Hiking in the Annapurna region, Nepal

[J.] We left Kathmandu on Saturday, 5 December for an approx. 7 hour bus ride to Pokhara, only about 200km away. Close to Pokhara, our hiking trip would start the following day.
We chose to go for an all inclusive hiking trip that was organised by Nepal Eco Adventures in Kathmandu including all trecking permits and overnight stays as well as providing us with sleeping bags and hiking poles for me. We asked for one guide and one additional porter carrying one of our backpacks. Both of us would only carry a daypack. Our idea behind having a porter was obviously to not having to carry such a heavy bag up and down the mountains (and as we were hiking along, I was really glad about it) but it also provided an additional income for one more person.
The trek we have chosen is called the Annapurna Panorama Trek and considered one of the easier hikes, only going up to about 3200m. As we were slightly out of the trekking season for this region which runs from October to November and with temperatures in December that can get already quite cold high up the mountains and not having the proper clothing gear for such altitudes, we did not opt for a longer trip going up to 5000m like the Everest Base Camp or the Annapurna Base Camp.

The bus trip to Pokhara was amazing and it became quite apparent that general road conditions, potholes and all other trucks and buses using the same road made this 200km tour a 7hour trip. Driving on this road certainly requires a lot of experience as well as driving skills on another level as overtaking in blind corners are rather the standard then the exception. On one occasion we almost ran into a head-to-head collision, the whole bus going like whooooooaaaaaah! - but nothing happened and I have not seen one accident along the road. Sitting on the right side in tralling direction, the view onto the valley was great and we also saw a white water rafting group, so definitely something to consider when going to Nepal as well. The bus stopped three times along the road for refreshments and little breaks and husband had a lot of fun exploring the food stalls and sampling the street food offerings.

The next day on Sunday, 6 December, we started the trip with a 1.5hour taxi ride to Nayapul (sp?) at about 1000m altitude. The hike started off very relaxed along a dirt road while passing some teahouses selling fruits, food and drinks. Around lunchtime, we were at about 1500 and still with good spirits until we realised that for the rest of the day we were to climb the next 700m uphill by taking 3200 stairs. Wow... I must say, that I do not consider hiking poles the coolest thing on earth but along the trek and with the flu still giving me dry coughs, a blocked and running nose and short breath, I quickly grew very fond of them. We were joking at every corner that it is just another corner we have to pass and then we would be at the place where we would stay for the night. As we arrived at our destination for the day, we both were exhausted and I made a note in my mind that although a trek might be considered an easy trek, it still does not allow for any shortcuts and lifts and bridges. You walk each meter up and down on your own feet, what a surprise!
The night was cold (sleeping under a 5cm thick blanket AND the sleeping bag) and the accomodation very basic, but everyone was very friendly and the food/tea warming our bellies.

On the second day, the morning sky was clear and the rising sun gave us the first of so many amazing views onto the snow covered mountains. And it is these views that are so rewarding so many times during the day. Our hike continued to go uphill, with more stairs to come and at the end of the day, I was wishing to only go downhill from now on, big please! (In hindsight, I should be careful what I wish for.)
I remember the last view steps to walk towards our accomodation for the night and I was so painfully slow with every step being such an effort and then turning around the last corner and having out of the sudden this for me totally stunning view:

The mountains seem so close as if it would only take another days' hike and you could touch them.

During the day, it is actually very warm but as soon as the sun sets it becomes fairly cold. The night here was very cold. The "warm" water felt as warm as the cold water at other places. No way I would jump under such a cold shower. And I remember how fascinated I watched the water steaming off my shoulder when I used a cloth to wash myself. Curled up in our beds and again under layers of clothes and blankets, it felt so cold on my cheek when turning the head on the pillow, we both opted for beanies and the hoody of our fleece during the night.

