A Trek to Remember: Annapurna Base Camp

Annapurna Base Camp

October 4^th, the day was set for my written exam and interview for a job vacancy at Pokhara. The good thing was, my two-way expenses and a night stay at the hotel was going to be reimbursed by the organization. Golden Opportunity! I did not risk to let this chance slip and decided to go for Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) Trek after giving my exam. So, I asked a sister from my neighborhood if she is interested to go for ABC trek instead of Sailung, which we had planned beforehand. She got ready for the proposal. I was not well prepared financially because I had been unemployed for 4 months and the payments from the consultations were pending.

I had informed about my condition to her and with some ks on my pocket we headed to Pokhara. So, on the 3^rd of October, I, the little one and She, the older one, we departed from my house at 6:30 am. It was half-past seven when we reached Kalanki Bus Stop and chose a micro to ride. We paid NRs 525 each as the fare to Pokhara which I felt is a bit expensive. The micro conductor informed the price has risen due to the increment in fuel price. Well O well, who will talk more with them and we sat on the last seat and the microbus started to wheel at 7:50am. It had been a bad luck that few wheels further, micro started to stop and wheel like a bullock cart. One guy sitting next to me, seemed working for a project, was telling me the traffic is due to the construction thingy during the night time and will continue like this until a week more. I felt like this will turn me into “I HAVE MY BUTT GLUED” situation. Only at 12:30pm, we reached Naubise, not even 10km away from Kathmandu.

Being glued to the seat for 12 hours, we reached Pokhara at 7:30pm. It was raining and dark. We still needed to think about a hotel and rest. I had none in my mind except Hotel K.C. at Damside where I often used to stay when I used to go to Pokhara. It used to be a nice and cozy one and fits the budget. However, this time, the hotel failed to meet my expectations. The fan was noisy, no channel running, wi-fi not working, broken shower and flush and surprisingly I did not care that the room was next to the road as well. Maybe I was too tired for this. I basically cannot sleep when there are noises. While I was at Hotel View Bhrikuti for the consultation as a Liaison Officer, where I had spent my 10 days, I made a big fuss for they gave me a room next to the road and I could not sleep for one whole night. Anyways, we slept out of our tiredness and woke up early, the next morning to walk around Lake Fewa.

Lake Side

Fewa was looking stunning as always with the colorful boats and the sun-kissed layers of water. We two took some pictures and especially that didi. She is a selfie queen. She loves to take selfies and I’m quite opposite to that. I like snapping the surroundings. En route we had cinnamon and chocolate croissants and therefore, we had been doing fine all the way long. People jog and they eat and we were eating while jogging. It was quite a scene. HAHA!

This trip had been about meeting people for me. One of the first people I met was Mr. Ramananda Joshi. Bird Lovers might recognize his name. He is a renowned person for Bird Photography in Nepal working for BCN, Pokhara. He was there distributing some brochures for learning English for Nepali youngsters. Since didi wanted a picture, he offered to take our pictures together. We talked for a whim of time and knowing I am also an environment student, he gave me big beary hug and we exchanged our number.

The day was the day of my exam and it was starting at 10am. Therefore, we rushed to the hotel and at 9 o’clock, we left the hotel towards the exam center. Because I do not know many places in Pokhara and getting there; I asked the hotel owner on how to get to that place on a bus. So, the hotel owner directed to ride a bus that goes to Bagar. After reaching Bagar, I turned on my GPS and started tracking the map. Bingo! I got it right. Because most of the time in Nepal, the location is not updated if they’ve shifted from that place. Happened once when I and one of the CCPA’s from UNDP had gone for the MCG assessment at NEFIN, Baluwatar.

INF International

9:35am, we’d reached the organization. Sharp 10am, exam started. Quarter to 1, I finished my exam and queued up for the interview. I had requested them to put my interview first because that day I was traveling to Ghandruk. Knowing I was among the lucky 6 for the written exam and interview in out of 110 applicants had already been the achievement and getting this job would have been another achievement for me. Anyways, fingers crossed, I gave the interview, impressed the international interviewers and left for my trek.

