Annapurna Base Camp

Day break on Annapurna South and Fang. Annapurna Base Camp, April 2011.

Annapurna. For armchair mountaineers as well as real ones, the name brings to mind tales of heroism and tragedy. But those are often set aside by the image of one of the most formidable peaks in the world. In fact, Annapurna I (8091m) is the highest point along a 55 km barrier in the Central Himalaya that includes no less than 14 peaks above 7000m. To add to the drama, the western end of the ridge is separated from Dhaulagiri by the world's deepest gorge. The Annapurna Base Camp trek takes you to the heart of the Annapurna Sanctuary, a place of gigantic beauty, where the Annapurna massif and the beautiful and unclimbed Macchapuchare cradle you among snowfields and glaciers. 

Trivia:

• People: Saumya, Saurabh, Prasad, Kanishka, Ranjita (all star cast, who have been on several prior treks documented on these pages) and "Gadget" Geetanjali (all the way from SF Bay Area)
• Dates: Apr 15 - 22 (8 trekking days)
• Trailhead: Nayapul, about 1.5 hours drive from Pokhara
• Highest point: ABC, 4130m
• Total distance: ~90km
• GPS data (courtesy GG).
• Peaks: Annapurna I (8091m), Annapurna South (7219m), Fang (7647m), Annapurna III (7555m), GangaPurna (7455m), Glacier Dome, Macchapucchare (6993m), Tent Peak (5773m), Fluted Peak (6501m), Hiunchuli (6441m), Rakshi Peak. In addition, from Pokhara: Dhaulagiri (8167m), Annapurna IV (7525m), Manaslu (8156m).
• Permits: Go on a weekday to the ACAP office near Lakeside in Pokhara (ask anyone) and get the ACAP and TIMS permits. Carry passport photos, passport copies, and cash. You get them within an hour. 

Prelude:

  

Twelve hours before we started the trek, it seemed like we wouldn’t. Everyone except Ranjita and I (who had arrived in Pokhara a few days prior) was on a dinky flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara that got turned around due to bad weathe, just prior to landing. They found themselves back in Kathmandu later that afternoon. Resourceful as ever, they managed to arrange a cab to drive them to Pokhara, only 200km away, but a tortuous 6 hour road trip on a good day. Their over-enthusiastic cabbie, who from their accounts had the extremely dangerous "no problem" mentality, proceeded to have an accident within the first 5 minutes of the trip. Damage to the car notwithstanding, they carried on, and suffered a breakdown in the middle of the night, in the middle of exactly nowhere. At a road side eatery (to which they had to hike a few km in the dead of night), Saumya, Prasad, Saurabh and Geeta had dinner, and overheard a bunch of people saying that one of their group had gone missing after going for a swim in the river. So, after surviving a cancelled flight, an accident, a breakdown, and coming in close contact with a drowning, the brave ones arrived at the Sacred Valley Inn at Pokhara (where the two of us were staying) at about 4 am, in surprisingly good humour. The only casualties appeared to have been a night’s sleep, and Saumya’s  cellular phone.

Day 1. Nayapul To Ghandruk (1950m). 5h 30min including lunch.

Plans unchanged, but delayed by a few hours, we left Pokhara in a minivan around 9:30. Two hours later we arrived at Nayapul, where we started the trek at 11:30 am. Since the ABC trek is a tea-house trek, we were carrying our own packs. We had made no advance bookings, but were told that finding accommodation along the route wouldn’t be hard. 

The first couple of hours were spent meandering through the dusty lanes of Nayapul, then Birethanti, where we crossed the Modi Khola for the first time. Our permits for the Annapurna Sanctuary were checked at Birethanti quite meticulously, with a significant lack of humour from a couple of local girls.  After this the trail opens up a little, remaining quite flat all the way to Syauli Bazaar. From Syauli Bazaar it is a LONG, warm climb up stone staircases, which we learnt from the guide books, are characteristic of Gurung Villages in this part of the country. Since it was the first day of the hike, and most folks had not slept, it was slow going. Additionally, it was quite humid, and for some this proved to be the hardest section of this trek. The lunch stop was not a moment too soon: Prasad was suffering from stomach cramps. 

