Awesome Annapurna Trekking

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  Pokhara, Nepal
Thursday, October 29, 2009

Another  24 hour long  journey took us the considerable distance from Varanasi to Pokhara in Nepal.  Crossing the border into Nepal was a rather irritating affair and we found ourselves on the expensive end of EVERYTHING! Lesson learned and something we will be aware of in the future at overland border crossings.

As dawn broke, we arrived in the picturesque city of Pokhara which is Nepal's second city and is situated 820m above sea level on the south side of the Annapurna mountain range. The next three days were spent relaxing and preparing for our 14 day, 210km 'Annapurna Circuit' trek. Having not exercised since the Manchester 10K run six months ago, we were quite apprehensive about the long days of trekking uphill and at high altitude.

Our fears were completely justified during the first two days, when trekking 20km per day, uphill and in searing heat took its toll and we ached massively! Nicola developed a nasty looking pair of blisters on her heels which made trekking very painful indeed.

Over the next couple of days we were greeted by stunning scenery, with backdrops of snowcapped mountains and aqua blue skies. In the evening after eating another Dal Bhat (Nepali food which consists of boiled rice, veg curry and a lentil soup, they give 2nd and even 3rd helpings which is always a good thing after a hard days trekking!) meal, Nicola looked up and was overwhelmed by the sight of thousands of huge, bright, twinkling stars, we're not sure if it was the altitude or the clear mountain air that made them so visible, our only regret is not having a camera good enough to display what our eyes could see.

Day six was a compulsory rest day for acclimatisation to the much thinner air (67% oxygen) at 3500m, your body adjusts during sleep and therefore its advised to spend 2 nights at this altitude. Two further days of trekking and we reached 4450m, the temperature at this altitude barely reaches freezing point and can exceed -15oC at night!

Day nine and what we had both been looking forward to since the trek began, the trek over 'Thorong La Pass' which is the worlds highest pass at 5416m. With oxygen levels at 50% and a climb of nearly 1000m, it was one of the toughest physical challenges either of us has experienced. Just walking on a flat surface is enough to make you breathless at this atlitude. We made the ascent in a little under three and a half hours, the views of the mountains surrounding the pass on all sides was magical, definitely our highlight of the trip so far. We both agreed that no man object can come close to the unprecidented natural beauty of the Himalayas.

What goes up must come down and unfortunately for us that meant a 1600m descent through ice and snow which was ridiculously dangerous underfoot! We both had a couple of bambi on ice auditions before Nicola finally succumbed and fell, fortunately not injuring herself this time.  Not to be outdone, I had a rather one sided altercation with a donkey which resulted in me landing on Nicola's trekking poles and bending one in the process!

Waking to grey skies on day ten, we ate a hearty breakfast and set off, still aching from the previous days exertion. The walk itself wasnt a joyful one as we found ourselves walking along a dusty jeep road, not good considering we hadnt seen a motorised vehicle since day one and now we were amidst traffic. Over lunch we decided that we had seen and accomplished everything we wanted to and would take a bus back to Pokhara the next day. The decision proved to be a correct one as we covered plenty of trekkers in dust during our bus journey back! In total we trekked for 10 days covering 140km, most of this was uphill and at times was incredibly difficult, especially considering we didnt get a porter to carry our bags like so many other people.

The last few days have been spent catching up on sleep, eating well and generally recovering. Next is Chitwan National Park for jungle walks, jeep safari and canoe trips before we head back to India for our flight from Delhi to Beijing.

Darryl and Nicola x

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