Being an alpinism enthousiast and a mountain lover it was only natural that I visit Nepal at some point in my life. I eventually ended up joining my brother and two of his friends on this trip, the tour of the Annapurna’s. The tour goes around the massif of the Annapurna’s and is usually performed in three weeks. We walked around 2 weeks and did not finish the whole tour, but we did the most interesting part, the climb and the Thorung la Pass, this is the story of our long hike.
Kathmandou
I arrived in Kathmandou after a lay over in Doha and got myself a cab from the airport to our Hotel in the Thamel quarter. The Thamel neighbordhood is the touristic center of the capital and provides most of the accomodation options as well as a great number of shops and restaurants. It lacks authenticity but at least it provides a lot of practical options. We stayed in the classic hotel nepal, a small, cheap place. The rooms were very basic and noisy but the personnel was really welcoming and helpful.
We spent the first few days in Kathmandou visiting the place and getting our trekking permit. All international trekkers are required to obtain the permit, which is available from the Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu, you can get one as well in Pokhara and at the start of the Annapurna trek in Besisahar. We had some free time on our hands waiting for the gang to assamble so we did everything in Kath. You basically go to the building, fill up a few forms, get yourself a picture and then leave with the precious leaflet containing your authorization to enter the trek.
We visited the Durbar Square, with its old temples still wearing the stigmates of the 2015 earthquake that shook the country real bad. We wandered through the dusty streets of the city, getting lost in the small shops and tiny tibetan momo eateries. We bought a few things we lacked for the trek and then relaxed in the Garden of dreams, away from the busy streets of the city.
We also booked a 1 hour panoramic Everest flight. We ordered it from an agency right around the corner from our hotel, got picked up in the morning, boarded a small plane with other tourists and took of to the top of the word. The plane approaches the mountain, everybody has his opportunity to get into the cockpit and have a look at the snowy summit, you marvel at the range of mountains. The plane then makes a U turn and brings you back to the Capital. The 1 hour trip costed us around 180 dollars each. The experience was interesting, but not sure it was worth it to be honest.
Kathmandou – Dharapani
Once everybody was ready we took a bus to Besisahar, the start of the annapurna trek. We bought the tickets from our hotel, and somehow found the right bus and got stuffed inside. Do not expect any comfort or nice air conditioning, the buses are rusty and old, but hey, if you are into comfort you should not be here in the first place. The road is quite nice, you drive along the ridges of the mountains, and get dozzy watching the scenery. The bus stops a few times in some local eateries where you can purchase some lentils sup and whatnot. You should get used at eating stuff you do not understand or you do not completely trust as the choice will be limited anyway in the next weeks. People are swarming in and out of the bus, whatever. We paid something like 400 Rup for this local bus so it’s alright, it took us around 7 hours to get there.
Our plan wast then to hire a driver in Besisahar to drive us directly to Dharapani, which would represent a leap of a few days of walking. We spent the next couple of hours bargaining with the drivers to finally agree on an OK price. In nepal you can discuss any price, we negotiated every night with the lodges where we slept and you can usually talk yourself through a 50% discount on the lodging prices. One of our friends spoke hindi so this might have helped as well.. Back to the jeep, we get inside and start driving to Chame. We pass a few villages, we drive on tracks right next to ridges, 1 meter away from falling to our deaths. After a few hours we hear strange noises from the engine and our drivers stops. There is a mechanical failure in the engine and we need to fix it asap. Great. We settle ourselves in a small tea house and wait it out. After 2 hours the guys are finally getting the problem fixed and we get back into the car. The issue is we have to get to Dharapani before 20:30 as they close the gates to the village after that and we would have to turn around and drive back. Our driver knows about it and speed like a madman on the small ridge tracks. The nights falls and we drive with the low front lights. We get glipmses of the ravine on our right at every turn, the car is bumping on the stones and in potholes, threatening to jump into the unknown. Not gonna lie, it was our scariest ride ever. We finally arrive in Dharapani late, after dark, with the gate closed and pissed of guards looking at us. We let the driver talk with them and somehow they let us in.. We find a place to stay and settle down. People in nepal sleep early and wake up early, the family stayed up for us and prepares our dinner, we eat what would be our dinners for the next 2 weeks : Dhalbat and tea. It’s actually very tasty and filling so no complains on my side. When finished eating, we go into our rooms and the Nepalese family brings blanket and goes to sleep in the samne room where we ate just before.