At Kimche we had our first meal of DBT (short for Dal Bhat Tarkari), which would end up being staple diet for the most part of the trek. Simple food, cooked with the freshest ingredients, grown locally. There was nothing better we could ask for. The two ladies who ran the show at our lunch stop were very pleasant, encouraging us to spend the night in their lodge, but not pressing very hard. One of them, the younger one, spoke of Bangalore a little wistfully, and mentioned that her “friend” works there. We had decided to spend the night further up the trail, hence couldn't oblige. 

The Gurung Villages are characterized by stone cut steps. There were thousands of them. 

A few thousand stone-cut steps later, we arrived at Ghandruk around 5 pm, the largest of the Gurung Villages, perched on a ridge with great views up and down the Modi Khola gorge. It took a while to decide where to stay. In the end, Mountain View Lodge won the contest, thanks to the unmatched terrace, even though it meant at least one of us (me in the end) would have to sleep on the floor. MVL was run by a very efficient lady, who while barking orders at her staff, was managing a completely full house of guests with politeness and promptness. Dinner was terrific, consisting of more DBT, and some incredible home made pizza. The impact of western trekkers on this part of the Himalaya is clear from the tea-house menus: pizza and pasta have pride of place, and most significantly, the quality is almost uniformly good. Prices are fixed by a union of lodge owners. As a result, the menus along 50km of the Modi Khola gorge, and across 10000ft of elevation, where climate zones and ecosystems display stunning variety, are surprisingly uniform.

We spent the evening admiring views of the gorge (snow peaks were hidden by clouds) and anticipating the next day’s trek.

Annapurna South from the Mountain View Lodge at Ghandruk

Day 2. Ghandruk to (Lower) Sinuwa (2325m)

After breakfast, it was an easy walk though the stony pathways of Ghandruk. A little after leaving the village, the trail forks, the left one leading to Ghorepani, and Poon Hill (2 days away), the setting for dramatic sunrise views over Dhaulagiri. There was a little confusion, as a buffalo herder with an extreme lack of confidence pointed us to the right fork (in the end he was proved correct). The trail then contours around a tributary of the Modi Khola and then climbs steeply to a viewpoint called Kimrong Danda, from where we had our first clear views of Annapurna South and Annapurna III. From here it’s a steep descent to the Kyumnu Khola, which drains one face of Annapurna South, and then meets the Modi Khola. I left the viewpoint last after taking some photos, and then gathered speed going downhill hoping to catch up with the others. Surprisingly, 45 minutes later, I caught up with Saumya and Saurabh, when I expected to first cross Prasad, Geeta and Ranjita. So the three of us continued down to the river and waited. After a while, Geeta and Prasad arrived, leading to anxiety that Ranjita might be half way down the face, waiting for me. In fact, she was worried sick that I hadn’t caught up with them, and finally arrived at the river, convinced that I had met with a tumble somewhere higher on the mountain. It took a while for her to calm down and we realized that one of us must have taken a short cut, resulting in the confusion. 

Once everyone had had their tea and recovered from the descent, it was time for a steep ascent (“Nepali flat” refers to a trail that tortures the trekker while gaining no elevation) to Chommrong. A little before Chommrong, at a teaser lodge, there was some disagreement about whether to halt for lunch, or press ahead to Chomrong proper. In the end we did, and had a satisfying lunch at Moonlight Lodge. The lodge owner was very friendly, and suggested we stay at the Sherpa Lodge run by his daughter in Sinuwa. The food was excellent, and we had for company a solo Japanese trekker, who was on the second leg of a South Asia trip. He had already spent a few weeks in the Khumbu region, and was now traipsing through Central Nepal. Later he was planning to spend the summer in Delhi and Varanasi. His dad apparently runs a business, which he works for, 6 months of the year. Lucky dude. He looked really fit, and had trekked from ABC all the way to Chomrong that very day.

You descend to this deep gorge and climb right out of it. Chommrong and Sinuwa are at roughly the same elevation, but it's a lot of work getting from one to the other. Annapurna South keeps you company.

