In my last post I talked about the benefits of walking for health and well-being.
Following on from this I wanted to highlight my most memorable walking experience, trekking the Annapurna circuit.
The Annapurna Circuit, located in Nepal's Annapurna mountain range, is one of the world's most famous, and beautiful treks. The route passes through many diverse landscapes including lush green valleys, terraced fields, forests, arid rocky plateaus and snow capped mountains.
The route also passes through numerous traditional Nepalese villages, all with their own unique sense of identity.
The typical duration of the trek lasts between 15 - 20 days depending on which route you choose to take. There are numerous tea houses along the route where it's possible to rest up for the night. A tea house is essentially the Nepalese version of a hostel, and a few dollars will get you dinner, a bed and breakfast.
The Annapurna trek is classed as a moderately difficult trek. The altitude ranges from approximately 800m to 5416m at the summit - Thorong La. The length of the trek is roughly 145 miles.
As you start to ascend, acclimatising at each step becomes essential. This is to help the body adapt to the decreasing oxygen levels and changing environmental conditions you encounter at higher altitudes.
The Annapurna Circuit itself has diminished in recent years as the Nepalese government continues to expand its road infrastructure. Who knows how much longer this beautiful trek will exist for.
The Nepalese people are exceptionally friendly and helpful. What struck me most were the obvious levels of happiness that the locals possess. They have a fraction of what we have in terms of materialism and social care, yet appear to be considerably happier.
Buddhism is the country's established religion and this shows as you move from village to village.
How The Trip Came About
In mid 2017, my brother in law, an avid trekker, experienced tour guide and all round good guy, had just returned from one of his latest jobs in Kilimanjaro, Africa. After recounting his trip he excitedly told me about two famous treks in Nepal - the Annapurna circuit and Everest base camp - that he wanted to do.
He planned to pull a team together to join him and being somewhat of an adventurous guy myself, I jumped at the chance. I started to turn my attention towards Annapurna.
Trekkers Assemble
My brother in law assembled a team of like minded individuals and connected us with an experienced Nepalese tour guide so that we could start to plan our trip. There would essentially be two teams, one that would undertake the Annapurna circuit, and the second that would join the main team halfway through for the start of the Everest base camp trek. Both treks combined would take around 30 - 35 days. Due to work commitments I was only able to attend the first trek.
We finalised our plans and constructed our itinerary - dates, flights, equipment, routes, all ticked off. This was really happening!
Learning About Annapurna And Trekking In General
I had roughly nine months to prepare and used this time to learn about Annapurna. I read various blogs and looked at various Annapurna itineraries. Digressing slightly, but this highlights the power of blogging, novices like myself able to access multiple, differing viewpoints of a subject to be able to gain different perspectives. The information I came across was more that enough to give me a relatively good understanding of what I would be facing.
As well as learning about Annapurna I also needed to learn about trekking in general. At this point I was a complete beginner.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that trekking is simply a form of walking and therefore nothing really much to learn. This isn't quite the case, there are definite distinctions between the two, most notably:
Duration
Distance
Terrain
Difficulty
Equipment
Purpose
Length
Location
When we think about walking somewhere we tend to think of only purpose and location.
As Annapurna was a trek that involved increasing and decreasing altitudes, I needed to understand what this meant for my body. Altitude sickness can occur when you ascend to high altitudes too quickly without allowing your body enough time to acclimatise.
Symptoms of altitude sickness include headaches, dizziness, and shortness of breath. In severe cases it can lead to HAPE (high-altitude pulmonary edema) and HACE (high-altitude cerebral edema). It typically affects individuals who ascend above 2,500m.
Trekking Equipment
It's important to have the right equipment in place before setting out on a trek, this includes but is not limited to:
Water flask
Purification tablets
Appropriate footwear
Hat
Cap
Sun glasses
Backpack
Sleeping bag
Towels
Hiking poles
Flashlight
First aid kit
Altitude sickness medication
Trail mix
Gators
Wind jacket
Waterproof clothing
Buff
Under layers
Pre-Training
I'd read that you needed to prepare your body for the Annapurna trek, so decided to do a handful of walks to acclimate my body. I first spent some time in the gym walking at a steep incline on the treadmill, I then completed some treks along the Seven Sisters in Sussex, coastal walks in Cornwall and the Box Hill Happy Valley in Surrey.
In my opinion, if you're already quite healthy you don't need to specifically train for Annapurna, simply having a decent level of fitness should be enough.
