2017 April 8th - 10th ABC, Himalaya Nepal 👍

Dateline: April 10th 2017, ABC, Nepal

To ABC. (That's Annapurna Base Camp to the uninitiated)

Morning at at Chuile lodge
We have zero idea if there was mayhem or
partying with these guests last night

Still overcome with our brilliance at having lucked into a place here, we have a lazy start at about 9

The tourist folk are on their way before 8AM

As we have no guide or need a porter

What urgency is there?
We have cash to get somewhere, and cash to get back

Directly down to the river, another wire bridge, then a long way up the other side to Churnung. 300 metres down to 2080 metres

Nice work if you can get it

Not quite an Indiana Jones bridge,
not yet.... later

Porters and tourists packs
We feel that we are a little
above folks who get others
to lug their shit

It's all uphill from here
folks

Another beautiful day. We pass mainly potato fields, feeding the masses I guess, and pass through Taulung.

 Everywhere that's remotely viable for
agriculture is planted. Mostly potatoes

Stopping for water we chat to the owner of the lodge. When we tell him we're Canadian, he tells us he was going to emigrate there, but his Visa was a forgery, so now he's simply happy to live in the mountains and enjoy his life this way. I tell him Canada has missed out on a great Canadian, and head onward toward Chhomrong at 2120 metres.

 Yes, we've walked up here,
probably twice in total  today

Another police check point here. The last one until we return back here.

 Chhomgrong and a late lunch
I order a Dahl Bat for us, but
the cafe thinks our guide
will get it for us. We wait a long time 

It's a major location, schools, medical, even a basketball court, somehow carved out of the hillsides, and something else of note, a REAL coffee bar and so called bakery. Definately a stop off for the way back.

Again, through the day, we keep meeting the same groups, typically we are ahead, or they hang around eating, so they are behind us, again, and once again I beg us a place, again, the last.

A mostly good guide to walking times

 Looks like we have got it
right, even without a guide

Down to river is a huge walk, and guess what, we have to go up again, this time even further to Sinuwa. At 2360. When we get there, suitably exhausted, my altimeter shows we are still 200 metres lower. We find out why when we talk to an English couple. Apparently this is "Lower" Sinuwa put there to grab hikers, the real one is, as it turns out, another 40 minutes, and yes, yet more gruelling steps.

We are in the top right bit, and there's lots more to go

It was all uphill, (DUH!), and really hard work And I mean really. As it's getting late (remember our late start), once again, I run, at least my version, to beat the stragglers, to the first lodge for a bed.

It finally dawns on us that this route is very busy, and we realise we need to look for a place by 2 latest, or book in advance

Last room again.....
Get a shared room with Sergio, a Spanish photographer doing the same kind of thing as us, but even less organised and prepared. We chat. He's with a Nepali friend who is acting as a guide, Ramesh.
He's very helpful and tries to book us a room for the next night (see, we're learning), although he tries really hard to get us a room for tomorrow, it ended up that all lodges are booked, even the dining room which apparently doubles as a dorm in an emergency, (see later) well what are you going to say to a hiker arriving just before dark? Try 5km down the mountain?

Later, that night, he gets a call from his boss, and they need to head back, so he cedes Sergio's room to us. We're, maybe booked into Deurali, about 7 hours up.

Ramesh was incredibly helpful, friendly and spoke great English, so anyone who wants a guided tour, here's his contact number: +977 9866353666

It's not just backpacks they carry

 We're learning:
Sinuwa and we're on the trail
early

Ramesh explains how things work on the trek.
Seems that guide and porters can't eat until all the trekkers have been fed. Also the guides act as waiters and appear to help with the food ordering and delivery process.

Therefore, Kayla and I have to fend for ourselves in the eating frenzy

Some of the folks who have been shadowing us arrive late, very late. They get the storage room, but they do get a room

About 14Km, maybe 1000 metres vertical, 22000 steps

10th

Sinuwa, Nepal 2360 Metres

Early. We head off to Deurali, some heavy duty steps, but a lot of beautiful forests, some trees blossoming. The weather still perfect

Complete with 3 cows

Just up from Sinuwa

 The first 4 days had cafes almost every half a kilometre.
That stopped higher up, after day 5

Rhododendron Forest on the way to Bamboo
Note water bottle. We fill up at many store that have "filtered" the 
water. I think about $1 per litre

The Rhododendron forest path. Glorious
8AM with view of later vistas

So far, so beautiful

OK, one less bed required tonight

that'

that'

Spot the lodge

Bamboo, about 2 hours.
We arrive just as some guy was leaving, probably not how he wanted to go back to Pokhara

I think that's my finger, oops, but the snow is real

At Himalaya, our first snow pile

Occasionally, there's a landslide
We find a way around them

A lot of it looks like this

We stop for lunch here. It's 2920 metres.

