Days 236-249 – 14 Days Trekking the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal

September 30^th – October 13^th, 2019

Over these 14 days we hiked 106 miles on the Annapurna Circuit including a two-day side trek to Tilicho Lake (the biggest, highest mountain lake in the world!).  We crossed over Thorong La Pass which was the highest we have ever been at 17,776 feet.  Very few of the 106 miles were easy as most all of them were up and down with steep climbs and even harder descents. We did it without a guide and carried all of our own stuff (which for me was the hardest part).  The scenery was breathtaking (the best I have seen), the food was delicious, the personal accomplishment was great, the culture was rich, and it is an experience I will never forget (nor soon want to do again). 

Writing this fresh off the trail, we can both say it was one of the hardest things we have ever done.  It was not just the physical aspect of hiking that made it difficult but both the mental and physical endurance to be trekking for this amount of time.  Although this trek is just child’s play for serious mountaineers and athletes, for us it was very challenging and definitely the most I would ever want to do.  I think it “cured” me from wanting to do treks longer than 7-10 days.  Maybe I’ll change my mind later, but for now I think one week of hiking at a time is good. 😊

Both Brendan and I agree the hardest physical thing we have ever done was summit Acatenango back in Guatemala at the beginning of our trip.  That was largely due to the physical shape we were in at the time.  Nothing on the Annapurna Circuit pushed us to the physical level like the volcano did, but again I think it was the summary of the 14 days on the trail that made it one of the hardest things we have done.  I couldn’t help but laugh when I read other travel bloggers describe the Annapurna Circuit as “pure bliss”.  Although I agree that the incredible scenery, the kids that run up and say “Namaste” and the good food are all a part of what make this place magical.  To describe it as “pure bliss” is leaving out a few critical details in my opinion. 

In summary (for those that might not want to read all the day-to-day details as I write it more for my own recollection than anything else) it was an amazing adventure and something I am super happy I did.  It is yet another highlight of our year traveling.  I am stronger both physically and mentally than I was before and feel more experienced and prepared to do other (shorter in duration) treks and climbs.  I am also extremely relieved it is over and we are back to doing regular, comfortable things.  I am so thankful to God that He protected us through the journey and we were able to do it without any incident.  Thank you to all those who had us in their prayers. The prayers worked, and we are back in Pokhara safe and sound!

DAY 1 – I had no idea the start of the circuit was still very far away from Pokhara as the bus ride to Besishahar was about seven hours.  Besishahar, I guess is the official starting point of the circuit although it seems few people actually start walking from there.  After talking to some others on the bus and looking at maps, we decided to take another local bus from Besishahar to Ngadi and start our trek there.  This cut out about three hours of walking on the road from Besishahar.  We heard the road was flat and dusty from all the buses and jeeps that drive by, so we were not sad to skip that part.  There used to not be roads in this region, but now it is possible to hire a jeep all the way to Manang (which took us five days to hike).  I guess this is a good option for those that don’t really have the time for the full circuit, but the sad part is many people are just driving by the villages with restaurants and guest houses.  This means the local people are having to close their doors as they can no longer survive on the tourist traffic.  Besides a couple places like Tilicho Lake and Thorong Pass, we really felt like we were walking the circuit by ourselves as we saw very few other trekkers.  Many times, we were the only guests at the tea houses at night even though we were entering peak season for trekking.  We started our trek from Ngadi and had a short 2.5-hour hike to Bahundanda.  Since the bus ride was so long today it was already 4:30pm when we reached Bahundanda.  We decided to stop for the night as we didn’t want to risk hiking in the dark as the next town could be a couple hours away.  It was also a good way to “warm up” to carrying our bags.  We stayed at a guest house with pretty mountain views with a guy from India and a couple from Germany we met on the bus ride here. 

