However, we still need a visa to enter Nepal. Well informed, however, we know that we can easily pay for it here. So we go directly to the immigration counter with the inscription Visa-on-Arrival. There, however, the border official looks at us quite aghast, as we have not yet paid for our visa and sends us back to the visa payment office. So we queue a few meters further back at the said place, but here it says we have to fill out a form first. So a little further back to the vending machine where this is possible. Here we finally fill out the entry form. Then we go back to the counter, where we are now allowed to pay for the visa-on-arrival. Finally, we go back to the border official, who now stamps our visa and lets Pati enter without further ado.
With Jenny, the whole procedure takes a little longer, as usual. The border official tries to pronounce Jenny’s last name three times. But Jenny can hardly understand him through the thick protective screen. But he doesn’t mind – he just laughs and asks again louder how to pronounce her name. Then he tries again. When he fails again, he laughs and only says: “Jennifer, where are you from”. From the neighboring immigration counter, the head of another officer briefly appears. He shouts loudly: “Jennifer Lopez”. Then the head disappears again. Everyone laughs. Jenny answers the question that she is from Austria. The conversation continues:
Official: “First time in Nepal?” Jenny: “Yes” Officer: “Are you excited?” Jenny: “Yes” Official (completely over the moon): “It is very exciting!”
Then the border official still loudly counts the number of letters of Jenny’s last name. Laughing and with a “seventeen letters!? (17 letters?!)” Jenny will also be allowed to enter.
Kathmandu
From the airport we take the taxi to our hostel. There we meet Dennis, who accompanies us on our trekking plans. We met Dennis last year in Sri Lanka. After that, we stayed in touch and when he found out that we wanted to go hiking in Nepal, he decided to join us without further ado.
The next day we meet our guide Arjun, who has called a team meeting for the multi-day trek in the Himalayas at the Annapurna Circuit Trek. We clarify what we should pay attention to and what equipment we are still missing. Immediately after the meeting, we go together with Arjun to a shop he knows, where we can buy gloves, hat and headlamp as well as rent a sleeping bag and a thick down jacket. In the afternoon we buy mountain pants for Jenny. Since there is nothing at the original North Face shop, we find a not quite so original, but still logo-embroidered The North Face pants from a gloomy back room. Fits no worse than the original pants and costs a measly 6€.
In the evening, Arjun comes back to the hostel. He brings three duffel bags to carry our porters. However, the three of us only need one. Dennis carries everything himself and we can only no longer stow our sleeping bags and thick jackets in our backpacks. However, we would have had room in the bag as a whole. We can’t imagine how much some people pack for their treks to fill these bags.
Start of the Annapurna Circuit Trek
Even before breakfast, we start the next morning. We are picked up by a jeep right in front of the hostel of Arjun. Originally, we would have taken the bus, but Arjun apparently changed his mind spontaneously. At the jeep we get to know the rest of our companions. Arjun’s brother, Rabin, is there as the second guide and would have carried one of the bags, but we couldn’t fill it. And Krali accompanies us as porter. We immediately notice that the three of them are a well-rehearsed team and immediately feel in the best hands.
Then we set off towards the Himalayas. We drive by jeep for seven hours to the Kathmandu Valley. We immediately realize why Arjun preferred to go by jeep rather than by bus. The roads are still extremely battered by the floods of almost two weeks ago and in some cases simply non-existent. Accordingly, the ride is bumpy. We keep overtaking buses that try to drive slowly through the giant potholes. Then there is a short breakfast break. There is chapati and curry. After a few more hours, we eat the infamous Nepalese Dal Bhat (rice with various curries) for the first time at lunchtime. It tastes excellent to us and reminds us a bit of an Indian thali.
In the afternoon we reach the limit of our jeep. It’s time to change, now it’s getting really bumpy. With a real off-road jeep we drive another four hours into a side valley of the Kathmandu Valley. There are four of us sitting in the back seat while Arjun and Krali share the passenger seat. The windows remain open, otherwise we would only bump our heads against them. Everyone, including the driver, is shaken wildly. We drive through riverbeds and over hill and dale. At home, no one would talk about a road or even think about driving for a long time. Our motto: “Is it possible?” – “Somehow it is”. We have the feeling that this could also be the motto of the next few days. The last hour we drive in the dark. Then finally we reach Dharapani. Instead of the specified seven to nine hours, it was eleven. We are happy to get out of the car. Tomorrow our hike will start from here. We are incredibly excited to see what awaits us.
