Diary of a trip to Annapurna Base Camp

In the spring of 2018, trekking in Annapurna Base Camp pleased with interesting weather (exactly interesting), a cheerful group and, of course, lush flowering of rhododendrons. This story is about how we reached Annapurna and how it reached us.

This was far from my first trip to Annapurna (perhaps the tenth, I didn’t count) and the freshness of my perception raises natural doubts. But each trip and each group is unique and inimitable, which means I will have something to tell.

Collection in Kathmandu

This time I flew to Nepal alone and there was no one to entertain me with stories about Nepalese adventures. To kill time on the transfer, I wrote short instructions for spending the night at Sharjah airport and devoured a whole bag of sandwiches))

In Kathmandu at the beginning of the trek, as always, we didn’t sit around much and the very next morning after our arrival we left for Pokhara (start at 5:00).

When we stopped at a roadhouse for breakfast along the way, I took a moment and ran down to the river. I don’t know how true this is, but it seemed to me that the water level this year is lower than usual.

The rest of the participants (if I'm not mistaken) were much more impressed by the chaotic traffic in Nepal and the distinctive design of Nepalese trucks.

Walking tour of Pokhara

By noon we were in Pokhara, had a quick lunch and went on a city tour. The standard scenario for such an evening excursion is simple - we hire boats, cross the lake, go up to the Mira Stupa, it starts to rain, we sail back.

This time we acted outside the box. We arrived at the Mira Stupa by minibus, quickly looked around everything (the guys even knocked on a tambourine during a service in a Japanese monastery) and realized that we had never walked around. It was too early to go down to the boats and swim to the hotel; my legs needed activity after 8 hours of sitting in the minibus.

Ullery, Ghorepani, Poon Hill

Every year the road gets closer and closer to the mountains and thereby shortens the classic trek to Annapurna Base Camp. 9 years ago (when we were just starting to study Nepal), groups arrived in Ulleri at sunset after an exhausting trek through rice fields and a desperate assault on the Thousand Steps. And now this village is actually connected to civilization - a road has been built here. This is me hinting that you shouldn’t put off visiting Nepal.

In Ulleri, we celebrated the anniversary of Oleg (one of the participants in the hike) in a big way (there was a cake!!) and the next day we easily and naturally rode to Ghorepani.

Compared to the spring of 2017, the jungle around Ghorepani was simply glowing pink - the rhododendrons were blooming incredibly wildly. A year ago in March there was an unplanned cold snap and heavy snowfall, which caused many flowers to freeze. But this time the spring was warm and the rhododendrons were blooming in full force.

The evening trip to Poon Hill also went smoothly and, as far as I understand, the main impression of the day for many was the sizzlers - steaks sizzling and blazing with flames, which were served in our shelter))

Tadapani, Chuile

In the morning I couldn’t find a way out of my sleeping bag... And the altitude is still not great - some 2800 meters. Well, okay, let's chalk it up to fatigue and lack of sleep. The alarm clock was set for 4 am.

The morning, by the way, turned out to be very warm (+11) and it was bad. It’s not that I really wanted frost, it was just that the warmth was associated with cloudiness. I went out into the courtyard of the shelter to check the weather and could not discern a single star in the sky. But small puddles on the concrete were easily found. Later they told me that just a couple of hours earlier, a squall hit the windows of the shelter and the rain and wind woke up several tourists.

And do you know what this says? The fact that sleep disturbances at altitude is the most common thing. Many people have already started dreaming about all sorts of bullshit. Others woke up in the middle of the night and then could not sleep.

We ran up to Poon Hill quite quickly. Well, much faster than yesterday. But not because we were in a hurry, but because we gained strength during the night. In any case, it turned out a little early - the sun had just begun to rise from behind the eastern hills and we could quickly freeze without waiting for the real dawn.