Jhinu Bridge

Hari Chowk is 5 minutes away from the organization so I had faith that we will get a jeep or at least a bus because it was already 2:30pm. However, the jeep would go if there were full passengers and we were just two. Luckily, we got the last bus to Ghandruk. The bus was kind of empty. Around 7pm, we reached to Ghandruk Bus Park, Qlu, riding offroad in a tiny way in such a dark. Qlu has got few guest houses to choose from but I chose to stay at the same guest house where I and my family had stayed a year back when we had gone for the Ghorepani-Poonhill Trek on Jan 2017. The reason to choose this guest house was it’s cheap and the daal-bhaat is very delicious. I again ate 2 plates full like last time. This time I was very talkative with the foreigners. There was this French couple who had come to Ghandruk from Dhampus, the same day, parking their bike at Dhampus. I talked with the French lady for a while as a licensed female guide. Hahaha. She was impressed with the reason to meet a female guide in Nepal. To your knowledge, there are 1500 female guides registered but are increasing in number. The hotel owner was like “Kanxih, give me your mobile, I’ll put the wi-fi password in yours and give it to your sister as well.” I was like what?? I don’t need. You had asked for the money for the code last time.” And he was like..I never did that and gave the code. I barely can sleep during the night when I go away so the wi-fi was a blessing for the night.

Upper Chhomrong

Next morning at 7, we left the hotel and headed to Chhomrong. We walked all the way to the village, descended down to Kiul village, walked past woods, reached New Bridge to Jhinu and then to Chhomrong. Amidst, many things happened. Didi lost her scarf, I got a call saying I got selected for the job, saw many beautiful waterfalls, walked on the second longest suspension bridge of Nepal leading to the Jhinu Village, walked the nose striking hill of Jhinu village to reach Chhomrong, made one Malaysian friend with whom I got connected in Insta and Facebook and she even took my number so next time she comes, would meet me. Finally, at 4:30pm, we reached Chhomrong, stayed at Fishtail lodge and called it a day. I had really undermined the price of the foods in ACAP so the budget we had seemed off since the beginning and addition to it, I had lost my money on the way which I had kept on my jacket. So literally had been picky to eat the cheapest dish available, boiled potatoes and veggie fried rice. We had our snacks too so all in all, we did not get hungry. That evening, we met two people, Tek uncle and Milan Vai. They are the trekking guide and with gentle hearts. They were also going to the ABC same route, same itinerary and similar walking pace matching with the neighborhood sister.

Lower Chhomrong

Didi had already started complaining that her legs hurt but she was still going on. Even the route was tough for me. I never had trekked on such a complex terrain of nose striking stepwise up and soon the down of same nature. Reaching Chhomrong was heaven as we could rest and be ready for the next day. Tek uncle and Milan vai informed us to book a room prior to going to the place and asking for a room because the time is peak and we may end up not getting one. So I quickly made a call at Dovan and MBC and had our room booked.

Dovan Guest House

Dovan is the fourth village after Chhomrong. We ought to pass Banuwa, Sinuwa and Bamboo to reach Dovan. We left Chhomrong at 6 am to avoid the sun and easy to walk during the morning. Let’s not talk about the way. We had a rest at Sinuwa. We ate boiled potatoes and a hot cup of tea and slowly began to continue our walk to the destination. Around 1:30pm, we reached at Dovan and the first hotel at Dovan, Dovan guest house was our destination.

Hungry and tired, we reached the hotel. We did not have enough money. 5K was with didi and 1k was left with me. I had lost the money and spent all my money till chhomrong. We thought the money would be enough till ABC and back and again if get sort, we’ll withdraw from the machine.

