Practical Information - Nepal 2000

We did the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trek, in the Annapurna mountains in the Himalaya, in Nepal. This page offers some brief and practical information for those planning to go there. For a more extensive description of our trek and of the rest of our stay in Nepal, with photographs, please visit my Nepal home page. For more personal stuff, please go back to my home page.

• General description of the trek
• Our itinerary
• Packing list
• The food
• Guide and porters - yes or no?
• Agencies, hotels outside of the trek

General description:
The Annapurna Base Camp lies in the Annapurna Sanctuary, a valley at 4100 m surrounded by some of the most beautiful peaks in the Himalaya. We extended our trek with a few days’ bypass to Poon Hill and Tatopani (on the Annapurna Circuit). The entire trek took 16 days (from Pokhara), but this includes two resting days in Tatopani, and one day to get from Beni to Pokhara by bus. Add two days’ travelling to and from Kathmandu for the total.

We moved up from Pokhara (700 m) to ABC in four days. This is considerably faster than what the Lonely Planet suggests, but we had no serious problems with altitude sickness. Our symptoms were limited to shortness of breath, a very slight headache, and a surprising lack of concentration. They disappeared a few hours after we reached ABC.

We usually walked roughly from 7 am to 1 or 2 pm, at a reasonable pace, and I found that the trek was not as physically trying as I had feared. My boyfriend and I are both from the Netherlands (where the highest mountain rises to a stunning 300 m) and not at all used to walking in the mountains, or even to walking much at all. We have both had knee problems in the Alps, but experienced no such trouble on this trek. I believe anyone who is reasonably fit can do this trek, just start calmly and don’t push yourself.

The trek was a great experience. The views were beautiful, absolutely impressive, and the people were very friendly almost without exception. Also, hiking into an area without roads, telephones, and electricity (most of the time), several days’ walk from “civilization”, was a new and welcome experience for me. I would definitely recommend a trek, even if you have little or no experience!

We found that most hotels in Pokhara let you store some of your luggage while you go on the trek, provided, naturally, that you return to this hotel after your trek. I brought the following:

• 2 pairs of trousers (It is not appreciated if women wear shorts. I ignored this principle for one day and felt somewhat uncomfortable)
• 1 calf-length skirt (although I enjoyed wearing it in the evenings, I could have done without)
• 2 short-sleeved t-shirts, 1 t-shirt with long sleeves
• 1 fleece sweater
• 1 water-proof jacket with a removable fleece lining
• mittens and a cap (we could have suffered a few hours’ cold and managed without these)
• thermal underwear, underwear
• hiking boots, teva slippers
• sleeping bag
• sleeping matress (the matresses in the lodges were always good and we needn’t have brought ours)
• aspirin, medicine for diarrhoea, vitamin pills
• shampoo (also for washing clothes) and toiletries
• body lotion (which I barely used) and sun-tan lotion
• walking stick (telescopic ski-pole type)
• water bottle (canteen) and a chlorine-based purifying solution. The Lonely Planet guide and most non-European trekkers we met recommend iodine but Dutch health centers say this “Hadex” chlorine stuff is fine and better for your health. I am positive that we never got sick from the water we drank
• flashlight (candles are available in most lodges), lighter, alarm clock
• “female portable urinal” (a latex bag with a cap). Highly useful if you often need to relieve yourself at night and don’t want to bother getting dressed and going out to a horrifically dirty toilet, using a candle, in the freezing cold. You might want to practice at home, though.
• books, paper, pens, playing cards
• camera and film

Something I didn’t bring but that might have come in handy is binoculars. Next time I’d also bring an extra t-shirt, as laundry took very long to dry, even when tied to our backpacks while we walked.

We did not eat any meat on the trek, and we didn’t get sick on the trek. We stuck to dal bhat (rice with lentil soup and curry) most of the time, and treated ourselves only to the occasional “vegetable fried rice” or noodle soup for a change. Fried eggs on Tibetan, Indian, or corn bread make a good breakfast.

The food at the Dhaulagiri Lodge in Tatopani was delicious, and enticed us into staying there for two days. I believe we spent most of those two days talking about food, dreaming about food, or eating!

Upon arrival back in Pokhara, we had delicious steaks at the Everest Steak House and both of us woke up next morning with a bout of diarrhoea. This could be a coincidence, but I would advise steering clear of large quantities of meat.

We hired a guide for the trek, but no porter; our guide, however, carried the heaviest backpack and I carried his - far lighter - one. Having Gopal along turned out to have a number of distinct advantages, as well as a few small disadvantages.