 hour rollercoaster ride with no safety bar…
Anyway we got to Pokhara in one piece and really proud of ourselves. We checked into a great hotel with large rooms and an en-suite. There is not a great deal to do in Pokhara but it has a good vibe and all the travelers accommodation is on the lake front. So we had a couple of lazy days and took boats out on the lake and some swimming.
The last day in Pokhara was a bit more active as we hired shooters and cruised around the lake and went up the a view top hill to meet with a friend of ours for lunch. Then we were racing around a bit too much as I had a fall and scrapped my arm, but it could of been a lot worse.
I could have stayed around Pokhara for another few days, but we needed to get the bus back to Katmandu to reach or rafting trip we had planned.
So that was the trek. There should be a host of photos to browse through at you leisure.
Traveller- Rfitzgerald , Home: Camberley,United Kingdom , Date : Oct 10, 2008
