Paddy - we will be going on the Annapurna Sanctuary trek mid-March -- is that close enough?
Btw, I found Jon's article on DIY trek very useful! First pics of inside a teahouse room I've seen - nice to have a bit of an idea. Hyatt it isn't... but seems pretty good.
Well I'll be lazing my way round up to the 16th Mar. Need to find people to go over the pass. Probably meet some on the way. Seems there is still lots of snow on it.
Hi Paddy, it's incredibly easy to meet people on the trek itself - you'll find a whole bunch of trekkers will be walking roughly the same day stages as you and tea houses tend to throw everyone together. You can also meet people in Kathmandu if it worries you. But really I think it'd be hard not to.
One thing I'd add is not to be too worried about the Maoist thing. The trekking agencies will tell you all sorts of stories, but the bottom line is that if you do meet them, they'll ask for about a tenner as a donation and give you a receipt so if you're stopped again, you'll not have to pay.
I'm not saying you shouldn't hire a porter or guide btw, but it's not strictly necessary and staying in tea houses puts money directly into the local economy.
Final tip, when you reach Tatopani near the end of the circuit, there are some hot springs and you'll meet pretty much everyone you've spoken to for the last two weeks, but wearing fewer clothes, so take some shorts or trunks you're happy wearing or you'll be in your shreddies. Final, final tip - the Trailblazer guidebook is pretty well the best I've found.
Much appreciated Jon. Maoists, Shmaoists!! Even terrorists/freedom fighters love their Mums.
3 weeks and counting.
Anyone got ideas on a good travel insurance. My trip starts in Germany so BMC have said no even though I'm a member! Others I have looked at seem a bit lame.
Its a class trip - warning though that in March it can be very cold, particularly around Manang and above (probably a different story if you've spoke to anybody who's climbed it in September). Bring a good down jacket and sleeping bag if you have one. Plenty of snow around as well, particularly above Base camp (the hut nickname below the pass) but no need for axe/crampons. Fill your boots on cider and Tibetan lasange in Marphe - a top place on the Jomsom side.
I did the sanctuary trek about three years ago now with a couple of friends. We started in Pokhara and finished in Anappurna base camp. We took no guide or porters and it was the best thing I ever did in my life. It was also the most exhausting thing I have ever done!!! All I can say is that you will meet loads of people on the trek. You kind of build up a group along the way and try and beat them to the next tea house. I would say make sure you get to the tea houses early. One night there was a group of abouth 25 Japanese tourists!! No room in the tea house. It was too dark to go down to the last tea house so they all slept in a barn/shed type thing. Poor buggers. Have a good one. You'll love it!!
Glad to find positive things on this thread as I just booked tickets to Kathmandu yesterday, having decided to ignore F.O. travel advice about Nepal on the basis that they're now sending out terrorist advice to us lucky Londoners, so three weeks amongst the Maoists will probably reduce our risks.
;)
So, a few questions to ask of folks who've done the Annapurna circuit:
1. What sort of temperatures will we be likely to encounter at the beginning of October?
2. To hire a guide or not to hire a guide. Two sets of friends have been and not bothered hiring guides - they say it's not necessary since trails are damn obvious. However, Lonely Planet suggests that a guide is good for many other reasons (exchange of information, learning language and finding out cool extras). What views do you guys have?
3. Given we intend to tred as lightly as possible, and do not intend to buy plastic bottles of water, would you recommend the purchase of a decent water filter for use in guest houses (save on boiling). Any recommendations?
4. We're going for 21 days, which'll give us 19 days in Nepal. Will this be ample to complete the circuit? Is there anything else we should definitely try and squeeze in while we're in the area?
Sorry for all the questions, but I get the idea there are a few folks who have lots to tell about their Nepal trekking experiences.
James - We've done the Sanctuary rather than the Circuit, and not in October... but just thought I'd comment on the guide issue.
We did take a guide, and two porters for the four of us. I think it was good to have the guide. We were affected by the Maoist situation - halfway through we heard there was a battle on route, and it was good to have the guide's expertise to keep us away from the trouble spot - as it was we had an army of Maoists walk just by the teahouse while we were having breakfast, and the next morning we ran into the Army in persuit. Yet another couple days later we were on our way back, but had to walk through the battle zone where we could see gunfight and hear bombs; all public transport was closed all over Nepal and again the guide was able to find us a good walking route to get back to Pokhara.
We could probably have managed without the guide, but it made it more relaxing considering the situation we were in. We were lucky in that our guide was fantastic - a retired mountaineer who had done most of the Asian 8K's and got to close to the top of Everest - he had a lot of fun stories to tell us! And hiring a guide also puts some money back into the economy and opens a way for common people to benefit from tourism.
Oh, I had a Katadyn bottle filter which was very useful. Boiling is not a good idea at height as they end up using wood-burning stoves, and our guide recommended iodine; the water was usually clear but at times it was murky and I'm glad I had the filter.
No, that wasn't a long ramble. It's an excellent and helpful reply. Thanks so much, Sara.
What's the difference between the Sanctuary and the Circuit? Sorry for my ignorance.
Thanks for the filter recommendation.I'd heard about avoiding involvement in wood burning stoves by not gathering round them when they're lit etc. so they don't burn wood on your account. And we'll be trying to get kerosene or similar used for meals that are cooked.
When were you there and have you heard whether the situation has improved or deteriorated?
James - think of the shape of a horseshoe - The Annapurna Circuit involves going all the way around the horseshoe, while the Sanctuary involves entering into the area in the middle of the horseshoe, which in this case is a valley surrounded by peaks. The highest point in the Sanctuary is the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) at 4200m, while the highest point in the Circuit is ThorungLa Pass, at around 5400m. Jon's excellent article talks about doing the Circuit.
