Dazed, hungry and tired : the Annapurna circuit story.

Namaste!( Nepali greeting meaning " i salute the divine in you") great isn't it?

I can proudly say that I finished the Annapurna circuit. After about 13 days of hiking I made it over the 5500m pass, and now am in Pokhara, Nepal. It's probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Not only did it exhaust my bodies energy, but it took much mental strength for me to continue on, as some parts ( especially when we were at altitude where the O2 is less) it seemed impossible to keep going. I kept on pushing and finished the circuit, which I'm extremely proud of.

Mike and I started off our trek by catching a "micro bus" with our guide Chirring. A micro bus comfortably seats about ~14, but there was about 20 people on the bus. It was about a 6 hour ride through terrible traffic and dense jungle. It was a hot and humid so it really wasn't that enjoyable of a ride.

Once we got off the of the bus we started on a 3 hour hike to our first guest house. The walking here really wasn't that bad, except for the odd unsturdy bamboo bridge.

Our first guest house was called the "everest hotel" and was quite enjoyable compared to many of the other guest houses we stayed at. Our room consisted of two beds, with a small foam padding. The towns near sea level are quite interesting as they have chickens, children, and locals interacting with the trekkers.

As we continued on with our trek, everyday presented new scenery, and of course some grueling climbing. In the first week we were averaging about ~500m per day. With my 40lbs bag ( I know I pack heavy >.<) this was quite tiring.

The stairs and the paths we were walking on were often not the best surface to be walking on. With rain often happening overnight and rivers/streams cutting through our walking paths, the stones which walking on were often slippery and hard to deal with. My uncle fell 3 times, our guide fell once (which I got a video of), and I fell a total of zero times, no big deal.. =P

One of the most disconcerning things about this trek (and really should be expected) is that you although your sum total of ascent is i.e. 500m, you are often going up and down to reach your destination. Sometimes I would think "Why would people make this path this way", still thinking in a North American mindset. The thing to remeber is that these routes have been used for thousands for years and people make their way through the mountains. These mountains are unlike any other ones I have seen, they are much closer together and higher than the alps and the rocky mountains. Because of this it is much more difficult to make roads, so porters are often the only way to bring goods into villages.

Our guide explained to us that some porters carry about to 100kg on their backs. I give these people much respect because I was nearly dieing with my 20kg bag.

We passed many rice fields. Rice being the main sustenance of the people all the way along the circuit, it is no surprise that there is so many of them. Since rice is such a water intensive crop, these fields made it very humid, which made the trekking even more hard to deal with.

There are tons of waterfalls here. It is really amazing, especially me being from the prairies, the most you ever see is a dirty brown river(s). I have many photos and videos of these waterfalls, that I may upload some on here. but your best bet would be to ask me to show you my 10gb's of photos and videos in person :).

As we continue to climb higher and higher, the different types of plants around us begin to change. It starts to look a little bit like Riding mountain national park, or British Columbia.

The people begin to change appearances aswell. They change from Hindu-> Hindu + Tibetan-> Tibetan. There starts to be more and more Buddhist worshiping devices. There are stones put together (often with prayer flags) called stoopas, that one must pass always counter clockwise. Also there are more and more monasteries where monks live and pray.

As you reach Manang, everything begins to look more desolate, and you can begin to see the white top mountains. At 3500m this was one of my favorite altitudes to be at. As the air was getting noticeably more thin, but the exchange was cooler weather, which allowed me to hike with more ease, and in my opinion, higher efficiency.

In Manang people often take an acclimatization day ( pretty much just sleeping there 2 nights instead of the usual one) so you can get used to the height your at. It is very important to respect your body as you are going at heights >2500m's, as you can get altitude sickness, and it is not unusual to die from this. You are not supposed to go higher than 500m's a day, and if you get any of the symptoms of altitude sickness you are supposed to go down immediately. Anyway I felt good throughout the whole trip, except for minor headaches (because your brain expands with less air pressure).

Often on these days off, it is reccommended that you go on a side trip ( go up Xm's and then come down) to help get used to going up and coming down ( because the final day you go up 1000m's and go down 1600m's all in one day). So on our day off, mike decided that it would be more beneficial for him to stay in town and just relax as he was getting very tired. I decided i would go up to a monastery that is about 550m's above Manang, to see the infamous "rupee monk". This monk is 94 years old and has lived up in the side of a cliff face for about 50 years. I went up with my guide Chirring, and we both went and got a blessing, for the price of 100ruppess (1.3 cdn dollars aprx.). Completly worth it! lol.

The guy didn't speak any English but had a very powerful energy to him, he definitly did not seem 94.

The next day after Manang was a very tough. We ascended 750m's, which was more than the usual and even with the rest day, my body was very tired. The next couple of days were shorter 250m days, because people had to be sure not to get altitude sickness, and had to prepare for the final day, where we would cross thorung la.

At these heights of 4500m's, the air was making it very hard to move around. Just walking felt like running at sea level. My muscles were starting to fill up with lactic acid as there wasn't enough oxygen. The landscapes were becoming quite dull, even though there were amazing mountains that were 8000m's high.

We stayed in thorung phedi for our final night which was at 4500m's. This was quite fun as we got to socialize with many of the other trekkers we had been seeing the entire way.I learned a Israeli game which can't pronounce the name of, and played chess against an old american tournament player and a Nepali local.

The day consists of 4 hours up, and 4 hours down, so a very large day. The next morning I left at 5am because if you wait too long the winds become to strong up at the Thorung la. It was freezing out and the first hour of the walk was very very steep.

I continued to push on despite how my body wanted me to stop. The air was very hard to breath, huffing and puffing all the way up. Also it was so cold that I started to develop a cough. It was very hard climbing these mountains because after you climb one, then you have to climb another, and another and another.. I would take break at the top of everyone, drink some water and convince myself that I could keep going.

As i was working so hard my uncle was still in bed, as he decided that he would hire a horse, and go over the pas in 1.5 hours.

I eventually made my way all of the way to the top to meet my uncle. We celebrated with tea, and many photos. Even though i was so tired i felt a wave of euphoria go through me. Finally i had finished what we started 11 days earlier! My body was exhausted but it was all worth it, it felt like we were on top of the world.

At the top there are many prayer flags that people put up. I bought my own in one of the small villages, and I wanted to put it up for my family. I asked the creator to help us live good lives and stay healthy.

Whatever goes up must come down right? well there was a 1600m descent which was absolutely terrible i was so tired.

All in all the trip was very hard but well worth it, i have many photos and stories to tell, and can't wait to tell them. Hopefully this is just the start of a great trip. My uncle and I are in Nepal until the 24th, so I get to celebrate my birthday ( on the19th) here, then we head to India. I'm quite excited for whatever we have in store. Right now im going to go have some tandoori chicken and try and re cooperate from all the walking/hiking i have done. My legs hate me haha.

anyways Much love
jacques