Annapurna Base Camp Trek - Part IV

Apologies

I have to first apologize for the delay in continuing the blog. I had jammed a finger of my right hand in the car door and it was badly injured. I was also away from Bangalore for 3 days. I was in Timbaktu (www.timbaktu.org) conducting training. Timbaktu has organized thrift cooperatives for women in the 3 blocks that it operates in Anantapur district of AP. These cooperatives have a turnover of more than a crore of rupees. A good part of this turnover goes as loans for borrowers who are attempting to run small businesses like milk production and trading, sheep rearing, poultry, small grocery and vegetable shops etc. Timbaktu thought it would be a good idea for the “loan officers” of these cooperatives to have a better idea of what it takes to run a viable business so that they can counsel their borrowers. This would have two benefits at least. The thrift cooperatives would have better repayments and the business persons would have a better livelihood. These “loan officers” are mostly women with very basic education and some of them are not even literate. We (www.tree-society.org) are trying to teach them “Business Viability Analysis” over a course of 10 days spread over 3 months. It has been an interesting experience. But let us get back to more important stuff of the ABC trek....

May 4^th – Ghorepani (2860m) to Tadapani (2630m)

Summary – Climb Poon Hill (3150m), sunrise views of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna Range, back to Ghorepani. Climb from Ghorepani to Deurali pass at 3090m, have the same views of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, walk through thick rhododendron forests to Ban Thanti (3180m). Climb down to meet Bhurungdi Khola again and then a steep climb to Tadapani.

We got up at 4. I was hoping that it would be cloudy and I can snuggle back into my sleeping bag, but it turned out to be a clear sky. Damn. From our guest house we could already see the fresh snow on Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South and Hiun Chuli (6434m). The climb to Poon Hill seemed like a pilgrimage. The entire tourist population of Ghorepani, around 200 of them, was up and early and religiously climbing Poon Hill to catch the sunrise. The only thing missing was bhajans and cymbals. May be it was the morning hour or my laziness the climb seemed infernally long. When we reached what appeared to be the top, there was a reassuring sign “Only 15 more minutes and you would reach the top”. I was thinking may be it would be easier if I sat for 15 minutes and waited for the top to reach me. The climb went on for another 45 agonizing minutes. There were some enterprising locals who had carried huge flasks of hot water to the top and the 200 pilgrims who had gathered had an option of coffee or tea, black or with milk (powder) at 80 rupees a cup. I gladly bought a cup and waited for the sun to rise.

The sunrise was not as spectacular as it was touted to be. It was a bit hazy and the sun rises behind the Annapurna range. It was nice to see the rays of light interrupted by the peaks but otherwise the view from Poon Hill is better seen at sunset when the fading light illuminates the mountain peaks. That would also mean a relaxed cup of tea in the evening and not getting up at an unearthly hour. Unfortunately at this time of the year it is impossible to have clear evening skies. But if you are in the Poon Hill area in October-November season I would recommend a sunset climb.

We climbed back to Ghorepani and had our breakfast and we were ready to leave. We had to climb again and the morning walk was up on a open ridge which had spectacular views of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna range. There was no reason for us to have tortured ourselves for the sunrise. If I had known that the views from Deurali would be equally good I would have skipped the sunrise tamasha altogether. After we passed the pass the trail descends into a beautiful rhododendron forest. The forest was filled with bird calls but I could manage to see only the red billed blue magpies. The gnarled trunks of the old trees made it feel as if we were walking through Ent land.

We reached Ban Thanti (3180m) for lunch. The owner of Hungry Eye (again) restaurant had lived in Mumbai for a few years and she was happy to talk to us about her experience. It looks like these small villages are safe enough for women to live alone. She lives there in her house even during winter when practically the whole place closes down. It seems ACAP keeps one guest house open in each village during winter for the occasional tourist. The community decides which guest house would be open. It is crazy to think how they manage during winter time in this rickety wood structures which are more or less open to nature. These villages have small vegetable patches where they grow cabbage, potatoes and other greens. As a responsible tourist it might be better to order food that is locally grown rather than packaged food like noodles and stuff. Both in terms of transportation and garbage disposal. In our group, Zubin was the most responsible in that sense since he ate Dal-Bath (rice with some vegetables) almost every lunch. I should remember this on my next trip.