The next day, we only had a quick hike up and then we walked downhill for most of the day. The day was rather cloudy and still very cold, so we descended rather quickly and arrived early afternoon at our destination for the day. The place where we stayed was very nice and also offered a quick warm shower. Surprisingly, the walls between the rooms were the thinnest I have ever come across. They were so thin, it felt like the people next door were in our room when talking to each other and I could hear even them pee across 2 rooms. Sjoe!!!
In the end however, it did not really mattered much as everyone was so tired from the days hike and hence, had a good sleep regardless of any noises around.
That next day, it paid me back wishing for a hike that is only going downhill. My legs were sore from muscle aches, it wasn't funny. I was walking down the stairs to the dining hall like an old woman. Turning around from one side to the other in bed made my thighs scream. Later that day, my knees were so sore they felt like being broken. The only thing I never wanted to do in my life again was going downhill. Well... we were still at about 2000m, so clearly that was not going to happen. Husband suggested that I should better take a pain killer but the powergirl in me refused. The next day, even that voice would be silenced, haha!

The following days were rather short 3 to 4 hour hikes through amazing valleys and beautiful little villages.
One day, while I was turtle-speed-like descending a path, four porters were overtaking me with such a speed, carrying maybe 30 to 40kg each on their back and wearing flip-flops! I really admired their strengh and agility making it look like a no-effort walk.

Overall, I would do such a hike again any time and we were really wandering about what makes hiking so rewarding. I would love to come back to Nepal one day and hike up to the Mount Everest Base Camp.

Maybe also a little note on the equipment needed for such a hike:
A water bottle is a must as you can fill up the bottle for little money with safe drinking water at almost every teahouse. We have seen some not so pretty, huge piles of plastic bottles along the way as every little piece of plastic or food wrapped in plastic that has been carried up the hill needs to be carried down again. Persinally, I carried down the butt of every cigarette I smoked. And also every snicker's plastic wrap or glass bottle or the like we purchased along the hike.
Another must-have is a towel, they are not provided at the overnight stays.
No ATM is available in the mountains and the higher you hike up the hills, the more expensive food and beverages are. Accomodation costs are generally really cheap in comparison to food prices.
Clothes wise, it is up to the individual and own preferences. I did the hike in trail running shoes and they were perfectly fine for this specific trek and temperatures. The only thing I would do differently the next time is having more tech shirts with me that dry quickly. You sweat a lot when moving but at every little break the winds were chilly so we constantly put on and off one to two layers of additional jackets. A not drying cotton shirt is simply not comfortable.

Kathmandu, Nepal

[J.] We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal on 30 November. So often, the airport of a country seems to me like the first mirror of the culture and the people of its country and this felt so true for the Kathmandu airport. I did some duty free shopping in Delhi and while we were busy with the visa application on arrival filling several electronic and paper forms, I left this duty free bag on a shelf in this visa area. After passing the passport control, another security scan and waiting for our bags at the belt, my husband asked me where I have my duty free bag... bleeh, of course I forgot it in the visa area upstairs! I was running back, explaining the situation to the first official person at the security scan checkpoint who smiled and let me pass showing me the way upstairs, some back stairs that are normally not open for tourists. At the first floor, I was explaining the situation again to a second official, also mentioning that I do not have the passport with me (as I was entering again the area before the passport control). He nodded and let me through. I found the bag (including my precious cigarettes, haha) where I left it and could walk back downstairs to the luggage claim area without any hassles, only needed to pass the security scan ckeckpoint again. I was all smiles... the travel guide we used was saying, that tourists come back to Nepal because of its friendly people and it felt so true. 

Outside the airport we started negotiating the taxi fee for the ride to our hotel located in touristy area Thamel. Everyone was telling us that the fees are double the price we expected due to the fuel crisis. I had some question marks on my forehead and thought, well... the stories are so consistant, I need to research this once we had access to the internet again. It turned out that due to the new constitution just becoming into effect a few weeks ago, there were political riots and blockages happening at the border to India. Fuel was short everywhere, 50% of all inland flight were apparently cancelled already and tourists were advised to stay away from any public demonstrations. At that moment, I felt like the worst preparred traveller ever. We checked the travel warnings for Nepal 2 months ago and arrived there what in that moment felt like a huge crisis with us not knowing if we would be able to get around and out of Nepal again. Aaaaargh!
It turned out to be all good and our worries regarding our travel plans did not became true. However, the daily life in Nepal was very much impacted by this crisis as fuel was expansive, black markets florishing, hot showers rarely available and resturants closed or only with a much reduced menu. For Nepalese people, I am sure that the effects of winter coming and not enough heating resources available were much more problematic.

