ABC trek

Next two days I continued to trek down from Sinuwa to Jhinu Danda. My knees were painful but still holding up.  Crossing the suspension bridges and tackling the never-ending stone stairs I finally reached Siwi where our taxi was waiting to pick us up.  Leaving behind the bamboo staff which had been a faithful support last 2 days while climbing down I bade farewell to the Annapurna mountain.

Back in Pokhara, I still couldn’t believe I had done it!

The whole experience of trekking Annapurna base camp was amazing, pushing and nudging yourself just to take that next step was all worth it.  The trek took me through the villages, waterfalls, frozen streams, Bamboo forests, and then the total contrasting views of the snow-covered peaks of the Annapurna range. Glorious sunrise, the rains, the snow fall, the starry skies. The whole universe presenting itself in various vistas. The whole experience makes you rediscover yourself all over again, you never stop surprising yourself in achieving what you believed was un-achievable and feel proud about yourself.

It was the Nepali new year. I was excited, after yesterday’s views of sunrise. I was up, and all bundled up in the layers. Me and Anjan then walked up to the view point which was slowly getting busier. You could feel the excitement in the air. I was viewing the most spectacular panorama! Standing inside a snow globe surrounded by stunning mountains that include, Machapuchare (6993m), Annapurna III (7555M), Gangapurna (7454m), Singu Chuli (6501m), Annapurna I (8091m), Annapurna South (7219m) and Hiunchuli (6441m).

First rays were slowing creeping in and slowly the peaks were bathed in golden glow of the sunrays.

Reaching the final point at base camp, I felt as if I had entered the abode of Gods. There is only way to look but up!! I was left in awe of the universe and just felt so much a part of the universe though a very tiny one. Finally tearing the eyes away from the views headed back to the lodge to get ready for my return journey. My friend had flown down to Pokhara earlier in the morning.

After breakfast we retraced our steps back, through the rickety wooden bridges, climbing and descending the multitudes of steps, walking through the bamboo forests, finally reaching Sinuwa.

Water spraying… and drops frozen on the blades of grass

Still in the awe of the surreal experience of today morning I slowly went off to sleep.

I was up at 5:00 am in the morning and slipped out of my sleeping bag. 2 other trekkers from our room had left earlier as they were to reach ABC just before sunrise and then walk down to Bamboo.  I went out and absorbed the sights arounds me. The dawn was breaking, and everything was covered in snow. It was clear crisp morning and I saw the 6,993 meters high Machapuchare mountain. The mountain is considered holy and there is a ban on climbing the mountain. Just opposite the Machapuchare was the majestic massif of Annapurna range. All the mountains in their full glory!!!

I wiped away the clouds 🙂

Machapuchare upclose from the base camp

Annapurna South

I went back to our room to see if my friend was up.  We both came out to watch the sunrise. The first few rays fell lighting up the tip of the Annapurna and slowly the whole range turned from white to gold. Suddenly the past few days assault of pain and aches was all worth it. It was a lovely day and we had made it so far.

soaking in the view!

Ready for the next stop ABC!

We started for Annapurna Base camp after breakfast, it was 8:00 in the morning but the sun was blazing.

My friend had still not fully recovered from his stomach bug which was troubling him.  Remaining of the walk was approximately 2 hours. It was still uphill but moderate. The snow was melting under the blazing sun making the path slippery. We could see the climbers on their way down. We bumped into a fellow trekker from Malaysia, who had gone up earlier in the morning to see the sunrise and was now heading back to Sinuwa. After a brief exchange we moved further stopping every now and then to turn back and look at the Machapuchare and taking in the incredible views around us. Frozen water streams, ground covered in snow, the mountains and the clear blue skies. Suddenly our guide called us and was pointing towards a big avalanche. We were awed by nature in its full glory the beauty and wilderness all at once.

Stomach bug was finally taking toll on my friend. We had plenty of time, so we dropped our pace, taking multiple stops, we kept moving slowly. He wanted to turn back but I kept telling him lets keep moving. We could now see the boards from a distance and groups of people taking pictures. We were now almost there. My friend was totally exhausted by now and decided he wanted to turn back. I left him with our guide and walked on and in another 15-20 minutes, I reached the Base camp. Mission Accomplished!!!

Avalanche

Made it!

I requested a fellow trekker if she could take my picture. I was missing my friend.. it was unbelievable we were so close yet here I was taking a picture all alone! After taking few pictures, I climbed the last few steps and reached the last lodge at the Annapurna Base Camp.

Anjan, our porter showed me the room and he went down to where I had left my friend with the guide. I dabbed some more sunscreen and went up to the benches put outside to enjoy the views of the mountain.

Anjan, came back in some time and told me that my friend is going back to Machapuchare base camp. He did come till the ABC signboard before turning back and I was happy that he did make it before turning back.

