The Trek

After arriving in Besi Sahar late on the evening of the 7th we found a hotel, some dinner and got to bed early in preparation for the start of the trek the following day. The trek which we had chosen to do was 'around Annapurna' a complete circumnavigation of the Annapurna range in mid western Nepal, including a pass of 5416m elevation. Usually this trek takes 16 - 21 days, we did not have this much time so planned to walk longer days and complete it in 10. Shortly after we started walking the following day we were offered a ride in a jeep along an unsealed road to the village of Khudi, cutting 2 hours walking off the day (the jeep took us 1 hour). We spent the rest of the day walking through the sunny alpine scenery with a good view of Manaslu. Dave nearly broke the camera after attempting to wade across a raging river, before we discovered the path that went over the top but apart from that we made good time and arrived in Chamje at about half 5. For the next 3 days we walked for about 11 hours a day, steadily gaining elevation and stopping at the villages of Koto, Manang and finally the high camp 500m below the Thorong La (pass). During this time a previous ski injury and various blisters were plaguing Tasha but she struggled on manfully (whingeing relentlessly). We woke early (4 o'clock) on the morning of the 12th and started the steep and seemingly relentless climb to the top of the pass, which we reached at about 7:15. After that the trail descends 1600m in about 4 hours and reached Muktinath for a late breakfast. We headed on into the Kali Gandaki valley, which is dusty and windy and reached Ekli Bhatti by mid afternoon. Another unsealed road joins Ekli Bhatti with Jomsom, one of the larger settlements in the Mustang district, and considering the state of Tasha's feet, and the relatively uninteresting nature of the path, we decided to take the offer of another jeep ride. Unfortunately by the time we (Tasha) made this momentous decision, all the seats in the jeep had been occupied, leaving us no alternative but to sit on the roof, clinging on for dear life as the overladen vehicle careered dangerously over the rocky path. We decided to fly back from Jomsom, saving us a further 2 days, having completed the most challenging and interesting part of the trek in less than half the time we were expecting to. We arrived back in Pokhara courtesy of a rickety little plane at about 11 this morning (13th) and plan to spend a couple of days relaxing, fishing and maybe canoeing before hopefully heading on Chitwan National Park to see some tigers and rhinos and stuff. The internet connection in Pokhara is notoriously bad so we will update you with photos later. Meanwhile, the fate of Helga hangs in the balance. Dave is very keen on riding her back to the UK (her spiritual home) but owing to the fact that a carnet cannot be obtained for an Indian bike this may prove impossible. An alternative solution which Dave is exploring is to part exchange Helga for a Nepalese bike, for which a carnet can be obtained, and return later in the year to ride Helga II to sunny Kent. We'll let you know.