Week 13-15: Nepal

We have returned from our adventures along the mountain trails! We have actually been off the trails for a few days now, but between enjoying great restaurants, amazing lake views, and lounge chairs with good books, there’s been little time for a blog post. More about that in the next post though! In an attempt to keep this post from becoming the longest blog post ever written (it might still win that award), I haven’t gone into full detail about each day of the trek. Thinking about which pictures to select and how to condense the details has been a challenge, but I’ve tried. However, if you are interested in trekking in the Annapurna region and have specific questions, we would be happy to answer them!

This trek took us along an incredible trail system in the Annapurna region of Nepal. We hiked both the Annapurna Circuit and the Annapurna Base Camp trails. Although we had a paper map with us, we found the app maps.me to be the most helpful. There were also red and white blazes along the trail, but they seemed to be much more prominent in the middle of one straight path than at a crossroads of trails. We were able to spend most of our time on trails, but we did spend some time hiking along a dusty road too. We never got lost, but that’s certainly thanks to being led by Will the Map Man rather than me the Daydreaming Wanderer. There were MANY challenging moments along the trail as we faced a combination of slippery stone steps, switchbacks, extreme heat, and high altitude. However, each day also provided stunning, ever-changing scenery and an overwhelming sense of being in the perfect place at the perfect time. Over the course of 3 1/2 weeks, we felt a healthy mix of joy, excitement, pain, disappointment, confusion, rejuvenation, amazement, and "WHAT am I doing?". We had the best weather we could have ever hoped for- approximately one hour of light rain in 24 days! We were usually on the trail shortly after 7am, and usually finished hiking by 2 or 3pm.

After doing a number of shorter hikes carrying all of our food, cooking equipment and tent, we loved doing this teahouse trek, where we were rarely more than an hour from a hot meal or a comfy bed. We thought we might be limited to dal bhat for lunch and dinner each day, but the menus offered a ton of options, including pizza, burgers, soups, and Mars rolls (a Mars bar wrapped in pastry and fried). We packed as light as we could while still carrying -10 down sleeping bags and warm weather gear. My pack was just over 11 kg and Will's was just over 13 kg. We also had the unexpected pleasure of hot showers and wifi in many places! It's difficult to put into words how much I enjoy a hot shower after a full day of sweat. There were a few times when we shared a room with our friends, but we never had to share a room with anyone we didn’t know or sleep in the dining room (which we had heard was quite common). The cost of this trek was also a very pleasant surprise- because we decided to go without a guide or a porter, we only paid for food and occasionally for accommodations (most places didn’t charge for the room if you were eating dinner/breakfast there). Even after ordering extra plates with most meals, drinking our weight in tea, and indulging in more than the occasional Mars bar, our average daily cost was $50 CAD per day.

We met so many incredible people along the way, and our days of hiking, chatting and playing cards together will remain such a special part of this trip.

Click on and expand this map if you'd like to track the route we took as you read!

Trekking dates: October 17- November 9, 2017

Day 1: Pokhara to Ngadi

What the day included:

• A bumpy, 4 ½ hour bus ride from Pokhara to Besisahar (we were among the fortunate ones to get a seat… some of our friends were sitting on stools in the middle of the aisle and others had to sit backwards)
• Starting the trail from a place with absolutely no signs
• Walking through rice paddies and a tunnel
• Hiking with Peter from our bus, but did not see a single other trekker on the trail
• A room to sleep in that didn’t quite have full walls between it and the next room, a thorough demonstration of locking a door by the teahouse owner

Weather: HOT, sunny (35 degrees)

Steps walked: 28 512

Day 2: Ngadi to Jagat

What the day included:

• Lots of steep, uphill climbing
• Chatting while hiking with Lonneke, Peter, Cecelie, and James
• A long, restful lunch break with friends
• Our first waterfalls
• Watching bikers struggle up the steep hills
• Playing a lot of card games at night

