Annapurna Circuit Trek Days 8 to 16 Manang to Birethanti

Day 8, Manang 3540m

Had a sleep in today as we were staying in Manang to acclimatise. We met at the front of the hotel at 9am, cold but another blue sky day. We hiked up to the monastery called Praken Gompa, 400m above the village of Manang. There were 2 reasons to do this one to gain altitude then come back down to sleep and the second  for the magnificent views. It took us 1 1/2 ours to get to the monastery after stopping at a stupa and some memorials on the way up. We had views of Annapurna II, III and IV, and Gangapurna, and Tarekang, absolutely magnificent. We had the whole place to ourselves with views of a lifetime and so lucky to have perfect weather and plenty of time to absorb the surroundings. We had lunch back at the hotel then went off to watch "Into thin air" where we were served tea and popcorn sitting on benches covered in yak skin. In the evening 8 of us played Uno, and at our meeting after dinner our guide told us we were going strong.

Day 9, Manang 3540m to Yak Kharka 4018m

We had a reasonable nights sleep although waking a few times and having very vivid dreams. Finally got up at 7am and even though it was minus degrees we were in the usual drill of packing up and getting ready. Cat had to buy a new hat as she lost her beanie the night before. We set off past all the 17th century stone buildings of Manang, all the water on the ground was frozen. We immediately started climbing on the track, warming up in the sun. We stopped after 20 minutes at a stupa to catch our breath and take in the view. As we continually climbed Pasang made us stop to rest, drink and get our energy back. We saw blue sheep, horses, yaks (male) and naks (female) as well as vultures. We passed a yak herder in his small yard splitting wood. We arrived in Yak Kharka before lunch, a 3 1/2 hour walk, feeling good. We we went for a walk up the hill to get more altitude ready for the next day. The tea house we stayed in had its own hydro power but because the water was frozen it had no electricity. We had dinner at 5.30 pm and went to bed in complete darkness at 6.45pm. We had a rough nights sleep due to the altitude.

Day 10, Yak Kharka 4018m to Thorong Phedi 4450m

Chris' 24th birthday. We tried to call him but had no mobile reception but another sunny day.(10th day in a row) Pasang as usual asked us how we were feeling making sure we didn't have a headache of feel ill. He was always watching out for us all. We had to use the toilet inside the main building as the ones near our rooms were frozen solid. We had a great breakfast again then set off in the freezing weather. Even though it was sunny we still had trouble warming up, especially our fingers. Pasang told us it was the most difficult time of the year to hike the Annapurna circuit. The same trip this time last year it snowed over 3ft in the area and they were unable to cross the Thorong La pass and had to hike back the way they had come. He said we were very lucky with the weather. The hike was starting to get quite difficult at times and very steep in parts. All the tea stops were closed now, as expected due to the off season. We walked over two long, high suspension bridges and over a landslide area before arriving at Throng Phedi. We ate lunch and in the afternoon Pasang took us up another 100m where we had a great view down on the bowl Throng Phedi sits in and the surrounding mountains. We had a baby wipe showere and put all our thermals and clothes on for the next day as it got very cold once the sun went down. We had dinner after playing Uno with 7 others and were in bed by 7.30pm.

Day 11, Thorong Phedi 4450m to Muktinath 3760m via Throng La Pass 5416m (worlds biggest pass)

A rough nights sleep at altitude, but we were expecting it. Were woken at 3.30am and had breakfast and set off at 4.30am with our headlights lighting the way. It was very very cold, a clear night. We walked single file slowly ascending on the switchbacks till we reached the high camp (4850m) at around 5.30am and had a break. We then, still under darkness walked for another 2 hours, ascending slowly. It was really tough and we had to stop often to catch our breath. David stopped to take an amazing siluette of mountains as the day was breaking. Catriona was almost at breaking point in the last hour to the top of the pass and David was not too far behind. She said at one stage she wanted to curl up in a ball and die! Just before 8.30am we made it to the pass and it was all smiles and worth every minute. A few quick photos then on past snow capped Throng peak and 1600m down to Muktinath, a killer on the knees, very steep and slippery over the stony ground. We finished our descent at a famous Hindu temple with 108 water fountains. We proceeded into the town of Muktinath, passing ladies on wooden looms making scarves. We had lunch at our hotel, a fantastic hot shower and washed our clothes. We met up with Teddy at the Mona Lisa hotel, where most of the others we had met on the trek where staying. We used the internet to check messages and send a birthday message to Chris. We played Uno had dinner and went to bed at 8pm completely exhausted.

