“A journey to the Himalayas is the quest for the solitude
and serenity”
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Annapurna Base Camp
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Annapurna Base Camp is one of the most adventurous trekking
route along with breath taking views and scenery. I would personally recommend
this trek as it has been one of the most beautiful trekking that I have
been to. The journey begins from the beautiful city of Pokhara and ending at
the lap of beautiful mountain ranges of Mt. Annapurna, Mt. Gangapurna and Mt.
Macchapuchhre. Like any trek should be, this trek also contains many ups and
downs of a rough trails but with warm and welcoming villages and stops on the
way. People are very interactive and joyful to talk. The route is commercially
developed with well build infrastructure and all kind of facility including hot
water bath, neat and clean rooms, wifi, and food menu including western and
Nepali cuisine.
Though there are several route options available for the ABC
trekking, here I will share with you the itinerary we made for ourselves and
hope it will be useful for you as well. A 7 day trek would be very comfortable
and easy even for the first time trekkers, but the walk time varies upon the your
pace and how relaxing you would want the trek to be.
Day 1: Pokhara – Siwai - Chomrong
We started out trek from Pokhara. We took local vehicle
(Jeep) from hari Chowk to Siwai, you may hire vehicle if you wish not to share
with others. If you are group of 4-6, opting for hiring is best option in terms
of time. It cost us NRs.300/ person in sharing and may cost like NRs. 5000
around for hiring.
Our first stop was Chomrong village and it is one of the
most difficult sought uphill in the entire trek. We reached Chomrong village
around 5 p.m. Chomrong is one stop next to Jhinu Daada. You can see some nice views
of Machhapuchhre from this place. Please don’t forget to try cappuccino here!
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Cappuccino at Chomrong
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Day 2: Chomrong - Dovan
We started our Journey from Chomrong the next day with a
little bit of leg pain but with full of energy. Our target was to reach Dovan
via Sinwa village and Bamboo. While moving toward Sinwa village you will
encounter tourist check post for registration and if you are tourist you have
to show the permit along with guides that you are going with. It rained whole
day and this was where our raincoat came in very handy. Since most of the
journey was along the jungle, there was less effect of the rain but lots of
leeches. After a walk of 6 hours with rest in between we reached Dovan around 4
p.m. The view we saw there after the rain had stopped was amazing.
Day 3: Dovan - Deurali
Our next destination was Deurali, which is a bit close to
Dovan and is just 5 hours walk if you continue to walk without any break. Since
it was our last stop before heading towards the base camp we thought of taking
proper rest and as per the plan, we reached there around 2 p.m. It also rained
the entire day so it was best to stop at Deurali. We took ample of rest that
particular day along with great food. Many trekkers straight away aim for ABC
or MBC and is totally possible. We were just luxury trekkers.
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Bridge on the way to Dovan
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Raincoat left to dry
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Day 4: Deurali - ABC
Deurali to ABC is totally lucrative, it is not much of
uphill or downhill neither a plain land but the walk from here is very smooth
and relaxing. Way to ABC from MBS is
completely lustrous green hills and its is picture perfect beautiful. Distance
between MBC to ABC is not that far but due to high altitude, it takes good
amount of time. It took us around 2 and half hours whereas it is estimated
around one and half hours whereas local does it in mere 45 minutes.
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Tourist Enjoying at Annapurna Base Camp
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On the way to ABC from MBC
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Reflection of Mt. Macchapuchre
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Upon your arrival at the ABC which is at an altitude of 4130
m (13550 ft), you may feel headache, short breathe and a bit of dizziness due
to high altitude but give yourself some rest and warm garlic soup and you will
be fine, just do no panic. All the journey is worthwhile as you will be
enjoying the 360 degree panoramic view
of the great mountains which includes (Annapurna I-IV), Dhaulagiri,
Machhapuchhre, Manaslu, Gangapurna, Tilicho Peak, Pisang Peak, and Paungda
Danda. This is one of those moments which you will want to capture in your
memory forever. The view is something that cannot be expressed just with words
or picture but has to be felt in the moment. We spent a wonderful time at ABC
and then came the moment of truth when we realized it was already time for us
to return.
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Panaromic view of the Mountain Range
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Day 5: ABC - Bamboo
Returning is quite comfortable, we stayed at Bamboo after
around 8 hours of walk including lunch break in between. Bamboo is a very
serene place surrounded with huge bamboos.
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Staircase on the Way
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Tourist from South Korea and Denmark shaking hand
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Day 6: Bamboo – Jhinu Daada
After another 8 hours of walk from Bamboo, we reached Jhinu
Daada around 5 pm. Jhinu is best known for natural hot spring, so without
wasting time we kept our belonging in room and headed to the spring. Spring is
located along side the rive and have to walk downhill for around half an hour
however retuning back to hotel took us around an hour since it has gotten dark
then. After a long tiring trek, it is soul quenching feel when you relax at hot
water bath forgetting all the pain you had on the way.
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| Path from Chomrong to Jhinu Dada |
Day 7: Jhinu Daada - Pokhara
We started trek early so we could reach Pokhara before dark.
We stopped at Siwai for quick snacks since we did not want to waste any time
and head back to Pokhara however since we were taking local bus and the bus
would not move until it is full so had to wait around couple of hours for the
bus to be filled and start moving to Pokhara.
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Suspension Bridge on the way to Jhinu Dada from Pokhara
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Day 8: Pokhara - Kathmandu
End to and entire awesome trek. Took morning tourist bus to
Kathmandu.
I am also sharing some of the essential items I would
suggest you carry during the trek. These are some of the few things which will
help you a lot during the trek. Nonetheless you can always add up few more
things if you want. Try making the bag as light as possible as it will be very
difficult walking with the heavy weights continuously from the second day
onwards.
- First aid kit, crepe
bandage, painkillers, DFO gel and necessary medicine
- ORS (you need this to
boost the energy while walking, it helps a lot)
- Bit of rock salt or
normal salt ( to get rid of leeches)
- Raincoat
- Good waking stick
- A proper trekking bag
- One set of warm
clothes ( during your rest at the stops) and a pair of clothes for walking
- Strong trekking shoes
( make sure you check/ buy proper and strong trekking shoes since long walk
couple with rain will tear shoes pretty badly)
- Head light and pair
of batteries (in case you have to walk during evening ) 1
Please enjoy some of the photos of trek in the gallery. ABC
is truly a trek you should include in the bucket list!
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Entrance of the Annapurna Base Camp
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View on the way to ABC from MBC
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Clouds over Mt. Annapurna
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Hari Chowk (Here you can find vehicle to most of the trekking route)
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One of the village on the way
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Nepali Food (Dal, Bhat and Curry)
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Means of Transportation
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Portrait shot during the trip
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Tourist Enjoying at Base Camp
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Land being eroded due to melting snow
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Enjoying the view of Mt. Macchapuchrey
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Porters
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| Amazing view from the edge |
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Portrait taken at MBC
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| God like structure created naturally |
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Tourist Enjoying Lunch with a great view
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