In the morning we eat breakfast, pay the familiy and then finally start walking with a smile on our face. The sun is shining, the crazy driver went back to besisahar to get another group of tourists and we are finally on our own.
Dharapani – Chame
The scenery is quite green with some fall colors, it’s really hot as we are not yet very high and we quickly take out a few layers of closing. It’s at this point that I know that I have fucked up. My bag is way too heavy. Usually people recommend to have a 10kg package, mine is 17. I start to regret packing useless stuff, I have a big camera, a go pro, a big external battery, even a freaking nintendo DS.. This will be a hard learned lesson, pack light.
We walk all day with a short stop to get some tea on the way. We go through a forest which already has a little bit of fall colors. We cross some streams and appreciate the beautiful nature around us. Here and there we can spot a high white summit peaking its nose out of the dense trees and hills around us.
We finally reach Chame, and spend 10 minutes discussing the accomodation price with the lady. We manage to get a discount and get into the rooms. Rustic with a small terrace, we eat a good meal in the common room, warmed with a nice heater in a corner. We fall asleep very early, as it is common in Nepal.
Chame – Upper Pisang
We wake up and feel already the morning cold getting to us, nobody wantsd to leave the warmth of the sleeping bag. We pack, eat some pancakes and then get on the track. Pretty much all villages have a main track getting in and a track getting out so the way is very straightforward.
The walk is awesome, when we arrive at Pisang we push one more hour to reach the higher part of the city, upper Pisang and chose a place for the night with a nice view. We did not book anything, we were just looking for place every night and never struggled to find one. The last hour of climbing was difficult but we are rewarded with an awesome view of the Annapurna 4 & 2. We play some cards in the restaurant and then go to sleep. Hugo is attacked by mices and rats during the night, it’s with a sleepy face that he joins us in the morning for breakfast.
Upper Pisang – Braga
We take the high route from Upper Pisang to Braga. The road goes through a Forest with fantastic views of the villages and the massif. We have our second though climb, getting to a temple with a steep 400m ascent. We rest a bit on the top, get some nice snaps of the surroudings and then continue our way forward.
We were worried about getting lost but in the end the track is always quite obvious and we never had any problem. We walk with beautiful views of some small lakes in the valley and always the shadow of the massif on our left which is now overwhelming with all its might. We cannot help but to imagine brave alpinists going on the summit of those mountains. The first human to have summited the Annapurna is a frenchman, Maurice Herzog in 1950, he was wearing some kind of platisc combi and wielded a big pick axe, oh how the times have changed.
We cover less distance than the previous days as the the altitude is starting to kick in. We get out of the forest and start to walk on rocks, the surroundings have completely changed and we traded the green trees for dusty and rocky tracks.
We arrive in Braga and book a room in a big hotel. We are exhausted and after playing some cards we decide to spend the next day around here and do a day trip. There is apparently a beautiful ice lake. The pictures we found on internet are pretty convincing, tomorrow we climb!
Braga – Kicho tal
We leave our stuff in our rooms and it is with great pleasure that we start walking with empty bags. It’s like we’re flying, we march on and start ascending. Braga is at 3472 altitude and the Ice lake is at 4620, as you can imagine it will be a long walk and a very harsh ascent. The day drags on, some of us are breathing heavily and walk slowly. I remember my time on the Kilimanjaro, Pole Pole as they say. The last part of the hike is quite flat, and finally we reach the lake.
We are absolutely exhausted, but man was it worth it. The views are incredible, we marvel at the full picture of the massif an Ice giant block overlooking the lake.
As it is a sacred lake for the nepalese it is absolutely forbidden to bath and enter the lake, we stay on the shore and enjoy the scenerery. Eventually we start to go back and we go down to braga again in a transe. We look at the mountains and can’t help but to dream in our heads.
We are silent and when we go to sleep that night, only white summits appear in our dreams.
Braga – Manang
The next day we pack and walk to Manang. It’s a very easy walk with little delta but we are still quite tired from the previous day. We go slowly and joke on the track.