Trek Day 1: Dharapani to Chame
16km, 6 hours, from 1860m to 2670m
On the first day we start early in the morning after a gigantic breakfast. We can’t eat our huge portions at all. Then we start. From the day before, we feel how limp our arms are from holding on to the jeep. Our backs also hurt from the pothole exertions of the day before. Arjun, however, gives us hope for the day when he tells us that today it is only Nepalis flat – a forest road. So we walk all day through various Nepalese mountain villages. Unfortunately, Jenny’s right knee starts to hurt after the first few hours. However, as long as it doesn’t go downhill too much, it’s bearable. So on.
At lunchtime, of course, there is Dal Bhat. Afterwards we walk on until we finally arrive in Chame, the destination of the day. Here we enjoy the last rays of sunshine before the surrounding mountain ranges cast a cold shadow over the valley. Then we sit down in the teahouse. During our trek, we will mainly eat and sleep in such so-called teahouses. The accommodations are simple, but mostly very good – a bed for everyone and, surprisingly, most of them even a private bathroom. We have everything we need. In a large lounge there is always a wood-burning stove where everyone warms up after sunset. Here we always get our food, which, contrary to our expectations (Arjun warned us that the food in the mountains will be rather sparse), almost always tastes excellent.
In the evening we play cards when Krali and Rabin join us. Without further ado, we also teach the two of them our game. Rabin understood it immediately, but the language barrier to Krali makes it a little more complicated for him. Nevertheless, Krali certainly has the most fun in the game. We immediately notice that he is passionate about any game, because when we are done, he immediately continues playing solitaire on his mobile phone. Dinner is eaten punctually at 6:00 p.m. and then we all fall into bed dog-tired from the long day.
Trek Day 2: Chame to Pisang
15km, 5 hours, from 2670m to 3200m
In the early morning we sit back at the breakfast table. The breakfast is gigantic again, but so is the appetite. Today we eat everything. So at 8:30 a.m. we start hiking again – after a selfie together. Unfortunately, both of Jenny’s knees hurt this morning. According to Arjun, however, we are again only hiking Nepali flat. Nevertheless, it goes down short distances from time to time. Therefore, Jenny is equipped with a bandage by Arjun in the morning. Then it goes on. At lunchtime, how could it be otherwise, we eat Dal Bhat, of course. Then we hike on for almost two hours to Pisang.
Arriving at the teahouse, we are immediately assigned our rooms. We are accommodated on the first floor in the corner room and are amazed at the view. We see directly opposite us the snow-white summit of Annapurna II and spread out in front of us the whole way of today. Now we are in the middle of the Himalayas. In addition, the sun shines into our room, so we spend the whole afternoon on our beds and only when Rabin picks us up for dinner can we tear ourselves away from our room. For dinner we have Dal Baht again today – Arjun recommends that we only be willing to experiment again in two days, when we are a little deeper down again. After dinner, we all retire to gather new strength for tomorrow.
Trek Day 3: Pisang to Ngawal
12km, 5 hours, from 3200m to 3650m
On our third day, we already have our morning routine. We pack our things, then off to breakfast and then we start again. Today it goes beyond the critical altitude of 3500m for the first time. Unfortunately, Jenny’s knee still hurts on the way there. Therefore, Rabin and Krali disappear briefly into the forest and immediately return with a wooden stick. The slightly too short stick is a huge help for Jenny for today. We make quite good progress and reach our destination around noon. We spend the afternoon playing cards together again in the common room of today’s teahouse. Unfortunately, Pati doesn’t feel so well in the evening and goes to bed early. The night here gets really cold, so for the first time we are happy to have good sleeping bags with us.
Trek Day 4: Ngawal to Manang
10km, 4 hours, from 3650m to 3540m
In the morning we wake up to sub-zero temperatures and pack our things as quickly as possible. Pati has a very slight fever, a cold and no appetite for breakfast – all indications of an incipient altitude sickness. Denis doesn’t feel very good either. Therefore, the oxygen saturation of both is measured first. Everything in the frame, so we continue. Pati and Denis take a paracetamol and make the four hours to Manang without any problems. Jenny gets a second carved stick from Krali before she leaves. He says then it will be easier – today it goes downhill again. However, the knees are already doing much better.
At regular intervals we pass Buddhist stupas and prayer wheels, each with a mantra. According to our guides, the prayer wheels are turned clockwise to carry the good mantra out into the world with the help of movement and wind. That’s why we turn hundreds of prayer wheels every day. In addition, every now and then there are also large mills that you hold on to and then walk around them three times in a circle – accompanied by a mantra that Krali sings.
