Annapurna Basecamp Trek

 (Yes...a long overdue post. Eventually I'll try to get everywhere on here!) 

Obviously I didn't carry around my netbook or had much time to keep up with my journal on my trek so I will do my best to recall the intrepid journey.  

So at Hotel Manang in Kathmandu ("fancy" hotel in Thamel which included a toilet and hot shower in the room-what more could I ask for..) I met the group I would be trekking with.  Representation from the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and US (which was only me).  Everyone was friendly and up for anything with no complaints the entire trip.  Essential for surviving a long trek together. We had a couple group dinners in Kathmandu.  I skipped out on a mornings Kathmandu excursions as I had already been to the places they were going to. Instead spent the day with another group member who also had seen all the sights already. After a day in the Kathmandu we were off to Pokhara. Pokhara is in the north west reigon of Nepal and is where the beginning of the Annapurna basecamp trek is. I somehow managed to pack the minimum 7.5kg of clothes and equipment I would need for the trek into a duffle (big deal for me)!  We all packed onto a big lavender bus-which was luxurious in comparison to the buses/vans I had previously been riding on. Cushy seats and air conditioning.  Just riding on that bus thru the same streets I've seen in Nepal made it seem like such a different place.  It's nice to know I got to experience what the reality of transport is in Nepal (I was only in one accident in the month I was there...) We drove a LONG 8 hours out of the city and thru more of a rural landscape.  It was a beautiful ride--lots of green, rice terraces, water buffalo, women and men in traditional clothes farming, bright animated painted trucks with cheesy quotes in bad English, less diesel smell the farther we got out of the city, rivers and rapids, suspension wires connecting mountain sides with a dangling box that people get into to cross on the wire, clearer skies, bus playing Nepali music, small roadside stands with food and snacks, people bathing in the taps on the side of the road, trucks on the small mountain side road playing chicken with each other until one swerves out of the way just in time...We had a few stops including a lunch break. After more driving we got to Pokhara to another "fancy" hotel.  We all went out to dinner together after roaming the Phewa lakeside shops where I picked up a few more things I'd need or the trek.  The next morning we rode another 2 hrs to the start point of the trek.

Everyday of the trek on the way up was different terrain/scenery.  Green bamboo forests, rhododendron forests (which reminded me of The Princess Bride), rapid rivers, long swinging suspension bridges, waterfalls, rocky paths, muddy paths, various animal poop, open fields of talking (don't know what how to describe their sound) goats and goats in trees, wheat and other farm terraces on hillsides, scattered small local villages, hillsides with sweeping layered views of faraway hills and giant snowcapped mountains, snow-hail-rain-sleet, snow storm during last trek to basecamp...many breathtaking nature 1000 piece puzzle picture scenes. Took many photos but started to have some trouble with my camera a few days into the trek. As in sometimes it would turn on and sometimes it wouldn't.  

We stayed in teahouses in small villages along the way.  The teahouse lodging was modest.  Most of them had rooms with two person accommodation. And by accommodation I mean thin ply wood walls and spaces for the beds which were just pads on wood platforms. Tiny rooms but sufficient for sleeping.  The bathrooms were just squat toilets and occasionally they would have western toilets but somehow i preferred squat toilets by the end of the trip-that was a surprising realization...i also preferred baby wipe showers than
the cold shower but did enjoy the occasional solar heated “hot” shower. the food was pretty much a fixed menu at every place so we ate many things over and over.  i chose mostly vegetarian stuff-egg noodle soup, fried rice, noodles, Tibetan bread, dal bhat, chapati, rosti, potatoes, etc..I did develop a Mars bar obsession on the trek and  I've never even had one prior to!  They were at every stop and teahouse and were hard
to resist after all the hiking.    

Everyday we would hike anywhere from 6-8 hrs.  Most of the time it was not just leisurely walking .  That or I was out of shape...but either way it was challenging, some days more than others.  The days were broken down into breakfast-hike-tea break-hike-lunch-hike-teahouse-free time and dinner-sleep.
2 weeks of that is long enough for me!  Not too short, not too long.  I think if it was any longer I would need to be doing a summit of some sort.

Health was a big worry for me for a bit as a decent amount of the group got terrible GI issues, including my roommate.  2 others were even unable to make it to basecamp because of it. II made me remember when I was younger (before 1st grade) I always had a fear of having GI problems when i was at school (i was an interesting child...)and would get sick to my stomach if others were sick just out of fear of getting sick also.  Surprising that I became a nurse.   I'm sure there's some psychoanalysis that could be done about that but anyways-one night when the peak number of violently ill people was reached I seriously thought I was going to be ill. But I powered thru.  Not to mention I started to chlorine treat my already boiled water, used hand sanitizer religiously, and tried to eat without touching anything.  I even ate my toast with a knife and fork.
Ok so the toast thing was probably over doing it, but hey I did not get ill!  I also didn't have to take any meds for acclimatization.  phew.

To spare you more reading here are a few highlights:
-the trek up to basecamp in a snowstorm
-hiking up to Poon hill before sunrise to watch it over great views of the Annapurna range
-sledding down a high, freshly snow covered mountain side near basecamp on a plastic bag in--backwards
-crossing the Indiana Jones-like suspension bridges…Dr. Jones!!!!!!!
-jumping in the cold Modi river rapids then going into natural hot springs
-finally getting to hang prayer flags at base camp (way more fun then hanging them on my fridge at home)
-getting to practice taking landscape photos in such a beautiful place  :)
-attempting to learn traditional Nepali dances
-experiencing substantial heat, snow, sleet, hail, and rain all in one day-peeing in a Bamboo forest…yes, I just wrote that.