Weather: HOT, sunny (34 degrees)

Steps walked: 32 568

Day 3: Jagat to Dharapani

What the day included:

• Lots of uphill climbing to Chamje and then to Tal
• Big bugs and multiple lizard sightings
• Donkeys along the trail
• Pouring sweat and drinking tons of water
• Multiple suspension bridges, beautiful archways over the trail, and our first mani wheels along the trail
• Rewarding our hiking efforts with tea and Snickers bars

Weather: HOT, sunny

Steps walked: 29 648

Day 4: Dharapani to Chame

What the day included: 

• Meeting a man who gave me the hiking mantra I repeated often throughout the trek: "it's a beautiful day for a walk, and a beautiful place to be doing it"
• Gradual climbing along a road
• Experiencing "Nepali flat"- a little up and a little down throughout the day
• Bridges, mani wheels, archways
• Multiple waterfalls
• 6 helicopter sightings
• First view of snowcapped Manaslu and Annapurna II
• Lunch in Thanchowk, a walled town with lots of older Nepalese buildings 
• Easy afternoon walk with stunning mountain views
• Landing in Chame, a huge mountain village housing a doctor, a hairdresser, a phone repair shop, a shoe repair shop, trekking gear shops, and an eye doctor
• Festival of Lights celebrations at our teahouse, complete with dancing and drinks

Weather: Sunny, clear sky (25 degrees)

Steps walked: 29 141

Day 5: Chame to Upper Pisang

What the day included:

• Leaving James and Cecelie to have a rest day and trekking on with Lonneke and Peter
• A surprisingly large, westernized teahouse on an apple orchard in Bhratang, where we enjoyed delicious apples (some of the only fruit consumed on the trail!)
• A couple of steep climbs amongst the gradual climbs, easiest day so far
• Getting a teahouse overlooking Upper Pisang and the entire valley
• Getting to our teahouse shortly after 1pm, leaving time for laundry, reading, tea, popcorn, exploring, and games
• Exploring a monastery with intricate details being painted by hand

Weather: Sunny (18 degrees), starting to really cool off at night

Steps walked: 24 441

Day 6: Upper Pisang to Manang

What the day included:

• Seeing an avalanche across the valley on Annapurna II, as we got ready for breakfast
• SO. MANY. SWITCHBACKS. Climbing 500m in less than an hour.
• An incredible viewpoint at the top of the climb, made even more enjoyable with cookies
• A mix of flat, uphill and downhill trail to follow
• Freshly made, still warm, chocolate pastries at another beautiful viewpoint
• Huge descent, followed by a long, flat path beside the river
• A view of a small airport down in the valley
• Being given a copy of an incredible photo taken last night, captured by fellow hiker, Michael From of Crossfield, Alberta (check out his website for more of his insanely beautiful photography: www.mikefrom.com)

Weather: warm, sunny

Steps walked: 34 897

Day 7: Up to Ice Lake and back to Manang

What the day included:

• Being able to leave our full packs in our hotel room and just hike with one small pack!
• Raiding one of the bakeries in Manang for treats including chocolate croissants and cinnamon buns
• Joining up with Joy and Tom from San Fransisco to hike to Ice Lake (6km hike, gaining 1100m in elevation)
• The beginnings of blisters that never went away for me
• Stunning mountain views from Ice Lake
• Getting a whole pot of honey lemon ginger tea to myself (warding off a sore throat)
• Started taking Diamox to help with acclimatization as we get higher
• Celebrating Lonneke's last night on the trail

Weather: Sunny and warm in Manang; windy and cold at Ice Lake

Steps walked: 34 000 (and the equivalent to 300 flights of stairs!)

Day 8: Rest day in Manang!