After Ban Thanti the walk continued through forests and we had to climb down to cross the Bhurungdi Khola again. As soon as we crossed we had to make a steep long climb to Tadapani. It was a tiring day since we started early in the morning for Poon Hill and a climb up and down. We had to climb again to the pass and then descend and climb again to Tadapani. By the time we reached Tadapani it was cold and rainy. It was around 3 in the afternoon and I decided that I would snooze for a while, but we had some noisy Spanish travelers who were speaking loudly and I couldn't doze off. Our room in Tadapani was tiny but had great views.

Annapurna Base Camp Trek - Part III

May 3^rd 2011 – Tikhedhunga to Ghorepani

Summary – Altitude gain 1340m (tough day). A steep flight of steps from Tikhedhunga to Ulleri. Gradual climb from Ulleri to Ban Thanti. Steep climb on rocks and steps from Ban Thanti to Ghorepani.

We had a lazy morning and a 3^rd look at the ACAP menu made us decide that we should cook our own breakfast. We asked for permission to enter the kitchen and made egg burji. By the time we finished cooking and eating breakfast, it was around 8. The skies had cleared and there was bright sunshine. All through the trip, I was tired and went to bed by 8 at night. Thanks to the new Kindle that I had bought, I always had some reading material before I dozed off. Since I slept early I got up early too by 4:30 or so and was ready to hear the bird calls. But that never made me get out of bed, I would snuggle in the sleeping bag till 6 and then get up and get ready.

In any case, we left Tikhedhunga and we immediately crossed Bhurungdi Khola and started climbing, climbing and climbing. It seemed like a stairway to heaven or rather hell. It was all steps, endless and relentless. The climb was to a village named Ulleri (2020m) and it was the first serious climb in our trip and my legs and lungs were not used to such an assault. It was just 500 meters of climbing and we did it in 1.5 hours or so. The only relief was the first glimpse of Annapurna South (7219m) from the final approach to Ulleri.

Ulleri is a nice village on a ridge with good views and nice tea shops. We had nimbu pani to refresh ourselves and I also bought two bracelets from the shop on the top. I don't think there are very many Indian trekkers on this route and so most of the shop keepers were quite interested in knowing where we were from. Mumbai is always associated with Bollywood (or should I say The Hindi Film Industry?) and my companions were asked if they had met Kajol or Salman Khan. Bengaluru somehow seems to convey to them a very developed city where everyone is a scientist. I did not try too hard to persuade them otherwise. Ulleri also has a primary school and it did not help my self-esteem to see so many tiny tots scrambling up the steps for their morning classes. The high school is in Tikhedhunga and the older kids were waltzing down the steps. Some enthu, I say. I was curious to go inside the school but better sense prevailed and I let go of the thought.

After 30 minutes of “Shavasana” in Ulleri we set off for our next lunch stop at Ban Thanti (2210). The climb was easier and gradual and we had a leisurely walk. We walked mainly throughly step cultivated fields and small settlements. We had a long lunch in Ban Thanti. The tea houses start preparing lunch after you order them, so it takes a while. This worked well for me as it gave me time to laze around and recoup from the morning activity. Most of these villages were clean and cute. The ACAP has done an amazing job in keeping them tourist friendly. It must have been around 1 pm when we started from Ban Thanti. Now the climb was getting steep again through a rhododendron forest. There were either steps or rocks. The sky closed in again and there was thunder. I was reminded of our previous evening hail and Zubin and I hastened to reach our final destination Ghorepani. We had to climb another 600m for the day and it seemed a lot. I had taken out my jacket and covered myself and the day pack with a poncho. This made the heat inside unbearable and I was sweating profusely. But the thought of another thunder storm made me climb very fast and continuously. We stopped for a quick breather in Nangga Thanti and continued up, up and up. The forests were thick and there were lot of streams and tiny waterfalls, but the idea of dipping was not appealing since the water was coooold. By the time we reached the suburbs of Ghorepani big droplets of rain was falling. We had to climb another infernal flight of steps to reach downtown Ghorepani and we checked-in into the Hungry Eye Guest House and Restaurant. The threat of rain had made me climb faster even than Narayan and it was worthwhile since we narrowly missed a heavy downpour. I was pooped and I suspected that I had pulled something in my left knee. But we were warm next to a fire, indoors and I postponed my worries for the next day. The only other guest in the guest house was a German girl who had just finished her medical college and was in Kathmandu for a few months. Her guide and porter was a good friend of Mahesh and so they happily chatted away. The guest house had fantastic views of the mountains which we could see when the clouds occasionally cleared up. There was fresh snow piled up on the high peaks and the lower slopes were glittering with hail. We were glad that we were indoors.