 

Day 12, Muktinath 3760m to Marpha 2670m

We had a great nights sleep even with a dog barking all night. We set off at 8.30am for a 6 1/2 hour trek to Marpha. We were supposed to go only to Kagbeni a 2 1/2 hour hike but because of the strike at the beginning we had to make up a day. We quickly warmed up with the sun at our backs walking on gravel tracks and gravel roads. The others passed us in a jeep along the way. Streams were frozen and the landscape was very barren, very different from the other side of the pass, huge valleys and vistas. The colours of the hills were cream, brown and and read. We could see for miles, there was severe erosion in places and some of the land forms looked like pipe organs, some land forms reminded us of the Grand Canyon. We stopped at Jomson for lunch and then walked along the river bed following car tracks. Because it was not monsoon the river is very low and it was a short cut.  On our walk we saw many high peaks, we saw clouds forming off Nilgiri mountain, amazing as we have never seen this before. We had an hours walk to Marpha after lunch. It is a pretty little village of stone buildings. It has a norrow main street with some very wonky buildings. We hiked up to the Buddhist monastery which had great views down over the village.

It was new years eve and we played Uno until 11.30pm drinking home made alcoholic apple cider and keeping warm with the hot coals under the table.

Day 13, Marpha 2670m to Ghasa 2010m

Woke at 7am and headed off at 8.30am under cloudy skies. Balaram caught the local bus (with all our bags)as he had too much to drink the night before. We walked the rough stone and dirt track and along the river bed. We stopped at Largung for a cup of chai and Martin and his guide, who we had spent the previous night with, were staying here for the night. We continued our walk with light rain falling, passing through small villages. We crossed a suspension bridge to get to Kokethanti where we had lunch. The rain continued to fall and we put the rain covers on our bags. Our knees, calves and shins were sore from the days of long walking.  During the the days walk the low clouds prevented us from seeing any peaks but we did manage to see the base of Annapurna I. As we came into Ghasa we saw many pretty green crops. Just after we made it to the only open tea house in Ghasa it bucketed down. We played only a couple of games of Uno and were all so tired, retired for an early nights sleep. It rained hard all night.

Day 14, Ghasa 2010m to Tatopani 1160m

Woke at 7am and looked outside to see fresh snow on the surrounding mountains. The heavy rain of the night had eased and we set of at 8.30am under the grey sky and light misty rain. All our gear was in dry bags so everything stayed dry. We followed the road all the way to Tatopani except one place where we took the old path past 18th century homes with intricately carved wooden doors and windows. We also passed through a village where many of the women were digging a trench for a pipe. We stopped for a tea break at a tea house overlooking the worlds deepest gorge. When we arrived a Tatopani we had lunch and in the afternoon headed off to the thermal springs. We had a great soak in the springs and felt much better afterwards.

Day 15, Tatopani 1160m to Ghorepani 2860m

We woke up to a blue sky day and set off after breakfast. It was a long steep climb but we were in great spirits as it was a beautiful day. This was the second hardest and longest day of the trip. Today we had to climb 1600m. We stopped a number of times to catch our breath and had magnificent views of the Bharha Mountains. We crossed a couple of suspension bridges early in the day, one metal the other a little Indiana Jones-ish. It was amazing to see many farming villages high on the sides of the hills with their terraced fields. We stopped for lunch at Sikha and Martin caught up to us. We enjoyed our lunch in the sun. We had a 3hr hike after lunch which was very steep and the closer we got to Ghorepani the more snow there was on the ground. It was hard going. The accomodation for the night was like a ski chalet and full of other tourists. The largest group being from a Korean womens University. We went to bed early because there was so much noise in the common room and found that the walls were paper thin. Didn't have a good nights sleep because we thought the guy in the room next door was snoring so loud, it turns out he was 2 doors away!

