Annapurna Base Camp trek, April 2016
This trek takes you from roadways to land that is only accessible by hiking. You can choose many different start and end points, but the trek is filled with days of climbing huge stone stairs and
large descents back down to bridges to cross rivers. Hiking up can be frustrating at times, when you realize you are staying at a teahouse that is lower in elevation then the night before. You
must be prepared for varying temperatures, squat toilets, and the same menu (as it is controlled by the government). We had a 9 day trip up and back to the gorgeous base of Annapurna I, and with
Machhapuchare towering in the horizon, as well.
It was a great experience and I would do it all over again!
Day 1:
Pokhara to Kande: 1 hour taxi ride
Kande to Australian Camp: 1.25 hours hike
We grabbed a taxi from Pokhara to Kande. Our driver has guided treks all over the world and suggested we leave from Kande, instead of Phedi. I believe it cut off a few hours at the start of our
hike, not to mention some uphill climbing. The cab cost about $20 USD.
We hiked a short 1.25 hours to Australian Camp. It was mostly uphill, but easy to manage. Once to the ridgeline, it's a short distance to town.
We stayed at Machhapuchhre Guest House. It was fairly clean and had a bathroom with shower in the room. I can't speak to the shower, didn't try this one. The views in the morning, as most
mornings, were amazing. You definitely get that feeling of being in the Himalayas for the first time. The food was not very good, so for this reason I may suggest trying another lodge or hike an
hour to Pothana.
Day 2:
Australian Camp to Landruk: 5 hour hike
We hiked through Pothana, which was a nice town with many lodges to choose from. Then down thousands of flagstone steps for 3+ hours passing through Bhichok Deurali, Archana, to just outside
Tolka. Tolka had two town areas, which was confusing because they were a large distance apart. From Tolka to Landruk were rolling hills and views of the local towns and terraced fields.
In Landruk, we stayed at Hungry Eye Guest House, per a blog Brian had read. The room was nice, the bathroom was ok. Took a nice long, hot shower! I enjoyed the food at this guest house. Again,
always the same menu but it's up to the cooking ability and interruption of the owner.
Throughout the trip we definitely had some interesting interruptions of pizza, 'french fried chips', and 'french fried'. The pizza Brian ate didn't look appetizing because the sauce was orange
and looked more like salsa. Chips were french fries and 'french fried' were roasted potatoes covered in a sugary ketchup. Guessing most making chips hadn't really ever had french fries before.
Don't worry, eventually you get use to the sweet ketchup. Everything is nearly tolerable with enough salt, right?
I like Landruk as a town. It had a nice view of the other side of the valley with towns off in the distance and farms in between the towns. This is the last town that we stayed in that was
accessible by car, making food much cheaper then the following days.
Day 3:
Landruk to Jhinu: 5 hour hike
What seemed like a ton of stairs at the time, was the start of our day. I had no idea about all the stairs coming in my near future. We hiked down into the valley and crossed many bridges. From
Landruk we hiked through New Bridge. Shortly before this town we had to pull out the map to double check which trail we needed (on our return trip, we took the other trail from this point). Seems
signs are great to get you down, but very few to get you up to A.B.C. Up, up, up to Jhinu we went. Annapurna is growing larger every day.
In Jhinu, we stayed at Namaste Hotel, as suggested by a blog I had read. Little did I know this would be the last night for a while that we would have our own bathroom. The room was nice and since we were hiking less hours than most people, we got here early and got the room with the view. It overlooked the valley we had been hiking all day. The food was fine.
Jhinu was a busy town because the hot springs are about a 25 minute hike away. For 50¢ USD and some hiking time invested, we tried to enjoy the springs. It was pretty crowded when we were there, which was surprising to me. They didn't seem like anything special, but I guess there is some religious significance for the locals. Three pools were built along the river, made out of rocks. Hot springs always make me envision steaming in a crockpot... At least this crockpot didn't smell like sulfur, but it did include an old man in whitey tighties 'hanging out' a bit too much.
Day 4:
Jhinu to Bamboo: 7.5 hour hike
We hiked up and out of Jhinu. Down to the river to cross and of course back up, up, up to Chhomrong. Chhomrong is a huge town in mountain terms. Once in town, we went down thousands of stairs. To
cross another river then back up, up, up to 'Real' Sinuwa (per the name of a guest house in town). We dubbed the second Sinuwa town, which is 30 minutes passed the first, 'Fake' Sinuwa. We
planned to stay in 'Fake' Sinuwa for the night, until we saw the accommodations. I knew when Brian mentioned he was unwilling to pee indoors because it was so dirty, this couldn't be the place
for us. Instead, we stopped only for lunch. From this town and on, no more meat options...vegetarian only. From here to Bamboo it only took 1.5 hours and it was down, down, down about 300
beautifully built stone steps. This part of the trail was one of my favorites. It reminded me of hiking in the park located in the city of Portland. Lush and green, with the smell of moist
jungle. You could hear rushing water most of the way. We passed many waterfalls.
