John Hayes Walks

Annapurna Circuit Day 3, Dharapani

Slightly improved weather in the morning, but similar wet weather in the afternoon, the scenery however has got even better.

Deep valley on the way to Tal

The valley, heading north, has got tighter and the trail is hemmed in by huge cliffs on either side. The steepness of the valley means there is no very little agriculture but the vegetation is still very lush. The trail generally takes along the east side of the valley, often quite high up with great views of the river below. There are numerous spectacular waterfalls and near one we saw a series of wide bee hives hanging beneath a ridge of rock. On the other side of the valley the new road is being carved out of the rock face often hundreds of feet above in what looks to be incredibly dangerous work.

Annapurna Circuit - Day 1, Bhulebule

Must admit I always find the first day of a hike like the Annapurna just a bit of an ordeal but this one hasn't been too bad. Still suffered from the usual disorientation you always get from the combination of a long haul flight, dropping into a strange country, lack of sleep, different diet, and suddenly finding yourself with a new group of people - but nothing too bad.

The group of people you find yourself with on a trip like this can make or break the holiday. For the next 18 days I'll be spending a lot of time with the same ten people only one of which I know (that's Christine, my wife). Hanging around waiting for people who struggle to get ready on time or who just get on your nerves can be a real issue.

Well so far it seems like a really nice group. Christine and I are the only couple and there are another three women and five men. Mixed ages, ranging from late twenties all the way through to early seventies. Most of the group seem to be fairly fit, keen walkers back home, but few of them have been on a trek like this before.

We are being looked after by three Nepalese guides and six porters. I've been with one of them before on an earlier trip to Everest Base Camp and all of them know what they are doing and are nice people - typical Nepalese. The lead porter, Jangbu speaks good English, has a great sense of humour and is an easy going relaxed sort of guy. He lets everyone find their own feet, makes it clear he is there to help but has a quite authority - a natural leader. He is also an experienced high altitude guide and, amongst other significant climbs, has summited Everest. As well as this trip he will taking me up Mera Peak in three weeks time.

Today was as much about travelling as it was about walking. After a night in a teeming and painfully polluted Kathmandu (although we thought Kathmandu had improved - the airport had certainly got slightly less chaotic) there was a six hour bus journey to the start of the walk.

I have done the bus journey down towards Pokhara before and to be honest once is enough. It's slow, very bendy and I guess a little dangerous. Still it is interesting, hardly any private cars, just ancient lorries and buses heading between the towns and to and from India. It was a fairly hot and misty day and apart from the traffic there wasn't a lot to see. We left the "main" road at Dumre and headed to Besisahar, a trekking town full of shops with stuff for walkers about to embark on a 17 day trip around the circuit. The place was full of trekkers, people of all shapes, sizes and nationality with teams of porters assembling loads for the first time - there was a real buzz and a tangible sense of a journey anticipated.

Annapurna Circuit Day 2 Jagat

Day 2 and a full days walking, the group has gelled really well and everyone seems to getting on well with each other and the challenge of a life on the trail.

Looking back down the valley with the new road on the opposite side

First impressions of the walk are that it's very busy compared previous walks in Nepal. It's busier than the trip I did to Everest Base Camp. We are still low down and a long way from the Annapurna Massif, and we walking alongside a river heading north up the Ngadi Khola valley. The valleys sides are intensively farmed but it's clearly the business of people moving around the trail which dominates the local economy. The villages are much larger than on the trail up to Kanchenjunga and there are lots of Tea Houses for the tourists. The scenery is spectacular, a steep sided valley which got tighter as the day progressed, lots of lovely waterfalls.

GR 48 - Sendero de Sierra Morena

When Juan Holgado suggested we go for a walk along the GR 48 I jumped at the opportunity. Although it's been a mild winter in the UK it felt like a long time since I had done any serious walking. I was ready for sun and some long days on the trail with Juan felt like ideal preparation for my six week trip to Nepal which starts in March. Better still Juan was doing all the hard work, putting together the itinerary and booking the accommodation, all I had to do was turn up and keep up.

The only downside of letting Juan do the planning was that he determined how long the days were. Juan is a serious dawn to dusk walker and the schedule he put together involved walking 160 kilometres in four days. Despite all my best intentions I had not kept up anything like the level of fitness I had acquired on the E4 last year and keeping up with Juan, who runs/walks 20 kilometres every day he is not on the trail, was always going to be a challenge.

Still the GR 48 was a great choice. It's easy walking, generally between 300 and 800 metres, along excellent trails through really interesting countryside. It's a relatively new trail, going, west to east through a series of natural parks, from just inside the Portugese border for 550 kilometres through the Sierra Morena in the north of Andalucia. Clearly part of an initiative to promote walking it is supported by one of the best web-sites I have seen with guides and GPS trails available for download. The guides on the web-site are in Spanish but English language versions were forwarded to me by a very friendly help desk, via their Facebook page.

Day 4 GR 48 - Almaden de la Plata to Cazalla de la Sierra

There is nowhere to stop between Almaden de la Plata and Cazalla de la Sierra and Juan's original plan involved walking for 40 kilometres and then getting a taxi for the last 10 or so in time to catch the bus or train to Seville. In the end we walked 30, got to the town early, and had a splendid late lunch - good decision and the perfect way to end a such a lovely walk.

Leaving Almaden de la Plata

After brilliant walking along ancient caminos for the first three days, today's trail was just a bit boring following an un-metalled open road all the way. Not unpleasant, just a bit monotonous.