Into the Annapurna Circuit

If walking for two weeks on Himalayan mountains is something you would enjoy you should do the Annapurna Circuit.

Annapurna lies on the West of Everest on the Himalaya range. There are more than thirty peaks over 6000 m on the Annapurna Massif; the highest peak Annapurna I as the 10th highest mountain in the world is only 700 m shorter than the Everest.

Annapurna Region

 

The trek of Annapurna Circuit crosses two different river valleys (one of them, Kali Gandaki Gorge, is considered as the deepest in the world) and encircles the Annapurna Massif. It’s definitely one of the best long distance treks in the world as it covers a wide variety of climate zones from subtropical to the arctic. Mountain villages with diverse cultural variety from Nepali to Tibetan scattered around this region provide convenient stopping points for food and shelter, which make things easy for casual trekkers. Bring a smallish backpack with all the essentials and you’re ready to go.

From Kathmandu I took a cramped minivan to Besisahar, a good starting point for the trek. After a night at a local guesthouse, the next morning I started early walking toward the North where bitumen road turns into dirt and gravels. It was near the market where I saw this guy loading heaps of stuff into a 4×4 truck, talked to him asking for a lift. Got into a quick negotiation for the price I had to pay then we set off to the village of Chume.

Chume is located at a way higher elevation and by doing this I would miss the walking trek through the greenish part of Annapurna, it’s alright I thought as I was more excited with the snowy mountain caps anyway so cutting 3 days of walk into a day of ride seemed like a good idea. This would also provide me some extra time for later in case I would have to slow down in case of altitude sickness or other things.

Little shits tried to hit me with wrench
Crossing this kind of rope bridge always freaks me out
Found a heaven after a long walk

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