Almost immediately after we left Chhomrong it started raining heavily, so out came the rain gear. Nepali flatness lay ahead: a steep descent to a tributary, and then a climb up to Sinuwa, where we easily located Sherpa Guest House:  an efficient outfit, run by two women. A British guy and his Nepali companion Raju gave us useful information about the route ahead, and helped us make bookings at Himalaya, Machapuchare Base Camp as well as Annapurna Base Camp. Most interestingly, there were a couple of Korean girls at dinner, and Raju hooked them up over the phone with the Himalaya lodge owner, who spoke to them in Korean! Apparently he had lived in Korea for a few years, and spoke the language fluently. We watched these two really thin girls eat a mammoth volume of rice and pasta.

Day 3: Sinuwa to Himalaya (3-4 hours)

It was a relatively relaxed start after two long-ish days. The first part is a moderately steep section to Upper Sinuwa, from where we were rewarded with clear views of Annapurna III and Gadharva Chuli. Macchapucchare remained elusive, shrouded in cloud. After a quick tea break in bright sunshine, we pushed ahead to Bamboo, where we stopped briefly for soda. Saurabh had reached so far ahead of us that he was making good progress through his book. The lodge at Bamboo was drying something that looked like Kimchee (and turned out to be Kimchee). From here the trail goes through dense and humid bamboo jungle. Next stop was Dobhan, where we had some of the best DBT of the trip, served by a gracious hostess. We preceded lunch with a little bit of up-and-down trail running, much to the amusement of the onlookers. 

Pink rhododendrons

From Dobhan to Himalaya, it’s a spectacular hike through oak and rhododendron forest, with the flowers changing from blood red to pink as you gain elevation. It drizzled through most of this section, and soon after reaching Himalaya, a hailstorm hit. We got the worst rooms in the house, directly across from the restrooms. But the lodge had a very cosy dining room, which is where we spent most of the rest of the day. It rained through the night, so we did some UNO puja to help improve our luck. Early in the morning, Saurabh managed to fall out of bed, much to our amusement (Ranjita and GG got the giggles), but not to his. 

Day 4: Himalaya to Macchapucchare Base Camp (approx. 3 hours)

We made an early start, around 7 am, in murky conditions, and made a short quick march to Deorali. On the way we passed the Hinko Cave, which is refered to in Chris Bonnington’s expedition as a place where a whole bunch of porters had to spend an unplanned, cold, and exposed night. We were hit by another thunderstorm accompanied by hail just as we approached Deorali, where well-deserved hot tea awaited us. After Deorali, we crossed over to the true left of the Modi Khola in order to avoid an avalanche prone area. From here the tree line starts deteriorating quite rapidly, giving way to bushes. A beautiful fern carpeted the entire valley floor. In this section you get to appreciate the “gates” of the sanctuary: sheer black walls of the valley covered with sheets of ice and a few frozen waterfalls, which help build up anticipation for the base camp areas that lie ahead. We crossed back over the river, and even though we were at higher altitude, the hike seemed easier than the previous few days. A final steep ascent later, we arrived at MBC, all the while being rained on by a steady drizzle that denied us the exhilaration of entering the sanctuary. The guest house at MBC had a fantastically perched dining room. We spent the whole afternoon there playing UNO, and chatting with a medical student who incredibly was studying for an exam, while it snowed and sleeted outside. Early in the evening, it cleared up enough for some views of Machhapuchhare and Hiunchuli. But it was too damp and cold to just stand around outside and wait for the fleeting peak glimpses. It was a cold night, and I suffered a little in my summer sleeping bag. 

Macchapucchare from MBC

Day 5: MBC to ABC (4130m) (about 2 hours)

Just behind the lodges at MBC is the ridge of the lateral moraine of the  Annapurna Glacier. A short scramble takes you there and provides good views of the snowmelt from the north and the west merging to form the Modi Khola a thousand odd feet below. Not a spot for those scared of heights. The views of Macchapucchare and Hiuchuli are spectacular from MBC. 