What the day included:

• Reading in our sleeping bags
• Washing clothes and hanging them in the sunshine
• Hanging out with a couple Israelis over coffee and meeting up with James and Cecelie again
• Sitting in the sun with cappuccinos and baked goodies
• Lazily walking through the many shops in Manang
• Going to a projector hall to watch the movie, Everest, and being served tea and popcorn
• Attending a talk about mountain sickness by an Australian doctor
• Hot chocolate and yak cheese sandwiches
• Dinner and cards with friends

Weather: Sunny, cool, temperature really dropped at night and lots of clouds rolled in

Steps walked: 6 000

Day 9: Manang to Yak Kharka

What the day included:

• Taking it slow as we hike from 3500m to 4000m
• Hiking on our own for the first time
• A stop in Gunsung for fresh, HOT muffins (carrot cinnamon and chocolate timur) that were baked on top of a wood stove
• A few uphill climbs separated by flat trail
• Getting a room with an amazing view of Annapurna III from the window
• Cozying up in clean clothes and slippers, reading with a pot of tea in the dining room
• Darkness setting in at 5pm in this valley, prompting Will to head to bed by 8pm
• A discussion about how magical this place is and how it just pulls you in, and the realization that we are now accustomed to our new routine of wake up-eat-walk-eat-walk-rest-eat-sleep. This combination of walking, fresh air, mountains, water, and interesting people makes us feel so good!

Weather: Sunny and cool

Steps walked: 20 380

Day 10: Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi

What the day included:

• Starting the trail bundled right up
• Removing layers quickly as we climb 500m over a couple hours
• Hiking the steep trail from Thorong Phedi to High Camp (another 400m) to help acclimatize and take in the incredible views (and some lunch!)
• Spending the afternoon talking about travel with other trekkers
• Eating our dinner in our down jackets and hats
• Standing outside under a blanket of bright stars 

Weather: Sunny and cold

Steps walked: 22 860

Day 11: Thorong Phedi to Muktinath (over Thorong La Pass!)

What the day included:

• Nightmares about not waking up in time to go over the pass
• Eating a quick breakfast and hitting the trail just after 6am (other trekkers started as early as 3:30am to avoid wind at the pass, but we decided to chance the wind)
• Starting off with tons of layers on, and removing most of them on the way up
• Taking our time to hike up, up, up
• Enjoying a celebratory tea at Thorong La Pass (5416m) and taking lots of pictures
• Descending over 1700m (our poor knees!) to Muktinath
• Staying in our most expensive room on the trail (equal to $10US), due to shortage of rooms 

Weather: Sunny, clear blue sky and cold; slightly windy at the pass

Steps walked: 36 000

Day 12: Rest day in Muktinath

What the day included:

• Moving to the Bob Marley hotel, where we enjoyed great music, comfy couches, and delicious food
• Bundling up in our warm gear to visit the temples and gompas here (famous pilgrimage site)
• Watching people move through 108 fountains and dunk themselves into two holy baths
• Watching as the first flakes of snow fell and then covered the town
• Walking up to the highest temple in the snow

Weather: Cloudy and cold in the morning, snowing in the afternoon

Steps walked: 11 880

Day 13: Muktinath to Marpha

What the day included:

• Hiking in the morning with Antoin through the perfect image of Fall
• Walking along a paved road
• Visiting Kagbeni, a cute little town with flagstone walkways and restaurants like Yak Donalds (complete with yak burger Happy Meals) and Cafe Applebee's
• Getting a great view of the Mustang valley
• Deciding to move from Kagbeni to Jomsom at 11am, which we had been warned was the windiest part of the day
• Experienced the only truly unpleasant day of walking along the trail: walking through river beds where one of my feet slipped into a stream and along dusty, dirt roads without being able to talk because the wind was so ridiculously strong (had to wear sunglasses and scarf over our faces and wrap ourselves in our rain jackets). Then the rain came and plastered all of the dust to us! To add to that, my blisters decided to get a whole lot worse. 
• Sitting in a restaurant in Jomsom, hoping the rain would stop so that we wouldn't have to stay in Jomsom
• The sky clearing, allowing us to walk with friends to the lovely town of Marpha
• Eating apple crumble with friends and laughing a LOT