Another 20 minutes passed and it became completely light and a little sad. Clouds covered the two long-awaited eight-thousanders in a dense layer, and we could only see a narrow strip of sky in the East. Nepalese students lifted the mood a little - a large group of young people cheerfully and loudly took pictures in T-shirts. The guys were screaming, the girls were screaming, the photographers were looking smartly at the screens.

A little later, the dawn breeze blew and slightly dispersed the clouds over South Annapurna, but the group learned about the existence of Dhaulagiri only two hours later. Yes, we quickly went down to the shelter, had breakfast, and already at 9 am we disconnected from the Internet (Wi-Fi was working) and set out on the route.

And here the mountains finally opened up - Annapurna and Khinchuli and Dhaulagiri. Therefore, we walked slowly, stopped at every parking lot, photographed each other and the blooming rhododendrons against the backdrop of the Himalayas.

By the way, rhododendrons are suitable not only for photography. Gary (our porter) showed us how to properly eat their blossoms, and the group excitedly began chewing on the rose petals. Whatever you say, food is one of the most important entertainments not only on a hike, but in a person’s life in general:)

In the village of Deurali we traditionally stopped for a rest before starting a long descent. It turned out that they organized their own analogue of Pun Khil here - they built an observation tower on a hill and are trying to promote it under the name Gurung Hill.

The descent down the canyon this time was very dry and clean. It would have been great here in sneakers, but the morning snow took its toll and many people were wearing boots today. But there was no opportunity to change shoes, since by that moment the porters with luggage had run far ahead.

We walked in a dense group, periodically mixing with a “parallel” group of Chinese. Every 15-20 minutes an unusual plot was repeated - several porters rushed past us, screaming and hooting. Then they stopped for a rest, we overtook them and everything was repeated all over again.

Someone wondered why the porters were running downhill and not walking calmly. Then Harry (our sirdar) showed the technique of quickly descending on half-bent legs, and for the next hour and a half we had fun running down like porters.

The lodge in Chuil, where we have been staying for several years now, has made a small but pleasant improvement - there are sockets in the rooms, and Wi-Fi has become more stable. I was even able to talk to the house via Viber.

Hiking yoga and the road to Chomrong

For the first time in many days, I woke up on my own, long before the alarm clock rang. It seems that jet lag and chronic fatigue from the pre-hiking hustle and bustle began to recede - I was drawn into a healthy hiking rhythm of life.

There were still 40 minutes before breakfast and I calmly managed to do most of the morning preparations - packed a sleeping bag, took a towel and washed clothes from drying, took photos from my phone, answered a couple of emails, published a post on Facebook, washed the thermos, folded my backpack and selected the pills I needed for today. Everything said that today we would be able to leave early. This is always a good thing, even if you are not late for anything.

The reality turned out to be somewhat different, but no less pleasant. At breakfast it became clear that there was no need to rush anywhere. People enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of our shelter. Some were doing yoga on the grass in front of the lodge, some were photographing the mountains, some were slowly rearranging their clothes. Such iddylic moments are very important for creating the overall “mood” of the trip and, of course, they should not be violated.

However, there was a little action this morning. The three of us, Tolya and Yura, were pressing a trunk with things. Today, boots and many warm clothes “returned” to it, the trunk became much thicker, and the zipper did not want to be fastened. Of course, we defeated her and it was a warm-up no worse than yoga. Unfortunately, no one caught it on camera, but I hope you take my word for it:))

The first couple of hours continued relaxed trekking. Around are Nepalese vegetable gardens, terraces planted with some kind of cereals, melancholy buffaloes. Nepalese pastoral. Max said that this is the spitting image of the Poltava outback and I completely agree with him.

Then the sun got hot and the heat made the hike a little less comfortable. As it became clear in the evening, at this crossing many people’s hands got burned and their shirts became sweaty)) But in the evening the weather improved, and their clothes became cleaner. But more on that a little later.

Lunch at Chomrong, like everything else today, was relaxed. Moreover, not only we were relaxing, but also the cooks in the kitchen (I didn’t see them there at all). Nevertheless, the food came from somewhere and we ate it and continued to watch some sports channel, drinking brewed coffee (a very popular drink for this group). Does anyone remember why we moved on?