The Journey To Nepal
Departure day had finally arrived and after some last minute checks that everything was in order - equipment, passports, visas, currency - we were ready to go. The team met at the airport for the start of our journey. I took a different route to them which included a quick stopover in Delhi. I landed at Kathmandu airport and rejoined the team, the journey took around 18 hours in total.
Krazy Kathmandu
One of the first things you notice about Kathmandu is the vibrancy of the city. There are literally monkeys roaming the streets and driving etiquette is poor at best.
It's also safe to say they may need an electrician or two!
We dropped off our gear at the the hotel and after a few hours exploring, went out for a meal. After the meal we decided to get some rest and relaxation in preparation for the start of our adventure.
The morning arrived quickly and there was a palpable sense of excitement amongst the group. We all got ready, ate breakfast, then made our way to the bus stop.
Nepalese Buses
A bus ride in Nepal is NOT the same as a bus ride in the UK. There are only two words I can use to describe it - absolutely mental. Firstly, most of the buses are highly colourful and adorned with decorations. Secondly, the buses all have their own unique horn sounds which they toot often, very often! It actually sounds like they are communicating with other bus drivers in another language.
The bus ride to the starting point of the trek was an adventure in itself. I have to say, all due respect to these guys. They have to navigate dense traffic and narrow roads whilst also dealing with the odd rockslide, an all too common phenomenon in Nepal.
After stopping for lunch, we arrived at our destination and transferred over to a 4 x 4.
A 4 x 4 or a motorbike is the only vehicle you can use. A normal car or bus simply won't get you to the starting point due to the change in terrain.
The Winding Mountain Path
After an hour or so driving there was a distinct shift in landscape. Gone were the urban and suburban areas, now totally replaced by rurality.
We progressed from sub tropical landscapes to arid and dusty mountainous roads quite quickly. At one point I had to close my eyes as the jeep we were in travelled along a very tight path. The front and rear driver side wheels were literally half on the road and half in the air, there was no room for error.
My Anxieties
We had arrived at our trekking start point and managed to decompress after a busy first day.
The night before we were due to start the trek, the group decided to do a little exploration of the surrounding area.
I had started to build up some anxiety as I was concerned about the possibility of altitude sickness. Some reassuring words from my brother in law quickly reshaped my perspective.
Journey Start
Today was the start of the actual trek, no more buses, no more 4 x 4's, just walking for the next ~10 days. The group were well rested, full of excitement and raring to go.
Nepalese Tea Houses
Along the Annapurna Circuit Trek are a number of tea houses. Tea houses originate from China and are so called as people would congregate there to drink tea and socialise. The term has been slightly repurposed and basically now means a bed and breakfast. Every tea house has it's own unique nuances, vibe and people.
The Older Gentleman
Whilst walking we met an older gentleman who was also trekking the circuit. If my memory serves me right he was either 85 or 92. His mobility was severely limited and he was ambling along, but this guy was a legend.
He had trekked the Annapurna circuit the previous year with his son and decided to come back a year later to do it again by himself. I got the sense that he wanted to truly experience what life has to offer while he still had time. I remember feeling happy and sad for him at the same time.
The Food
Dal Bhat, the staple of Nepal. To the uninitiated Dal Bhat is rice and lentils, it's extremely nutritious and perfect for trekking in these conditions. The first few meals I had were tasty but after eating this 3 times a day it became monotonous. After my 20th Dal Bhat meal I'd had enough.
We'd been warned about staying away from meat based dishes as the chances of becoming ill were quite high. You have to understand that in these areas owning a fridge is considered a luxury, I saw raw meat being stored in cupboards.
The Sights
At every step of this incredible journey there were amazing, awe inspiring sights.
I walked through sub tropical forests with waterfalls and monkeys swinging through the trees. I walked along arid and dusty trails where we had to give way to the local yaks.
There were lush grasslands with bison either grazing or fighting each other. Not too far from them were enormous vultures casting their beady eyes in my direction, or so I thought.
Majestic, awe inspiring mountains were everywhere you turned with mountain goats perched precariously on what seemed like vertical, smooth faces.
Religious statues were abundant in all of the villages, highlighting the country's close connection with Buddhism.
Locals were having the Nepalese version of a picnic, playing music on homemade guitars.
Although I didn't see any snow leopards they were there, hidden in plain sight and they definitely saw us.
At one of our stops I went for a walk and saw two locals taking a goat for walk with a rope. In itself not particularly interesting, apart from the fact that the goat was dead and the locals were dragging it to the river below to dispose of it.