In addition, we constantly see the colorful flags typical of Nepal on our way, which you know from the pictures. These are Buddhist prayer flags, which are also inscribed with different mantras. They are attached to windy places so that the wind spreads the positive mantra.
After quite a short time we reach our destination for the next two days, Manang. We stay here for two days because acclimatization is the order of the day at 3500m. From an altitude of 3500m you are more at risk of getting altitude sickness. Fortunately, Pati is doing well again in the afternoon. Unfortunately, Denis doesn’t feel well at all and he fears that he will get sick. But first we hope that the rest day and some rest will fix everything.
In the afternoon, the game will be played again. This time, Rabin and Krali teach us a Nepalese card game. Krali is of course back in the game with heart and soul, so we spend a really fun afternoon. At the same time, we drink liters of tea, as Arjun makes sure that we are properly hydrated. In the evening we don’t eat Dal Baht for once. Arjun says the cuisine here is great and so we try our hand at lasagna and spring rolls. All excellent. Then we fall into bed at 9:00 p.m., already tired.
Trek Day 5: Acclimatize in Manang
4km, 2 hours, from 3540m to 3790m and back
On our acclimatization day, we start comfortably in the morning towards Gangapurna Lake. Yesterday evening we bought hiking poles to relieve the knees a bit. We want to test them today and practice walking with poles. Denis sits out today for the time being, as his cold has gotten worse and Arjun stays with him. So we set off together with Rabin and Krali. Rabin and Krali lead the way and we still clatter a bit awkwardly with our new hiking poles.
Rabin and Krali teach us a few words of Nepali:
Jam Jam! – Let’s go!
Bistari, bistari. – Slow, slow.
Chana chana byō? – Did you eat the rice?
Kai. – Yes.
No. – No.
Timilai kasto chha? -How’s it going?
Dherai Rāmro. -Very good.
Dhanyavaad. -Thank you.
Svagatam. -You’re welcome.
The path is quite steep, but we make good progress and Jenny even has enough air to chat something with Rabin. After the talks in India, we are very interested in whether people here in Nepal pay taxes. Rabin answers Jenny’s question only with: “Jenny. This is Nepal.” So we think the rest. However, he adds that the economic situation is generally very difficult and that there is also a great deal of dissatisfaction among the population.
Just in time for lunch we are back in our teahouse. Unfortunately, Denis is even sicker than before. Pati also has a slight fever again in the afternoon, but feels quite well. Somehow everything seems uncertain. In the evening, the decision is made: Denis will break off the trek. And Arjun will accompany him back to the valley.
After Denis and Arjun leave us, Rabin takes over the leadership of our trek. Krali, who partly carries our luggage, also stays with us. We are emphatically admonished to make our backpacks as light as possible. We should pack everything we don’t need in Krali’s bag to make the way, which is not difficult, but continues high, as easy as possible. In addition, from today on, the saturation will be checked every day and we will of course be under observation. All this sounds like an incredible amount of experience to us and we immediately feel in good hands with Rabin and Krali. Then we are almost sent to bed. So for us it goes on tomorrow. Unfortunately, Denis has to turn back.
Trek Day 6: Manang to Yak Kharka
10km, 4 hours, from 3540m to 4110m
So on the morning of our sixth day of trekking, we only start hiking with four of us. Pati’s cold is slowly getting better, but it is becoming more and more strenuous to breathe due to the altitude. At an altitude of over 4000 meters, everything suddenly changes: Krali smears his face with sunscreen for the first time. Rabin puts on his sunglasses for the first time and smears himself as well. The landscape is so unique and beautiful and we stop again and again to take photos. Suddenly Rabin asks: Jenny, is this a dream?. Immediately afterwards he gives himself the answer: No, it’s Nepal! and walks on elatedly.
Already for lunch we arrive at our destination of the day, Yak Kharka, at 4110m. Here at an altitude of over 4000m it is already quite cold at noon. We therefore spend the afternoon in the dining hall of the tea house. We play all afternoon, take turns drinking coffee and tea and challenging each other in a match 4. Neither Krali nor Rabin knew the game before and both become really fanatical. We can hardly have dinner later because the two are so focused on the game. In the evening we also have Dal Bhat again, before we – equipped with hat and down jacket – brush our teeth and get ready for bed. The night will be icy cold.