We spent some lazy 5 days in Kathmandu, just organising a hiking trip to the Annapurna region and strolling around the city. The earthquake earlier in May 2015 has destroyed a lot of buildings, also affecting the very old temples at the Durbar Square, which partly were completely destroyed; so, so sad how history has just vanished. Wandering along the alleys and small streets of the old town, the most peculiar thing for me was how very old buildings, temples and spiritual places mingle into the daily life. Somewhere on a square, we found a tiny little statue which accoring to the travel guide is from 6th or 7th century AD, surrounded by shops and dental practices that would not give the tiniest clue of how old this statue is!

With all the outdoor gear shops around and those many 8000m summits in this country with their tragic and sucessul stories I totally got caught by the mountaineering bug or better, the idea about mountaineering. In my mind, I was climbing them all (needless to say that I have no clue about mountaineering at all). I read the book "Into thin air" by Jon Krakauer about the disastrous ascent of the Mount Everest in 1996, which also stated that at that time about 4% of all people attempting the ascent of the summit died. Another book I read was 'Annapurna: First conquest of an 8000m peak' by Maurice Herzog from 1951. Both books are discussed controversial as they only describe the events from one persons view, but still I felt that they are well written, entertaining and give a great impression of what it means to climb in such dangerous environments and how closely related the successful ascents of the summits and the following difficult descents are when the bodies and minds are exhausted.

I was still suffering from a heavy flu I caught somewhere in India, most likely during a night train trip from Jalsaimer to Jodhpur which was freezing cold. I had this flu now for about three weeks without any signs of getting better and decided to take the antibiotics we were carrying with us for exactly this reason. That's how I started the 7 day hiking trip around the Annapurna region beginning with a bus trip to Pokhara.

Pokhara, Nepal

[J.] After our hike in the mountains, we spent some days in Pokhara, a very calm and laid back town. There are plenty of things to do here, going on a boat ride onto the lake, hiking up to the beautiful Peace Pagoda which also offers a beautiful view onto the mountains and is ideal for taking scenic photos, as well as activities such as paragliding.  We had all intentions to go for these options but well... we were dead lazy instead and the best we managed was having a stroll down the main road along the lake and going for a massage. Hmmmm...
In our defense, the weather was quite cloudy/foggy, so the view onto the mountains clearly could not have been that great and served as our excuse. And the boat ride simply did not feel too appealing, but we might have been completely wrong, who knows...

Something funny we discovered in Pokhara are that the maps of this town that are simply not accurate (similar for Kathmandu). In fact, at some point we looked at two different maps that for sure were showing different streets! Google maps is also generally off several streets, so finding specific places becomes an afternoon long hunt along the streets.
One afternoon, we were so keen to find a sandwich bar, only a tiny shop somewhere off the main street, we literally ran around in circles for quite some time. And we were craving these sandwiches after having eaten from the same menu in the mountains for days (which was good, but we needed something different in taste). When we finally gave up, quite frustrated, we stumbled past this place on our way back to the hotel. We could not believe it! We had passed this place at least 5 times before without noticing it and it was literally only 150m away from where we stayed.... aaaaaaah!
However, it felt like we had the best sandwiches that evening for dinner ever. The shop owner was such a lovely guy. He also owned a dog which was the most charming dog in human terms we ever met and I still regret not having taking my cam with me that evening. The dog came close to us while we were waiting for the sandwiches, sat next to my husban who had his legs crossed and put one leg onto his shoe that was haning in the air, then sitting there as if this would be the most normal thing in the world while looking down the street. I could not stop laughing...
Another great shop food-wise was a German bakery that sold the most amazing apple pies, and I had my fair share of them during these days...

We left Pokhara for some final days in Kathmandu to do some shopping before heading off to Sri Lanka via Bangkok. For whatever reason, we did only apply for a single entry visa in India months ago and could not manage to find an acceptable flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka where our luggage would be checked through in Delhi. Hence, we would have needed a transfer visa for India which due to the paperwork and time involved has not been an option for us. Therefore, we decided to fly via Bangkok.

Bye Nepal, we will miss you for sure and hopefully will be back one day. But we are also looking forward to unpack our beachwear which has been locked in our luggage for more then 5 weeks now... Hello Sri Lanka, here we come...  ;)