After we finished with our lunch, Anjan went back to Machapuchare base camp to drop off my friend’s bag. I went walking around to the view point, saw the memorial of Cesar Peyre, Dimitri Sobolev, Anatoli Boukreev. These were some great mountaineers who lost their lives on the slopes of the Annapurna.

Bench with a view!

As I was returning to the lodge one of the guys from the kitchen called me saying there is a call for me. I hurried knowing that it would be from my friend. He had reached back at the Machapuchare Base camp safely and was planning to go down further and probably call for a helicopter.

As the sunset.. Fish tail mountain

I spent the rest of the day outdoors till it started snowing. Got into the dinner hall which was buzzing with fellow trekkers. As the time for sunset neared the clouds cleared up and I went out to see the sun setting which made Machapuchare mountain look more dramatic.

As one moves up the trail, the number of tea lodges start reducing. On day 2 we had seen how busy the route was. Our guide had mentioned that due to a big group of trekkers from Thailand there was no availability of rooms at Duerali and we may have to trek up to Machapuchare Base Camp.

Blooming rhododendrons

On our third day we had to tackle more rickety wooden bridges and less of stairs, the route was a gradual uphill walk sometimes little steep. We walked along the Modi Khola river. We hiked through forest, giving way to amazing views of the valley. By the time we reached Deurali it was clear that we would have to carry on to Machapuchare Base Camp. We reached Deurali around noon, had our lunch. There were 4 lodges at Deurali which all looked full. We saw a lot of fellow trekkers whom we would meet on our way up were lucky to get a room and were now settling down for the day.

Wooden bridges

We picked our backpacks and started our climb. Because of the rains there were quite a few waterfalls adding to beauty of the landscape.  Again, the rain came in and out came our ponchos. As we gained further height the weather started turning cold. Most part of the walk was a gradual uphill and a final steep uphill climb. Covered up in our poncho putting our heads downs we continued the climb up. Thankfully the mist covered how steep the climb was, after walking for over 3 hours from Deurali we finally reached to Machapuchare Base Camp. It had now started snowing and slowly the whole landscape looked white. The Dinner room was teeming with people, we got a room shared with 3 others.

Almost there!

We made it so far!

Snowy evening

After dinner we went off to sleep. My friend’s bed was right next to the wooden partition and he suffered through the night with the odours from our smelly socks and shoes which were kept on the other side of the partition, and a sack full of onions which was lying in the gap between foot of my bed and his bed. The room was dank, so we had finally pulled out our sleeping bag.

Both me and my friend had made it up to Machapuchare base camp! I finally drifted off to sleep excited about the prospects of the next day.

By the beginning of day 2 I had become accustomed to aching muscles (some even which I didn’t know existed), my heart rate was no longer pacing at a wild speed. Now that I had familiarized with the pain my mind started wandering soaking in the glorious views, enjoying the soothing sounds of the flowing river, birds chirping and slowly synching in with the nature.  I enjoyed watching the village people getting on with their day, terraced farms, tinkling sounds of the bells tied around the cows and mules who walked past us.

After leaving Chomrung, we descended a long flight of stairs, only to climb them again as we crossed Sinuwa. Looking back, we could see Chomrung where we had spent the previous night. We were now familiar with the Nepal flat which was climbing eons of stone steps and then descending. As today we were progressing at a good pace we checked with Rajinder and Anjan if it was ok with them to have lunch directly at Dovan.  On our way while walking through Bamboo village Anjan plucked a local plant and gave us the stem to eat which was tasty and refreshing. I think the stem tasted like gooseberries(Amla).

View of the suspension bridge

Enjoying the forage from forest

We reached Dovan at 1:45 pm. The clouds had just started to gather. I enjoyed my carb laden Dal-Bhat and we relaxed for the rest of day watching the rain. Just before dinner the clouds cleared, and we got a lovely view of Machapuchare (Fish tail) mountain. By end of day 2 my friend’s tryst started with an upset stomach.

Our plan was to keep our pace slow and steady (Aaste Aaste as they say in Nepal) and try and reach Chomrung before 4:00 pm as it would usually rain in the evenings.  As the sweltering heat of the day settled in we came across our first steep incline and both me and my friend who was equally ill prepared as me, looked at each other – what the hell are we doing!! I could feel my heart beating wild, wheezing and sweating I headed on.

Black patches you see are the Bee hives

Pit stop for lunch

We stopped for lunch at New Bridge. I threw my day pack of my back and was so glad to get rid of it. We sat there enjoying the cool breeze and waiting for our lunch. I ordered Dal-Bhat the staple diet to which I stuck for the next 7 days for my lunch and dinner. Rejuvenated by the tasty food, I decided I could survive the next 6 grueling days one step at a time.

Dal-Bhat power all the way!