Right off the bat I was worried about the couple from Germany being able to do the trek.  Within the first five minutes of hiking we got into some mud and the girl started freaking out saying “I don’t know where to step!” and “I hate this!”  I thought in my head she is going to have to get a lot tougher if she wants to hike the next two weeks.  As it turned out, we never actually saw them again after that first night (I think they probably changed their mind about doing the trek).

DAY 2 – Today we hiked 9.5 hours (including lunch and breaks) from Bahundanda to Tal.  It was a long day and although we only gained about 400 meters in elevation, the entire day was climbing up and down.  I didn’t like going down because I knew all that meant was, we were going to have to go back up and climb more every time. 

The biggest challenge of today was the leeches!  We are supposed to be going into dry season here but apparently they are having a longer than usual monsoon season.  We were so lucky to not get rained on at all during our trek while hiking, but last night it completely poured.  The leeches are the worst after the rain and we went through 20-minute sections where the ground looked like it was moving with all the squirming leeches!  If you stop even momentarily they will quickly squirm up your boot and burrow into your socks biting you. This left us trying to run through these extended sections while not slipping or tripping on the slippery rocks.  Brendan’s socks became bloody as a few still got to him despite our efforts to keep them off.  My boots were crawling with them but I was lucky and did not get any bites this time.  Thankfully, by tomorrow we will be at a high enough elevation we will not have to worry about leeches anymore. 

Today we saw a jeep that had gotten crushed by falling rocks that they were trying to tow away.  Landslides are a big danger here and luckily we heard that no one was in the jeep when it got crushed.  We finally made it to Tal and our bodies were telling us it had been an extremely long day!  We were both very sore.  Our Indian friend Rupum, was a bit behind us but ended up at the same guest house so we had another dinner together of dal baht.  This is a typical Indian/Nepali dish that they have at every guest house.  It is popularly known as “24-hour power” and is the only dish on the menu that is refillable.  So needless to say, we ate this every day.  It is a platter of rice, lentil soup, some sort of vegetable and a fried cracker thing.  Then they will refill your rice, veggies and lentil soup.  It is very good and I really liked it, but by the end of the trek I had pretty much had all the dal baht I could take. 

DAY 3 – Today we hiked 7.5 hours from Tal to Timang with a steep climb at the end.  We gained 2,500 feet in elevation but we had descended some in the beginning of the day leaving the climb at the end to be a gain of 3,500 feet in about two hours which was a bit tough.  I actually felt pretty strong through this part which I was thankful for.  However, I think every day of the trek there was at least one point where I wondered “why am I doing this”.  Usually this thought would happen before lunch time when I was ready for some fuel and a pick-me-up.  Today, I think I was also getting a bit discouraged as I told Brendan, “I haven’t seen one Himalaya mountain yet!”  Meaning… I had not seen any big snow-capped mountains that had drawn me to come to Nepal in the first place.  Although the scenery we were going through in the foothills was pretty, I was getting worried I might be disappointed with the lack of big mountain views on this trek.  We had been in Nepal over a week now and still no big mountains in sight.  I knew we were surrounded by peaks all over 20,000 feet and I didn’t know how they could be hiding for so long!  We made it to Timang with our friend Rupum and called it a day.  Now it is really starting to get cool at night.  There was a hot shower, but when getting out in the freezing cold with wet hair, my core temperature would plummet leaving my teeth chattering and lips purple.  From now on each guest house would have a wood stove in the dining room but this was the only place.  The rooms were super cold and I was very thankful for the new down, puffy jacket I got in Kathmandu.  Everything is made from stone here as wood is a limited resource as we get higher.  So even in the dining hall they only start the fire at 7pm for about an hour, and that is all you get for some fleeting warmth.  After my shower I had to order several cups of hot tea and a soup to get warm again.  Luckily the hot tea works remarkably well to warm you up from the inside.

DAY 4 – Today was another long 9.5-hour day of hiking as we went from Timang to Upper Pisang.  Each day we are totally sore and exhausted when we reach the guest house, but by the next morning our soreness is gone and we have the energy to keep going.  Today I finally saw some snow-capped mountains!  Yay! 

