THE ADVENTURES OF ANNAPURNA Pt 10 - the end of the road
Day 19 Tatopani – Ghorepani Tatopani lies beside the Kali Gandaki river. Ghorepani lies atop a hill. And when I say hill, I mean just over two Ben Nevis’ stacked on top of each other. Between them, as we would soon discover is a staircase – actual steps all the way up. This to my mind sounded a pretty easy ride considering some of the climbs I’ve done. But have you ever, ever, walked upstairs continuously for 10 hours? No, neither had I. Until this day. The day starts in beau
THE ADVENTURES OF ANNAPURNA pt 9 Kalopani - Tatopani... and a day off!
Day 17 - Kalopani - Tatopani We wake up at the foot of a beautifully clear Dalaugiri, thankfully we remain unmolested by the cabbage zombies that Susan had feared. I exit the room and walk the short distance along the balcony to the shared sink to clean my teeth. And there in the reflection behind me are the Annapurnas. So vast and distant. My first pang of sorrow that the trek is nearing the end and that these incredible peaks are now literally and metaphorically behind me.
THE ADVENTURES OF ANNAPURNA pt5 - Tilicho Peak
Day 9 - Manang – Kangsar – Sri Kharkar – Tilicho I was sad to leave Manang and it’s peanut butter on toast. Glancing behind as we took the left hand path (that no one else was taking) I felt a twang of regret that maybe, possibly, I won’t have the pleasure of visiting this little dusty town and Gangapurna Tal again. I also had another, very good reason to be a bit sad to leave, I just didn’t know it yet. Our ‘easy’ day would soon turn into a mammoth effort and a day that woul
THE ADVENTURES OF ANNAPURNA pt 3 Kathmandu-Chame-Humde-Manang
Day 5 – Bumpy rides & the onset of sobriety I don’t know if it’s the pre-dawn start or the worry that I’ve left something really important behind, but my brain feels in a foggy whirlwind as I sandwich myself between bags, bottles, poles and humans in the jeep that’s to take us to Besisahar… 8 hours away. This is our opportunity to make our initial bonds crammed up against our guide and porters, Dilli, Gyalzen and Nima, but it all feels a bit awkward in a very British way. As
