Authore: Toni Strub Photography: Gry Bastholm Namaste! Many years ago (in the 70ies) a National Geographic Magazine, with the main article being Nepal took my strong interest and a desire to visit this unique country. Well, 30 years passed by all too quickly, but finally the time had come to make it all happen. A break away from sailing will do me good and a change of scenery I looked forward to. My good friend and travel companion Gry was immediately enthusiastic to join me for 6 weeks trekking in the Himalayas. She also did most of the planning and organizing. We buy hiking gear and get Visas, book the flights, get fit and seek information, mostly from the Lonely Planet Guide as to what we are letting ourselves in for. Touchdown in Kathmandu on the 1st of April (no joke) and let the mountaineering begin. We spend 3 days in Kathmandu doing the touristy bits, sightseeing and buy more trekking gear. Kathmandu, love it or hate it. The kamikaze motorcycles and the taxi drivers can certainly be scary. There are many organizations and entrepreneurs who offer guides and porters to any of the many trekking possibilities. We realized soon enough that we could not carry all the stuff one needs to hike in the Himalayas. No problems, we had plenty of offers and soon a deal was struck with what looks like an experienced company. We choose the Annapurna circuit which involves trekking for 300 km taking, 16 days and cross a pass 5416 meters above sea level. A challenge for young and old. We decided to do the circuit anticlockwise, mainly because it offered a more gradual acclimatization and getting extra fitness over a nine day approach period. Acute mountain sickness is a very serious issue and most important for trekkers to understand the symptoms of high altitude sickness. A 7 hour bus brought us to our starting position at Besi Sahar. At first I thought high up in the sky were clouds, but it actually it was the high snowy peaks of the Annapurna Himalayas over a 100 km away. Wow. After the first day trekking we still felt we had too much weight to carry and we dumped (gave away) many items to lighten the Backpacks. The porter “Hari” was carrying Gry’s and my pack packs as well as his own. Total weight of about 30kg. Gry and I carried our daypacks about 7 kg and the Guide carried his own gear. Every day we walk 5 to 8 hours gradually gaining altitude. We stop overnight in Guesthouses which are plentiful. Nadi, Chameje, Dana Kyu,Chame. Lower Pisang, Manang. All the supplies had to be carried in by porters or Mules and the food was very basic. I craved for meat of which was not very much available. Sneakers and Marsbars our luxury energy food. We have seen Mountain Cows, Mountaing Goats, Mountain Ponies with Mountain men, Mules, Yaks and deer’s and plenty of hikers. In Pisang it started to snow and the next day we had a white Christmas scenery with spectacular views of the Annapurna Range and Crossing Suspension Bridges sometimes over 100 meters long was always fun, hardly daring to look into the torrents of the mighty Marsyangdi Nadi below. In Manang we stopped for an extra acclimatization day and rest. Departing Manang ascending to Ghusang at 3900 meter Gry developed a painful headache, a clear sign of high altitude sickness. We rested for a while and she felt better. Very slowly we ascended to 4000 meters and while she still had a little headache it was not getting worse. We promised each other, that if she or me get altitude sickness we will descent to safer altitudes. It would be disappointing not to reach the pass and finish the circuit to return to Kathmandu, but safety first. We rested a bit more at Thorong Base camp, and even managed to ascent to high Camp at 4925 meters where we stayed overnight. I slept badly, because every now and then I woke up gasping for air. One can really feel the thin air. Gry was OK. At 0430 we set off together with many other groups heading for the pass. A guide approached me to help communicate with his German client being sick and refusing to descent. The German had a crashing headache and was feeling ill. I impressed upon him that this are the dangerous signs of altitude sickness and he must descent quickly. His life could be in danger. This stubborn man refused. Well what can I do? I had to join my group, so I never know what happened to him. Gry was leading our group. The LED lights shining our path. Other groups LED’s looked like glow worms in the dark. The path was through snow and very narrow with a sheer drop off on our right of which the end was not visible. “Langsam” (slowly) we gained height, bright Venus was up soon followed by the sun. As we reached the pass of Thorung La at 5416 meters a.s.l. we all feel elated and it felt like we achieved something extraordinary. We hugged and it was a