Annapurna Circuit Day 7 - at rest

Everyone on the Annapurna Circuit seems to stop at Manang for a rest or acclimatisation day before pressing on to the Thorang La, the big day, two days. It's a good place to stop, best tea house so far with toilets in the bedroom and a good menu, shops and even places to buy coffee and cake. 

Manang itself is an interesting little town, the original part of town is 800 years old and is built in the traditional style with flat roofs and integral accommodation for animals.  All the snow from the flat roofs has been swept into the narrow alleys  which, because of the amount of recent snow, were almost impassable.

Manang

Annapurna Circuit Day 6 Manang

Best walk of the trip so far, absolutely wonderful.  Great weather, particularly in the morning and huge views, a complete turnaround from yesterday.

It's a very simple walk to describe.  Retracing our steps over the bridge from Lower Pinsang we climbed steadily up the hill, past a lovely little green lake, and then more steeply, zig-zagging over open ground all the way up to Ghyaru. This is our most sustained climb of the trek so far and by the time we got to the top we had climbed over 400 metres. After a tea stop we then walk along a contour path high up on the valley side, stop for lunch at Nawal, before a gentle descent down to Manang.

Lower Pisang

Annapurna Circuit Day 5 Pisang

The stunning weather of yesterday proved to be a false dawn, today was cloudy with occasional flurries of snow and, as the wind got stronger, it got increasingly cold.  Although the deep valley to the west of Chame was spectacular we missed the big views of Annapurna II which we had been looking forward to.

Planting potatoes

Annapurna Circuit Day 4 Chame

We have now started to really to get into high mountains and on que the weather has changed.  The humid murky conditions of the first two days have been replaced by clear skies with a crisp light illuminating huge mountains covered by fresh snow. An amazing setting for a fantastic days walking.

Great day's walking

Climbing gently out of Dharapani  and looking east along a side valley you get to see the perfectly shaped Manaslu Peak, the first 8,000 metre plus peak seen on the trail and the 8th highest in the world.  To south, and much closer, is Peak 39 and after a short climb, and at the top of the trail, the panorama opens up with Annapurna 2 in the distance and Langtang Himal in the foreground.  These huge mountains dominate the views for the rest of the morning and as we climb through trees start to form a near 360 degree white panorama.

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.