Annapurna Sanctuary Trek: Photos, Baby!
Day ten was our final day of trekking. Just a short 2 hour walk down to the bottom of the Annapurna Range, about a half hour drive from the town of Pokhara. Rather than bore you with more words, given that it was a pretty uneventful last day (save for the feeling I got when we first got back in a car. After not having seen a vehicle for ten days, and going everywhere on foot, the sensation of sitting still but moving along at amazing speeds (well, maybe 60km/hr, so only really amazing if you’ve just spent ten days in the mountains. And did I just put a bracket within a bracket?! Damn, somebody help me here) was incredible. Although it lasted for all of about ten minutes before it felt normal again.), I’m going to throw a whole crap load of photos at you. Mostly these will just be snaps that help tell the stories I’ve been trying to get across here (the better, more picturesque shots I’ll save for flickr). So, if you like looking at photos of gorgeous mountains, bustling rivers, and skinny white guys with red beards and nerdy glasses sweating buckets, then by golly this is your lucky day!
Day One self portrait:
I made sure I took at least one self portrait a day. These generally range between me looking absolutely buggered and covered in sweat, and me looking absolutely stoked to be in the mountains. This one is during our thigh-burning climb at the end of day one. It was about at this point that I thought I would actually die on the trek. (click on the picture for a larger view)
Day Two self portrait:
Looking a hell of a lot happier than the day before, this time after a short days walk, a hot shower, a snickers bar and a cup of tea. Oooh yeah.
Day two view:
This was the view from our room in Ghorapani, at the end of day two. All I needed to do was turn my head whilst in bed to see the mountains, but when I woke up the next morning I didn’t see anything – 4.40am, damn that’s early!
Day Three:
But you know what, that 4.40am wake up call was dman well worth it. Abs and I at the top of Poon Hill, with one of the best views in the Himalayas. That’s the Dhaulagiri Range behind us. And don’t we look fetching in our matching fake North Face fleeces, purchased for about six dollars each in Kathmandu
Day Three self portrait:
At the top of Poon Hill, looking mighty happy with myself! Again with the Dhaulagiri Range behind me. Dhaulagiri, the highest peak in the Dhaulagiri Range, is the 7th highest mountain in the world, at about 8170m.
Day three, Ghandruk:
By the end of day three we’d reached Ghandruk, where I wrote about the mountains appearing from behind clouds like magicians appearing on stage. This is what I was talking about…… (this was taken whilst sitting in the lawn outside our room, just staring up at the mountains for hours). And this photo isn’t in black and white either, this is the colour version!
Day Four, morning tea:
And this is that lawn I was talking about, just enjoying an early morning cuppa. And don’t ya just love the socks and thongs combination….. classy. Very classy.
Day Four, self portrait:
Remember when I talked about the path going straight up the side of a hill due to a landslide destroying the older, more gentle path. And that hill being ridiculously steep, and with no stairs but just a gravel incline. And that we hiked up for over an hour, climbing around 900 metres in the process. Yeah, well this is me at the end of it. Check out the sweat mark across my body from my camera bag. You should have seen poor Salik who was carrying the 17kg pack. You can just make out a river way down at the bottom of the valley below me, which is about where we started that climb from.
Day Five, morning view:
I told you about that beautiful Fish Tail mountain right, Machhapuchhre? Well this was the view we had of the sun rise on the morning of day five, from the village of Chomrong, with the sun’s rays shooting out from behind said fish tail….
Day Five, rituals:
It was great getting into a routine on the trek. Getting up at 5.30am, watching the sun rise over some 7000m mountains, then sitting back with a nice cup of tea. Does it get any better? That’s the peak of Annapurna South looming over me.
Day Five, before the fall:
I took this shot of Salik on a bridge right before I jumped off a rock and landed in a ditch, almost smashing my camera in the process….
Day Five, after the fall:
And this is an hour or so later, after climbing up a shitload of stairs. Do I look buggered?
Day Five self portrait:
Later that same day, crossing a less sturdy bridge. These small bridges, made mostly of bamboo poles and maybe a couple of large stones, were common along the whole trek.
Babu: Super Guide
The least-likely looking Himalayan trekking guide you could imagine. And super cool dude. I give you, Babu….
Day Six, self portrait:
Approaching Annapurna Base Camp, with the clouds chasing me up the valley. To my left (your right) is one of the mini-glaciers we frequently crossed that day.
