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nicoleswanderings · 6 years ago

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ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT- Part 1

The first 11 days of the trek were a rollercoaster. We started the journey in Pokhara, took a 6 hour public bus to Besisahar- the official starting point. We decided to skip the first 5 miles or so on a dirt road so we took one more bus to Nadi Bazaar. My first thoughts as I put on my pack and started hoofing it up the hill were “holy shit. This pack is wayyyyy too heavy. Is it going to be uphill the whole way? Why did I want to do this again?”. And that was the start of working through that voice in my head that continually wanted to be in comfort. That needed to find a way to complain to escape the moment. It became routine for me to have these thoughts the first couple days. We would wake up around 6:30 am, eat our breakfast (which for me was overnight oats soaked in water with dates, walnuts, almonds, peanut butter, and protein powder- no wonder my bag was so heavy 😂), pack up our backpacks, and head out around 7:30. To be fair, the first 3 days we really didn’t reach our destination for the night until around 6pm- so they were freaking long days. But I just couldn’t for the life of me pull myself out of this rut of resisting everything- “ugh I don’t want to wake up”

“Do we really have to climb this hill?”

“Veg curry it is...for the 4th time in a row.”

and I was choosing to be here! I had been dreaming about this place for months!

But by the end I realized truly that this had nothing to do with the trek specifically- that was just a great environment for my mind to showcase its power and for me to recognize a habit I have (not just in the mountains) that needs to be trained.

Physically, it was hard- but not that hard. After the first few days, I got in a groove and my mantra (courtesy of Ruby) became I ACCEPT. I accept this blister on the back of my heel that rubs raw every time I step. I accept that it is freezing cold right now. I accept that I am hungry. I accept that there is no hot water. I accept that there are feelings of sadness inside my body. I accept that I miss home and the people I love. I was accepting the moment, with everything it held, for no other reason than this is all there is. This is life. A string of continual moments that come into fruition as NOW. All I was doing by resisting what already existed was causing suffering to myself with no option to change it. I couldn’t make there be hot water. I couldn’t force myself out of the feelings I was having. I could merely change my attitude toward them from one of disgust to one of accepting it with open arms and shedding love on that negative feeling. Truly love is the only thing that can dissolve reactionary emotions. I let go of the “shoulds”. “I should be feeling happier.” You have 2 options in any given moment. Accept all that is in this moment and feel the gentle ease grow inside you, or resist it and live in your mind out of alignment with the world around you. And soon, I ACCEPT didn’t hold any tinge of resentment or force- I was appreciating all the unfoldings as they came. Most of the time 😉

Okay more about the trek. We met amazing people in the first week. Since there is a pretty standard route to do this circuit, if someone starts the same day as you, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be seeing them until the end. Which is awesome. Trail family saved my sanity many times. We would play cards or tell stories around the fire in the living room of guest houses. Share about our countries, really just talk about life. Ruby and I hiked with a 20 year old couple from Sweden a lot, Josh from San Diego who does sweet seasonal work (and may buy my RV!), Eric, a retired hippy from Rochester NY who now lives in Turkey with his wife, and Babette from Holland.

In terms of housing, we stayed in guest houses for free each night in return for eating dinner from their restaurant. For being out in the middle of nowhere, we actually did have some nice luxuries. Electricity, a fire to dry our clothes, WiFi (sometimes) and hot food. They did have the same government regulated menu at every place though. But no hot water or toilet paper- though I have come to love squat toilets and the Nepali way of wiping ( lol look it up. Actually is more sanitary I think.)

The food was mostly MoMos (dumplings), curry, garlic soup, chapatti or buckwheat bread (like roti or tortillas) and Dal Bhat (lentils and rice). It was all pretty good actually! They also had fresh Seabuckthorn Juice at high altitudes which was amazinggggg!! It’s know to be the highest vitamin C food in the world!

So our first 11 days were spent uphill making our way over Thorong La Pass at 5,400 meters. The last 2 days had heavy snow and we were all layers. The locals told us this year actually has been a lot more unpredictable and snowy than normal. 6 people died about a month before we went up actually. But that was because of avalanches and the pass was closed when they went. The day before the pass, we hiked up to high camp as we left our beloved Josh behind to acclimatize a bit longer because of a headache. We were hiking in a total blizzard and made it to High Camp around 5pm. There is one structure here to house those crazy enough to spend the night. Most people leave around 4 am the next morning to get up there before wind hits, but we waited because we wanted I hike in the daylight- I am glad we did that. Every inhale at that altitude feels like not enough, my body was never satisfied with how much oxygen was in it.

At one point I had a buckle over my chest to keep my backpack secure but I started getting dizzy. I later realized after Unclipping it that it was because my chest couldn’t expand enough with true clip on. It’s really the smallest things. I also took Gingko Biloba and Co-Q10 a week before to help with heart health and oxygenating the blood. And doing day hikes to high altitudes then sleeping at lower ones is very helpful (I.e. Ice Lake).

Anyways we made it over, but culturally, into another world. Stay tuned for part 2!

Here’s our route:

Day 1- Pokhara-Ghermu

8:30-6:30 6 miles

Day 2- Ghermu- Tal

7:30-6:30 11.5 miles

Day 3- Tal-Danaqyu

7:30-1:30 7 miles

Day 4- Danaqyu-Chame

8-1 6.5 miles

Day 5- Chame-Upper Pisang

8-1:30 9 miles *BEAUTIFUL DAY*

Start of the huge Mountain Views!

Day 6- Upper Pisang- Mungii

8-3:45 7.5 miles

Day 7- Mungii-Ice Lake- Manang

8-4:30 9 miles up to 4500 meters!

Day 8- Rest day in Manang ( I got to see the old version of Into Thin Air in a makeshift movie room!)

Day 9- Manang-Letdar

8-1 7 miles

Day 10- Letdar- High Camp

8-5 3.5 miles

Day 11- High Camp- Muktinath

7-4:30 8 miles

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