Namaste!

The Annapurna Circuit has been completed and we are having a fabulous rest day in Pokhara in celebration.

I can't begin to describe the past 20 days but they have been some of the most amazing, grueling, and beautiful days of my life. The thing about the Annapurna Circuit is that just when you don't think you can possibly walk one step further, you step right into the enchanted forest or the riverbed with moutains surrounding every side, or you view one of the many snow capped mountains and you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other and continue forward. Our basic day consisted of getting up, having breakfast, walking for 4 to 5 hours, having lunch, playing some cards, have afternoon tea, read some, have dinner, and then off to an early bed before getting up and doing it all over again the next day. It sounds very relaxing in the description but the walking on some days can be very very intense. We went from about 800 meters up to the maximum of 5416 meters over the first 11 days, which included many many many hours of what Doug and I termed the Nepali stair master, which is basically stair after stair after stair cut into the mountain.

The nice thing about the circuit is that you go through so many different terrains that each day the scenery is different. We started down in the rice fields for the first 3 days or so after which we spent a day and a half in the pine forest which felt really as if we were anywhere, from there we went above the tree line and you could begin to see the mountains, which were breathtaking in and of itself. After some very chilly nights and a slow set of days up as we acclimated to the higher altitudes we finally made it to Thorong Phedi where we stayed the night before the big day. From Thorong Phedi we climbed a very steep 1000 meters. My legs felt like jello, it was hard to breathe, and my fingers were frozen but we finally we arrived at Thorong La! We took a few celebratory pictures, had some high fives, and then begin the 1600 meters climb down. The climb down is infinite and very very steep. We arrived most of the way down and stopped for some celebratory apple and hot chocolate. Then Bishnu told us it was only another 1.5 hours down, but it felt like days. It was more steep down and everytime I thought we were close, I would see Bishnu and Doug years away from me with so much more walking to do. It was worth making it to Muktinath. We had a glorious rest day the next day which involved all day in flip flops, some much needed laundry, and even some shopping for Doug!

I will do more of a day by day below for those of you with free time or if you find that you'll be doing to the trek. For the rest of you, hello again! Drop me an email and let me know how you're doing!

Things I learned from the trek:
1. It's totally worth having a guide, including the package deal. Doug and I each paid for $40 a day for the package deal which included our guide, hotel room, breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. While it is possible to do the trek for much less, it made such a difference showing up in a place and not having to worry about finding a place to stay or negotiating anything. While we met many people who were happily doing the trek on their own, and you certainly don't need a guide, it made things much easier whenever we needed anything. For example, after the first day of trekking Doug's shoe began to fall apart. We were in the middle of no where and we were two days walking from the bigger town with a shoe repair. Bishnu was able to talk to the hotel manager and was able to find someone sew his shoes - and they held up great. I would highly recommend Bishnu - his email is bishnu_50@yahoo.co.in His English is great, he has been a guide for 8 years and had connections everywhere we went.
2. Don't do the trek to get into shape - get into shape before doing the trek. There were certainly many people who were in worse shape than I was who were doing the trek, and it certainly can be done, but I think the trek is much more enjoyable if every moment you are not concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. If you're getting ready to do the circuit, I would recommend strapping on your hiking books and walking up and down stairs for at least 2 hours a day.
3. Let your face get sunburned, not the back of your neck. By the end of the second day, we noticed that Doug's face was sunburned and the back of my neck was sunburned. This was because I was spending a lot of time looking down watching where my feet were going and trying to keep up with Doug while Doug was spending more time taking in our surroundings. I realized it's better to go slower and stop and take time to look around. The scenery is really breathtaking and worth looking at.
4. Break in your shoes before you go. Spending some time hiking in them first before starting the trek. This will really help with blisters and save you a lot of pain.
5. I would also recommend getting as much stuff in the States/Europe before going. Everything can be bought in Kathmandu, and it will all say North Face on it, but it is all actually made in China and is therefore "Chinese quality". Which is known in Nepal for looking good the first day and then falling apart the second, this rung true of everything we bought in Kathmandu - so the more you can get that is trustworthy the better off you'll be.
6. Give your stomach some time to adjust to the food in Kathmandu. I ended up hiking the first 4 days with back to back stomach issues, which made the trekking that much harder. Let your stomach adjust to the new foods and bacteria while you have a bathroom at your disposal. And if you do find yourself faced with a stomach issue, I would recommend taking Immodium during the day. While my trekking book advised against it, I will let you know that you will be walking for 4 to 5 hours straight and often times the way the trail is set, there is no easy place to run off and take care of anything should a sense of urgency strike you.


And for those of you still reading - I'll do my best to give you the play by play as I remember it:

Our attempt to get to Kathmandu was off to a rocky start when we got to the airport in Bangkok at 8:30 am. We found we had been bumped from our Thai Airways flight, which was overbooked, and were now on Air Nepal. The Air Nepal flight was originally set for 1:30, but had been delayed to 4.
We immediatly headed to the internet cafe to email Bishnu, who was planning to pick us up at the airport, to let him know that our flight had been changed and we would be arriving much later. With some time to kill and some food vouchers to burn, we headed to one of the restaurants, got an early lunch, and began the first of many games of rummy.
Finally, we were able to check in for our flight, and with our 1K United status and originally booked Thai Airways tickets, we could head for the Thai Airways lounge. We arrived to find a plethora of staff with no one else in the lounge. We had a few drinks, a small nosh, read the news and hoped the the American economy would continue to make it a few more months. As our flight continued to be delayed further and further, we were nervous as to whether Bishnu would get our email and be there to pick us up. Finally, as got to be time for our plane to board, we headed to the gate only to find that there was no plane in sight. We played several more hands of rummy, tried not to kill each other, and then miraculously a plane arrived! We were thrilled to board and be on our way to Kathmandu!

After making our way through the visa processes, we nervously looked for signs of Bishnu - neither one of us fully expecting him to be there - but then, right in the window we see a sign with our names on it - our Bishnu was here! We waved to him and were thrilled and relieved to see him. He had a driver with him and we piled our stuff into the car and he took us straight to the hotel room he had booked for us. We talked through some of the high level details of our trek and agreed to meet back at the hotel lobby the next day.

After I got a few extra passport photos, Bishnu went off to get our permits and arrange everything as needed while Doug and I were left with most of the day to peruse Kathmandu. We tried to walk to Dunbar Square and got lost, so instead Doug went for what should have been a 15 minute haircut but ended up being closer to 2 hours at the spa. The traffic in Kathmandu is insane. At one corner we were trying to cross there were pedestrians, rickshaws, cars, bicycles, motorbikes, and various animals all trying to go in different directions and it was pretty much a big game of chicken as to who gets to move.

We met back up with Bishnu in the evening and went shopping for trekking stuff. Doug got shoes, socks, long underwear, and gloves while I got a smaller backpack.

This is all I'll write for now, but I'll come back later and fill in the rest.