Looks like it was not only us! Mr. Rooster here is also worried about the distance to be covered!

At around 3:00 pm we were no where close to our destination and the clouds had gathered in. The slow drizzle was appearing to grow into rain. We wore our jackets and continued. As we reached the last stretch at Jhinu, the rain was now a downpour, and we were greeted by a steep long uphill climb which finally bought us to Chomrung around 5:30 pm.

Taking shelter from the heavy rain

Final steep assault at Jhinu before we reached Chomrung

View of Machapuchare from tea lodge at Chomrung

My one shoe broke halfway to Chomrung. Thank God, I found a helpful shopkeeper who promised he will stich up my shoe well and keep it ready for me next day morning at 6:30.

A tick off on my bucket-list!

Confirming my booking for the trek and finally booking my tickets to Nepal was a complete impetuous decision. In November I had been to Dubai and caught up with my old friends where the topic of doing the Annapurna Base camp trek (ABC trek) came up. My sister in law was just back from her trek to ABC and Nik had already done the trek 7 years ago. We told our friend that we will pass on the details of the tour operators and he could speak to them and figure out his plan.

All the while somewhere I have been wanting to do this trek, but I have insufferable knees and my last trek to Kilimanjaro was so traumatic on my knees that I was not too sure if I could do the ABC trek. Nik said for the major part of the trek every day I would be going up or down hundreds if not thousands of steps, making my descend as onerous as the ascend!

Zillions of steps!

So finally, one fine day on an impulse I tell my friend hey! guess what I will join you on your trek to ABC. We finalise and agree to trek in April 2018. I tell myself don’t worry you might just manage it with some good yoga routine which I would start in the Jan’18 (a new year resolution!!).  I started my yoga routine on weekends and kept using all the possible staircases where I could find them (which is practically everywhere to get to my apartment, office, railway station, underground).

Alas my resolution met the fate of any other new year resolution and it all ended by February.

7^th April 2018! So here I am, my backpack ready, flight boarded. Physically unfit as I couldn’t be bothered thinking that what I could not achieve in past 4 months I could achieve in last minute fitness prep. I had stuck to climbing the steps though (some consolation). Somehow in my head this trek still seemed doable and I was looking forward to ticking off my bucket list of watching the beautiful sunrays fall on the great snowclad massif of Annapurna turning it into gold.

I saw my first glimpse of the Himalayan range from a long distance from my flight which was a beautiful sight.  My friend had landed earlier that morning and when I came out of the airport there he was at the airport to pick me up.  We got into the car and towards out hotel in Thamel where we planned to stay overnight before our journey to Pokhara. Thamel is crowded with narrow lanes, all bustling with shops selling Outdoor gear & equipment, beautiful colourful rugs, shawls, scarves, book stores, restaurants, bars, Tibetan shops selling colorful necklaces, earrings, and other items. The whole place is so lively and buzzing till late night.

First glimpses of the mighty Himalayas..

At the hotel, one of the co-founders of the tour company – Raj, was already waiting to brief us on our onward journey. We ordered masala tea and Raj started to give us the briefing on our route.  We stayed at Kathmandu Eco Hotel, didn’t like the room though clean, it was dark and dull. But since we just had to spend a night. I dropped my bag and both me and my friend stepped out for dinner. We had informed Raj to arrange for a car instead of the bus to Pokhara, so we could catch up an extra hour of sleep. We walked around Thamel and had our dinner at Roadhouse Café which was recommended by Raj. We celebrated the beginning of the journey with a bottle of Sherpa beer and settled in for the night.

Next day at 8:00 am our guide Rajinder and our porter Anjan were already in the hotel lobby, waiting for us. We got into the car and drove towards Pokhara. The journey is long, hot and tiring! We reached around late afternoon. Trust me the best way to reach Pokhara is to take a flight.

Pokhara is beautiful city situated in a valley. The Annapurna Range with three of the ten highest mountains in the world — Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu are within 15 – 35 miles of the valley. Due to its proximity to the Annapurna mountain range, the city is a base for trekkers undertaking the Annapurna Circuit through the Annapurna Conservation Area. Pokhara is a quaint laid-back city and makes a perfect base to relax before and after the trek. We got a beautiful room with the view of the Annapurna mountain range. It was still cloudy, and the views were not clear. We went for a stroll around the lake and got caught in rains. After rains the clouds had cleared up so got to see the ranges this time more closely.

Pokhara Lake

Next day early morning after breakfast we left for Annapurna Conservation Area. As we were doing the trek through a tour operator they had taken care of the trek permits. We drove all the way till Siwi, and from here we started our 7-day trek.

Our team.. Me with my friend and our guide

Our trek route would take us to Chomrung, Dovan, Deurali, from there to Annapurna Base Camp.  Charged with excitement our team of 4 kicked of the adventure with a gentle pace.