From here on out, the views only got more amazing and fulfilled my need for the “big mountain” feeling I was looking for. 

Our guest house at Upper Pisang was my favorite one of the trek.  It was made from wood so the rooms were much warmer than the regular stone ones.  We had an attached western toilet (all the toilets here are usually squat pans) and had beautiful mountain views. 

After the long day of hiking with our packs, when I set mine down in the bedroom and ran off to take pictures, I felt like I was actually floating.  Even though I was tired from the day hiking, I was amazed how effortless it felt to run up the stairs without my backpack. It was also amazing how cheap it was on the trail.  Tonight’s guest house was free since we ate dinner and breakfast there.  This was the case several times and if it was not free, it was usually between $2-4 for the room.  The highest we paid for a room was $5.  Meals were around $5 a person but always big portions and refillable dal baht.  Our average daily expense on the trail was between $10-15 per person.

DAY 5 –

Today was a total marathon day where we pushed and hiked for over 10 hours from Upper Pisang to Manang.  Since we chose the “Upper Pisang” route, it was much more difficult than if we would have stayed low on the road to Lower Pisang.  We were rewarded with amazing views though.  Sleeping at Upper Pisang last night was also good to help us acclimatize as it is at a higher elevation than where we sleep tonight at Manang. 

So, on our hike today we actually decreased in elevation but it wasn’t until after a BIG, steep climb with a lot of elevation gain.  We hiked up a huge hill to Ghyaru.  When we reached the top there was a lady who had a small bakery selling hot, fresh, personal sized apple pies and samosas for $1!  She had a place for us to sit with the most amazing mountain view as we ordered up the apple pies and samosas.  The sun was out, and it was a huge relief to be at the top of that big climb and I can say that was my most happy moment on the trek. 

We sat up there resting, taking in the sunshine and the incredible view with the most delicious snacks.  We ended up ordering four samosas and two apple pies!  We put two of them in our bag for later and really enjoyed the break.  The hike after that was one of my favorite parts because we were really getting into some incredible scenery.  Although my stomach was a bit unsettled from scarfing down one and a half samosas and one-half of an apple pie, the hike was still very enjoyable. 

We did a big descend down a steep and slippery path and it was at that point we realized we still had over two hours before we reached Manang.  It was not so much fun and we were really exhausted and on a very dusty road to Manang.  We knew if we just reached Manang, we would have two nights to stay in one place and have a full rest day tomorrow.  This is what pushed us to make it there today.  It is advised for hikers to take a rest/acclimatization day there before ascending higher.  Manang sits at 11,500 feet and after that, you are not supposed to sleep more than 1000-1640 feet higher that you did the night before.  We spent five days following signs that said “Manang” and FINALLY made it.

DAY 6 –

REST DAY!! Yay!!  Today was our designated rest/acclimatization day.  We were so ready for it.  We were supposed to go on a side hike to a higher elevation and then come back down and sleep in Manang, but neither Brendan nor I really wanted to do that.  We were not feeling any effects of the altitude so decided to really just rest.  We walked to a lake very close by that was serene and beautiful.  I felt an extreme lack of energy and motivation today so I was totally happy just taking the walk to the close-by lake.  We had beautiful weather and I found a big rock to lay on and soak up the sun, with beautiful views all around.  I actually literally felt myself recharging from this.  It was just what I needed.  I was filled with thoughts of gratitude for the opportunity to be in such an amazing place.  I started thinking how beautiful and amazing “nature” is, and how I think it was undeniably created for us to enjoy.  I thought how in our normal busy lives we often forget to take time to truly enjoy nature and I think everyone would be healthier if they did.  After my batteries were charged and I felt refreshed on life again, I picked myself up as I knew Brendan was probably getting bored.  Lol, he was happy too but I think has a harder time with stillness than I do. 

