Trekking to Annapurna Base Camp

On Friday, February 24^th, we took a small plane to Pokhara. It was a beautiful flight in and we could see almost the whole Annapurna range, it was incredible to think that in just a few days we would be up and behind those mountains. It seemed impossibly far away.  I’m writing this after upon our return. It was an amazing and incredible 10 day journey to Annapurna basecamp and back again. It is hard to put words to such a staggering and incredible experience. But after all that’s why I have this blog, so I might as well give it a shot. My goal for this is to share with you the true beauty and amazement I felt during this time, and to give you a glimpse through my eyes and to imagine a different world. This is one of my major goals in writing about my travels.  Here’s the briefest of summaries.

We met up with our porters outside of the Pokhara airport (they had taken the 8 hour bus ride to get here), one was a young man named Rajindra and another a seasoned porter named Santosh. We attained our permits at the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) center and then all packed into two small taxis. During our 1 ½ hour taxi ride, our driver played everything from traditional Nepali and Tibetan music, to Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift (how’s that for a culture shock) all while bouncing along roads hardly fit for a land rover, let alone a small city taxi. Eventually we bailed out at a small town called Birithanti… and started walking.

Geez, yet another amazing couple of days. We are now in the Buddha guesthouse in the extremely small town of Bamboo, it’s actually a very nice place for being out in the middle of nowhere and 3 days walk from the nearest road. All supplies that are here have been carried up on the backs of locals, sometimes a hundred kilos at a time. Often we pass these porters on the trail, its amazing to see someone who barely comes up to my ears carrying hundreds of pounds of coca cola, toilet paper, snickers or tanks of Kerosene up the many vertical miles to the next village (mostly in bathroom flip-flops (it was really interesting to see how Coke got progressively more expensive the closer we got to Annapurna Base Camp called ABC). At one point we had just finished hiking up a mountain (which honestly must have been half a mile almost straight up) and as we sat at the top, trying to catch our breath, an old man possibly in his 70’s came up and over the top and briskly continued walking along the trail.  

OK unfortunately I have to get a little more vague now in order to save both my time and yours. It is hard to tell how far we walked those first few days, most likely not all that far. Although nothing, absolutely NOTHING is flat here (especially your mattresses) so it seems like quite a bit further. While it might be just 5 or 6 miles as the crow flies you climb at least another 4-5 or more straight up and/or straight down. On the hike from Jinu to Bamboo on the 3^rd day, we were actually able to look back and see the distance we’d gone, it was immensely gratifying.

In the beginning we would round a bend and a huge ring of mountains would sprawl out before us. But as we walked further and further into the roots of the Himalayas, they no longer reached out in front of us as a distant goal but loomed daunting and fearless above our heads. Huge giants that have been here since the beginning of time, bring down with them a crushing reminder of mans mortality. After almost 5 days of strenuous and sometimes slightly sketchy trekking, we arrived at Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) almost 13,000 ft above sea level. Within the span of less then 5 days we had climbed around 2 miles straight up, you know your getting up there when you can see clouds drifting by your window. I couldn’t believe it, we had finally made it, and it was worth every step.

This is a small quote that I wrote in my journal while sitting among the giants:   “Wow, all I can say is Wow! We are sitting outside among these peeks drinking lemon tea. From where I am sitting I have an almost perfect 360° view of the mountains that surround us. Including Annapurna 1 which is 8,066 Meters tall” (I would like to add here that there are only 14 peaks above 8,000 meters 8 of which are in Nepal.) “It is such a honor to be among these giants, and they are so beautiful that it takes my breath away (although that may be the altitude). The sun paints them a warm glow and the clouds ring their tops like shimmering halos.”

Unfortunately though all good things must come to an end.  It was sad and at the same time immensely gratifying to turn my back walk away from there. I felt as if I was a better person for having come (although that’s not for me to judge) and I felt as if those mountains would always watch over me throughout my whole life, like silent, majestic angels. It only took us around 3 short days, with a lot of downhill,  to get back to Birithanti and then a quickish taxi ride back to Polkara where we spent two days before flying back to Kathmandu.   

It was extremely hard to return to the pollution and hustle and bustle of Kathmandu after the pristine quiet and beauty of the forest and mountains. But all good things must come to an end, and going from one extreme to another makes me realize how lucky we all are to live in a place where nature and humankind come together in a fairly peaceful manner.