Weather: went from sunny to really windy to raining to sunny again

Steps walked: 39 000

Day 14: Marpha to Kalopani

What the day included:

• A beautiful flagstone path through a quiet wooded area
• Views of Dhaulagiri mountain 
• Lots of large boulders to clamber over
• Climbing a super sketchy wooden ladder over the water to a rock shelf
• Hiking up and down a trail right on the edge of the water
• My foot slipping on a log, resulting in me putting my whole boot into a stream
• Very sore tootsies for me

Weather: sunny, cool along the shaded trail

Steps walked: 30 000

Day 15: Kalopani to Tatopani

What the day included:

• Such a variety of things growing- wild strawberries, oranges, lemons, marijuana, and beautiful red and pink flowers
• The realization that we are out of the desert landscape of the last couple days and into a lush green valley
• A mix of road and trails to hike on, including trails that go right through people's front yards
• A few small springs to cross and NO feet in the water!
• Some steep climbing and a lot of descending (came down to 1190m)
• The peak of the pain in my feet
• Asking about a room at a hotel and being told the room wasn't ready yet... assuming this meant that it hadn't been cleaned, we said that was fine, but upon viewing the room, we realized it meant that it didn't QUITE have walls or a bed yet... we stayed somewhere else
• A hotsprings that we enjoyed with a large group of Dutch travellers
• HALLOWEEN! Will dressed as a tourist, and I dressed as his Nepalese porter

Weather: Sunny and warm

Steps walked: 37 000

Day 16: Tatopani to Ghorepani

What the day included:

• Gaining 1700m in elevation over 15km... climbing, climbing, climbing!
• Travelling through many villages and beautiful rain forest
• Trying to dry wet clothes by hanging them from our packs for the day, and all items still being wet at the end of the day
• Cozying up by the fire in the dining area with tea, chocolate and a book

Weather: damp/humid weather, cool

Steps walked: 32 000

Day 17: Ghorepani to Tadopani

What the day included:

• Getting up at 4:40am, hiking up a lot of stairs with headlamps, and joining the masses of people at the top of Poon Hill for sunrise over the mountains
• Will experiencing my mood when everything I have with me is cold and wet
• Will experiencing how my mood changes when I get warm and see mountains again
• Hiking through dense forests of ferns, moss and trees
• Searching around all hotels in Tadopani before getting what seemed to be the last room... the room happened to have the pipe from the wood stove running up through it, and within a couple hours of hanging, all of our gear was dry!
• Reading in the sunshine, and then chatting and eating with a fun couple

Weather: SO cold and damp at the top of Poon Hill, sunny and warm the rest of the day, very cool at night

Steps walked: 25 000

Day 18: Tadopani to Bhanuwa

What the day included:

• Waking up to the sun rising over the mountains
• Starting the day with a big descent, and then a good mix of up, down and flat
• Getting caught behind a lot of large groups hiking slowly and having to pass them
• Stopping at Chhomrong Cottage for delicious pizza and chocolate cake
• Looking out from Chhomrong, seeing where we need to get to, and realizing that although it looks straight across from us, it actually involves us going all the way to the bottom of the valley and back up
• After climbing up, hopping into a cold shower and loving every minute of it
• Sitting out on a patio, enjoying the view of the heavily treed valley and puffy clouds dancing across the sky

Weather: humid and HOT by the afternoon

Steps walked: 25 000

Day 19: Bhanuwa to Deurali

What the day included:

• Starting off with a big uphill climb, then levelling out and heading down 
• Stopping for a tea in Bamboo, where we were told we were known as the 'strong, fast couple' on the trail... clearly this went straight to my head
• Stopping in Himalaya for the quickest lunch we ever had on the trail 
• Crossed a super sketchy ice bridge that someone was later evacuated by helicopter from after slipping and falling into the water
• Scoring the last cell... I mean, room, to sleep in
• Bundling up to read and drink tea in the dining room

Weather: Cool breeze all day, perfect for climbing up!