We went end of March, and had excellent weather. Our trek took two weeks, though some people seemed to have "done" the Sanctuary in a week or less. Depending on the shape you are in, you can probably do the Circuit in 19 days, but you might not have much room for maneouvre in case there is a Bandh (stopping of transport, closing of shops, etc) at the beginning or end (it won't affect you midway). Many people take a flight from Jomsom at the end of the trek, and that can be affected by bad weather. Trekking from Jomsom to Pokhara can add some days.
Ghorapani, which is in the area and on the way to Poon Hill, is where the Maoists were holed up at the time we went, and that area does have a large number of guerrillas. (Very strange to see these very young innocent looking kids walking around with riffles.) I don't really know what the situation is now; it was quite difficult to get information even during the trek as the teahouse-keepers didn't want to scare us, but would talk much more openly with the guides.
Before going I had heard that we would be asked for a "tax" of 10 quid or so, but when we went the Maoists had changed phase and were on the attack. So we ended up saving a bit of money and didn't have to pay the Maoists!
Thanks for your reply and explanation. I haven't read Jon's article, but would love to. Can you point me in the right direction?
The timings in the Lonely Planet guide give 16 days for the Around Annapurna route, I'm guessing these timings may be ambitious. Will have to talk to more folk who've done it. I'm relatively fit and Helen, my partner is fitter still.
Well I've spoken to an old friend of mine whose uncle lives in Kathmandu and he's said we shouldn't worry about the Maoist situation, either.
The article's in the features section, if you go to the homepage and search for Annapurna in the second box down, it'll come up.
I'd say two weeks is very doable, but the one thing to be aware of the need to acclimatise properly before going over the Thorung La. Most people's schedules are pretty marginal on this. Take a look at the Trailblazer guide to the Annapurna Circuit which is excellent.
If you have time - it took me about three weeks in total - then going up into the Sancturary after trekking the circuit is brilliant. The Circuit kind of goes around the mountains, while the Sanctuary Trek goes straight up into the heart of the big peaks. Doing the Circuit first means you're fully acclimatised, so you can walk up without worrying about the height gain. Took us about two days up from Chomrung and from Annapurna BC out to the road head was two days, but quite hard.
The guide thing is very personal. You can easily trek without a guide and some people find it quite irksome having one along. They tend to have favoured tea houses where they get good deals or know the owner and quite set ideas on which route to go, where to stop, etc, etc.
The Trailblazer guide is all you need technically and you can buy okay maps in Kathmandu.
October shouldn't be too cool either. Possibly a little chilly high up at night and going over the Thorung La early in the morning, but pretty warm during the day. It gets colder as the year goes on, so December's quite cool.
We have 19 days in Nepal, so I'm guessing we'd be pushing it to do the acclimatisation (will get the Trailblazer book) and still have time for the extra trek you suggest.
We chose beginning of October for those reasons. We've got warm bags on order and plan to carry our own gear.
Have you ever had a guide, because I'm getting the impression that maybe a guide might be more of a hindrance than help....?
I've had a guide briefly, there are pros - you don't need to think about route finding, where to stay etc, and you may get a greater insight into the local culture - and cons. It's hard to say, one thing is that you won't be alone if you trek independently, there'll be quite a few others doing the same thing and it's easy to find people to knock along with if you want to.
I met some really good guides who were flexible, bright and spoke excellent English and some who were, like you say, a bit of a burden. Plus you're responsible for their safety and even though they're Nepali, not all are well equipped and used to being in high mountains.
Personally I prefer going it alone. You're putting money into the local economy by using tea houses and buying food etc along the way.
I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, just what you're happiest with.
Okay, all good information. We'd thought that maybe having a guide would be good given the deterioration in the poitical situation there, but if the worst we're likely to encounter are young men requesting a 10 dollar donation, maybe we'd enjoy ourselves more going it alone.
I'd like to meet local people more than westerners (I know lots of the latter, few of the former!), which was another motivation. If we use our Kathmandu contact I am hopeful we'll get someone flexible, bright and good speaker of Hinglish but your viewpoint is a good one.
Perhaps there are others who've had good or bad stories that might spot this thread and post!?
I look forward to reading your article and may well be inspired to write something to to add to the knowledge base.
James, anything you can add to Jon's excellent article when you get back would be great. I'm going independantly towards the end of November and would really appreciate an update from someone who's been there recently on the Maoist situation and also what you thought about guides. I have some freinds who have recommended a guide they know but I'm more like Jon, the thought of always haveing someone else around and being tied to staying in someone else's choice of tea house isn't my idea of the perfect trek. But going it completely alone as a girlie is also making me a bit nervous.
If you can get a personally endorsed guide then why not. A Dutch couple I met told me about a web site which has a list of Nepali guides and porters specifically recommended by trekkers. I've never been able to find it, but then I didn't look very hard, so that might be another option.
So much depends on the individual guide that it's hard to generalise. I suppose one way of looking at it is that a good guide can enhance your trek and will richen your experience of the culture and even become a friend - I still exchange e-mails with a Sherpa I met in Nepal in 99. On the other hand, if your guide's a bit inflexible then you may find it frustrating.
I guess, as a reasonably experienced walker and some time mountainer who's trekked solo in the Andes etc, I'm used to being responsible for myself, and the big tea house treks are very user friendly and mellow, so in the end I didn't really see the point. But that's not to say there isn't one.
I'll be sure to provide an update. Going it alone is the most high risk strategy, though I am sure many people do it every year. Jon, thanks once more. Our contact in Kathmandu may not be into trekking, so that's the only concern. I may try and search out this website your Dutch couple recommended...
