Annapurna Circuit (Part 5 - The Come Down)

After all the buildup to Thorong La, the descent which followed was something of an anticlimax. It didn't help that the next two days were along a long, dusty road and into a stiff head-wind. The walking woud have been a lot more pleasant if some of the dust had been replaced with water and trees.

The western side of the Annapurna trail (the part after Thorong La) has been accessible by road for the last 5 years. The good news, at least for this poor guy, is that he would no longer need to carry 38kg freezer up the mountain.

The bad news is that in just 5 years the style of the towns has already started to change. EVERYONE has freezers. The modernisation isn't in itself a bad thing and the local people's quality of life will probably be improved, but as a trekker the atmosphere wasn't as authentic. It wasn't all bad news, we did stay a couple of lovely campsites, one surrounded by an apple orchard and another nestled in a pine forest.

The food just kept getting better - over the entire 3 weeks I can't remember a single meal that I didn't enjoy. The kitchen-staff whipped up curries, stir fries, soups, dumplings, pastries and even baked us several pies and a couple of cakes! I'm still astounded at the variety of food they could prepare given they had to carry all the cooking equipment and fresh produce on their backs every step of the way.

Fortunately our chef was able to pick up some fresh local produce along the way. Three chickens were happily pecking around our tents at one campsite one afternoon but a little later they mysteriously disappeared. The mystery was solved at dinner - no worries, chicken curry.

Although no-one drunk any alcohol for the first 10 days, now that we were over the pass the atmosphere was more relaxed. There was a Bob Marley bar in every town and Kate and I dragged Margaret and Ruth along to most of them.

Although most days were gradually downhill, we did suffer through one very grueling day where we climbed about a million steps and 1500m in the pouring rain - the first bad weather of the entire trek. We were rewarded handsomely with a night in a hotel that even had a fire-place!

Once we got down into the Annapurna sanctuary the scenery was spectacular once again, rugged mountains with glaciers, steep gorges and thick forest. Although walking through a rain-forest shrouded in thick mist was spectacular...

not all of the views were quite so good.

We spent the final couple of nights in Pokhara, living it up in large, luxurious, individual tents with western toilets and a hot shower. Pokhara is a lovely city situated on a huge lake. It seemed quite similar to Kathmandu but without all the traffic, pollution and poverty. If I travel to Nepal again I would base myself there rather than in the capital.

Just when I was about to claim victory over the Annapurna Circuit a final challenge appeared: Yeti Airlines - "only 5 fatal crashes in the past 10 years!" Although the flight from Pokhara back to Kathmandu is supposed to be quite spectacular, it was quite cloudy and the windows were scratched and dirty so I couldn't see much. In hindsight, that might explain why so many of their planes plow into mountains.

Although I doubt any of them will ever the chance to read this blog, the porters, cooks, sherpas and in particular our guide Bikash deserve special thanks. They are all very talented and worked tirelessly day and night to make our trek run safely and smoothly. I take my hat off to them all.