Manang is the classic acclimatization step. People usually stay here for a few days to get used to the altitude and rest. It is also the last big town before the Thorong La as the road ends here and no jeeps or motorcycle can go further. We book a lodge on the outskirts of the city and profit from the sun. We do some laundry, we eat well and we even treat ourselves with a movie night ! There is a house in the village with a garage where the locals have put a white sheet, a few bunks with sheep wool on them and organize movies. We watched 7 years in Tibet, the film had a special taste in this context, in the middle of the himalayas. We even got hot pop corn and a tea. This was seriously one of the nicest things during the trek, it give us a real kick and motivated us for the difficult following days.
We played cards, read our kindles and slept for the next day. We discussed as well the next few days, we have the choice of going to the Tilicho lake, the highest mountain lake in the word or go straight to the pass. We read that the trek to the lake is quite difficult, and that the accomodation is not relieable, we decide to skip it and push directly to the pass.
Manang – Phedi
We leave the hotel in the morning and start to climb, the track turns right, we are passed by a few guys on bikes, mad respect for those guys, it is already difficult enough on foot, can’t imagine how they do it on bicycles.
We slowly leave the massif in our back, every time we stop we can’t help but to look back and stare at the glorious white summits glowing in the sun. There is no more vegetation, only dry rocks, we walk slowly and eventually reach the camp in the afternoon. People have to choice to either stay here or go up a little more and sleep at the high camp. We were already quite tired and the though of a hot tea and evening food was just to tempting. We settle down, get ourselves two small rooms and chill on the terrace drinking tea. I fall asleep while reading my third book on the kindle. We make up really early tomorrow morning, at around 2am to start the climb to the pass so everybody goes to bed asap.
Phedi – Thorong La – Muktinath
We wake up and it is with sleepy eyes that we pack our bags and get ourselves some breakfast. It is really cold, around minus 10 and the night is dark. We put on our head lamps, thighen up our jackets and put on our gloves. The first part of the ascent goes to the high camp. The slope is really steep and is very narrow. It is with heavy foot and difficulties to breath that we arrive there. We pause for a few minutes, drink a bit and then go forward.
The cold, the altitude and the exhaustion are hard on me, I walk very slowly and I ask myself every 50m what am I doing here exactly, why did I chose to go and suffer instead of enjoying a relaxing week at the beach. The sun comes out and slowly we go up and up. I keep telling myself “30 minutes to go”, “you can do it”. I really hate my bag at that moment and I hate myself for packing so much useless stuff in it.
We summit the pass with a great sigh of relief. We take a few pictures, we congratulate ourselves and we look back at what we accomplished. Now it is only downhill, the ascent is finished. As it is pretty cold we don’t stay too long and start going down on the other side of the pass. It’s quite enjoyable to finally walk and have a great panorama to look at and not rocks and gravel. We walk slowly, the temperature goes up and finally we pass a great suspended bridge and get to Mukinath.
It’s tired but happy that we stumble in our beds and enjoy our first hot shower of the treck. We wash, we relax and fill up our bellies with hot food and warm tea. We did it !
The next day we went to see the statue of the indian god in the heights of mukinath. The contrast of the golden skin, the rocks and the snow are beautiful. We breath, we enjoy the views and walk around the town. We spend another night there, enjoying the good food of our hotel.
Muktinath – Kag beni
We leave in the morning, relaxed and rested, now starts the easy part of the trek, walking down. We cross a few pretty villages, on our right is the border with Tibet. The Mustang region trades with the Nepalese in Kag Beni, it is with great hopes that we reach the village, expecting some traditional market going on and some activity.
Well so much for activity, in fact nothing goes on, the streets are empty and the hotel we chose for the night is completely empty as well. The tenants are not very welcoming and the rooms pretty gloomy. The next day we pack and hit the road without a look back, ciao Kag Beni !
Kag Beni – Marpha
The walk to Marpha offers a wonderful sight of the Dhaulgiri summit, we marvel at the snow summit being beaten up by the winds, the white snow swirls around it and we even talk about coming back one day to climb it !
