Trekking in the Himalayas

How to sum up 18 days of trekking in the Annapurna? Amazing, steep, challenging, peaceful...all those words get at a tiny part of the experience. The rugged white peaks appear and disappear in the haze, and when they appear, it takes away your breath.

Closer in, there was the murmur or human conversation, banging sounds of construction done by hand, children playing, the hollow sound of a ball being kicked. The air teeming with animal sounds, domestic and wild. There are water buffalo groaning, the clip clop and dinging of a donkey train passing, roosters and cookcoo birds, the pulsing of cicadas, the braying of sheep and goats. So much life happening, and almost none of it involves machines.

I chose to come on my own with a guide and a porter rather than with a group so I would have daily flexibility to do what I wanted based on how I felt. This enabled us to easily change the plan when I got sick the first day from something I ate, and again after a day we climbed 3,000 feet in 4 miles made me reevaluate trying to do the hard stretch into Annapurna base camp. I wasn't with a group, which meant I missed some of the comradarie, encouragement, and banter of the group experience. Being on my own meant a lot more time for internal processing, and time with my guide, Niraj, and porter, Krishna.

We found a daily rhythm that looked like this: Up at 6 or 6:30, pack up so Krishna could ready his load. We ate at 7 or 7:30. We were walking by 7:30 or 8. We walked 3-5 hours, taking breaks as needed depending on the difficulty of the terrain. Sometimes we stopped for lunch and then walked a couple hours more. We covered between 5 and 12 miles a day. I'd rest in the afternoon in my room, then we'd take a walk around the small town. Niraj and Krishna would play cards, and I'd write. Dinner was at 7, and we'd make our plan for the next day. To my room at 8 or 8:30 (unless there were other travelers to talk to). I'd stretch and meditate, read a little, with lights out at 9:30 or 10.

It got to feel like Niraj and Krishna were my angels. They made it possible for me to have this experience and took the journey with me. I highly recommend them to anyone wanting to trek in Nepal!