little emotional. Many made it and many did not. My gloves were not good enough for the cold and I was getting early symptoms of frost bite. My fingers tips were numb for 4 weeks. The descent to Muktinath was steep and boring. One uses different leg muscles and I certainly arrived in pain. There are 4-wheeldrive and buses which could take us back to Pokhara, but we decided to walk the whole circuit a total of 300km and follow the river Kali Gandaki. We stayed overnight in Guesthouses in Marpha, Ghasa,Tatopani with its hot springs. Up we go again to Ghorepani and Poon Hill at 3193 meters watching the sunrise and panoramic views of the Annapurna Himalayas. One more descent this time doing 3280 stone steps to Birethanti. From there we take a bus to Pokhara the 2nd biggest city in Nepal. That was the Annapurna circuit completed and proud of it. It is a once in a lifetime adventure. In Pokhara we rest for 4 days enjoying a bit more variations in food and drinks. Para gliding is very popular here and I always wanted to try to fly like an eagle in the sky. The Euro 100 was a bit over the top of my budget but what the heck, do it and enjoy it. It’s a tandem flight with a pilot doing the flying. When we took off the top of a mountain it was just Wow!! We glided across valleys and farmland together with other Para gliders seeking thermals to gain height. 1 hour flew by all too quickly There was 1 only sailing dinghy on the lake of Phewa Tar and Gry hired it for 3 hours. We sailed to the other side of the lake and back again. We just can’t keep away from it. What are we going to do next?? We enjoyed the experiences doing the Annapurna trek and we decided to go to Kathmandu to organize a trekking route to the Langtang, Gosinekund and the Helambu area involving 2 weeks of trekking. We hired the same guide and porter again, as we felt they were very helpful. Three days later we set off again using a public bus and winding our way to Dunche and Shyphru. One needs strong nerves to feel save in this bus as many times one suspects a rear wheel is not on the road anymore but freewheeling over steep drop-offs. Soon we were trekking again destination Langtang and Kayanjin Gumba. The Rhododendrons were out in full blossoms of reds, pink and white. Sometimes we wander through old forest one could feel they are alive. We also spotted white Monkeys. We reached Kayanjin Gumba in 2 1/2 days. The guide was feeling sick and was coughing. The porter too was not feeling well. I set off on my own to climb Kyanjin Ri at 4773 meters. Soon the thin air made me breath hard and had to rest many times, but 2 ½ hours later I was on the top enjoying a spectacular scenery of the Langtang Himalayas. Looking over to where Tibet started.The next day I did it again together with Gry and the porter. They too enjoyed the Panoramas and the accenting pain was soon forgotten. Next on our plan was Gosakund and the Helambu trek. To make matters difficult, our sick guide got hit by a falling rock and was in pain as it nearly broke his collar bone. Bad luck! The porter too was getting worse again and could not carry anything. Luckily we were able to hire another porter for the day and even more luck was that we met a New Zealand doctor who could check up on the porter and gave him antibiotics. The following day the porter was still weak and with no more porters available Gry and I carried our own backpacks as well as the daypacks. We set off from Gosakunde and its lakes in 1 foot of snow going up to the Laurepina Pass at 4610 meters. Hmm.. Old Toni was huffing and puffing, but I survived. It was an up and down trek and they said my face was in wrinkles. I already had lost bodyweight and did not have my usual strength. Thankfully the Porter was getting better and on the 3 day he was Ok again, carrying most of our gear once more We trekked through forests and Farmland with panoramic views especially looking back to Langtang. But it all became a bit monotonous and we lost our enthusiasm of new things to see and do. It was just walking mountain up, mountain down. We decided to finish the Helambu trek 1 day early and head back to Kathmandu. Both Gry and I looked skinny and we were craving for fresh vegetables and my meat. We also shopped for many souvenirs and memorabilia’s. All too soon it was a sad good bye time to Gry. We have had this fantastic Himalaya experience together and I thank her kindly for her being such a good travel companion. For me ( at my age) it was a personal achievement to walk over 550 km, go up to 5416 meters. The Himalayas in my memories are just AWESOME. Thai Airways on the flight back to Bangkok flew past Mt. Everest clearly visible and it was a befitting Farewell to Nepal and the Himalayas. Thank you! Toni www.adventure-yachting.net svlittleswan@yahoo.com.au