Annapurna Circuit (Part 2 - Nepali Flats)

We left for the Annapurna circuit the same morning that the Kathmandu Marathon was being run. Slightly different to a normal marathon, it takes place on a 5km loop of busy city streets and the athletes are forced to weave amongst the traffic. From what I could tell, competitors run laps of the circuit until they are either hit by a bus, or collapse from the exhaust fumes and pollution. The last man standing is then declared the winner.

Getting from Kathmandu to Besisaha looked easy enough, a simple 120 kilometer trip along the Pokara "Highway". However this particular section of road shared more common features with the surface of the moon than with an actual highway so the trip took 7 hours. At least we got to ride on the inside of the bus!

The actual trekking started the next morning at an altitude of 800m. The first few days were long as we weaved gently uphill along the banks of the Marsyangdi river crossing it several times on spectacular suspension bridges.

The scenery was vibrantly green with rice paddies terraced high into the mountains and a few patches of subtropical jungle.

Small villages dotted the trail and we shared the path with chickens, cows and children on their way to school.

Although I actually quite enjoyed the hot steamy weather, it took its toll on some of the more chronologically advanced amongst our group.

Each afternoon we would stop at a different picturesque campsite directly beside the river and while our porters assembled the tents and prepared dinner we were free to take a bath, read a book or try our luck at Irish Patience. After dinner we would retire to our tents and fall asleep to the roar of the river. Its a tough life... :)