Ghorepani is actually a diversion from the main ABC trail. We had climbed up here to go to Poon Hill from where we could also get a view of Dhaulagiri. The idea was to see the first sun rays on Dhaulagiri and Annapurna range. People who know me well would understand how much I detest sunrises. I hate getting up early in the morning, but the enthusiasm around me was infectious and in any case I was getting up around 4:30 so I decided I would join them on the climb to Poon Hill for the sunrise views. I had a light dinner of noodle soup and went to bed after a hot shower.

Annapurna Base Camp Trek - Part II

May 2nd 2011 – Pokhara to Tikhedunga

Summary – Altitude gain 500m. A short downhill from Naya Pul to Birethanti. A gradual uphill climb from Birethanti to Tikhedunga.

We had an early breakfast in Lake View Resort and packed our bags and headed out for our trek. We had a 1.5 hours car journey to Naya Pul. It was a Maruti 800 and it handled 6 of us admirably with our bags too in the hilly slopes near Pokhara. We reached Naya Pul not without incidents. Narayan noticed that his bag was missing. It seemed like his bag had dropped off during the car journey somewhere on the road unnoticed. Poor guy not only did he loose all his clothes but also his harmonica and his certificates. We were told by Mahesh that Narayan plays the harmonica very well and we would be missing his performances during the trek. Each of us donated some of our clothes to him so that he was adequately clothed. He took all this in his stride. Though he was definitely feeling bad about his bag, he continued to maintain his cheery countenance.

At Naya Pul, Narayan tied both Zubin's and my sacks together and carried them in typical Sherpa style using his forehead. This seems to be the preferred mode of carrying weights. They must have enormous strength in the their neck muscles. The sacks together must have weighed around 30 kilos and I couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

The path from Naya Pul (1070m) follows the Modi Khola (river). Modi Khola was going to be our companion for most of the trek be we left it after 30 minutes of walk after crossing over a bridge in Birethanti (1025m). We took a left towards Ghorepani from Birethanti. The path was a broad road and we could see construction equipment (heavy earth movers) for widening the road. The climb was gradual at this point and we walked comfortably. The road follows the Bhurungdi Khola river which joins Modi Khola at Birethanti. I was getting used to walking with my day pack. It is an old North Face pack, actually Madhavi's which I have used since Sahyadri days. It is the most comfortable of the small packs I have and hence I chose it for this long trip. I had 2 litres of water, some emergency medicines, flash light, rain poncho, a sweater, a jacket, gloves and an umbrella in my day pack to handle all eventualities.

We passed several villages and had our lunch at Hille (1460m). The menu card indicated that it was prescribed by Annapurna Area Conservation Project (ACAP). ACAP coordinates all the 'tea houses' in the Annapurna area. The tea houses provide simple lodging, a bed with a clean sheet and not-so clean blanket. I used my sleeping bag instead of the blanket. ACAP seems to be doing a good job except for the fact that ALL the tea houses in the entire area have almost the same menu. It felt like stepping into a McDonalds every time for food and this got tiresome after the third meal.

Almost within 30 minutes after lunch we reached our final destination for today, Tikhedungha (1520m). We passed the downtown area and checked ourselves in into Laxmi Guest House. I had a hot shower (yes, that is possible for 100 Nepali Rupees) and started writing my diary in the dining area sitting next to the Bhurungdi Khola. Narayan sat in front of me and was busy keeping notes and accounts and reading. Narayan is fully conversant in English and he can read and write fluently too. I could see a Verditer Flycatcher a few feet away and a Great Barbet screeching.

