Annapurna circuit

The Annapurna Circuit is one of the most popular treks in Nepal. You see views of the Annapurna Himalayan ranges. Its highest point is the Thorung pass which is 5416m It is also a cultural trek because every night you stay at a different small village often with Tibetan people. It takes between 2 and three weeks depending on where you finish the trek and how slowly you want to go. I recommend taking your time because you’ll be less likely to get altitude sickness and there’s really no need to hurry! I really enjoyed this trip and do recommend it.

Day 1
I started this Intrepid tour of the Annapurna Circuit. I don’t usually book tours from home or go on tours longer than a couple of days but doing a tour would be the easiest way to do this trek. This tour had 12 people on it. The youngest was 19 and the oldest was just over 50. Only one person was not from an English speaking country. We left from Kathmandu to go to the trek’s starting point. We stopped a lot of times to try to get fuel. Nepal experiences chronic fuel shortages. I think it’s because people are holding up supply lines from India but I’m not quite sure. We got petrol from 2 different stops- we got 20 litres each time. Bad traffic is sometimes caused by people lining outside service stations for petrol.

We were dropped off at Besisahar and walked for three hours to Bhulbhule. We saw a group of children killing a snake by throwing rocks at it and hitting it with a stick. The scenery is beautiful- we are following a river and at this low altitude everything is green.

Day 2
We walked for 4 hours until lunch. We spend the night at Bahundanda. This day I got a second bout of food poisoning on top of the one we had. I suspect it was the dahl baht I had the night before because one of the assistant guides got it too and that's pretty much all the eat. The conservation people recommend you eat dahl baht while trekking because it's nutritious and doens't use up too much fuel. The reality is that it's generally the most expensive item on the menu and is usually made in the morning which makes it a food poisoning risk!

Day 3
We walked for four hours before lunch, had lunch at Jagat then two hours after. Today we saw some people building a road. They were on the face of a cliff face of a cliff which was quite dangerous. It was also tough work. They were making holes in the rock with just a metal stick. Overnight at Chamje

Day 4
We walked four hours before lunch and one-and-a-half hours after. Up this high there is little farming. The ground is hard rock and the vegetation is mostly pine trees. Where we stay at night there is no more farming.

Day 5
We walked three hours before lunch which was all uphill. We walked one-and-a-half hours after lunch. Looking around, I could see snow at the same height we were staying. We spent overnight at Chame 2620 when altitude sickness can start to hit you. Some people reported headaches.

Day 6
We walked three- and- a- half hours before lunch and an hour after. Now we can see more snowy peaks. We stayed overnight at Pisang.

Day 7
We walked three-and-a-half hours before lunch, then one hour after. We arrived at Pisang which is at 3150m where we stayed overnight. We did an acclimatisation walk up a hill to a Buddhist temple in the afternoon and I felt myself puffing more than usual. We can see quite a few snowy peaks now.

Day 8
We only walked a few hours today and we were finished walking by 1pm. The weather is colder here. I felt quite tired after walking today, just wanting to sit down and do nothing. We stayed overnight in Manang and managed to eat some bakery food.

Day 9
We had an acclimatisation day in Manang. This is the only town we stayed in two nights ina row. We hiked up to a monastary which was 3800m up. We saw a glacial lake in the afternoon. This town is full of Tibetan houses made of rocks. I had a mild headache from the evening time. My camera got a bit of altitude sickness here too- when I turned it on the screen was black. It was later to recover. I played a lot of cards with a few people to pass the evening time.

Day 10
We hiked up 500m to Yak Kharka but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. We saw some yaks. There are no trees in sight, just scrubby bushes. My stomach felt a bit dodgy but I don't know whether it was from the food or from the altitude.

Day 11
We walked up to Thorung Pedi which took about four hours, and had lunch there. This is the highest point we stay overnight at 4441m. In the afternoon we did an acclimatisation walk up to Thorung high camp, the highest lodge you can stay on the Annapurna Circuit. The next day would be the biggest day on the trek- a 1000 metre climb and a 1700 descent. I was too excited to sleep and only just got over 3 hours sleep. I try my usual breathing meditation techniques but they don't work because when I take a slow deep breath afterwards I realise my breath was too slow and I gasp for air. My stomach was not feeling great so the guides recommended a vegan diet. The only vegan food available is carbs and I ate some noodles, felt full at the time but woke up really hungry in the middle of the night.

Day 12
We woke up at 3:30am, had breakfast and started walking just before 4:30am up to Thorung Pass. We saw first light pretty quickly and was not very dark anyway because we had a full moon. I went up very slowly. I could really feel that the air was lacking in oxygen. The way I walked was how a chameleon does. One slow step at a time! At 5000m I couldn't think straight and my speech was slurred. I look down at my feet as I'm walking otherwise I panic when I look up and my breathing pattern gets screwed up. I didn't realise this required some mental strength to do this. My stomach is dodgy and hasn't digested by breakfast so it feels full all the way up. When I look around I think 'humans aren't meant to be here' and that only humans are stupid enough to come up to these heights. Although, I dog did follow us up this high and for a few days after. I walk with the female guide Kamala all the way up and it's great because she keeps a really steady pace. I'm so happy to reach the Thorung Pass I nearly cry. I'm 5416m above sea level which is higher than anything in North America and Europe. There are Tibetan prayer flags strung up all over the top. Coming down there are beautiful flowers on the way. I spend a few hours descending and everyone is going at their own pace. This is the only section of the trek where I'm completely by myself where I can't see anyone behind or in front of me. At 1:30pm I arrive at Muktinath, a very pretty town where we stay the night and celebrate with a little apple brandy. When falling asleep I notice my breathing is still quick and not normal.