We went to an afternoon talk about altitude sickness from a volunteer doctor that works at the small clinic in Manang.  It was mostly stuff I already knew or had read about, but still very good information and a good way to support the small clinic that helps provide care to the local Nepali people.  We both checked our O2 stat just out of curiosity and were happy to know we were both staying in the upper 80’s when supposedly anything above 80 is a good number at this altitude.  At the highest point on Thorong Pass we will only have 50% of the oxygen we are used to breathing at sea level. 

DAY 7 – Today was one of my hardest days of the trek.  It was relatively short with only six hours of hiking but I started to have symptoms of altitude sickness.  Today was a big decision as we decided to take the path to Tilicho Lake which adds a minimum of 2-3 days to the trek. 

At this point there are no more roads on the trek so that backup sense of security is gone.  We, along with Rupum really wanted to do it but I still was quite nervous knowing that all the hard parts of the trek were still to come, and we have done so many hard things already.  The first several days were hard just getting conditioned to hiking and carrying our packs.  Now we are up in elevation which makes everything more difficult and supposedly the hardest part of the circuit is the hike from Tilicho Lake base camp to the lake.  We decided to go for it though, as we were all feeling pretty good in Manang. 

Today we would hike to the base camp of the lake and tomorrow do “the hardest part of the circuit” and go to the lake for sunrise.  I was doing fine for about the first three hours.  Then once we reached 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) I started feeling the altitude.  We had not been taking the Diamox (altitude sickness medicine) as we thought we were maybe able to acclimatize on our own without it.  They recommend you take it a few days before you reach high altitude but our trek was so long I didn’t want to be on it for so many days.  In hindsight, I probably should have started taking it in Manang.  Once we got to 4,000 meters I got a pounding headache and super nauseous. They describe the beginning stages of acute mountain sickness as feeling “hung over” and that was a great description.  It was like I was trying to do this incredibly physically demanding hike with the worst hangover.  I had to stop numerous times to catch my breath and try not to throw up.  It was also during the most nerve-wracking part of the trek.  To get to Tilicho Lake base camp you have to cross over a huge landslide area that is about 1.5 hours long.  Thousands of people do it every year without incident but it is still a bit scary.  When you get to the start there is a sign that says “landslide area” as if it wasn’t completely obvious.  Then when you get to the end there is a sign that says, “thank you”.  I don’t know if it is saying thank you for not dying, or just for making the effort to go this way but it made me laugh even being as sick as I felt. 

It felt like forever before we finally reached base camp.  We were there by 1:30 in the afternoon but this is a popular side trek with limited facilities so there were already no rooms available.  Luckily, we got into a community room which was just a bunch of pads on the floor.  By nighttime there were probably close to 15-20 people sleeping in that space.  I felt so sick I went right to bed after taking some Diamox.  I was totally amazed how quick that medicine worked and by the evening I was feeling much better.  Earlier in the day I was questioning if I could even continue on with the trek.  I thought it might be over for me but once I started feeling better I realized that was just me feeling the effects of the altitude and once I was more acclimatized everything would be better.  We had dinner and went to bed in preparation for our sunrise hike to the lake. 

DAY 8 – Today we started at 3:15am and were on the trail by 4am to go to Tilicho Lake.  It was a steep climb gaining about 3,000 feet and took us three hours.  We were very lucky and had absolutely perfect weather with clear skies.  You go early to avoid high winds and clouds as morning is the calmest time in the Himalayas.  I felt so much better today than yesterday.  I also did not have to carry a pack as we were hiking up and back down to the same place so we only needed water.  Brendan was awesome and carried water for both of us and that really made the trek a lot easier without having the pack. 

I was relieved that I thought “the hardest part” of the circuit wasn’t that awful.  It was hard, don’t get me wrong but it didn’t kill me.  We got towards the top (over 16,000 feet) and were rewarded with the absolute best views of the trek.  I totally got the “big mountain” views I came to Nepal searching for.  It was amazing. 