After lunch it started to rain and we had to walk faster... even faster... and in the end it was quite fast. The harmless mushroom rain turned into a decent downpour with a strong headwind. However, no one was surprised by this, since everyone had been warned. According to my personal statistics, it rained 80% of the time on this section of the route. And today these statistics have once again been confirmed.

Fast and Bold

Yesterday's bad weather had long passed and at 5:30 am, when the alarm rang, the sky was clear and the mountains were high again.

Today we only have to walk 10 km, and in theory we could sleep longer. But we didn’t want to get caught in the evening downpour again, so we decided to cover as much of the route as possible in good weather (i.e. before lunch).

We walked really fast and I even had to specially slow down the group so that no one would get overtired and the climb would be smoother.

I can’t remember any special adventures (although only a couple of hours passed). Well, except that there were too many people on the trail again - it was a large Chinese group rolling down from Base Camp. And somehow there were too many helicopters flying back and forth. Unlike the trek to Everest, evacuation by helicopter from under Annapurna is not such a widespread phenomenon. Therefore, I assumed that these were not sanitary flights, but excursion flights. At the same time, high above us, a trike buzzed, heading from Annapurna to Pokhara. It's not clear where it came from. Did he really break into base camp while we were having breakfast?

Numerous streams and rivulets that we had to cross today (flimsy bridges and such) turned out to be not very deep. It looks like this spring is much drier than last. To find confirmation of this, I began to peer into the shoes of the tourists descending towards us. Their boots were indeed completely dry. And a year ago, damp shoes were common among everyone they met.

At dinner, our people didn’t eat as much as they slept. The bravest ones stretched out right on the warm stone slabs that lined the Himalaya lodge. The rest dozed in their chairs - first while waiting for food, and then on the warm waves of satiety.

I didn’t waste any time at lunch either. For fun, I tried to use my camera to see who was grazing on the rock 300 meters above us. Something big, brown and voracious was moving there. Most likely it was a Himalayan goat. But because of its large size, all sorts of yetties, grizzlies and other unlikely animals kept coming to mind.

Beyond the Himalaya there was a surprisingly intense climb. The surprising thing here is that after lunch the groups usually walk much slower, but we were just rushing... probably towards dinner))

After 40 minutes we settled down in the Hinku Cave. Russian climbers, who were going to Tent Peak, slowly walked past, crushed by heavy backpacks. I determined their nationality by their backpacks, and simply asked about the purpose of the trip. The guys actually had a lot of junk, and hiring at least one porter would not have hurt. Although, this is no longer my business.

Already at 15:20 we were in Deurali. There were no longer double rooms waiting for us, but four-bed rooms. I don’t know about the rest, but personally, I feel even calmer this way - there’s less chance that someone will suffer from altitude sickness, and no one will know about it.

There’s virtually nowhere to go from here to the radio, so for the rest of the evening we played something... probably. Damn, I don’t remember - I need to write everything down at once))

Annapurna Base Camp

The devil pulled me to listen to our sirdar and order breakfast. We agreed that it would be ready at 6, but in fact, at the appointed time, we were still sleeping in the kitchen. In principle, now the half-hour delay in leaving did not play a big role (there is little snow ahead and the group is fast), but it would still be safer to walk to the next lodge on an empty stomach and have a normal breakfast there.

But in the morning it was +5, not -3, as yesterday’s forecast promised. The air did not burn my lungs, there was no wind. And most importantly, there was no snow at all, like in the fall. And where a year ago we slid painfully (not everyone had ice access) on icy avalanche drifts, this spring we walked very comfortably and safely.

We were at Machapuchhare base camp already at 9 am, along with the first rays of the sun. Annapurna, Annapurna South, Gangapurna, Annapurna 3 and Machapuchhare were great to view and photograph. It seemed to me that we sat down to the second breakfast (more time for acclimatization) with a complete feeling of celebration. The weather was very good and the mountains around were very beautiful.

