Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Incredible scenery, incredible people, incredible overall |
| Disadvantages: |
Some hard days |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
Nepal. A country that has fascinated me since I was a little child, reading about the exploits of Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and others who overcame the greatest challenges that nature could throw at them and emerged triumphant. A country I have wanted to visit for a long time and one that I can now say I have been to. Did it live up to my expectations? Yes it did and then some more on top of that.
Initially I wanted to do the Everest Base camp trek because that was the one that seemed to be most popular and you also had the prestige of seeing the world’s highest mountain. After some research however the general consensus seemed to be that the Everest region was becoming spoilt by mass commercialisation. The reviews I had read seemed to indicate the Annapurna circuit was the best overall, so I chose that one.
I booked my trip through the Adventure Company in the UK. There is no section in ciao for reviewing this company, but I can say they exceeded my expectations in every way and come highly recommended. Compared to their direct competition, such as Exodus they are a lot cheaper as well, but this is not at the expense of good service.
Getting to the start
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All trips to any part of the Himalayas start in Kathmandu. I will write a separate review on Kathmandu, but suffice to say I would try and not spend more than a couple of days there.
As I went with an organised trip, all of the transport was pre-arranged. It is possible to do the trip independently though and various buses run from Kathmandu to Dumre on the Pokhora highway. From there a local bus can be caught or a ride hitched to Besisahar, which is the traditional starting point for the circuit.
A word should be said here about the roads. Once you leave Kathmandu then the road turns into a very narrow highway with one lane on each side. The road climbs and drops considerably throughout the route. At various stages your transport will meet lumbering Tibetan trucks, which slow you down. In these circumstances the agreed course of action is to beep your horn before overtaking – it doesn’t matter where it is, cliff edge, blind bend – you just overtake regardless. It makes for some very scary moments indeed!
Starting the trek
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A trekking visa is required for anyone wanting to do the circuit. If you are with an arranged group then this will already be sorted for you. If you are doing it independently then a permit will have to be obtained from the ACAP (Annapurna Area Conservation Project) offices. If a permit is not obtained then you can be fined quite heavily at one of the check posts along the way, so it is best to get one here.
Because every trip will be slightly different in itinerary I have broken the trek down into sections rather than detailing each day individually. Hopefully this will give an idea of the nature of the trek without boring everyone too much.
Besisahar to the Manang valley
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The trek initially follows the Marsyangdi river and is for the first part a wide valley with excellent views over to the Manaslu Himal. After a day or so though the valley narrows considerably and becomes exceedingly steep. The trail meanders through this valley with considerable climbs and descents. There are also many suspension bridges to cross and one of the most soul destroying things of the first few days is to see a bridge 250m below you and know you have to climb down, cross it and then have to climb back up the other side. The first few days can also be exceedingly hot as well and until the Manang valley is reached the mountain scenery is hidden from view by the valley.
Manang valley to Manang
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The entrance to the Manang valley marks a defined difference in the scenery. Gone are the enclosed valleys and replacing them is wide open, almost desert like terrain with massive mountains on either side of you. It is around this stage that you should have some acclimatisation days. Ours had the following:
Lower Pisang: 3200m. We had 2 nights here and did acclimatisation climb to the hills above Upper Pisang from where there were awe inspiring views of the North Face of Annapurna II.
Manang: 3540m. Another 2 nights here and a climb towards the Gangapurna glacier to over 4000m.
The scenery here is absoloutely awesome. You get amazing views of Annapurna II, III, IV, Gangapurna and Tilicio peak. Even though you are 10,000ft above sea level these mountains tower over you.
Manang to Thorung Pedi and the Thorung La
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The Thorung La is a pass which connects the Manang valley to the Mustang valley and marks the highest point of the trek at 5416m high (17769ft). The base camp for most attempts is at Thorung Pedi, which at 4600m is probably the highest point most people will sleep in their lives.
The route from Manang to Thorung Pedi continues to follow the river, but the scenery is much different. Gone are the green pastures and in their place are bleak hillsides with patches of snow still present. Yaks are predominate here and you will often see them grazing the hillsides. Landslides are a constant threat here as well; you only have to look around for the debris from previous landslides. Once section is explicitly marked as a landslide area and we had to move in single file, 6ft apart for the whole of that section.
Thorung Pedi is a grim place to spend time, but luckily you only spend one night there. My recommendation is to have dinner then go to bed because you will be up at 4 a.m or earlier to start the ascent of the pass.
On pass day you start the ascent in the dark. The first 1-2 hrs are very steep and at the altitude it can seem almost impossible. Keep trying though and you will get there! After that then it eases up a bit, but there are tricky snow fields to traverse and the path is very narrow at times. There is a plaque at the top and most people do not spend much time there before starting back down. When you reach the pass you are more than 1000ft above the summit height of Mont Blanc!
Thorung La to Jomson
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Once you have descended the other side of the pass then you will invariably end up in a town called Muktinath, which is an important site of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Buddhists. For the remainder of the trail you will see pilgrims making their way up to the site – a journey which can take many weeks in some cases.
The scenery has changed once again – the Mustang valley is in the rain shadow of the Annapurnas and next to nothing grows here. The route follows the course of the Kali Ghandaki river, which is a holy river and is also exceedingly windy. Jomson is the main town here and is reached 2 or 3 days after the pass. The predominate views are of Dhaulagiri (8167m and the 7th highest mountain in the world) and the Ngliri range, which are less than 8000m, but incredibly spectacular.
Jomson to Pokhora
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A lot of people think the trek is nearly over here and whilst it is there are still hard days to come, especially Tatopani to Ghorepani, which is a 1700m climb in one day that is exceedingly hard. Poon hill can be reached easily from Ghorepani and this offers unrivalled views of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Macchupachare amongst others.
The final trek to Pokhora involves trekking to the road head and then getting a bus the last 45k or so.
Accommodation and food
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I was pleasantly surprised with the standard of accommodation and food throughout the trek. The accommodation is not 5* and the food is not a la carte, but they are all more than acceptable based on where you are and what you are doing. The food is nutritious and provides a lot of carbohydrate, which you need for trekking. As you get higher everything becomes more expensive and the camp at Thorung Pedi is the most expensive of all. It is all relative though because even at it’s most expensive a main course was only about £4.
A lot has been made about the litter problem in
Nepal and whilst it is bad, it is nowhere near as bad as I expected. Safe water stations are available along the route and they provide clean water for a fraction of the cost of bottled water. In addition they do not use plastic bottles, which are a big problem on the circuit.
Overall
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Any fit person can do this trek. The pass is nowhere near as bad as I envisaged and the scenery more than makes up for any hardships. If you fancy something completely different then I would recommend this.
Sorry for the length of this review, but I have had to edit it quite considerably as there are so many other things I would like to say. If you want any more information then please contact me.
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