by Sim Meng Keong 24.8.2015
As the saying goes “The world is a book, those who do not travel, read only a page”. Travel not only enlightens our senses and broadens our minds, it creates a healthier perspective about life when we experience new things, meet different people and culture.
Trekking Himalaya is one item in my bucket list. So when Soon Fatt invited me in June 2014 to join him and his two friends for the Annapurna Circuit Trek, I immediately seized the opportunity to see this part of the world which offers challenging and fascinating landscape. It was a perfect timing to embark on this 18 days journey as my request for early retirement from Nestle has just been approved at that time.
We planned to travel to Nepal for the Annapurna Circuit Trek in Sept/Oct 2014 as this is the best season for trekking. The weather is sunny and warm with outstanding views but the nights are slightly cold.
As I have no prior experience in mountain trekking, I soon started my intensive training (with guidance from Soon Fatt) by climbing Bukit Gasing every Sunday for three months before the trip.
Brief Summary of our ACT (Annapurna Circuit Trek)
The actual trek took us 18 days to cover the circuit of 300km route around the Annapurna mountain range. Our starting point was at Besisahar. We stopped at several villages along the ACT before reaching Thorong-La Pass which is a mountain pass that stays as the highest pass in the world with an elevation of 5,416 metres (17,769 ft) above sea level in the Damodar Himal, north of the Annapurna Himal, in central Nepal. We trekked till Nayapul before being driven to Pokhara and thereafter to Kathmandu where we ended our ACT.
Throughout the ACT, we were captivated by the magnificent sceneries with snow-capped mountain, raging rivers and waterfalls, enchanting forest, beautiful farms and villages and its friendly people.
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The Annapurna Circuit Trek covers a total of
300km
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Below is our day-to-day itinerary.
Day 1 : Arrival at Kathamandu
We arrived at Kathmandu Airport in the evening. We were swiftly checked into our hotel by the tour agents who organised the ACT. We did our last minute shopping for gloves, down jackets and other accessories. After that we had our delicious Thakali dinner.
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Delicious Thakali dinner
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Day 2 : Kathmandu to Besisahar (180km)
After an excellent breakfast, we were driven in a van for almost 4 hours through the foothills of Himalaya to Besisahar. We rested after the long journey.
Day 3 : Besisahar to Ngadi (14km)
After a hearty breakfast, we set off at 7.30am and we walked for 3 hours and 30 minutes before reaching a guest house in Ngadi where we stayed overnight. We were lucky to have made it to the guest house just before the heavy rain.
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The team posing for group photo just before
starting off on our ATC journey
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Day 4 : Ngadi to Jagat (20km)
After a solid warm-up first day trek, today’s walk began with an easy winding path from Ngadi. We trekked for more than 5 hours across suspension bridge, steep climbs and farm terraces before we arrived at Jagat where we stayed overnight. Magnificent views of the raging waterfalls and river on our route to Jagat.
Day 5 : Jagat to Dharapani (27km)
Next morning we set out to Dharapani. The journey took us 5 hours 30 minutes across suspension bridge over the raging Marsyangdi River and steep climbs before reaching our destination. We stayed at a guest house that has the beautiful view of the raging Marsyangdi River.
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The raging Marsyangdi River
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Day 6 : Dharapani to Chame (17km)
From Dharapani onwards, the vegetation, the local inhabitants and the general landscapes go through a gradual change as the air gets cooler, the trail then climbs through forests and to the alpine region passing through farms, orchards, waterfalls and beautiful pine forest. We camped at Chame after some 6 hours of good walking.
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Multiple Waterfalls enroute to Chame
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Our guest house
in Chame
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Day 7: Chame to Pisang (19.5km)
From Chame, we continued on the gradual path up to a bridge, from the bridge a short steep climb through the pine forest brought us to the top ridge of the Pisang village. We arrived at Pisang village after trekking for 4 hours 15 minutes and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
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Marsyangdi River along the route to Pisang
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From Pisang onwards, we kept hiking with constant views of the high snow-capped peaks. The walk climbed more steeply now. On reaching the top, we stopped at a ridge to get our view of the Manang valley. On our way to Manang, we passed through several smaller villages. After 5 hours of walking we arrived at Manang where we stayed for 2 nights to enable us to acclimatise the high attitude.
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Scenic spot along the route to Manang
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A necessary day to rest, acclimatise and explore Manang. I had my first attempt to taste a Yak steak for dinner. I found the meat tough for a steak.
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Our trekking team having dinner at the guest house
in Manang
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The view from our guest house of the Gangapurna
mountain range
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Admiring the Annapurna massif
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Manang town site on the mountain edge
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After a wonderful time at Manang, the trail from here leads to a slow climb for an hour, after the last village of Manang and the track gently winds up offering inspiring views of the Annapurna II, Gangapurna and Tiloche. After trekking for 3 hours 30 minutes along the scenic route we arrived at Yak Kharka.