Day 13
I woke up earlier than most so I could visit the temple. People from India and Nepal make pilgrimages there. The river is holy and people run under the 90 taps and bath in the pools of water. It was a very long walk today. Lunch at Kalopani and overnight at Ghasa. It it is a very beautiful walk and trees start reappearing.

Day 14
There is a beautiful mist over the hills although we can't see the mountains. There is a lot more farming as we come down such as apples and corn. The afternoon is spent at some very hot springs that locals use to wash and bathe. We see people using a trolley on a wire to transport stones across the river. Overnight at Tatopani.

Day 15
Today we make a very late start at midday so we can rest. The walk is only four hours but quite a steep climb- we gain 800m in elevation. The afternoon was hot and raining. It was cool at night. Overnight at Sikha.

Day 16
Another short but steep walk and we're getting up high again! We gained 900m in elevation. We are at 2874m where altitude sickness can still happen. Overnight at Ghorepani.

Day 17
We wake up at 4:15 for a 4:30 start for a scenic walk up to Poon Hill. Walking was very hard work and a felt out of breath most of the way but we have to get up the top for sunrise. I wonder if emphysema feels like this- it's not a comfortable feeling. We gain 400m elevation and are up to 3248m. I felt tired, hungry, cold and out of breath but the views make it worthwhile. We walk nearly 6 hours during the day down to Birethati. We have descended 2200 in elevation in just a day. My knees where achy on the steep sections. The terrain is unforgiving on the joints. There are steps but they are large and made from unevenly sized rocks which are rarely laid flat. My calves were very sore and the pain didn't leave for over a week afterwards. When I got out of bed for the following week I nearly fell on the floor because of the pain I felt as I got out of bed.

Day 18
We made a short, easy 45 minute walk to the bus. We were on the bus 1.5 hours to Pokhara, the second biggest town in Nepal. I just wandered around the town in the afternoon. We had a lovely buffet meal for dinner and said goodbye to our wonderful 5 porters and 3 assistant guides.

Day 19
We left Pokhara to go to the small historic town of Bandipur. We stayed in a beautiful old building. The meat and three vege meal for dinner was exactly what we needed.

Information about the Annapurna circuit

• Most of the trek is up! The days we come down, we come down a lot. One day we lose elevation of 1700m and another 2200m. These huge descents really hurt. The highest point in Australia, Mt Koscuisko is just only 2200!
  
• If a Nepali person says something is flat they mean it's flat on average and you're not literally climbing
• Travellers are turning children in these villages into beggars. They call 'pen, money, sweet?' or 'no pen, no photo'. I saw the children hitting a friend for not giving them anything!
• Everyone on the tour got an upset stomach. Even the guides get it. It might be from the change in diet- there is hardly any fruit and vegetable and virtually no meat I could also be from food poisoning or the altitude.
• It's hard to be on a vegan diet which you do if altitude causes you an upset stomach. That's because you only have carbs to eat. There is little protein- the dahl baht is very thin.
• While the environmental groups recommend dahl baht because it uses little food to cook I didn't find it very practical. I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning from it because the guide got it the same time I did. That's because they make it on the morning and leave it out for the day. Also it's usually one of the more expensive foods on the menu.
• I saw someone using the toilet bucket to wash dishes!
• The toilets are generally a hole in the ground and you flush it yourself with water, if it's available.
• The showers are heated with solar so if there's no sun, there's no hot water. I had a shower about half the time. I showered with facial wipes the rest of the time.
• There is a good system of approved menus where the tourism department teaches people how to cook things that are simple. Virtually all menus are the same but they might not have everything on there. Eg while apple pie is on all the menu's it's not available all the time.
• I had a lot of time to kill in the night time so bring a book and cards. I had a talking book on my mp3 player which was good.
• Most people get some altitude sickness- even our guides do. Our guides said a headache is usual and so is an upset stomach. If you have vomiting, headache and diarrhoea it's very bad and you need to come down.
• Keeping healthy tips from our guides:

No sleeping in the afternoon above 2500m s o it doesn't upset our sleep at night. It's harder to sleep up high.

No alcohol above 2500m as we're going up

Usually 2 out of 12 on the tour won't make it up and over the pass so you have to go all the way back


Go vegan if you're sick ie don't eat cheese and milk

• My tips

Take the following with you: immodium, noroxin, headache tablets and laxative. I had laxatives in my medical kit and was dishing the out because some people overdid the immodium and others found the change in diet difficult.