Day 16, Ghorepani 2860m to Birethanti 1025m

 

Day 17, Birethanti 1025m to Pokhara 820m

 

 

Annapurna Circuit Trek Days 1 to 7, Besishahar to Manang

Day 1 Besishahar (760m) to Ngadi (890m)

We woke at 7am quickly packed and headed downstairs for breakfast. While waiting to head off a small protest march of about 50 local men passed by the hotel, most of the shops in the street still had their shutters down. We left at 9.15am, it was a beautiful sunny day and quite warm. The porters carried our main bags, Milan had mine and his own and Balaram had David's, Nick's and his own. We started off down the street and almost immediately turned off onto a narrow path winding down to a creek which we crossed, then we walked through a small village.  We headed up the road and had magnificent views of 8000m + mountains in the distance. We crossed our first suspension bridge which reminded us of Indiana Jones with it's missing wooden planks. We trod carefully and made it safely across. Our first stop was at Bulbule for morning tea where we had a lovely view of the river and mountains. Our next two river crossings were over more stable metal suspension bridges and we also passed a small waterfall. The scenery was gorgeous as we passed through rice paddys and small villages with their  vege gardens full of chilli, garlic and sugar cane. We made it to our 1st nights accommodation at Ngadi (Nadi Bazar) by 2pm where we had lunch and relaxed for the afternoon with the sound of the rushing water in the background.

 

Day 2 Ngadi (890m) to Bahundanda (1270m)

7am wake up again. Had breakfast of porridge and an omlette before setting off at 8.30am. The sun was up and the surrounding mountains looked stunning. It was very cold to start especially in the shady areas. As we walked we warmed up swapping our beanies for caps/hat. We passed through a couple of small stone villages which offer accommodation for trekkers. We feel as though we have the place to ourselves as we have not seen any other trekkers yet. We passed many rice fields terraced high up the sides of the mountains. The rice has been harvested and the fields are empty for the winter. We passed a local ploughing his field using two bullocks, it looked like back breaking work even with the bullocks. Every where we walk there are chickens, cows and goats roaming free in the villages. We had a short sharp climb to our destination in a village on a saddle with excellent views either side of the river. The sign at the bottom of the steps leading to the entrance to our hotel read "on extra 60 steps you won't regret". And we didn't! We went for a quick visit to the local school before lunch and were shown around by their teacher librarian. They have 450 students from nursery to year 12, and 19 teachers.  We also spoke with the English teacher and David had his photo taken with him in the school yard. The students were sitting the first day of their final exams so it was very quiet. We had lunch of dhal bhat enjoying the mountain views then did some washing and spent the afternoon reading and relaxing in the courtyard. Around 3pm the sun was loosing it's heat so we had showers and put on our thermals. Dinner was in the small dining room with excellent views down the valley. We also met 2 Finish girls (sisters) who were doing the trek, carrying their own packs with only a guide. We finished the evening playing Uno with Pasang and were in bed by 9pm.

 

Day 3 Bahundanda (1270m)to Chymanche (1430m)

6.30 am wake up, the Finish girls next door set off around 6am, we know this as the walls were paper thin. Another beautiful sunny day and the temperature was quite comfortable. We had a great breakfast of Masala omlette (omlette with onion and spices), chai and porridge. We set off right on 8am. Again we had fantastic views of the mountains and farm lands built into the sides of the mountains. We passed a huge landslide that had happened over a vear ago. We walked at a good pace and stopped for morning tea at Ghermu. We had a cup of chai while watching the spectacular 111m waterfall, which had a hydro power station at it's base. It really warmed up and Nick even took his shirt and the bottoms of his pants off. We made it up a steep hill and had a rest looking over the great views of the rapids below. A 4wd with people on the roof racks and hanging on at the back passed us driving down the very steep rocky road with many switchbacks. We stopped for lunch in Jagat right on midday and shared vegetable momo and rice and vege curry. We only had another hours walk to reach or hotel at Chyamche. It overlooked a 202m waterfall flowing from Chhahare Khola (river). As we had made such good time we celebrated with a Gorka beer (David) and a Rum and Coke(Catriona). We spent the afternoon reading and watching the waterfall. It was very cold in the evening and Passang put a bucket with hot coals under the table which warmed the place up considerably. We enjoyed the evening playing Uno with everyone, we had to teach Milan and Balaram how to play. As Balaram does not speak much English we also decided to learn how to say the colours in Nepali.