After breakfast we started the snow plod up towards ABC. It was a clear morning (initially), giving us perfect views of MP and Gandharva Chuli. It was surprisingly hot, even though we were trudging through freshly fallen snow. In a couple of hours we reached ABC, and scrambled through the snow up to the moraine. 

Picture memorial to Anatoli Boukreev, who died on Annapurna in 1997. A great mountaineer who is remembered for the wrong reasons thanks to Jon Krakauer's judgmental writing in "Into Thin Air"

From here you get grandstand views of the ominous face of Annapurna I and the monstrous Annapurna Glacier below it. The weather started worsening rapidly, so after spending 30 min or so listening to the glacier crack and rocks tumble, we headed back to the lodge, where we had tea, and lunch. Much like the previous day, we spend most of the afternoon in the dining room, while it snowed outside. Some entertainment was provided by a group of Japanese senior citizens who shared a birthday cake, but strictly with themselves. They also made arrangements to get helicoptered out of ABC. Their Sherpa guide claimed he had never seen Indians like us, leaving us a little confused as to his implications. He was nice, so we assumed that his main interaction with Indians was limited to not too polite gamblers in Kathmandu. 


The dining room had a small memorial to Anatoli Boukreev, and on the ridge we found a memorial to Ian Clough, the only victim of Chris Bonnington’s 1970 expedition that first climbed the south face of Annapurna I. It's a sobering reminder of the fact that Annapurna I has the highest fatality rate for climbers among the 8000ers. 


Midnight views at ABC:


Visibility outside was down to about 10 meters in the evening, so we hit the bed at 8:30 pm, bundling ourselves in our sleeping bags and extra blankets. Late that night, around 11:30 pm, I got awoken by a need to use the facilities, and noticed bright light falling through the window of the dorm-style room all 6 of us were sharing. After we stepped out, it was clear that the light wasn't from the fluorescent tube in the corridor, but from as bright a full moon as you have ever seen. Stepping out of the lodge into the snow yielded a view that will be imprinted on our memories forever. The night was cloudless. The peaks surrounding the sanctuary were blanketed in a white light  so bright, you could read. The face of Annapurna I was on full display, as were the 10-15 other peaks that encircle ABC. Several people were out on the snow taking pictures using a tripod, but our point and shoot cameras happily allowed us to focus on experiencing the view rather than capturing it for later. We spent a good 30-45 min out in the cold, soaking in the magical beauty of the place.

Back in the room, most people were feeling the effects of altitude, Saumya in particular. It was a warm 8.5 degrees inside the sleeping bag, which Ranjita claimed was like saying “Ashwatthama is dead”, since it was negative 5 outside it, as proven by our water bottles that were now more like ice bottles. Ranjita  also managed to take a tumble on the ice, hurting her already badly injured elbow (obtained on a pre-trek biking accident in Pokhara).

Day 6: ABC to Bamboo (8.5 hours)

Annapurna South and Fang, from ABC

Annapurna I, from ABC

Annapurna III, from MBC

Brilliant, brilliant views at sunrise. Except for sublimation being blown off various peaks, there was nothing to obscure the views. This is well known as one of the finest locations of the Himalaya, and we were lucky that the previous day’s snow storm had prepped the sanctuary perfectly. From left to right, in a 360 degree panorama, we saw Annapurna South, Fang, Annapurna I, Rakshi Peak? Tent Peak, Gandharva Chuli, Macchapuchare, Hiunchuli. We spent a couple of hours roaming around, hanging out at the glacier moraine, and chatting with others who were equally mesmerized. Annapurna I is the centerpiece of this dramatic place though the other peaks compete to outdo each other. At around 8:30 am, after about 3 hours of euphoria, we had breakfast and headed down in brilliant sunshine, over the snow field linking ABC to MBC. Gadget Geetanjali and I were a little worried about possible snow blindness (unwisely, neither of us were wearing sunglasses), so we scampered downhill in haste. From the ridge behind MBC, great views of Gangapurna and Glacier Dome emerged (not visible from ABC). After collecting some gear we had left behind at MBC, it was  a lovely, easy downhill walk exiting the sanctuary, and down to Deorali and then Himalaya. It was raining by the time we got to Himalaya, and it seemed like nothing had changed there in the last 48 hours. After tea we continued down through Dobhan to Bamboo, arriving around 5 pm, where our friend at Himalaya had made a booking for us. Down in the warm forest near Bamboo after having hot showers, ABC felt like a dream.  That evening we chatted with the only female guide we came across on the entire trip, who was escorting a single Irish girl. I think she said she was employed by a company that only works with women, and that there were very few of them working as guides.

