The morning of the Thorong-La we got up at 7am and were on the trail the by 8am. We thought this was a resonable enough starting time, and it really was, but halfway up the pass we ran into a couple groups of people who where on the way down to Muktinath from the other side of the pass. They had all left at 5am from Thorong Phedi and were on pace to reach Muktinath by 11 or 12pm. I thought they were nuts.
The weather was clear and there was no wind: perfect conditions to tackle the pass. Earlier we had been worried about snow and ice because it was fairly late in the trekking season but it was dry as a bone.
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| Kiersten making her way up the Thorong-La |
It was quite the slog up to the top of the pass, but after many false summits we finally reached the summit around 1:30pm or so. While the views on the Muktinath side were great, the view from the Thorong Phedi side were even better.
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| At the top |
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| Looking east from the top of the pass |
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| Can you spot Kiersten |
Heading down to Thorong Phedi from the top of the pass felt like a nice leisurely stroll in the park after the long climb at a relatively high elevation. We reached Thorong Phedi (~4500m) at 3pm and enjoyed some of the lodges delicious apple pie before relaxing in our room. Although the lodges were pretty dead at this point in the season we did run into another group of trekkers that were headed to Muktinath the following day. I did my best to convince them that they didn't have to get up at 5am but I don't think they listened.
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| Looking down at the valley that where Thorong Phedi is located |
The following day we made our way down gentle slopes to Manang at 3700m. Manang is the largest village in the area. The old part of town is small alleyways and cobblestone streets while the new section is surrounded by many large guesthouses. This trek must get nuts during the high season judging by the size and number of hotels. The town itself lies in a beautiful valley with the Annapurna range lying just to the south. The town even had a movie theatre where, for 100 rupees, we watched "Into Thin Air" (really cheesy 90s production) and drank tea and ate popcorn. The chairs were even lined with Yak fur. It was pretty awesome.
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| Village on the way down to Manang |
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| Bits of old Manang on the left |
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| View from the roof of our hotel in Manang |
The day after Manang was probably the most scenic of the trip. Their were two possible trails from Manang to our destination, a high road and a low road. We chose the high road because it offered better views even though it took a couple extra hours. The trail didn't disappoint, it wound its way through a small pine forest before climbing steeply to yet another medieval village (the name escapes me) where we had lunch. From there, the trail stayed high up on the hillside before dropping down to Pisang where we spent the night in a small guesthouse below a monastery overlooking Annapurna IV.
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| A village that probably has a name, but I don't remember it |
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| Warmth! |
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| Annapurna IV |
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| I've seen some weird bikes in my day and this one was up there |
After Pisang it was another three days walk to where we grabbed a jeep back Pokhara. It was a nice enough walk but the government is really intent on building a road up to Chame which ruined the views a bit.
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| Chicken man! We saw another guy carrying a very unhappy pig-in-a-box |
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| These are mountains |
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| Poinsettias |
We got back to Pokhara late on December 24th. We spent Christmas drinking beer and paddling around Phewa lake. The weather was great and we even got see some monkeys playing around in the trees across the lake.We spent a total of 9 days hanging out in Pokhara and seeing the sights. Two of those days we rented scooters and roamed around. It takes a little getting used to the traffic but it isn`t that bad once you have your confidence up. Our second day on the scooters we got on the highway and made our way to Begnas Lake were we had coffee and lunch at a small coffee plantation. They make coffee seed to cup. The process was interesting to see and the coffee was amazing.
Thanks for posting all of this! Your trip looks awesome! If you could only do the Annapurna Circuit or the Annapurna Sanctuary, which would you do?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the Annapurna Circuit.
DeleteDo both if you have time but I concur, the circuit is the better of the two. Just keep in mind you'll be hiking on the road or taking a bus through one portion of the circuit.
ReplyDeleteSorry if its in there and I missed it but how long did it take you to do both?
ReplyDeleteWe're considering one of these two (or both if time permits, and why shouldn't it) and also Everest base camp and Gokyo Lakes.
It took us about 25-days. Sorry for the late reply.
ReplyDelete