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Mountain range along the route to Yak Kharka
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Our climb gradually leads to a ridge before descending to the headwaters of the Marsyangdi River and crossing via a wooden bridge. We stopped at Thorung Phedi for lunch before our steep climb to the High Camp. The trail from Phedi follows on the winding gravel path as the walk in the beginning can be quite strenuous on the steep zigzag path for an hour and a half before we reached the High Camp. We had an early rest as we had to wake up early the next morning before 4am.
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Scenic stop enroute to Thorung Pedi, 4450m
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Steep ascend from Thorung Pedi to High Camp
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View from High Camp
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Today was the big day as we found ourselves going through the highest point of this trek over Thorung-La. We started very early in the morning before the break of dawn after a quick breakfast of oat and tea, so that we could reach the top of the pass before the chill wind started blowing. After 3 hours of slow and strenuous walk due to low oxygen level and the cold air, we reached the height of 5,415 meters at Thorung-La. It was a triumphant moment especially for me. The views of the high Himalayan scenery was simply stunning.
Snow-capped mountain peak near Thorung-La Pass. This is the area where more than 40 trekkers perished during the snow storm in Oct 2014 just after we passed by this area a week earlier.
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Approaching Thorung-La Pass
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Soon Fatt and Ming Keong at Thorung-La Pass
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Steep Descend from Thorung-La Pass
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Day 13 : Muktinath to Marpha (27km)
After the strenuous day as it was hard on the knees to Muktinath, our journey carried on with a 1,200m of descent to the Kaligandaki river valley floor. From here onwards, the valley became very windy in the afternoon. The scene along this route was awesome. Another 2 hours of gentle trails we reached the large town of Jomsom where we had our lunch.
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Mirror Lake on the way to Jomsom
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Trekkers applying innovative clothes drying
technique on the way to Jomsom
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View of the valley at Kaligandaki River
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Scenic spot enroute to Jomsom
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Another two hours of easy walk from Jomsom towards the south east brought us to Marpha for the overnight stop.
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Marpha town completely whitewashed and free
of animal droppings
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Our homely guest house in Marpha
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From Marpha, the walk was very enjoyable following the Kaligandaki River downstream. Soon we reached another charming village of Tukuche. After another 3 hours of walking we arrived at the village of Lete for our overnight stay.
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Our trek enroute to Lete
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It was a pleasant walk from Lete to Tatopani amidst the beautiful surroundings, terraced paddy fields and the beautiful waterfall of Rupsi Chhare. After 5 hours 30 minutes of walking, we arrived at Tatopani, a nice village with large hot spring pools just by the bank of Kaligandaki. Overnight at Tatopani.
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Beautiful waterfall of Rupsi Chhare
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Our guest house at Tatopani
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Soon Fatt and Ming Keong at Tatopani’s hot
spring
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After a wonderful time at Tatopani and immersing ourselves in its warm pools, our trek continued towards the east on a gradual trail crossing suspension bridge over the Kaligandaki River and uphill climb. The climb was quite steep to the top. After a strenuous 5 hours of walking, we arrived at Ghorepani where we rested early as we had to wake up early the next morning to get the best view of the sunrise at Poon-Hill.
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Steep ascend to Ghorepani
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Just before 5am, we hiked up for more than an hour to the top of Poon-Hill at 3,195m attitude. We experienced a stunning and beautiful sunrise with superb panorama view over the Dhaulagiri-Annapurna to Mt. Manaslu range.
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Mountain range seen from Poon-Hill before
sunrise
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Sunrise at mountain range taken at Poon-Hill
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Mountain range seen from Poon-Hill
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Soon Fatt and Ming Keong at Poon-Hill
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After lunch, we continued on a gradual trail for a short period and then a long descend from Ulleri village on the stone paved steps all the way to the suspension bridge at Tirkedhunga and finally to our guest house where we stayed overnight.
Day 18 : Tirkedhunga to Nayapul (9km)
After a lovely morning at Tirkedhunga, a beautiful walk took us on a gradual downhill path most of the way passing through rural farm villages and great views of cascading waterfalls nearby before reaching Nayapul. From Nayapul, we hopped into a taxi for an interesting scenic drive of less than two hours to Pokhara for our final stop before getting back to Kathmandu.
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Clear water stream along the route to Nayapul
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Enjoying farewell dinner with our chief guide
and trekking agency team at Rum Doodle, Kathmandu, where we left our Foot Print
before ending our ACT journey at Kathmandu.
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| Our Foot Print |
I would consider the Annapurna Circuit Trek experience a great personal achievement. I have learnt to be more discipline and independent and more confident in what I can achieve by viewing obstacles as just part of my life for me to move forward. This challenging back-to-nature experience, the beautiful sceneries and the friendly people of Nepal will forever remain in my memory.
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