Of course there were signs of height. Some of my heads ached, my lungs were breathing heavily, my legs weren’t moving as quickly. But overall, the mood was high.

We went out towards the Annapurna base camp in summer style - in light windbreakers and with trousers rolled up to the knees. But after 20 minutes of travel the weather changed. The gorge was covered with clouds and a cold wind blew. I had to stop to get dressed.

There was still no snow underfoot - just like in autumn. Only on the northern slope of Khinchuli there was some snow. Well, on the last 10 meters before the base camp there was a tiny speck of snow. Not surprisingly, we reached our goal very quickly. At the base camp we were accommodated in two rooms - with 3 and 9 beds. Of course, I was happy again, because... in a large room it is easier to look after the miner.

We began to prepare for the radial trek to the glacier. We warmed ourselves up, put on boots, gaiters, hats, gloves... and suddenly decided to have lunch. While we were having lunch, it began to snow. Moreover, it went powerfully and obviously for a long time, so it would hardly have been possible to wait it out. So we took off our down jackets, put on our raincoats and went to get wet.

Overboard it was actually more wet than cold. The temperature was above zero, the roof was dripping, but the snow was falling so heavily that the completely insane forecast seemed quite logical, saying that it was now -5, and at night it would be -10.

We walked very slowly and very carefully to the monument to Bukreev and further along the edge of the moraine rampart. Visibility was no more than 200 meters and it seemed that we were at the edge of the universe, although it was just a stone's throw from Base Camp.

Sometimes, depending on the mood, so to speak, I write that gaiters (shoe covers) are not a mandatory item of equipment for trekking in Nepal.
Today, walking without gaiters was completely... no, not impossible, but unpleasant. Fortunately, we had a large group, and the guys without shoe covers simply stood at the “tail” of our caravan to follow the well-trodden path.

A cute Nepalese dog, who went for a walk with us, provided us with considerable help in building the trail. Often I simply followed in his footsteps, since there were very few other landmarks in the area.

By the way, we went for a walk in this weather for a reason, but to combat altitude sickness. After all, immediately upon arrival at Annapurna Base Camp, a couple of people complained of a headache of the “pressing in the back of the head” format. If you sit motionless in the dining room in this state, or even sleep, it will most likely get worse. But if you have the opportunity to take a relaxing walk in the fresh air, your chances of recovery increase significantly.

In addition, I wanted to work up a little appetite before dinner. The food up there is not as tempting as it usually is on hikes.

So we wandered around in the pouring snow until we had completed the allotted 60 minutes for acclimatization.

Upon returning to the shelter, we hung out our raincoats to dry (a hopeless task), changed our shoes and went to wait for dinner. Wi-Fi worked and I continued my search for an adequate weather forecast. I wanted to understand whether the snowfall would stop and whether we had a chance of getting out of this trap tomorrow without being washed away by avalanches.

After a meeting with the porters and the owner of the shelter, a decision was made in the morning, immediately after meeting the dawn, to leave Base Camp without breakfast or other delays.

Dawn over Annapurna

It was warm at night. Even at 2:00 the roof was dripping. And only at 5 am the icicles began to appear. In the room at the time of ascent it was +5, and outside -4. And it seems to me that we owe such a significant difference to the shared 9-bed room.

The results of an overnight stay at an altitude of 4100 meters were very good. One of the tourists woke up with a headache (he, however, fell asleep with it). Another had a apnea attack during the night. Apnea is when you briefly forget to breathe during your sleep and wake up suffocating. Cool?

The rest were more or less fine. No one felt sick or had a fever. We quickly packed our sleeping bags and went to watch the sunrise (scheduled for 5:45).

The clouds finally parted, the snow stopped and the Annapurna Sanctuary (the amphitheater of mountain peaks surrounding the base camp) could be seen in all its glory.

