Doing Annapurna Circuit and the Mera Peak expedition back to back, it’s hard not to compare the two treks. Employing any rational criteria Annapurna Circuit would come out on top. The scenery, both in terms of its scale and variety, is better on the Annapurna Circuit. You're closer to really big mountains, they come earlier in the trip and stay with you day after day. The landscape also changes from deep river - cut valleys to wide flat bottomed gorges, and from the wetter Indian -facing mountains to the dry Tibetan style terrain in Lower Mustang. The scenery on the Mera Peak trek is wonderful, really interesting, but you're a long way into it before you have anything that compares with what you get by day three of the Annapurna Circuit.

It's my trip to Mera Peak though and not Annapurna which has left the stronger impression. I'm struggling a bit to understand why but even at my age, perhaps particularly at my age, I think it's the word "adventure" that nails it. Mera was an adventure and for some reason Annapurna just didn't score on what apparently remains a much more important criteria.