However, the price was a bit expensive than other places I had been to so we had to request if there is some deduction/discount in the charge of the hotel. Actually, we were sharing a room with others and boiled potatoes and veg fried rice again so we were still good. In addition, didi was not able to walk properly because of calf cramp which everyone gets who are not used to walk. She was very helpless than I was. Seeing two pretty helpless girls, the hotel owner offered his kindness. He was young and looked humble. He even treated us the pizza. One wonderful good size pizza full of cheese, baked by his hands and on the top, the room service. It was an awkward moment for me but later found that this guy is a good and humble man. He did not take any money from us even when we offered some money that was on our budget. The next day, he even asked didi to rest there and let me go to ABC and when I come down, both of us leave. I even requested for so seeing her condition. But she was not ready to give up yet. Even with her bad feet, she continued the journey to ABC. She had decided to talk with the people up there and come down on Heli.

The destination for next day was MBC (Macchapuchre Base Camp) at 3700m. We literally had to travel 1200m of height in a day which is not recommended altitude wise. However, most people who think they are fit, opt this. So I opt for this option. We reached MBC at 1:30/2:00 ish in the afternoon. Soon after we reached, it started to snow for 3-4 hours making everything white. For MBC, We passed through the woods of Himalaya, Deurali and the valley to MBC. The way till Deurali was fine but after that, the way felt like too much and too hard. It started to rain and it was sunny again. After we reached the MBC, at the first hotel, Hotel Gangapurna, I met my teacher from the Trekking Guide Training who had come to summit a 6500m with a 60-year-old female Canadian climber and were acclimatizing. Even though we had booked a room somewhere at MBC, we stayed there. We shared a room with a Belgium girl. The hotel staffs were good with didi. She made them her friends while I was talking with my teacher and an Italian engineer who was the head engineer of a tunnel of a hydropower that is being built at Solukhumbu. He did not have good English and his pronunciation was too cute. I was talking with a Turkish man as well who is frequent to Nepal. He loved Nepal for the beauty and he loves to pictures them. He told it was his 21^st day in Nepal in a monthlong visit. I spoke with two old Korean men and in Korean. Hahaha! That Italian man was so impressed for I know things about GLOFs, GIS and others and even spoke in Korean, he asked for my LinkedIn id and we got connected. LOL

Amazing to talk with different nationals, different people (guides/porters/staffs) and gain so much knowledge. However, the cold was something that was bothering. Two blankets and a duvet, I was not warm enough to have the sleep coming. I am a cold type so I need stacks of blankets to be warm. Didi had a blanket and a duvet while Belgium girl had her own sleeping bag. At some time of the night, I fell asleep and woke up at 3:30am to get ready to leave for ABC at 4am. We three departed first from the hotel. It was a cold and starry night. I was in the front, didi was second and the Belgium girl was at the last and showing light to didi. She was not able to walk good and had sticks on both hands and could not torch her way. Belgium girl was very kind.

Annapurna Base Camp

Getting to ABC took 1 hour and 30 minutes for us. Reaching ABC, I realized the number of tourists. There were around 400-500 tourists in the Base Camp that morning. Annapurna was just a touch away. The sun touching the head of the mountain giving it a golden glow was breathtaking. I am forever a big fan of the mountain and its beauty. However, I felt something lacking in this trail looking at the level of difficulty this trail has.

Annapurna Base Camp

 Anyway, we made to ABC, 4130m above the sea level. Now, we needed to move down. Descending is faster but the legs go shaky and the feet do not step firm as in ascending. ABC to MBC was not hard to descend but for Didi ,it was worse. She was too slow for I can understand her pain but even worse for me as well because I had not taken good clothes for me making me turn blue by the freezing cold, waiting for her on the way. I was shivering and my fingers were numb. I would walk only after I see her and feel she is okay. When I could not see her because of the ups and downs, I asked one of the guides/ porters about her, he told me that she was crying on the way as she could not walk.  

Snowy Grasses

I went pale that time because I was fatigued enough to go up to take her, I could not be a help in any way even if I went there and started thinking her as a stupid to come along this way even having her feet hurt and knowing she cannot walk which is trouble to herself as well as for me too. So I waited for her knowing she is not a someone who gives up easily . Therefore, after some wait, I could see her coming and walking slow and then I went forward to the hotel so I could tell my teacher or hotel staffs to help her come down. People went out but she was coming all good so nobody literally went to help her. After she came to the hotel, we tried to arrange the Heli but it was out of her budget. My teacher and hotel staffs asked me to take her down slowly and seeing the scenario, my teacher offered some help financially so I would return after I get back to Kathmandu. I had informed about my budget thing and money lose to him on the other day. 