Since we left so early there were only like 4 other people at the top so we basically had the lake and unobstructed views to ourselves.  This was really the gem of the trek in my opinion.  On our way down, there was a steady stream of hikers going up, and the clouds rolled in, obstructing all the majestic mountain views.  I felt very fortunate we got there when we did.  It was extremely cold so we could only stay at the top for about 30 minutes before we needed to keep moving and make our way down.

Rupum reached the top right as we were headed down and he said it was the hardest thing he had ever done.  I could sympathize as I remembered feeling the same way on Acatenango and it was really cool to get to share that incredible moment with him when he reached the top, and it was all so worth it. 

The way down was super long and we were both exhausted at the bottom.  Now Brendan wasn’t feeling that well and went right to bed after taking the altitude medicine.  A lot of people hiked back over the landslide area today but that is another 2-3 hours of hiking which neither of us wanted to do.  Even though it was still morning we had already hiked 5.5 hours and 18 kilometers for the day.  We asked if they had a room for tonight, and we got the last one.  When Rupum came down they had no more rooms available and he didn’t want to stay in the dorm again so he decided to push through and go back over the landslide area to the town on the other side.  So, after eight days, we said goodbye to our new friend Rupum and he pushed on.  Brendan and I slept and rested the rest of the day.  There was no WiFi and not much to do besides rest.  I was trying to mentally prepare going back over the landslide area tomorrow which I was dreading. 

DAY 9 – Today we hiked about seven hours from Tilicho Lake Base camp back over the landslide area to Yak Kharka. 

Thank God it wasn’t as bad going back over the landslide area, as it was when I was feeling so sick coming over the day before yesterday.  After we were passed that part, I felt relieved to have the one big challenge of “Tilicho Lake” done with.  Now just one more to go with Thorong Pass in a couple days.  Today was also pretty tough though as I was battling being really nauseous.  B and I noticed how usually one of us feels good and one of us feels bad each day, but it is usually opposite which is good so there is still at least one strong person for the day.  I have no idea why I was so nauseous as it could have been one of many factors or a combination.  It could have been the altitude, something I ate, new prescription medication that I had to get in Thailand when I ran out of my US pills, or even eight days of drinking water exclusively purified with chlorine tablets.  Anyway, we made it through another day and trekked through a lot of beautiful autumn scenery in the mountains. 

I thought how this year we have experienced three different autumns.  It was autumn when we hiked in Patagonia, the end of autumn in Australia with the trees at beautiful colors, and now autumn in the Himalayas.  It is one of my favorite times so I felt lucky to experience it so much in one year in different beautiful places.  

DAY 10 – Today was when the difficulty of doing a long trek settled in with me.  We had already seen such magnificent mountain views, the endurance needed to keep going was becoming hard to find.   This point we were too far in to “give up” and the quickest way to be done was to get over the pass opposed to turning around and going back the way we came.  It was hard to think we still had to go over the pass, which will surely be one of our longest and most difficult days. 

I might have been physically tired, but it was more of a mental tiredness than anything else.  Day after day of having to get up in the freezing cold to change out of dry sleep clothes to put on filthy, wet, cold hiking clothes was really wearing on me.  Old disgusting socks were put back on to hike a difficult path all day with a heavy pack. 

This morning I was tired of the normal porridge I have been eating for breakfast and I ordered a bowl of mashed potatoes instead, and that was a good choice. 

It is really impressive the food they make up here.  At this point every supply had to be carried up on someone’s back or by a mule.  There are obviously no stores, so everything they make is completely 100% from scratch.  The bread is freshly baked, the veggies are what they grow, the mushrooms they have hunted, and they still give you a pretty big menu to chose from.  You always order your breakfast the night before as everything takes a long time to prepare.  If you order a veggie burger they cut up all the vegetables and hand make an individual patty.  If you order vegetable soup they freshly chop all the veggies and make the soup from scratch just enough for the one bowl that you order.  So, a lot of times when you order dinner it takes like an hour or even two before it is ready since they do it all from scratch.  We always ordered one dish of dal baht for dinner for the refillable 24-hour power, but then would usually order a second dish of something else and it was all very good. 