However, we saw not only mountains. Before our eyes, a powerful avalanche descended from the bridge between South Annapurna and Khinchuli. Moreover, this happened even before the sun illuminated this section of the ridge, which was especially alarming, since it called into question the effectiveness of our plan to “sneak to the sun.”

Nevertheless, we quickly drank some tea and, at the same time as the first rays of sunshine, hit the trail. It immediately became warm and even hot. I walked in single trousers and a thin thermal jacket. The sun was blinding with terrible force and we definitely needed sunglasses and a hat with a visor.

After 40 minutes of downhill, we did not stop at the Machepuchukhare Base Camp and immediately moved to Deurali. This section of the descent was not yet illuminated by the sun, and it was cool in the gorge. In a good way, we could have thrown on a jacket, but the avalanche danger warmed up the body quite well.

At one of the sections, I spotted lumps of snow flying from a cliff 50 meters ahead. I had to pause and wait a little. The avalanche never started, but we pulled ourselves together and then
We quickly passed this part of the trail.

By the way, the path in this part of the gorge was no longer covered with fluffy snow. Instead, natural ice crunched and slid underfoot. We were already 400 meters below Base Camp and here, apparently, snowfall alternated with rain.

I forgot to say that back at Base Camp, many of the hikers (including me) put on ice boots. On the snowy part of the route they were not really needed, but here, on the ice, walking in ice access was much safer.

By 10am we reached Deulari and finally ordered breakfast. The sun came out from behind Machhapuchkhare and became sharply warmer. While we were waiting for food, we changed into sneakers and put on lighter clothes.

Then we walked much more calmly, also because Suzanne (a participant from Denmark) had a pain in her knee on the descent and she moved very carefully, whenever possible descending sideways or even backwards. Of course, she also used an elastic bandage, trekking sticks and pain-relieving ointments.

Already at 2 o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at our overnight stop - in the village of Bambu. Just in time, as 15 minutes after we checked in it started to rain.

There was a long evening ahead (lunch turning into dinner) and we decided to spend it usefully. They played “crocodile”, “paper on the forehead” and the usual “fool”.

Wi-Fi did not work and this became another factor that contributed to the massiveness of the gameplay.

However, in the forest just above the village you could get mobile Internet, but only the most restless people went there (Max and me).

Hot springs and missing pensioners

The most talked about event of this trip was not the avalanches at Base Camp, but the disappearing British pensioners.

On similar trekking routes, most groups follow approximately the same schedule. And at every stop you meet familiar faces - “foreign” tourists in parallel with whom you have been moving along the route since the first day.

I don’t remember at what moment these elderly Britons appeared on our horizon, but everyone remembered their disappearance.

We spent the night in the same shelter and in the evening over dinner we discussed how great these grandparents were (they were nearly 70) for not sitting at home, but traveling and coping well with all the dangers and difficulties of Himalayan trekking.

And this morning, after breakfast, British pensioners hit the trail 10 minutes ahead of us and disappeared! We ran quite quickly and should have certainly caught up with the British. But they disappeared. There was nowhere for them to turn or hide. And the only logical explanation was the awkward “they walk no slower than us.”

A very inspiring example... Then, at a gala dinner in honor of the completion of the trek, half of the toasts were that after 30 years we could walk just as fast and also run across the Himalayas.

In the meantime, we overcame the endless climb to Chomrong and sat down to relax in our favorite coffee shop. Gradually our motto becomes “Dolce Vita” (beautiful life). The main difficulties of the hike are behind us and now the most difficult question of the day is what to order for dinner.

True, we still have to go down some rather steep steps to our overnight stay in the village of Jinu-Danda. But everything is relative, and when you see the sweaty, exhausted faces of tourists climbing the same steps towards you, you understand that we are already in paradise.

Jinu Danda truly is like heaven. It's warm, there are a lot of flowers and inexpensive food. With some stretch, this village can be called a thermal resort. And after lunch we go for a soak in the hot springs.