Trek Day 7: Yak Karka to High Camp
7km, 5 hours, from 4110m to 4800m
Today is Rabin’s birthday. He will be 22 years old. Today’s plan would be to get to the Low Camp in front of the Thorong La Pass, the highest point of our trek. Unfortunately, Pati is not doing so well today, he had a fever during the night and is now struggling quite a bit with the effort. When we arrive at Low Camp after a few hours of hiking, Rabin thinks that we should definitely walk the 300 more meters of altitude to High Camp in order to save at least an hour for tomorrow morning. After a refreshment with lunch, Dal Bhat as usual, we go up another 300m. Krali, our porter, goes ahead with our luggage to reserve a room for us in the High Camp. There is only one hotel up there and the rooms are booked up very quickly. Once at the top, Krali has actually gotten a room for us. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get a room for himself and Rabin and the two of them later sleep in the dining hall, together with many other guides and porters.
Pati has to rest first. Rabin and Jenny want to walk to a viewpoint 100m further up (she has already arrived in Nepalese “walking”). Jenny is out and about with hiking boots and poles, Rabin walks with his slippers. The view from the viewpoint is incredible. On the way back to the teahouse, however, Rabin admits that proper shoes would not have been a mistake, while he keeps slipping his toes out of his slippers.
In the afternoon, back in the hut, we all celebrate Rabin’s birthday together. Only with tea, because toasting with alcohol is strictly forbidden at this altitude. We spend the afternoon in the tea house, because outside the sun sets at 3:00 p.m. and it is bitterly cold. It is not particularly warm inside either, because the tea house is no longer heated here. Since Yak Kharka we have been a bit above the tree line and there is hardly any wood left. Therefore, from this height onwards, only dried yak flatbreads are used for heating. But even these are rare at almost 5000m.
Already at 17:00 there is Dal Bhat. To go to bed, at about 7:00 p.m., we get an electrolyte solution to drink so that we are prepared for tomorrow. The oxygen saturation is also still being checked: The air is already quite thin, but is expected to become even thinner.
Then we brush our teeth outside before we crawl into our sleeping bag. We are allowed to sleep until 3:15 a.m., then we have breakfast. Everyone hopes that Pati will be fit tomorrow.
Trek Day 8: High Camp via Thorong La Pass to Muktinath
24km, 10 hours, from 4800m to 5416m to 3710m
Let’s go! At 3:15 a.m. the alarm clock rings. Out of the sleeping bags, into the hiking pants and mountain boots. caps and headlamps. Quickly roll up your sleeping bags and pack them up. Brushing your teeth. Seeing a shooting star. Prepare gloves. At 3:45 a.m. there is breakfast.
We try to choke down a muesli and way too salty French toast. After about half we have to give up. Rabin, worried as always, therefore buys a pack of biscuits for each of them to be on the safe side. During breakfast we see out of the window how queues of people with headlamps come up from the low camp. We are glad that we covered this path yesterday. Pati has a headache, but luckily no fever and Rabin is optimistic that we can do it. At 4:15 a.m. we start. Jam Jam!
It’s pitch dark outside, the starry sky is incredible. The path is steep and we make only slow progress. Bistari, bistari is the motto. However, in the first hour we constantly overtake other groups who are already completely exhausted from the ascent of the low camp. Jenny’s headlamp is not the best and that’s probably a good thing. Again and again, Rabin stops and shines his headlamp around. Right next to us, the slope is steep. It’s freezing cold and we’ve pulled the scarf deep over our faces. The further up we get, the windier it gets. The water we had with us is now frozen.
The last few meters to the top will be quite a torture for Pati. Again and again Rabin emphasizes that it is only a hill over which we have to cross, but of course that is never true. After a chocolate break at sunrise, we continue strengthened over the many hills of the pass.
At 7:20 a.m. we reach the highest point. We are actually standing at the Thorong La Pass at 5416m. We can hardly believe it and are completely overwhelmed by the moment. 🥲 Is this a dream? No, its Nepal!
When we signed up for this trek, the only thing in the foreground was that we wanted to go hiking in Nepal. We didn’t want to climb a summit directly, because we had never been so high up before. We therefore thought that the Annapurna Circuit Trek was definitely the right thing for us, but never informed ourselves further about it. We had a guide. But as we stand up here now, we learn that the Thorong La Pass is even the highest pass in the world. We are shocked. And also a little proud.
We take a few photos before it is really too cold. Now we still have a descent of over 1700 meters of altitude ahead of us. When we arrive in Muktinath hours later, of course with Dal Bhat for lunch, we are very tired, but also very happy.
Everyone treats themselves to a hot shower first. Then there is a beer to toast the day’s success and Rabin’s birthday yesterday. In the evening, there is finally no more dal bhat, but pizza and burgers. Once again we fall into bed relatively early.