Today was a pretty short day from Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi which is the base camp of the pass.  It was early in the day when we arrived at base camp and we would have liked to continue on to “high camp” to make crossing the pass tomorrow that much shorter, but that would have been exceeding the maximum elevation gain we should do for the day.  For the last 10 days I have been trying not to think of all the complications that can happen from acute mountain sickness such as high altitude cerebral and pulmonary edema.  Complications that cause people to be helicoptered out of here.  Although I am sure we would have been fine going on to high camp, I thought it was better not to push it and stay within the recommended guidelines for elevation gain.  So, we had a short hiking day and decided to rest and take it easy to be ready for the pass tomorrow. 

I really tried not to psych myself out about it, but it is really intimidating to think you might be about to do the hardest thing you have ever done.  When does that ever sound fun?  It also didn’t help that I just read in October of 2014, forty-three people died trying to go over the pass when a massive snowstorm hit.  Luckily the weather now seemed very good.  We saw some people hiring horses for the next day to take them to the top for $100.  This sounded pretty good but we had come too far not to make it on our own.

DAY 11 – Thorong La Pass.  We got up at 3:45am and ended up on the trail by about 4:20am to head for the pass.  You have to go early once again before the wind gets too strong.  We were again blessed with a perfectly clear day.  We would climb over 3,000 feet to make it to the top in about five hours and then spend another three hours descending.  The hardest part of the day was the steep ascent from base camp to high camp.  I had to stop numerous times to catch my breath and was really wishing we could have done this part yesterday.  However, our biggest challenge turned out to be something I wasn’t expecting.  It wasn’t the steep climb with difficulty breathing.  It wasn’t my screaming leg muscles that were telling me I was going uphill, like I didn’t already know.  It wasn’t my heavy pack weighing me down.  It was the cold!  Anytime we have hiked before, if you just keep moving you generally stay warm enough.  This was not the case on this clear and bitterly cold morning.  Our biggest problem was our fingers.  We were told it was not necessary to get “good” gloves for this trek.  I had a slightly better pair than Brendan did just because it was what was available in my size at the trekking shop.  But Brendan only had a pair of fleece gloves that were more like liners.  He said his fingers were very cold and painful, and I was becoming increasingly nervous about frostbite.  I know it is a real threat at this altitude as the oxygen supply to your skin is significantly reduced.  I had to fight back tears because all I could think about was how awful it would be if he had any permanent damage to his fingers.  The other problem was Brendan had misplaced his headlight so I had given him mine.  This meant we had one light between us so I had to stick super close to him as we went up the steep mountain to high camp in the dark.  I kept needing to stop to catch my breath and I knew it was important for him to keep moving for his fingers.  I would tell him to go but he would wait and we very slowly made our way to high camp.  It took us 1.5 hours to go ¾ of a mile.  We finally made it to high camp and I was so relieved to have that part of the climb over because I knew it was the worst part. 

From now until the pass, slow and steady is the name of the game with a much less steep ascent.  The people who had stayed at high camp the night before were all finishing their breakfast and making their way out the door to head over the pass.  We went into the dining area to order tea as I knew we needed to let our fingers warm up before going back out.  I wanted to stay there as long as it took for the feeling to come back to our fingers and for them to de-thaw.  But another groups’ guide saw us and told us we really needed to get going if we were going to make the pass today because if it gets much later than 9am when we make the top, the wind can be too strong.  So, the option was to leave now or stay a whole extra day at high camp.  I really did not want to spend another day up there in a freezing cold room with nothing to do except sit around and wait all day thinking about crossing the pass tomorrow.  We finished our tea quickly and our fingers started to come back to life.  We bundled up as much as possible and went back out. By this time the sun was rising which was a very good thing for warmth. 

