The Annapurna Circuit Trek

Ah Nepal.... the country of the mighty Himalaya. After quickly discovering that there ar'nt a great amout of places to visit that are accessable by road we decided to get off the beaten track and into the majestic mountains..... by foot.


The Annapurna circuit trek is a 16 - 20 day hike through some of the highest peaks in the world incorporating a 5400m high peak called the Thorong La. Coming from India with just shorts, t-shirts, flip flops we've been frantically running around the masses of trekking shops in Kathmandu and Pokara (the only 2 main towns in Nepal) trying to transform ourselves into alpine mountaineers.

With the bare minimum of gear (around 12 kilos between us) we took a local bus to a remote town at the end of the road and prepared to set off for one of the best and most remote parts of the world to go trekking.

The trail climbs steadily through local villages along a rocky path shared by man and beast. Constant donkey caravans guide the way and superhuman porters who carry up to 80 kilos uphill for around 70km resting on a strap that ties around the forehead are dotted along the path.

After 5 days of climbing we arrived in the snow to the slightly larger village of Manang where it's advised to rest for 2 days to acclimatise to the altitude. Unfortunatly, it was'nt the altitude that was the problem. After 3 days and half a metre of snow we began to realise why there wer'nt a great amount of people on the trek..... we were unable to go on as the pass was totally blocked by snow.

Turning back was a pretty hard decision, but to wait out the snow melt would have meant sitting around for perhaps a week in the middle of nowhere. With a quick decent of 3 days, walking for 9 or 10 hours each day we are finally back in civilization with many blisters and sore muscles....... Still, one hell of an achievement for both of us and one of the best things i've ever done in my life.