Thunder clouds rolled in and it started to hail. There were huge hail stones and it hailed for almost 45 minutes. I again started to worry about the weather. The Annapurna area is notorious for its weather due to the dramatic altitude differences. The South Face of Annapurna frequently has bad weather, lot of precipitation and avalanches. Our destination, ABC is in the south side and hence my apprehension...

Annapurna Base Camp Trek - Part I

I had always wanted to do a long trek in the Himalayas ever since my taste for trekking got developed in the Sahyadris. My first trek there must have been in 1991 when I went for a trek to Bhimashankar during the monsoon with some of my PUCSD friends. It has been 20 years since and recent events gave me a reality check that I am not growing any younger and so I contacted Odati Adventures and joined their trip to Annapurna Base Camp.

April 30^th 2011 – Bangalore to Kathmandu

The Jet Airways flight to Delhi was a surprise. As always I can never figure out if I am flying Jet Airways or Jet Lite. If I eat in the airport I go on a Jet Airways flight and I get food in the flight too or if I don't eat in the airport I have to buy the horrible in-flight food in Jet Lite. Sigh. This flight turned out to be Jet Airways and strangely they had allowed me to web check-in in the business class section. So I actually traveled business class to New Delhi. Since I did not eat in the fabulous New Delhi Terminal 3, the flight to Kathmandu turned out to be Jet Lite, of course. I had been informed that I should take the left window seat on this flight so that I would get my first glimpse of the greater Himalaya. As it turned out the day was cloudy and I could only see the peaks peeking out above the clouds. Still an awesome sight. We had an overnight halt in Kathmandu in Hotel Marsyandi Mandala in Kathmandu, near Thamel. It was an expensive and forgettable place. The rooms were not good, the bathrooms were horrible and generally the service was poor. This applies to Kathmandu in general. It is avoidable. It is dirty, polluted and the services lethargic. This is surprising considering that it is invaded by tourists.

In Kathmandu we got the initial briefing about our trip. Jayesh from Odati was joining us, Mahesh from Culture Treks from Nepal was going to be our guide and I had just one more group companion Zubin Fatakia from Mumbai. I was happy that our group was small and I did not have to deal with a lot of people. I was expecting these 15 days to be quiet and contemplative.

May 1^st 2011 – Kathmandu to Pokhara

We took an early morning bus to Pokhara from Thamel. This was a tourist bus and the seats were comfortable. It was a 4.5 hours ride to Pokhara in terrible roads. There were big traffic jams caused due to vehicles parked arbitrarily in narrow two-lane roads. Nepal reminds me of India 20 years back. Those who keep whining about how things are going bad in India should shift to Nepal. The bus route follows the Trishuli river. There are already pre-monsoon showers and the river is picking up lot of silt and is brown in colour. The building material of the gangetic plains is getting transported from here. We saw some folks in rafts and feel jealous and I think, may be we should be doing rafting too in this trip.

In Pokhara we checked-in into the Lake View Resort and we meet a very scrawny man who was very deferential to us and who picked up our bags. Later we found out that this was Narayan who was going to be our porter for the trip. Pokhara is a stark contrast to Kathmandu. The lake side is very pleasant and Lake View Resort is a good place to hang out. It started raining in the afternoon and this was a constant feature through our entire trip.

We visited the Mountaineering Museum in Pokhara and got full gyan about mountaineering and geology of the Himalayas. The museum is worth a visit. The plaster-of-paris relief maps were interesting. I could see that our trail to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) goes through some narrow gorges in the last 2 days and there was avalanche danger. I was thrilled by that prospect.

There have been expeditions to collect the junk that has accumulated in the mountains and the museum has a display of some of the junk collected. It is sad that in our pursuit for adventure we care so little about these pristine places. Hopefully, modern expeditions are more sensitive and collect their garbage and get it back....

When we came out of the museum the rain had stopped and the skies cleared. We could see the entire Annapurna range and Dhaulagiri range towering in the north. It was a crazy sight. Pokhara is probably lower than Bangalore but we can see the 8000m mountains rising very quickly within few kilometers from Pokhara. The mountains seem to loom way up in the sky and it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Pokhara is a very good tourist destination.

Our actual trek starts the next day and we have any early night. I am a bit apprehensive about the weather. It was rainy and stormy....