Steps walked: 20 000

Day 20: Deurali to Annapurna Base Camp

What the day included:

• A beautiful, gradual trail following the river and then heading off into the mountains
• Being passed by a group of 55 Nepalese high school students (with 1 teacher) who had stayed at the Base Camp the night before. Like most Canadian high school students, these kids were well dressed for the cold weather with their thin sweaters, knit gloves, and running shoes.
• Watching many helicopters coming through the valley, and realizing that most of them weren't actually for emergencies, but rather for bringing tourists and/or supplies to the Base Camp
• Hustling up to Annapurna Base Camp in order to get a room, only to realize there were tons of spaces available. We had a room with three beds in it to ourselves!
• Walking around the Base Camp, taking in the magnificent views from every angle
• Talking to a group of students doing research on a glacier near the Base Camp
• Watching the clouds roll in by 1pm, and then proceed to constantly change the scenery by moving in and around the mountains for the rest of the day
• Bundling up at 12pm and staying bundled the rest of the day
• Feeling like it's absolutely impossible to capture the beauty of this place in a photograph, but heading outside every 20 minutes or so to try anyways

Weather: Sunny and cool in the day, cold at night

Steps walked: 16 000

Day 21: Annapurna Base Camp to Sinuwa

What the day included:

• Waking up in a bowl of mountains and watching the sun rise over the snow-capped peaks
• Watching as the sun lit up the mountains while eating breakfast
• Hiking down to Deurali and crossing that freaky ice bridge I had been dreading crossing again
• Stopping in Himalaya for another super fast lunch break
• Pushing ourselves up the many steep stairs after Bamboo 
• Both experiencing stuffy noses and sore throats
• Enjoying the quiet that comes with being two of the three guests in a teahouse

Weather: sunny, warm

Steps walked: 28 000

Day 22: Sinuwa to Jhinu Danda

What the day included:

• Watching a beautiful sunrise from our window
• Huge decent with lots of stairs and then 1200 stairs to climb back up to Chhomrong
• Stopping for a lovely tea and Mars bar break in Taulung
• Finding the most colourful teahouse along our trek 
• A lovely, long dip in an incredible hot springs beside the river
• An afternoon of deck sitting, card playing, reading, and talking to other trekkers

Weather: sunny, warm

Steps walked: 13 000

Day 23: Jhinu Danda to Dhampus

What the day included:

• A steep downhill trail along small, uneven stone steps
• Taking a shortcut, which resulted in us crossing a broken wooden bridge. There were no more shortcuts after this
• Stopping in Tolka for delicious pancakes (lemon sugar and chocolate!)
• Super intense uphill climb of almost 400m over 1.2km (the last big climb!)
• Being followed by multiple dogs throughout the day
• Walking along stone pathways through forests and open fields, passing many terraces fields on the surrounding mountains
• Checking into the last of the ACAP and TIMS card offices to show our registration cards for the trail
• Deciding to stay on the trail one last night, stopping early in Dhampus
• Feeling full for the first time in many days

Weather: humid with the occasional breeze 

Steps walked: 35 000

Day 24: Dhampus to Pokhara

What the day included:

• Watching such an incredible sunrise from the comfort of our bed (we KNEW it was the right decision to stay on the trail for one more night!)
• Walking down a steep trail through fields and people's yards
• Getting to Phedi at 9am, jumping in a taxi and heading back to Pokhara!

Weather: humid with the occasional breeze 

Steps walked: 16 000

We took the last steps on this trail side by side, feeling like this trek was the perfect way to spend the last three and a half weeks. It's actually so hard to think that we were hiking that long, the time flew by! We are SO thankful to everyone who inspired us to travel to Nepal and hike these trails!