It took us 7 hours to reach back to Dovan. I had set the target of Upper Sinuwa for that day but………………..        I was very tired that day. Reaching Dovan, I find that there was no room for us. I thought that Didi had talked about the room to the hotel owner over the messenger as there was no signal at MBC but her phone was connected to wi-fi. I don’t know the reason but we had no room. Because she was tired and was in pain, it’s the morality to give her the priority and space, she got a bed in the dining room and slept as soon as she got into the hotel. I was left on the chair, sharing the table with varieties of men and women, smoke and alcohol, different genres of people and all asking me what happened? Sometimes some people made me feel as if it has been my fault. That really made me upset. I told them everything about her determination to go to ABC and she made it and, on her way back, she is taking the horse and make people shut up.

It was the night when I literally slept on a dining table in a dining room. It was a different experience. My itinerary got twerked and even the budget. But I felt like “Is it my fault?” kind of thing. Not a good thing in my mind. But I think I got tested for my patience, which is good and tackle with the difficult situation. That night, didi and the hotel owner fixed about the horse and I was already
asleep.

Next morning, when I knew the horse was coming for her, I left the hotel at 7 with Tek uncle and Milan vai with the plan to stay at Jhinu that day. After walking 10-15 minutes together, I was walking solo for the entire day. It was a nice experience, motivating me for solo travels. At times, when the smell comes horrible, it scared me because there are leopards and bears but otherwise, I was not scared at all.

En route everyone was asking me, where is your friend? Where is your sister? How’s she? How is her leg? And my only reply was “She is coming on a horse”. HAHAAHAH Among these questioners, one was from South Africa. He was a middle-aged man, fat and tall. He is an architect. He informed me about the greenhouses. He is one o
f the members in developing that concept in SA. Amazing encounter!!

At Sinuwa

I had my potatoes at Upper Sinuwa and fried rice at Chhomrong. At chhomrong, we had left our stuff which we did not need and we ought not to carry for that distance. While I was eating, didi showed up in a horse. She informed me that we are not staying at Jhinu but going to Pokhara with Tek uncle and Milan vai. I was like what the…!!! What about my legs. Tek uncle and Milan vai said the same thing to me and even Didi needed to go to the office ASAP so I was like I will try.

Didi and I started walking from Jhinu guest house till MatQ. It is a new jeep stop near to

MatQ Jeep Station

Jhinu in that area. Reaching there was a bliss but it was another headache after knowing the system there. Total Syndicate. You have to reserve! If you are a group of 8-10, its alright but if you are 4 or 5 or even 3, you have to reserve. Even if you let others join you, the jeep owners won’t let you. This has happened to us. Therefore, I personally do not recommend MatQ for solo or group of 2-3-4 people. Just walk up to Sinuwa or Kiul. NRs 1250 for 69km is not worthy. Just because it was getting dark, didi could not walk and she had to go to the office the next day, made me ride on it otherwise I was so furious to ride seeing the Syndicate.

congratulations

The jeep drove us to Prithvi Chowk from where we caught the night bus to Kathmandu. Buses are not comfortable enough but I managed to come in a piece in Kathmandu. The memory of the night bus for me is asking people to eat at "12 midnight". LOL!

The trek has been bittersweet but the most memorable one in some ways that I’d never forget. And I have learned many lessons from this trek which will be a building block for me for future. Lastly, I would like to appreciate the determination of didi who accomplished ABC in her first go.

A cheap Itinerary especially for Manoj Vai

Day1- Ktm-Pokhara-Kiul

Day 2- Banuwa/Sinuwa

Day 3- ABC

Day 4- Bamboo/Sinuwa

Day 5- Pokhara/Kathmandu via night bus

Day 6- Kathmandu