Day Six, in the clouds:
Once the clouds caught up to us, you could hardly see the guys up ahead, let alone the huge mountains that towered over us on all sides.
Day Six, A slightly less bemused looking self portrait:
Eventually though, a few hours after we arrived at Annapurna Base Camp, the clouds cleared and the mountains appeared. And that certainly brought a smile to my face.
Day Seven, Wow!
5.30 in the morning. I tell you, it’s easy to get up that early when you’re greeted by views like this. That’s Annapurna, one of only 13 or 14 mountains in the world that top 8000m.
Day Seven, The Crew:
Just before leaving Annapurna Base Camp, from left to right it’s Abs, Babu, Salik, and me.
Day Seven, Proud Trekkers:
The obligatory shot with the Base Camp sign, taken by Salik. And not a bad shot either…..
Day Seven, Going Down:
Taken by Abs as we made our descent from Annapurna Base Camp down towards Machhapuchhre Base Camp. That’s Machhapuchhre (the mountain) you can see behind us, otherwise known as Fishtail.
Day Seven, Baby Steps:
Crossing one of the streams that fell as waterfalls down from the cliffs above us, before running under our feet and feeding into the Mhodi Khola (river) down to our left. That’s a pack of snow/ice that I have my hand on for balance.
Day Seven, Selp Portrait:
At the end of an eight hour day, after descending about 1200 metres. I was absolutely buggered.
Day Eight, Outta the Way Dopey!
Day Eight, Extra Work for Salik:
I wrote about Salik helping some kids up the stairs to their school near the village of Chomrong. Abs was fit enough (read: crazy enough) to actually run up the stairs ahead of Salik so he could get this great photo.
Day Eight, Self Portrait:
You may have noticed me at the back of that last photo, grimacing as I climbed the stairs. Well, this was me a few hours later, whilst we made the almost vertical descent to the village of Jhinu, near the hot springs.
Day Eight, A much happier looking self portrait:
And about an hour after that shot, check out the difference in expression once I’d had a swim in the hot springs.
Day Eight, Hobbits at the Hot Springs:
Another great shot taken by Salik, our porter. Abs and I look as though our legs are only about a foot long. Oh, and I should warn you about my skinny white frame. Even I think I look like a ghost.
Day Eight, Suspended:
Crossing a super large suspension bridge over the Mhodi Khola, a few hours after leaving the hot springs. It was like walking across a trampoline.
Day Eight, Nose Drip:
Even though I’ve already put up two self portraits from today, I had to put this one up too, taken at the end of Day Eight. Although it was almost the end of the trek and you’d think we’d have been descending, the last half hour of the day was up some nasty stairs, hence the sweat dripping from my nose.
Day Nine: FUCK THAT’S A BIG SPIDER RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE MY HEAD JUST WAS!
If you’ve made it this far, then you now get treated to the spider photos. Damn that scared the crap out of me!
Day Nine, Dave the Porter:
So yeah, I lasted about fifteen minutes carrying that big pack. And notice the stairs I’m going up – yeah, this was an easy stretch of the trail.
Day Nine, The Dodgiest Shower:
Do you think I’ll come out of this shower cleaner than when I went in?
Day Nine, You Little Bastard!
Literally seconds after taking the shower photo above, I looked down to see blood running down my foot. I never saw the leech, but he got me a good one.
Day Nine, Self Portrait:
Whilst waiting for the blood spilling out of my ankle to clot, I ate my last Snickers bar. I’d bought ten before the trek, and generally eaten one a day at the end of each walk. It made the hour-and-a-half wait for the blood to clot a little more bearable (seriously, an hour-and-a-fucking-half!)
Day Ten, Self Portrait:
To be honest, I wasn’t overly excited when we got towards the end of our trek. When we first saw a road, and heard the dirty noise of the buses and the honking of cars and motorbikes, it was like a blanket of pollution that dirtied our fresh, clean spirits.
Day Ten, Done and Done:
And to finish off, a well earned drink for the four lads, before getting a taxi back to civilisation.
And that, my friends, is that. Hopefully for your sake you’ll never have to see a photo of me without a shirt ever again!
Now, you’re smart, so you probably noticed that there’s not actually many shots of the mountains here; I’ll be putting a few shots up on flickr
over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out.
Tags: Annapurna Sanctuary, Himalayas, Nepal, Photos, Travel, trekking
Dave