It is funny writing about this now as I realize nothing was really that bad.  There were tons of people going over the pass, we could have stayed at high camp if we needed, we could have even hired a horse if it came down to it.  But in the moment, everything felt so much more dramatic and intense.  I think when you are up there and your muscles are fatigued, you are completely exhausted, and only breathing half the oxygen you are used to, it just messes with your head and you feel everything is so intense!  So, I am not writing anything to be dramatic but just recalling how it felt.  Which now it is easy to look back and see the reality of the situation which is far less dramatic than how it felt in the moment.

Anyway, the next three hours were extremely slow going.  The trail had a dusting of fresh snow which became very slick as all the trekkers dredged through it.  The rest of the ascent was much more gradual but it is still crazy how slow you move.  

We would hike to a  ridge where we kept hoping to see the top of the pass on the other side but it would just be another section of trail leading to another ridge.  After several false excitements about being there we finally saw a ton of prayer flags in the distance and I knew that was it!  I choked back a few tears at the extreme relief that we had made it!  That nothing bad had happened, that we spent 11 days to arrive here, and we finally did.  That it was literally all downhill from that point on, and I no longer had to be nervous about if we could “do it” or not.  We did it! 

Other bloggers said Tilicho Lake was the hardest part, but for me it was definitely going over Thorong Pass.  Maybe because I had my pack for the pass and not the lake, but regardless I was SOOO happy to be at the top.  We spent about 30 minutes up there taking pictures and enjoying the views trying to soak up every moment.  It was pretty amazing to be at nearly 18,000 feet and look all around at mountains that were STILL taller.  It was definitely an awesome moment. 

We started the trail down the other side and I now felt like a huge weight had been lifted.  I was no longer worried about anything like I had been the last 11 days.  I thought going down was easy and that was the first thing that felt easy about the trek.  Brendan has an easier time going up and I had an easier time going down. 

After about two hours of going down, we finally reached the first sign of civilization again.  Brendan’s knees and hips were feeling pretty weak at that point so we stopped for a coke, and I got a big plate of noodles with tomato sauce and cheese that was awesome. 

Another hour or so after lunch we made it to the town of Muktinath.  With our breaks it took us nine hours to climb up 3,000 feet and come down 6,000 feet.  It was around 1:30pm when we reached the town and I was so excited. 

We found the nicest looking lodge and were shown a beautiful corner room with two walls of windows looking out over the town and mountains.  They said they had WiFi and a hot shower, and the sun was beaming in through the windows. 

I threw all my stuff down and plopped down on the bed in the sun. 

We asked for the WiFi password only to get the response “oh there is no power now”.  Okay… so you actually do not have WiFi or a hot shower? “Right”. 

There was no way we were picking all our stuff back up and going back down the three flights of stairs in search for another hotel.  So, we stayed with the wishful thinking that maybe the power was going to come back on soon.  The power in these places is a bit like the fire they only make for one hour a day.  Everything is a costly resource so they don’t switch on the power until critical times such as dinner but they won’t actually tell you that.  They just act like they don’t know why there is no power.  Brendan took a cold shower, but I couldn’t do it with it still being cold outside.  So, I settled for yet another round of face wipes for my bath.  I had too much adrenaline to just go to sleep at 1:30 in the afternoon after coming down from the pass.  I was also too physically tired to want to go ‘walk around’ or go up a bunch of stairs to a temple or something.  All I really wanted to do was just lay down and do WiFi things.  The power never came on though until dinner time, and they switched it on at 6pm for a couple of hours.  So, I just spent the afternoon literally laying there staring out the window.  We went down for dinner and it was the first time we did not order dal baht as we no longer needed the 24-hour power.  I was very tired of dal baht anyway.  We ordered two separate dishes but it was the first time we finished dinner and were still hungry because we didn’t have the dal baht refill.  We ordered a third dish and finally were full enough to go to bed.   We slept well!