Unfortunately, this year the springs became a little less hot (due to the mudflow, something changed in the depths). But access to the river has become more convenient. Now, in the intervals between “steam rooms”, you can more safely plunge into the cold river.

But the changing cabins and the colorful caretaker of the baths have not changed at all))

That evening at dinner we agreed to get up early to get to Pokhara as early as possible. Once again we had big plans.

Paragliding over Pokhara

Another good news for some tourists, and not very good news for others. To get from Jinu Danda to the jeep stop for Pokhara you now need to walk not 4 hours, but only one and a half. And soon this time will be reduced even more - a suspension bridge is being built under the village to reduce the height difference on the way to the jeeps.

We quickly got ready, left at dawn and were awarded twice. Firstly, it was not hot to walk, which is quite important at these altitudes. And secondly, South Annapurna in the morning haze looked completely unreal - a castle in the air from a fairy tale, no less.

Of course, everyone in the jeeps was exhausted and we woke up already at the entrance to Pokhara, or rather to Nagarkot Hill - the most popular flying place in Nepal.

The fact is that yesterday we agreed on paragliding flights. Half of our group, 6 out of 12 people, expressed a desire to fly. True, today their ranks were almost thinned out - the haze thickened over Pokhara and the mountains were not visible. But as soon as we approached the launch pad and saw others take off and soar with the eagles, everything immediately got better.

I wasn’t joking about the eagles - in addition to a dozen paragliders, two predators of incredible size were circling around the hill.

Our brave souls were quickly strapped to the pilots and they fled into space. And we stood for a while (not knowing whether to envy or be happy) and drove down to the hotel.

Next came a hot shower, a warm shower and a festive dinner. We raised toasts to friendship between peoples, a dignified old age, successful maturity and future journeys together.

Things to do in Pokhara

Initially, the idea was to organize a small rafting trip on the Seti River today in addition to paragliding. But then there was no quorum and instead of extreme rafting, some of us decided to just run.

I ran along the lake and found out several interesting things for myself:

1. after a good hike, a kilometer becomes a hundred meters shorter
2. there is a KFC in Pokhara (I haven’t been to that part of the city for three hundred years)
3. there is a fishery on Phewa Lake (and not just scary landfills)
4. Nepalese amusement parks are the most fun amusement parks in the world

It should be noted that the main program of the hike has already been completed. And all further decisions and activities were no longer mandatory, but were of a voluntary advisory nature.

Someone went for a walk to see the sights, someone slept, someone wandered around the shops. Even going to Kathmandu was not obligatory. If you don’t want to go home, stay in Nepal))

The main part of the group nevertheless made an effort, crammed into a minibus and rumbled towards the capital. We were lucky and spent only 6 hours on the road (not 8, as usual).

Kathmandu again

In the capital everything was as usual - dust, tourists, monkeys.

Except that the Buddhist shrines (Boudhanath and Swayambhu stupas) were crowded with pilgrims this time. Apparently some kind of holiday, but a search on the Internet did not yield anything, and of course there was no time to stop and ask the participants.

Many people ask how the historical buildings destroyed by the earthquake are doing there. Everything is fine with them - the reconstruction of the temple complex in Bhaktapur and the royal palace in Kathmandu (sponsored by the USA and China) is in full swing.

I have already seen Nepalese antiquities dozens of times and it is not very interesting to talk about them. But the trip to the rock clubs of Kathmandu was a breath of fresh air (even if it was extremely smoky). Many thanks to Tolik from Odessa for taking me on this ethnographic expedition. Nepalese musicians play well, smile a lot (even the most stern rockers) and are not too arrogant.

Results

The trek to Annapurna Base Camp went well. We had a strong international group that moved smoothly and effortlessly along the route, communicated casually at rest stops, and in general, everyone was great:) Thank you all so much for the company and see you in the mountains!

More photos from this trip can be found in my album on Google Photos

Text and photo: Kirill Yasko, Kathmandu, April 1, 2018