We pass Jomson and we see again a bunch of guys we talked to one week ago on the track, we exchange some anecdotes about our mutual experience and laugh a bit as they also experienced the company of a wierd guy a few days back who tried to walk with us. The guys are getting a jeep in Jomson to drive them down the valley to enjoy some rest in Pokhara.
I must admit, we also consider getting into a jeep. We noticed that now that we are going down, there is no goal no more, there is no finality in the walk. Dragging ourselves down the ragged path is less meaningful. We decide to keep going a bit.
Between Jomson and Marpha we are sticken by a very hard wind. It’s difficult to go on, the sand gets in our eyes, it’s cold as hell and we struggle to put a foot in front of the other.
We reach Marpha very tired and quite happy to finish our daily walk. The town is absolutely georgous. It is hands down the prettiest one we saw on the trek. We chose a small guesthouse with a few rooms and settle down for the night. We explore the city, visit the temple and enjoy the view on the roofs of the town where fruits are drying in the sun. We eat a big plate of Dhal bat and play a bit with the kids.
In the evening we play cards and decide that enough is enough, tomorrow we will try to catch a bus and go down to Tatopani and its hot springs. The world hot springs is like paradise to us, we imagine ourselves lingering in hot water and chilling in a delicious warmth.
Marpha – Tatopani
Obviously there are no timetables and no guarantee that we can board the bus. As it is departing from Jomson it might be already full when reaching Marpha. We wait, worried that we will have to walk in the end and that we will not get to enjoy the hotpsprings.
In the end the bus comes and thanks god there are some seats left. We stuff ourselves into the bus and off we go. The road is bumpy like hell, I swear, the guy who made the road must have done this on purpose. I even lost my beloved raiders cap at some point.
We reach Tatopani in the afternoon expecing nice natural hot stones and baths. Instead we are greeted by concrete pools with some water in it. Not even joking, those are big blocks of concrete filled with water.
We go to sleep and plan to enjoy them the next morning and catch another bus in the afternoon. We enjoy a nice evening at the guest house and get some nice proper food, the rooms are as usual, very spartiate, but we nevertheless go to sleep happy as the temperature is back to normal and we are back in the forest!
The next day we spend some time in the hot water, scrubbing and relaxing. I lost 9 kg in the last two weeks so I am pretty happy about myself. We then catch the bus and spend the whole day in it driving on the narrow tracks, always one slip away from the fall and certain death. We reach Pokhara in the evening, we get a cab and settle in a nice hotel for the next few days.
Pokhara
We lay our bags in Hotel Middle Path & Spa. A really nice hotel with a SPA. We book a trekker massage, to ease our muscles and give to our bodies the treat they deserve. The massage is great and we feel born again.
Pokhara is a big touristic city. Tons of shops and restaurants. We eat in a nice western place in the evening and enjoy a few beers with our meals. We did not drink any alcohol on the trek, we are happy to spend some quite time there. We read, eat, sleep and my brother rents a royal enfield for a day to drive around.
We then proceed to do a day trip to the World Peace Pagoda on the heights of the city. It’s a pretty long hike and it is said that there some muggers and thieves on the way. We walk fast and watch over our backs. We enter the jungle and struggle a bit to find our way to the Stupa. We ask some local for directions and eventually reach the place. The view on the annapurnas is quite something. We walk around and enjoy the view and then go back.
In the next few days we visit as well the international mountain museum, which presents lot of facts on the himalayas, we see a lot of artifacts from legendary climbs in display and read about the heroes who conquered the might peaks. One can only wonder what pushes those people to attempt such dangerous endeavours and risk death at every step. We visit as well the Ghurka’s museum, presenting the history of this legendary mountain military unit. My brother looks for a Ghurka knife, but all we see are rip offs, so we pass.
We then proceed to take a bus to drive us back to Kath. It is with a sweet melancholy that we leave the massif and get back to the noisy, polluted big city.
Kathmandou
We get back to our previous hotel and spend the last day wandering trough the Thamel. We do some souvenir shopping, I buy a Thangka fresque presenting Shiva. I am quite happy with it as I got it framed, but I will always wonder if it is an authentic one or if it was painted in series in some workshop in China.
We then pack and everybody takes a different flight, I am going back to Switzerland, my brother to Hong kong and our friends back to France. Namaste Nepal!