 

Day 4 Chymanche (1430m)to Dharapani(1860m)

David was shaving on the verandah this morning and managed to attract an audience. Misal the little boy who lived there was intrigued by the electric shaver. David showed him how the shaver worked and they spoke together, Misal saying the names of the things in his local environment such as waterfall, clouds, mountains, sky etc. in English. At breakfast we had porridge and took our first diamox tablet(to prevent altitude sickness). We started walking at 8am and again had perfect weather and beautiful scenery. We crossed about 5 suspension bridges today and had many mule trains pass us as well as locals carrying piles of wood and other goods as we ascended slowly along the trail. We stopped quite a few times to rest and we passed men building the road on the other side of the valley. The sounds of their jackhammers reverberated off the cliffs. The views were again amazing with the surroundin mountains and the aqua colourd river which at times was violent with whitewash over and around the rocks and boulders. We had lunch at Tal (Lake) where we met 2 other groups of trekkers. One was a couple from Leura, Alex and Briar who had a porter and a guide. The group was a girl from the UK, Teddy and a guy from China, Cheng who had a porter/guide and onother porter who had altitude sickness and had to turn back leaving Cheng to carry his own bag. We all enjoyed a Dhal Bhat for lunch together and then set off in our individual groups to our overnight hotel called "the 3 sisters". The two other groups also stopped at the same place, funny considering Alex and Briar are from Leura. Later on we were joined by a group which included a Chek couple and a Polish guy who lives in New York who were carrying their own bags but had a guide. Catriona managed to have a hot shower and wash her hair but David just had another baby wipe shower. We again spent the night playing Uno with our group with a bucket of coals under the table and also had Teddy and Cheng join in. Teddy explained the rules to Cheng in Chinese and he picked it up pretty quickly. Due to the diamox multiple visits to the toilet at night are often taken. This hotel had their toilet outside so we managed to have amazing views of the stars on our visits tonight.

 

Day 5 Dharapani(1860m)to Chame (2670m)

Woke at 6.45am to the sound of the river roaring below us. Another absolutely blue sky day with no clouds. A cheese omlette and hash brown potatoes(fried potato with onion and tomatoes) for breakfast today. Started at 8am and it was very cold and windy. As we walked along the sound of the river echoed under the rocks of the overhang on the cliff beside us, it was like we had the river on both sides. We again passed throgh many small villages spinning the prayer wheels as we passed by. One village had a huge prayer wheel inside a small building that we circled 3 times. We again passed many mule trains, often hearing the bells around their necks ringing well before we could see them. We also crossed many more suspension bridges over the river and passed some amazing waterfalls. One waterfall in particular was frozen and we had to cross at the base helped over the slippery rocks by our guide and porters. As we ascended the mountains looked better and better. We could see Manasala (8137m) which was glowing in the sun, quite dramatic. We walked through mature pine forests up to our lunch stop of Thanckok. On our way we kept passing and sometimes walking with the other groups we had met yesterday. After lunch we walked for another km to Koto where Passang had our passes stamped at the police check point. From here we had amazing view of Annapurna II (7937m) in the afternoon sun. Our final destination for the day was the Shangrila Hotel at Chame. Tonight Catriona had a baby wipe shower while David braved the cool waters of the hotel shower. Great views back over Manasala at sunset, it lit up / glowed yellow to orange - awsome. We enjoyed Christmas eve playing Uno with Pasang, Milan and Balaram.

 

Day 6 Chame (2670m) to Lower Pisang (3200m)

Woke at 6.45 and quickly packed, then down to the restaurant for buckwheat bread and jam for Cat and omlette and freid potatoes for Dave. Called Chris and left a Christmas message then called Val's and spoke to Megan, Val, Chris and Bernie as everyone was there for Christmas Lunch. Left a message for Doris and Roger as they were out. We set off through a very shady valley with very cold hands. David held Catrionas poles while she tried to warm her hands. We passed many very old prayer rocks as we left the small village and also many prayer wheels. Today we walked through pine forests and on the way had views of Lamjung Himal (6983m) and different aspects of Annapurna II. Teddy and Cheng have unofficialy joined our group. They managed to get a local porter who will carry their bags to the top of Throng-La but they are on their own from there. We are so glad to be on this Intrepid trip, we have no problems and Pasang is always checking that we are all ok. When we get to our morning tea/ lunch / dinner stop Milan brings out the menu and takes our order. People in the other groups are left to fend for themselves. Today is another blue sky day with magnificent views of the mountains. We passed over small bridges where the small streams are frozen and we also passed a few frozen waterfalls. At lunch we stopped at Dhikur Pokhari the restaurant that Pisang wanted to take us to was closed, as are many of the places we pass, due to it being the off season. We met up with the couple from Leura and the Finish sisters and had a Christmas Dhal Bhat. We fashioned our buffs into Christmas hats for lunch with great views over heavens gate, a pilgrimage site for Hindus. We made it to our hotel at 2.30pm and at 3 we walked to Upper Pisang, a small village with a monestery. The reason for the walk was for aclimatisation and to see the monestery which ended up being closed. We had Yak, rice and potatoes for dinner and finished off with apple pie and custard for our Christmas desert. This hotel had a TV in the restaurant so we played a couple of games of UNO and watched home alone 2 and some of home alone 3 before setting off to bed at 8.30pm.