DAY 12–

It is so funny that each day on the trek, I had such high hopes for whatever the next village we would be staying in was.  I would daydream all day about maybe the village having a store where I could buy this item or that.  I would think, maybe they will have a western toilet or the fireplace blazing right when we get there.  I don’t know why I would always have my hopes up because usually there was really nothing in the villages.   At one-point Brendan said,  “ Well what do you expect?  That we are just going to walk up to a village with a Taco Bell?”  I had definitely been day dreaming about one village in particular called Marpha.   I had heard such great things about Marpha since way back in Kathmandu.  Everyone told us not to miss it, and that it was super charming and a great place to relax a couple days after the Pass.  It is supposedly the perfect climate to grow apples so it is full of orchards and freshly picked apples and homemade apple cider.  I had envisioned a beautiful, lush oasis nestled in the mountains where birds were chirping, dogs were playing and apple cider was freely flowing. 

Now that we had come down from the pass, we were back in a town that was accessible by a road.  We decided to take the bus from here to Jomson because we didn’t want to hike on the incredibly dusty road. The bus ride was about an hour long and we saw just a few trekkers hiking on the road getting sandblasted with dust from the bus so I was happy we didn’t walk.  We reached Jomson and decided to walk the short six kilometers to Marpha. 

I thought this would be on a hiking trail but as it turned out, for the most part it was on the dusty road.  We got absolutely pounded by dirt and dust.  My throat was sore for days afterward from inhaling all the dirt.  We reached Marpha and I was like “this is it?”

It was a complete dust bowl and I didn’t see any green or apple trees at all.  It was probably in the least beautiful setting out of the whole Annapurna Circuit.  I was in desperate need of a hot shower and told Brendan I didn’t care what the room would cost, let’s stay someplace nice for the night with power.  As it turned out, the nicest thing Marpha had to offer was a $2.63 room that was much like all the others we stayed in on the circuit.  It did however have a hot shower and I felt like a new person after that!  It is amazing how refreshed on life I was after a simple shower. 

After the shower we went back out to explore, and it was amazing how my whole perspective on Marpha was different.  Although it wasn’t the green oasis I had envisioned in my head, it was indeed a cute and charming place and I began to see why people liked it.  It was really quaint and we found a spot for some Mo Mo’s and an apple cider.

I thought how it is so hard to change your perspective on something or even understand a different perspective if you do not change your situation.  Before my shower, my situation was such that I could only see the town in a certain way.  By changing my situation, I could now see the town in a new, completely different light.  Things you think about when you have had 12 days inside your own head with very little outside interaction… We enjoyed the rest of our day and spent the evening talking with an orthopedic surgeon who is here with his son from Spokane, WA. 

DAYS 13 & 14 –

The next two days we did a little hiking on very dusty roads with two very long bus rides to get back to Pokhara.  We had a choice to make since we had extra time if we wanted to continue on hiking and do a six-day extension trek to Annapurna base camp.  This is another popular route taken by those who do not have time to do the circuit.  Hopefully I won’t regret this decision later, but we were both ready to be done with the hike.  It wasn’t even the hiking part I was over, it was more the dirty clothes, carrying my pack, and the bare bones accommodations that I needed a break from.  Six more days just didn’t sound like it would be fun anymore.  We decided to leave the park and go back to Pokhara.  From there we will have about a week before our flight to India and we thought it would be cool to explore some other areas of Nepal by motorbike.  After a terribly long, 8-hour bus ride where neither of us had a seat and had to stand on the stair of the bus with the door open because it was so jam packed, we FINALLY made it back to Pokhara. 

It was so nice to be back at the comfortable Harvest Moon Guest House.  What we saw on the trek was absolutely amazing and I am so glad we did it but it felt really good to be done.