The Annapurna Trek - At Speed (Part One)

The trek to Annapurna Base Camp stated on the morning of the 2nd April. AV organised the trek and so it was all 15 of the volunteers assembled and ready to go The ABC trek is based from Pokhara and from there you get a bus to Naya Pul where you start to walk. Between 15 of us we had 7 porters and so either people where sharing one bag or where swapping days which they had to carry a bag. We had left any unnecessary stuff in Pokhara and so our backpacks were, theoretically, lighter.

The first day was a relatively easy morning and we started to get into the rhythm of trekking. We were walking by a river for part of it and then across the river. An interesting experience when you haven't quite got used to the changed balance with a pack on your back. Still, we all made it to a lunch of dal bhat (24 hour power) and then set off again for the afternoon. Slightly harder due to the stairs, but we plodded on. You got into the mindest of one foot in front of the other focusing on the stair just in front of you and you always get to the top eventually and we reached where we were staying by 3.

A fairly easy first day but the steps where only a small part of the hundreds/thousands of steps overall. Most of which are on the second day. And it doesn't start you off easily, you go straight in. So, the whole morning of the 3rd April was stairs, stairs and more stairs. Towards mid-morning we had done the worst of them, however, and the stairs were interspersed with flats through a wood and we were very grateful of the shade. However, by this point my legs were aching. More specificallly, the muscles just above my knees were cramping. Luckily it was just before lunch and so we could have a much-needed rest.

After lunch wasn't nearly so difficult, but we were all fairly tired fom the morning and were very glad to reach Ghorepani, where we were staying and, more importantly, where there were hot showers. We then all sat by the fire, probably looking a little like the living dead. I still got up at 3:30 the next morning though.

Near Ghorepani is Poon Hill, which you get a fantastic view of the mountains. So me, Magnus and Sarah (the only ones crazy enough to get up) walked up to Poon Hill by moonlight, because torches are overrated. It was worth it, despite my running commentary of complaints on the way up. It was freezing (most places are at 4:30am) but the first light hitting the Annapurna range was spectacular. It hits it way before th sun rises and so you see the mountains go from red to orange and get more and more light on them. It was amazing. Frankly, just seeing the mountains when it was still dark and they were just white shapes against the sky was worth getting out of bed for.

So, to start the third day trekkng (4th April, Easter Day) we were wide awake and even if we weren't we soon would be. It was a much easier day trekking and we were going through the forest full of rhododendrums. All the trees near Gorkha have been mostly stripped bare of the flowers but these were full of red flowers. And so looking at them almost made me trip up The last bit up to lunch was a steepish hill and it came as a bit of a shock as the rest had been flat or downhill. Still, you plod along!

So, we reached Tadapani (where we thought we were having lunch) at around 11-11:30. We generally walked in 2 or 3 separate groups, depending on speed. We were first to reach Tadapani and were happily drinking tea when the next two people arrived. One of whom was not happy. Turns out we had overshot lunch and where meant to stop at Banthanti, one hour back. So, the five of us who first to get there felt awful, due to the severity of the reaction of the second group This menat waiting for 1 and a half hours for the last group who had to walk to Tadapani as we all had to eat in the same place. It's hard to describe why we felt so bad whilst waiting. It's porbably because we didn't know how tired the last group would be when they got to lunch as they had to walk the steep uphill. It was not fun waiting. As it turns out they were relatively cheerful considering and it meant we only had an half an hour walk to the lodge where we were staying for the night.