My favorite Brian quote of the trip come on this day. "It's like hiking 3 Colorado day hikes in one day." Yup, then you get up and do it all again tomorrow.
In Bamboo we stayed at Buddha Guest House. It was chilly this night (and the next couple of nights). We paid to have a hot shower, so worth it. Food was good. The woman running this place looked to be very hearty. Brian may or may not have spilled half a cup of hot chocolate on the bed in the morning as we were getting ready to leave. We also may or may not have just flipped the mattress over to avoid dealing with the tough looking woman.
Day 5:
Bamboo to Deurali: 4 hour hike
The hike was very Colorado-esk. Rocky trails with trickling creeks crossing over the path. This day was nice because it was only uphill, instead of gaining and losing elevation. The gain was
around 3,000 feet. We passed through Dohban and snacked in Himalaya, before arriving in Deurali.
If you wanted to feel bad about yourself, wait until the porters carrying four to six tourist packs on their head straps pass by as you're snacking. Or better yet the porters carrying 6 sheets of
plywood on their backs or 12 foot metal pipes on their shoulders. Nepali people maybe shorter than some cultures, but holy cow they are strong.
We tried out the New Panorama Guest House. As the name suggests, the views were nice. The rooms were clean and food was good. I needed to put the blanket provided over my sleeping bag that night.
They offered both western and squat toilets, options are always nice.
Day 6:
Deurali to Annapurna Base Camp: 4 hour hike
Another day of 3,000 feet of gain with some scree. About halfway through the hike we past by Machhapuchhure Base Camp, then up a glacier for about 20 minutes. From that point on was a much
easier hike up. Beautiful creeks running along side us, coming from the waterfalls and snow melt. We could see base camp for 45 minutes, give or take, before we arrived. Annapurna was sitting
behind the town and Machhapuchhre to our backs. No bad views.
We stayed in Annapurna Guest House, which had nice views from the unheated dining hall. It was freezing! Shortly after arriving to A.B.C. the snow started. It was great to sit inside and just watch the weather continuously change... Snow, sleet, rain, cloudy, and back again. And call me terrible, it was entertaining watching hikers struggle with the conditions, gear, and the elevation of 13,550 feet from our perched dining room. The food was good, too. One warning, squat toilets only. I don't mind them, besides the smell.
Day 7:
Annapurna Base Camp to Dohban: 5 hour hike
Got up early for pictures and left much later than the other hikers. I hiked 6 days to get there, why rush out, right? The snow, rain, crap mix the afternoon before made for clear skies in the
morning.
The hike, of course, was all down hill this day. I didn't much care for the hike back down the glacier. It was a slippery, snotty mess. Otherwise, it went well, just scree and rocky trail.
Obviously, we passed through M.B.C., Deurali (stopped for lunch), Himalaya, to Dohban again.
In Dohban we chose Tip Top Hotel. And by chose, I mean it was the only lodge of the three that had a room left. We got the last room in town to be exact. It was fine and the pay shower was clean
and very hot. Food was good and the service was great.
Day 8:
Dohban to Chhomrong: 3.75 hour hike
We did well over 3,000 stairs today, most of which took us up. Chhomrong alone had 1,994 and that was only to our hotel. This day we started at Dohban and passed through Bamboo, Sinuwa, to
Chhomrong.
We picked our hotel by which one we thought would have the best view. We ended up going with Kalpana Guest House. Only squat toilets but the views did prove to be great. Plus, they made me gluten free corn bread (shared fryer oil, though). Yup, fried corn bread, who knew. It was great, especially after a week of no substitutes! Plus, it is near the 'top' of town so only a few hundred steps up left in the morning. If they have a large group reservation, maybe try a different place because the walls are paper thin. You know the guy in the next room farted loud enough and with the thin walls, it actually woke me up.
Day 9:
Chhomrong to Siwai: 4 hour hike
Siwai to Pokhara: 2 hour jeep ride
From Chhomrong we finished hiking up, then way down passing through Jhinu and New Bridge. At this time, we split from the direction we came in. Our turn off was just after the town of New Bridge
and just before the bridge. It was labeled with spray paint on the rocks. After passing through several small towns and close to the end of the trip, we had the choice to go up or down (no signs
here, just a fork on the road). Locals said up is faster and we really didn't have to go up for long before leveling off and sending us through corn fields. Down just takes you through a town,
which means you then would have to climb up again to get to Siwai.
The jeep was shared with 7 passengers and a driver. It cost each of us foreigners $10 USD and locals $5 USD. It stopped at the trekking permit office and TIMS office, so we could sign out. We had
checked in at Pothana and both ways through Chhomrong. After about 2 hours of driving, we were dropped off at our hotel in Pokhara.