We saved the best for last – Annapurna Base Camp!
Introduction
We only had Annapurna Base Camp left to complete after trekking 13 of the 14 x 8,000m base camps for our Project Base8000. The lucky last – and did we nail it! Not only that, the weather window we had was perfect. We couldn’t have planned it any better, thanks to The Mountain Company and our guide, Bhim!
Prior, we had heard mixed reports that the trail and tea houses could be ‘super crazy’. While there were many trekkers, everyone had ample room to manoeuvre around each other; even the tea houses had many vacancies, suggesting that guides and trekkers, solo or otherwise, were evenly spread up and down the trail to Annapurna Base Camp.
The Approach
After taking a short flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara, we drove around 2 hours to Birethanti, just beyond Nayapul. From here, we trekked up for 2 days to Ghorepani (2,750m).
We were warned that there were many stairs to climb (and descend) on this trek – and this certainly proved to be right! Luckily we’d trained hard in preparation. It was hot work for the first few days.
The Magic of Annapurna Base Camp Trek: A Visual Journey
The sunrise from Poon Hill was beckoning! After rising at 4.30am, we trekked 300m up to Poon Hill for a fantastic early morning, with sunny clear views overlooking a true Himalayan panorama.
The Annapurna range, Nilgiri, Machhapuchhare (aka, Fish Tail) and Dhaulagiri, the 7th highest mountain in the world (8,167m).
As it was spring season the rhododendrons and magnolias were starting to bloom.
After another few days, heading up through the narrow gorge, we reached the enchanting Machhapuchhare Base Camp, with several lodges to choose to stay.
We had great views of Machhapuchhare, Annapurna South and other 7,000m peaks.
Annapurna Base Camp: A Trek to Remember
After waking up to another glorious sunny morning, it was time to head up to Annapurna Base Camp, 4,130m. This would take around 2 hours, but we could have taken longer, such were the views! At the head of the valley was Annapurna 1 (8,091m) – the tenth highest mountain in the world – a sight to behold!
Reaching ABC was a time to celebrate, having completed the last 14 x 8,000m base camp of our project. A group of trekkers from the UK, who we’d met earlier, gave us a round of applause which we appreciated and which added to the occasion.
The original plan was to stay the night up at ABC. With the weather deteriorating, we decided to head lower down to MBC early in the afternoon. This proved a wise decision and made for a quick exit the following day.
The Exit
Descending, we chose to exit at Jinnu, a very steep 1-hour descent from Chomrong. The other exit point is at Ghandruk, which takes around four more hours.
Driving the five hours back to Pokhara from Jinnu was a breeze compared to the drive back to Kathmandu! Due to the inclement weather, which had prevented many flights from landing or taking off from Pokhara for some days, we hired a jeep for the drive to Kathmandu. Nine hours later, through dusty roadworks, a landslide and road tunnel works, we finally reached our destination and a well-earned celebratory drink!
Onwards and upwards!
Trevor
Insights
- There are many stairs on this trek – train hard!
- We were impressed with the quality of teahouses compared to other treks we’ve done. Most had wifi and power available – usually for a cost. Most had western toilets and some even had showers.
- Bottled water as well as boiled or filtered water is available up to Chomrong, the last permanent village on the trail. After that the teahouses sell filtered water. We added water purification tablets just to be extra safe and we did not experience any problems.
- There is a risk of avalanches and landslides in the narrow gorge after Deurali, so ensure you have good weather forecasts and take care.
- Trekkers we met were on a variety of itineraries. You can start this trek from different points and choose any number of days. Be careful of treks with shorter itineraries as the days will be long and you risk not being sufficiently acclimatised. Ours was a 10 day trek, including Poon Hill, which helped with acclimatisation.
- The other trek we’ve done in this region is the Ultimate Annapurna Dhaulagiri trek
