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I recently backpacked for a year and with people wanting to know about the two treks I did, I felt I should put together some photos and descriptions of some of the interesting adventures, along with photo's from everywhere I went. I started my trip in Nepal and from there I went to India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands (India), Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, South Africa, London, Berlin, and Amsterdam. The photo's where taken with an Olympus e-p1, and I am by no consideration photographer. This was the first camera I ever owned.
So to start I trekked the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas for just under three weeks. The trek is an amazing experience as every day the natural geography that surrounds you changes. As your elevation increases, so does the landscape and so do the harsh realities of life in the mountains. Every day we trekked between 4 and 9 hours depending on the severity of the elevation increase. Altitude sickness is a problem for some. Fortunately for me I did not suffer any problems, due to our two acclimatization days. However, my friend did, and in reality it’s really an uncontrollable affect. We got snowed in at a village called Manang for two days, which according to our guide and porter, made the Thorung La pass very dangerous. The pass sits at about the height of 5416 Meters. After a massive snowstorm, the only way to get across the pass is for the Yaks to make a pathway as they bring goods over one side of the mountain to the other. After the Yaks made a pathway we got up at 4AM to avoid any dangerous wind. It’s an incredible experience to know you spent two weeks walking uphill to get to the highest mountain pass in the world. Truly breathtaking. I for one am now an advocate for the use of a porter and a guide. Is it necessary if you can comfortably carry your load? Probably not. However, giving a job to a porter and guide for 3 weeks, at $10 a day, is enough for them to bring back to their village to really help their family. Think of it as a donation. Our porter and guide become incredible friends with us. We in fact spent a week in their village. We were the first foreigners ever to see it, nevertheless live there. In the end, Nepal become a place that my heart holds dear. Me and my friend have even been asked to be best men at a wedding for our Nepalese tour guide in September!
I also did the trek to Everest base Camp. Another spectacular and rewarding experience. This trek is a little different to the Annapurna Circuit because you fly into Lukla, which is already 2000 metres up. This airport is arguably the second or third most dangerous and visually scariest airport possible. You land uphill into a mountain face and have to do a sharp right turn or you’ll go straight into it. Leaving, you take off downhill to get speed and lift off just before the mountain drops off!
This trek is also different because you find yourself trekking with a lot more people. In Annapurna, your spread out more so you can if you want be in complete solace. However, in Everest there is lots of big groups trekking so you find yourself having to pass slow trekkers. The tea houses are just as good as the circuit, but do get expensive as you approach base camp. The other big difference is that the trek goes up and down the same way. So once you make it to base camp you follow the same route back. However, there is a fairly dangerous, but doable pass called the Cho La pass. The pass can be tough and may require crampons on the glacier. Me and my friend did however, make it across, but there have been solo trekkers that have gone missing. I should let everyone know that I did however have to get helicopters off the mountain. I must say thanks to BCAA medical for covering that extremely expensive helicopter ride. For about 7 days during the trek I had not been able to eat anything. I had terrible cramps in my stomach and just felt nauseas from eating. However, I was able to drink water so I kept going as I knew it wasn’t altitude problems as it started at a lower elevation. On the day of the Cho La pass, with the help of a Tibetan family traveling and my porter and guide we made it across the pass with me throwing up even water. As I would begin to sip water, I would just throw it up right way. I made it across somehow, but to get back down the Lukla to fly back to Kathmandu was 4-5 days away, and at this point I had not eaten in a week and hadn’t had anything to drink in 30 hours. So like a US commando unit, with the help of a satellite phone, a helicopter somehow miraculously found us at this little tea hut that we were staying the night in. The helicopter ride was actually extremely beautiful even though I was completely out of it. It turns out the water back in one of the first villages that they cleaned their veggies with was contaminated with a virus, even though it was a clean drinking source.
So I haven’t really said much about actually seeing Everest in person. It actually was a fairly spiritual moment. Its awe inspiring, and that day just happened to have a beautiful glow around the peak. At base camp there were two small expeditions doing recovery missions to get dead bodies that were left on the mountain. The real base camp is about an hour further past the rocks that say base camp, so I insist you keep going over the glacier. The Khumba glacier that you walk on is just incredible. You cannot see Everast from base camp, so in the early morning you hike up Kala Patar which has probably one of the best views of the peak. Its one hell of a slog though. You can just see the altitude effects on people’s faces.
In total I spent 3 months in Nepal, and fell in love. After that we travelled to India and onwards. Here’s are some pictures from Everest, and then from Nepal and the rest of my trip!
Everest in the background!
Cho La Pass
Our tent during Mani Rimdu Festival (dancing mocks galore)
Kathmandu
Spot the Hash Dealer!
One of the best experiences on the trip was learning how to ride bikes through Heart and Tear Motorcycle club in Pokarah, Nepal. The guy who instructs the classes travelled the world for 4 years on his Royal Enfield, and when he got to Nepal he said it was the best place he had ever biked so he decided to stay!
Tea plantations in Munnar, India.
Cape Town!
Berlin, Holocaust Museum.
And so we do not forget how beautiful how our province is, Garabaldi Lake, Whistler.
I also did the trek to Everest base Camp. Another spectacular and rewarding experience. This trek is a little different to the Annapurna Circuit because you fly into Lukla, which is already 2000 metres up. This airport is arguably the second or third most dangerous and visually scariest airport possible. You land uphill into a mountain face and have to do a sharp right turn or you’ll go straight into it. Leaving, you take off downhill to get speed and lift off just before the mountain drops off!
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You need a special check out to land there. In a recent documentary it was labeled the most dangerous in the world... No missed approaches allowed! Reading the rest of your post now.
my gf and her dad were supposed to do the everest base camp trek but there was a crash at the lukla airport so it was shut down for three days, then ended up doing the annapurna trek instead...the pictures they took were amazing
i want to go one day and do the everest trek and possibly another one
You need a special check out to land there. In a recent documentary it was labeled the most dangerous in the world... No missed approaches allowed! Reading the rest of your post now.
It might be labelled the most dangerous airport to land on, but it's definitely not the most difficult landing spot aircraft land on. Especially for a Twin Otter.
Excellent Post, i've read through about half and I will def read the rest. Thanks
you are previleged to be able to go travelling for a year without being tied down to a career/school/financial constraints. Hopefully I'll one day find the money and time to do this!
consider making a blog with pictures you can flip through ....
__________________
Sometimes we tend to be in despair when the person we love leaves us, but the truth is, it's not our loss, but theirs, for they left the only person who couldn't give up on them.
Make the effort and take the risk..
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." - Eleanor Roosevelt
I'm really interested in your experience with the annapurna circuit. What time of year did you go?
I did the circuit right at the start of October. The reason being is that while it is heading into their winter which means colder at higher alltitudes, you get clear skies to see everything. You can go in summer, but some times the fog and clouds interfer with your views. September, October, November are all the busiest time for Annapurna and Everast. Like I mentioned before that means Everast will have a lot of groups going. Annapurna is somehow spread out a little better with tea houses along the way so you can avoid the crowds a little better.
The one thing to know is that Annapurna is slowly changing as they are building a road up the mountain. Their is currently a road on the side going down, but their are alternative routes that you can avoid the road and land up at the same guest houses along the way. In terms of the road they are buildings, its meant to allow all the farmers easier access to bring products up and down the moutnain on the side you would walk up. This is why I would suggest going as soon as possible. This is arguably one of the greatest treks in the entire world, but it will soon change.
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