Round the Anapurna we go

Hey there everybody...

We now have lots more readers (the counter is on 0) so I expect lots of replies like in the previous post (also the counter is on 0).

We are back from our massive trek - The Anapurna Circuit.

Before that we spent 10 lovely days with Hila's parents in Katmandu and Pokara and I'm sure the most memorable thing for them was the "Poon Hill" trek we did together.

We spent 5 days of walking on the southwest side of the Anapurna range and the highlight was the climb to Poon Hill for a sunrise view of Anapurna South, Himuchuili and the Machupichre (Fish Tail). Indeed it was spectacular.

The first day of the trek was a hard climb up to a small village called Ulleri. After climbing all day on thousands and thousands of steep steps it started to get dark and to rain. We actually didn't think we would make it before dark especially as Hila's parents were around an hour behind Hila me and our porter Purna. We were met at the lodge by our host and I'm sure for Hila's parents it was a bit of a shock to see him standing in the doorway to the lodge in the dark, while the rain was coming down, holding an old fashioned lantern (there was no electricity that night) and grinning. He was a hunchback. The "Ulleri Hunchback"!! He was a real nice guy and gave us a very warm welcome. The days after the first were easier though not a piece of cake, even with the porters. I had an especially hard time as my left knee was giving me trouble - The "old army wound" (I was never wounded :). The forest was flowering red purple and pink with Rhododendron trees and that was a beautiful addition to the great views we enjoyed most of the trek. I think we managed to give Hila's parents an experience they wouldn't have done by themselves and frankly speaking if we knew the first day would be that hard I think we wouldn't have taken them. But they were great sports and kept up pace (they eventually passed me with my bummed knee) and finished the trek with honors. I on the other hand finished it with a harsh limp.

I would like Hila's parent to please comment on this post with their part of the story, the trek we did afterwards is more vivid in our mind and we would like to read their impression, I'm sure it is much more intense and interesting. Please write it in English as not all of our 0 readers understand Castellano and I'm sure Tommy would love to spend some time proofing it ;).

After a few days of relaxation in Pokara (with a lot of Voltaren tablets for my knee) we embarked on our trek around the Anapurna. The trek goes up one large river valley on the east side of the mountain range and reaches the Throng-La mountain pass at 5416 meters. After passing it you walk down another river valley on the west side to complete an almost circle around the mountain range. It is basically 15 days of walking which we added another 4 for acclimatization to the altitude and general resting before and after the pass. I was a bit skeptical that my knee would make it but after 3-4 days of walking it got much better and after the acclimatization days I totally forgot it gave me problems.
I think the first 3 days of the trek were the most difficult besides the day crossing the pass itself. We were carrying to much weight in our bags (I think mine reached nearly 15 kgs) but as a lot of it was cookies and chocolates ;) we managed to eat most of it by the end of the first 5-6 days. Also we got used to our bags and to the idea that we will spend the next 3 weeks walking about...

The great thing about this trek is that the scenery constantly changes. We started in a lush green valley (around 800 meters) that gradually changed, as the altitude got higher. Anywhere under 2000 meters the trail is full of cannabis. It grows between the rocks on the trail like a weed and covers the side of the path like grass. By the time we spent our first rest day in Pisang (3200 meters) it became a dry landscape inhabited by Tibetan people that raised yaks instead of planting rice (it is in the rain shadow of the mountain range so there is relatively little rainfall). Walking in these altitudes gets slower because of the difficulty breathing but also the distances spent walking each day are shorter because you don't want to have more than 500 meters altitude difference between the places you sleep in. I think all in all we didn't have too much difficulty in the altitude because we spent enough time acclimatizing. We met several cases of people having to turn back because they got really sick on the way up (and to our surprise there is a lot of awareness about altitude sickness, including free lectured in Manang). Pisang was a very beautiful place surrounded by huge snow covered mountains - Anapurna 2 and Heavens Door provided amazing scenery all the way up to Manang where they were replaced by Anapurna 4 & Gangapurna peaks. We also spent 2 days in Manang for acclimatization (3500 meters). The next 2 days we made our way up to Throng-Phedi (4400 meters), which was the last stop before the pass. The night there was a bit rough and we had a bit of trouble sleeping, Hila had headaches and I had a claustrophobia attack in the middle of the night - I felt out of air and it took me an hour to relax (after also taking half a Diomox pill) and go back to sleep.

The day of the pass was definitely the hardest. We needed to climb 1000 meters and descend another 1700 meters in one day. It took us 12 hours (maybe 11 of actual walking). The walk up the pass was covered in snow, sometimes knee deep. There were fierce winds and it was fucking cold! But we had luck, it was sunny and the views were absolutely amazing!!! By the time we made it up to the pass it was around 13:00, while we started walking around 6:30. Our friends waited for us on the pass to take a photo with us and then quickly went down. We needed to stop for a rest and luckily there was a tea shop on the pass (they never miss a chance to make an extra buck from a tourist). We had some garlic noodle soup (supposedly garlic is good for the altitude?!?!?) and started the descent and it was a long one. Most of the way was also through snow, that was starting to melt and get soft. We managed to slip and slide down a few meters on the snow which added a little moisture to our already cold and tired bodies. The way down was also hard on the knees as we had 10 kgs on our backs. Finally we could see our destination - Muktinath and we reached it at around 17:30. We rested there for 2 nights and then started our way down the valley. On this side of the pass we had some bad luck with the weather as it was very windy and most of the peaks were under cloud cover. But we were lucky as the day after we passed there was lots of snow on the pass and 2 days after they closed it to passage. We had another clear day on our rest day in Marpha which is claimed as the apple capitol of Nepal, so naturally we had lots of apple pie ;) It also has a few nice views of the Nilgiri Peaks. We made our way down the valley to Kalopani which also had great views of the Daulgiri and Anapurna 1 peaks (and we could finally get Yak steaks for dinner ;). But by the last days of the trek there was a lot of dust in the air and haze so we didn't get good views. We spent our last night on the trail in Tatopani, which has hot springs (which we skipped as they were full of israelis), and then catched a jeep and then a bus back to Pokhara.

This trek was the longest time we have spent so intensively in nature. Although you sleep each night in a local village, and pass another 3-4 on the trail, you are still outside most of the day. Nepal is a beautiful country and we managed to see a diversity in its scenery and people which makes this trek such a good one. The people are very friendly and you meet both Hindus and Buddhists populations. There is lots of green and the snow capped mountains are so close you can almost touch them. We don't have one bad thing to say about Nepal and we hope for their sake they would settle their political problems - its the only thing that is hurting them economically (which was good for us as the trail was relativly empty of tourists).

Nepal is definitely a destination to return to. The trek possibilities are endless if you have time and the legs to carry you, for both long treks and short ones. The people are so friendly and know how to cater to the western tourist but you can also get away from it all in small villages up in the mountains with the most amazing scenery you can imagine. We really hope we will get the chance to return!!

Now I'm sure all 0 of you readers are asking about pics. Well we have them and they are great. I'm writing these lines from Chengdu (China) and the internet place here doesn't have cd drives, so I guess we will try to UL them next time (there are still a few pics from India on our CD's). So don't worry, soon....

Thats all for now I'm sure this long post will keep you occupied for a bit and we will write soon with our impressions from China (which is amaizing so far :).

For the last time Namaste Namaste,

Hila May & Mr. Morphhh Sleazy.