Macchapucchare shows off why it's named what it's named

Day 7: Bamboo to Jhinudanda:


There was some excitement in the morning, when Prasad claimed that a snow leopard had been sighted on the mountain face rising on the west of the gorge. Many binoculars and cameras with zoom lenses were passed around, and the leopard was soon downgraded to bharal, and then, by the cynical few, to a boulder. 

Rhododendrons backed by the stunning face of Macchapucchare

We headed out at around 8:30 am, gradually descending through the forest, which in a couple of days seemed to have blossomed into rhododendron paradise. It was a quick march except a brief tea stop at Sinuwa, where we got a chance to look up the valley and admire AnnaPurna III and GangaPurna for the last time, and also look down and across the valley at Chhomrong, our lunch destination. It proved challenging getting there, thanks to the steep descent to the Kyumni Khola, and then a very warm ascent to Chhomrong. The familiar and friendly Moonlight Lodge outdid itself in terms of DBT and soup, but the much taunted chocolate cake proved to be a bit of a disaster, notwithstanding the glowing endorsement Time Magazine had made of the quality of cake in these parts. 


As was the pattern on the trip, it started raining quite heavily during lunch. Luckily it petered out soon after, and we climbed to upper Chomrong, before a short, knee-busting descent to Jhinudanda. There was some debate whether to spend the night there or push on ahead to the next huddle of lodges a few km on, at Nayapul. In the end the matter was settled when Prasad discovered a short route back to the trail head that meant even if we stayed at the touristy but pleasant Namaste Lodge in Jhinu, we would be able to finish the trek the next day comfortably. So that’s what we did, and most of us spent the afternoon hiking down to the river and bathing in the hot springs with a few thousand (ok, about a hundred) westerners.

Day 8: Jhinu to Nayapul (9 hours)

The last day was along the right bank of the Modi Khola with expansive valley views and easy terrain. 

This was expected to be a long, final day, so we hit the trail by 7:30 am. After a steep descent to Nayapul (not the one at the trailhead) it was an hour’s trudge to Kyumni, where we took at tea break at the Beehive Lodge. It’s named for a gigantic set of beehives that hang from the mountain face right across the river. From there on it was an easy undulating walk (flatter than the dreaded Nepali flat) along the river, through villages, and terraced cultivation slopes. There was less trekker traffic, since this wasn’t the standard route, which crosses the river and climbs steeply to Landruk. As it got warmer and warmer, the day seemed to drag a little, and folks were quite happy to put their packs down and knock back a few plates of DBT once we arrived at Syauli Bazar, a charming setting for viewing Machapuchhare. The matronly owner there cracked up at her own joke “Dall Bhaat Tarkari, manche sarkari”, which we spent some time analyzing. We lazily walked out of Syauli (not before Saumya added a couple of pounds of locally grown rice to Saurabh’s backpack) around 2:30 pm and reached Nayapul at 4:30pm, completing a 9 hour final day. At the trailhead, we had the worst tea of the entire trek just as it started raining. Soon we had all squeezed into a 20 year old Maruti Van, and were shortly bouncing our way back to Pokhara, entertained by some inane conversation between Saurabh and the driver (I forget the details), merrily egged on by Prasad.


Concluding comments:


It was the near perfect trek. The pacing was great, the lodges and food were terrific. Though the weather was occasionally poor, we were prepared, and there were enough clear days to make it worth our while. The Spring haze was a factor, and it rained most afternoons. So perhaps Fall is a better time of year for this trek. 


For some of us it was our first tea-house trekking experience. Trekking in Nepal is quite different from India. In India there is less infrastructure, but perhaps a more connected experience. It's hard to say which one is preferable.