The Ascent
As we started to ascend, the terrain gradually changed from warm and sub tropical to arid and cold. This is where having the right equipment is essential. Layers of clothing were vital in keeping warm, and the trekking poles helped to reduce some of the effort we were expending.
Acclimatisation
At the end of each day's trek and after we had rested for a bit, we would perform an acclimatisation walk to prepare us for the next day's trek. This consisted of walking an elevation path for a few hundred metres, taking in some oxygen then descending back down again. We carried this out religiously at each notable ascent.
The Face In The Mountain
Amongst all of these amazing sights, the below picture illustrates what was perhaps the most breathtaking one for me. As I was walking up a winding mountain trail I turned around and could see a giant, mountainous face looking back at me.
If you ever need reminding of your place in the universe, a sight like this will help.
The Summit
The penultimate day before tackling the summit was tough. I had constant headaches which I thought were symptoms of altitude sickness. I worried that I would have to turn back and not be able to complete this momentous challenge.
I was medically diagnosed by the group (using alcohol and humour) and it was determined I had caffeine withdrawal from no coffee. To say I was butt of jokes for the next couple of days is an understatement!
None of us got a good night's sleep. Perhaps this was physiological or perhaps it was due to the trepidation of the next days challenge, who knows.
The morning came soon enough and we set off. We were now at a different, more dangerous stage of the trek and there was an air of seriousness amongst the group.
The oxygen at the summit was around half of what it normally is at sea level so it was quite difficult to breathe. Every 10 steps or so I had to stop to catch my breath. You could literally feel the pressure on the body.
The summit can create somewhat of a human traffic jam as there is one, narrow route that everyone needs to take. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the line of people ambled along a dangerous ledge with a large drop. Anyone that fell would be subject to one, and only one outcome.
This was by far the most difficult part of the entire trip and when we reached the summit we were ecstatic. Simply surviving this ordeal gave rise to a sense of gratitude that we don't normally feel in our modern lives.
The Descent
Some trekkers believe that the descent can actually be tougher than the ascent, and I can understand why. It was non stop walking for hours with a steep decline of around 1500m. This constant, jolting on our joints led to one of the team injuring his knee, which meant he and his partner had to slow down.
One of the benefits of being at this altitude is the increase in red blood cells and lung capacity, effectively transforming you into superman for a day or two.
When we arrived at our destination we chilled out at the Bob Marley bar, even in rural and rugged Nepal Bob's influence was alive and kicking.
Back To Kathmandu
We continued to make our way back to our starting point at Kathmandu, stopping off in various villages and towns along the way as we neared the end of our trek, each stop generating a new and indelible experience.
That evening the second cohort arrived, these guys were friends and co workers of my brother in law. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to to get to know these guys but they seemed pretty cool and I'm sure they had an amazing experience trekking the Everest base camp.
We visited the famous monkey temple and got accosted by monkeys. A word of warning, you need to make sure you have nothing on you that they can grab, as they will try!
We also went into the various mandala shops where one of the group purchased a beautiful work of art.
My Last Night In Nepal
The penultimate night before my departure, and the rest of the group's onward journey to Everest base camp, we all went for a meal. We met some other guides who were friends of our guide. One of them dared me to a food challenge which I duly obliged. We ate sheep's lung, bone marrow, testicles, and a whole host of things that I'd never even heard of before.
It was a good night, decompressing with a couple of beers and good company. A fitting end to this incredible journey.
Trekkers Disassemble
It was time for me to head back to the UK. To be honest my cup was full, I was happy to have undertaken just the one trek and not combined Everest base camp as well. I feel that joining two amazing experiences back to back would've detracted one away from the other.
Final Thoughts
This experience was so satisfying, it had adventure, excitement, anxiety, fear, camaraderie, culture, fun and a whole host of other feelings I can't describe. I've only included a fraction of all the things that happened. If I'd included everything it would've been a book and not a blog post.
Writing this and reminiscing on these moments made me realise how amazing this trip was and how lucky I was to participate in it.
I can't recommend doing something like this highly enough. Whether for adventure, or to take time out and decompress from modern society, whether you need a perspective shift or some introspection, you may just find it if you decide to go trekking.
I hope you enjoyed the content. Please leave your thoughts below in the comments section and let me know what other health and well-being topics you'd like me to cover.
If you’re interested in improving your health then please do get in touch!
Michael East
ME LIFE
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