Annapurna Circuit Part 1: Nadi Bazar to Thorung La Pass

We came to Nepal to do some trekking and hadn't decided which trek to do until coming to Pokhara.  Bob had done the Annapurna Circuit in 1987 going around clockwise. Annapurna is one of the few treks you can do in the area without a porter or guide so we decided to do this one but going the more conventional way of counter-clockwise starting on the eastern end of the circuit.  So renting a backpack and two sleeping bags and packing light with only a couple of changes of clothing we set off in a bus to the starting point - a few hours drive from Pokhara.

After checking in at the TIMS check point for trekkers in Besishahar, we caught a local bus to Nadi Bazar to start the walk.  We could have started walking at Besishahar but the track was made into a very dusty and busy dirt road (This we were to discover is a reoccurring problem along the Annapurna Circuit – the cost of progress?).  Nadi Bazar is the construction site of a big Chinese funded hydro-electric dam.  It is unclear what effect this will have on the valley.  We started walking about 1pm and reached Bahundanda about 3 hours later and stopped there for the night.  There was only one other trekker in the village, a young French woman with her porter.  It was drizzly and cloudy so we couldn’t see much and with the usual power outage, it was an early night.  But when I woke up the next morning, what a sight out the window – huge snow-capped mountains looming in the misty dawn light.

Out on the track early for another 5½ hours to our next night stop, Chyamche, passing through the villages of Ghermu and Jagat.  On the way we passed children walking the winding mountain track on their way to school, crossed our first suspension bridge and marvelled at the villages on the steep hillsides.

On their way to school

First of many suspension bridges

Hillside villages

Day 3 and the pattern is set.  We wake up around 5.30 and on the trail by about 7.30.  The morning of Day 3 we had a steep climb to the village of Tal passing magnificent waterfalls tumbling down sheer cliffs.

Steep climb to Tal

Approaching Tal

 

Entering Tal

 Just outside the village of Tal we heard and saw blasting occurring on the hillside above town on the other side of the valley.  We were watching this bit of activity when suddenly a large rock the size of a football came falling down the cliff we were under, narrowly missing me.  The first I realised what was happening was when I heard the thud and felt the gravel spray onto my leg.  Needless to say we quickly got out of there.  Funny after that I made a point to spin the Buddhist prayer wheels at the entrance of every town.

Day 3 was exhausting - near death experience, walking 7 hours, climbing 870m and covering about 17km.  Eileen is feeling it but the solace of a rum and coke eases the pain.

 

Day 4 we walked to Chame.  A much easier day – only 10km and a 370m climb.  We found a nice guest house with an attached bathroom with a western toilet (not the usual shared squat toilet in a rickety tin shed out the back) – bliss.  We took a rest day here to do laundry and relax.  The sight of the mountains out our bedroom window every morning quickly restored the aching muscles.

Chame was a charming village with donkey trains, cute kids and goat herds.

Goat herd crossing the bridge

Pack train - note the chicken feathers in the cage

We left Chame and the landscape turned into alpine meadows and pine forests along with the now ever present views of snow capped mountains.  We were passing through more traditional villages of stone houses.

We walked up to Upper Pisang only to find the entire village deserted.  Across the valley we heard the chanting of monks and saw everyone in Lower Pisang attending a big Buddhist festival.  

 

Deserted Upper Pisang

Buddhist Festival - prayer flags going up the mountainside and monks walking around the stupa

We were intending to lunch at some tea house in Upper Pisang but had to resort to finding a nice spot to have our emergency Snicker bar.

Not a bad spot for lunch

Trudging along with nothing to eat but a Snicker bar since about 7am we headed for the next village, on the map only about 3 or 4 km away.  What we failed to notice was the many closely spaced contour lines on the last 1 km.  The killer hill of Ghyaru – 1000m climb over about 1km distance.  I thought I would die.  We wheezed and panted up the hill, legs like jelly.  Our only consolation was that other trekkers 30 years younger were having the same difficulty. Ghyaru’s accommodation was basic to say the least.  It consisted of two very run down guest houses, even by Nepalese standards.  About a dozen trekkers and porters stayed at the first one, unable to walk a step more.  This guest house was being run by a slightly stoned Rhasta man who couldn’t quite get things together and it was hours before we got our dinner.  At 3680m it was getting pretty cold at night and since there wasn’t any electricity we all went to bed directly after dinner to shiver.  But as usual the dawn brings fantastic views of the mountains and we were ready to start again.

 

The next stop for Day 7 was Manang.  This is where the dirt road officially stops and is the place to acclimatise before the big ascent to the Thorung La Pass.  Unfortunately because there now is a rough road, which was carved out of the mountain about 5 years ago, many trekkers take a jeep from Besishahar all the way to Manang and start their trek from here.  Besides bypassing some great scenery and lovely villages, they do not acclimatise slowly, nor gain the fitness a week of walking gives you.  The consequence being every day helicopters air lift trekkers who have been struck down by altitude sickness.  We had already been over 3,000 m for a few days now but still had a rest day in Manang to explore and do some laundry.  Manang is a town set up for tourist but also has the old traditional section where the villages just get on with their lives.

Day 9 and still climbing up narrow alpine paths to our next stop, Ledar.  Now at over 4000m the pine trees have given way to scrubby junipers and we are feeling the reduced oxygen.  Yaks and wild mountain goats were grazing on the steep hillsides, lots of land slips and the track was often along scree slopes.  With no more road, as poor as it was, there are now more porters carrying goods to the remote villages and lodges.

 Day 10 and getting closer.  Hard climb to the Thoroung High Camp at 5350m. It was a pretty basic camp and quite cold.  It snowed overnight and we had a dusting of the white stuff to crunch through in the morning.

Day 10, the big day over the pass then down to Muktinath.  We started before dawn and were slowly (bistari, bistari) walking up the mountain across patchy snow patches.

This final ascent to the pass was probably the most physically demanding thing I have ever done.  We would take 10 or 20 slow plodding steps then have to stop and try to gulp more aire and let our pulse slow a little bit.  After about 3 ½ hours of this we reached the top.  It was fantastic, clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine reflected off the snow.  The most fantastic mountain peaks all around us.  We were feeling pretty good.  Lots of happy trekkers all around.