Deurali - somewhere up there
our bed for the night

We need a guide to ensure a food supply, so even though we've ordered,  we wait and wait until I bug the cook, an hour, but finally fed

Suddenly, all the porters and guides move into tea shop, Its started to snow, mainly hail, but suddenly without the sun, it's cold, and there's a biting wind. Now I know we should have packed gloves.
Oooops

We head out

Scree fields with overhanging
cliffs

 Looks like were into real
tundra folks

Funnily enough, just outside of Himalaya, I find a discarded glove. One will be perfect.

After Himalaya, things start to get more serious.

Yes, we are all doing this for fun.
Deurali Lodge dining room

Of course, the lodge denies all knowledge of our bed(s), so, I get active, and eventually end up with a shared room.

Playing cards (too cold to remember what)
is not much exercise folks

God, was I cold last night

It's pretty bloody cold here too. I'm certainly shivering. It's essential to snag a blanket, essentially, a duvet and, TIP!! warm it up in the dining room before you go to bed. I snag two, but forget to warm them. 6 layers of clothes didn't help me, but Kayla got a good sleep. No fire here. Get close to someone, or several.

During my negotiations with the proprietor, for a $1 investment, I make a reservation for MBC, (thats Machapuchare Base Camp folks), confirmed. I am described, I gather in Nepalese as "Candien with hairy" or similar. So, Machhapuchhre Base Camp tomorrow, about an hour+ hike from there to ABC.

The sign says "Avalanche Risk Area"

We dine, shivering. There's no heating except for bodies or in the kitchen up here, (spare a thought for the poor buggers that bring propane and dahl bat up here), and the doors are always open, so, guess what? Yep, another hardship posting

Dicing with death? You bet
A glacier with a steep slope, and a raging
river at the bottom

Late late, the extra beds owner arrives. It's dark, so we never meet, but we chat for a while. He's a super dynamo, and travels huge distances in a day. He tells me about one area ahead that he had to kick into the ice early to help the trekkers get across without dying just up the trail. It sounds pretty dangerous, and so I discount it as posturing's of some form of ego tripper

Not a long hike but you do need to make sure you don't die on this part. Certainly the most dangerous part of the entire trip.
At least 2 "Meet Your Maker Makers", more in next post, and a lot of slippy deadly bridges sort of thrown over raging chasms.

I would not want to be a guide on this part of the trek. Luckily, that was Kayla's job

Now, this part is certainly where you need to be very careful.

Not so

12Kms, about 1200 metres, 22000 steps

11th April:

Deurali Lodge, Nepal 3200 metres. We survived. 

The lodge has emptied, but we only have a few hours to trek to MBC, 

Deurali up to MBC.

You got it, over you go,
certain but not immediate death awaits

OK, we got this far

Real altitude, so still relatively frozen

So bloody dangerous. Very slippery

Finally, we arrive and celebrate with a bag of peanuts, and our statutory honey lemon ginger tea.

I thought you were responsible
for the crampons!

The final trek to 
Machhapuchhre Base Camp 

Hopefully, our home for the night

Machhapuchhre. the proof

Machhapuchhre Base Camp 

I wonder how many days are like this up here...

Ginger tea, and a packet of peanuts,
with view

I guess that we did it

Looking back toward MBC,
Fishtail peak in the back

Heading to ABC,
Annapurna South ahead

We get our room, or at least a confirmed place in the dining room sort of sorted, nothing ever works like its supposed to, but we do know we have a place to sleep.

The sun is shining, we are not sure about the weather tomorrow, so decide to head uphill for the other base camp now instead of tomorrow

It's about an hour or so hike away, about 300m vertical.

Just like summer in Toronto

Piece of cake mate, just a summer day in Toronto

Neither Kayla or I feel any effects of the altitude, and don't really notice if its more difficult to climb, it's always been like this.

Simply stunning, all around, there's no other words for it, and in the brilliant burning sun, at this altitude, with our sun screen safely back in Kayla's bag, we get pretty cooked, especially our pole arms. It's also incredibly brilliant white up here, almost blinding through my sunglasses. We feel our skin cooking.... Ho Hum we say.

Definitely not alone up here

I think we've done it

Annapurna Base Camp,
with sunshine. Fantastic views, 360

Dining room, note warm clothing all around

Survival of the fittest up here. Every layer I can find tonight

This is also a hostel
ABC to be exact

Back to MBC, as it's PM, with lots of sun, the snow is slush, and we slide down to MBC in about 40 minutes, feet soaked.

We have our
documentation
so finally,
we head back down

The trick is to get your bed cover, and wear it all day/ We were pretty lucky finding any accommodation at this altitude without a guide

My all time favourite trip shot. We had made it, mostly without dying, slowly, or painfully or both

Some folks have plastic bags and are surfing down on their arses. Too wet for me folks.

We've done it!

I'm really surprised, AND still alive.

We're good to go.

Well, once the night is put to bed as it were

And tomorrow? Back to some place warm.

From Your Correspondent