 

Day 7 Lower Pisang (3200m) to Manang (3540m)

Woke around 1pm for a trip to the outside toilet. We both stood looking at the stars for a short time before we started to freeze then headed back to our nice warm sleeping bags. Something I should mention is that most of the toilets have a bucket of water with a scoop so you can "flush". In many of the places we now visit the water bucket is frozen on top so you have to break the ice to get to the water, some places the water is a solid block! We got up at 6.45am as usual, packed and had breakfast ready to set off at 8am. It was our coldest start so far even though it was bright and sunny and we had our gortex jackets and ski gloves on. We walked through pine forests early on with Pisang peak to our right. Our first stop was at Humde for a hot chocolate which warmed us nicely. This town has an airstrip and another police checkpoint. Along the way we passed the Finish girls, the couple from Leura and a couple of American women who were trekking by themselves, no guide or porter. Once again we thought how glad we were to be on tour where we didn't have to plan anything. Pisang gives us a breifing each evening after dinner to let us know what time to get up and what we will be doing the next day and they give us information about what we are seeing along the way. Today we had a great views of Ganggapurna (7544m), Annapurna II, Annapurna III (7555m), Annapurna IV (7420m) and Tare Kang (7069m). THe walk was only 4 hours today and we enjoyed sitting in the sunroom of the hotel for the afternoon after washing our socks and undies in the freezing water, we put our shirts and pants in to be washed. Everyone we had met so far excluding the couple from Leura were staying at Tilicho Hotel with us. We also met a couple of guys from England, Rupert and John, who stopped in for lunch but were staying at a village a short walk away. 9 of us played Uno till around 8.30pm.

Strike in Nepal

Well we did not end up getting to Bandipur as there was a "strike" in Nepal. A strike in Nepal is not like any other country we have come across. People do not strike of their own free will but are forced to close their shops/ businesses, no cars, motorbikes, busses or truck are allowed to drive for fear of being stoned / beaten or killed. These strikes or bandas are forced on the general population by political parties usually the Maoists to protest something or other.

Anyway on the morning we were supposed to leave we met in the lobby with Nick, our other trek group member and the General manager of Himalayan Encounters, the company that runs the treks in Nepal for Intrepid, and our new group Leader Kusang Sherpa. The manager advised us that the leader we had met yesterday had some family problems and was no longer able to take us on our trip and that Kusang would be our leader now. He also advised that due to the strike we would not be able to leave Kathmandu until after 4pm and would therefore go directly to Besisahar to start the trek the next day rather than Bandipur as per the itinerary. We were quite happy with the change of leader as it had been very difficult to understand the man we had met the day before.

We went back to our room and rested for another hour or so and at 9.30am we headed out to the little restaurant we had breakfast in the day before for our 100 rupee breakfast of 2 eggs, potatoes, tomato and brown bread toast with butter and jam + a cup of Nepali tea (like masala chai).

As there was a strike on most of the shops were shut we headed back to the hotel where Catriona managed to have a massage and David started to read the book he had bought the night before "The long way down" by Ewan McGregor and Chalie Boorman. Luckily we were delayed as we realised we had packed the spare memory cards for the camera in the bags we were leaving at the hotel! We also mad sure all the spare batteries were fully charged.

We met up at 4pm again and eventually after much delay set off in a small van for the 5 1/2 hour drive to Besisahar with Nick, Kusang and our two porters Balaram and Milan. We made it to our hotel at 11pm where we had some soup for dinner and set off to bed about midnight.

David, Catriona, Milan, Kusang, Balaram and Nick