This is part of my series on the Annapurna Circuit Trek, which we trekked in late November. Check out our itinerary here. Our first day on the Annapurna Circuit began in Pokhara, the city that serves as the departure point for treks in the Annapurna region. We departed The North Face Inn early for the tourist bus station. The North Face Inn was an amazing place to stay, right in the lakeside area of Pokhara and run by the nicest family. They helped us arrange bus tickets, made a phone call to our hostel in Kathmandu, gave us advice about the circuit, and had a safe drinking water station where we could fill our water bottles. We saw them constantly cleaning the place, which was particularly great after the trek - to return to a clean place to stay. We were able to store some of the things that we wouldn't need on the Annapurna Circuit at The North Face Inn and come back for them after the trek. We packed up everything we needed and took a taxi around 5:30am to the tourist bus station, where we would catch the 6:30am tourist bus to Besishahar. Thanks to the helpful owners of the North Face Inn, we already had our tickets in hand for the 6:30am bus, which cost 500 rupees per person (~$4.59). We were told that there was also a local bus station with public buses to Besishahar, but, given our less-than-stellar experience later on a public bus, I am so glad we opted for the tourist bus in this instance. The tourist bus station ended up being no more than a fenced in lot with buses parked around the edge. There was no building or waiting room. We worried that we wouldn't be able to eat breakfast before boarding the bus, but I felt confident that some enterprising Nepalese people would be selling food at the bus station. Sure enough, there was a little stand with some tables where we each had a hot drink (tea for me, coffee for everyone else) and a pastry. The other tables were occupied by a variety of people and their backpacks, indicating that they too were headed for a trek. As we enjoyed our breakfast, the sun began to rise, revealing a clear, cloudless sky and majestic snow covered mountains in the distance. Mt. Machhapuchhre, also known as Fishtail, stood out clearly with its unusual shape. Seeing the pink morning light on the Himalayan mountains only increased my excitement for trekking. Before we boarded the bus, I ran to the restroom at the bus station, a small building behind some of the buses. Sitting outside the restroom on a bucket was a woman with cleaning supplies, and there was a sign requesting donations in exchange for keeping the restroom clean. I had left my pack with the others at the food stand, so I ran back to grab a small bill. This was a reminder that things that I take for granted in America, like people who are employed by bus stations to keep restrooms clean, are not necessarily a given in Nepal. When we boarded the bus, we passed our backpacks up to a man standing on top of the bus. He grabbed them one by one, along with everyone else's luggage, and placed them on top of the bus, within a little rectangle of railings. Then, our luggage was covered with a tarp and tied down with ropes. Initially, I was unsure how well this system would hold, but we went through some bumpy and winding mountain roads during our time in Nepal and nothing was ever lost. Our bus ride to Besishahar, the beginning point for the Annapurna Circuit Trek, lasted approximately 4 hours. At the beginning of our bus ride, the majority of passengers were trekkers. As we made our way through the city of Pokhara, some Nepalese people got on as well, until the bus was full and passengers began standing in the center aisle. The roads outside of Pokhara were so bumpy that my head hit the ceiling on more than one occasion. We stopped once for a restroom break, and, about halfway through the bus ride, the driver turned on some Asian music videos accompanied by loud pop music. I cannot say whether the videos were Nepalese or from another country, but they got progressively stranger and more suggestive throughout the bus ride. Finally, we arrived in Besishahar and all filed off the bus. Luggage collection involved standing next to the bus and trying to catch your pack as the man on top of the bus handed it down. Our plan was to cut out some walking by taking a jeep from Besishahar to Bhulbhule, since we had a limited amount of time for the trek. As we caught our backpacks from the bus, we met three other trekkers who were willing to split the cost of a jeep with us. The total amount of 2000 rupees would be divided six ways, 333 rupees per person (~$3). One of our fellow trekkers tried to negotiate a lower price, but the jeep drivers knew that they had the upper hand and refused to lower their price. I was fine with that because I had already planned for the cost of a bus plus jeep. From Bhulbhule, we began walking along the road. Our plan was to reach Ghermu, 13 km away, by the end of the day. When researching the trip, I focused a lot on the temperature at the top of Thorong-La Pass and the gear I would need to stay warm....but I hadn't realized how warm I would be at the beginning of the trek. Bhulbhule is only at 2756 feet, and we climbed to 3707 feet at Ghermu. The sun was beating down on us, we had heavy packs on our backs, and we spent a lot of the afternoon ascending. I was definitely sweaty. We spent the afternoon walking along the Marsyangdi River, which we would follow all the way to Manang. We trekked through the small villages of Ngadi and Bahundanda, up and over hills with terraced rice fields and haystacks. We passed small farms and quite a bit of livestock - goats and chickens and even two puppies. Everyone we walked by greeted us with "namaste" - the Nepalese word for "hi" and "bye" - and some people asked, "Where going?" We also walked along the road for awhile with a man who was carrying a plastic grocery bag filled with bloody meat, which he told us was buffalo before inviting us to eat at his restaurant. We unanimously decided to be vegetarians for the rest of the trek. In the late afternoon/early evening, we suddenly found ourselves trekking past neatly uniformed children on their way home from school, herds of goats, stray dogs, and farmers carrying huge loads of branches and straw - or, as I liked to call it, "rush hour on the Annapurna Circuit". For the first part of the afternoon, we walked with the three trekkers who had shared the jeep with us, but they stopped for the night in Bahundanda while we continued on to Ghermu. On the trial, we came across a trio of guys from England and Belgium, who also stopped for the night in Ghermu. None of the guys had known each other prior to the trek - they had met in the airport and decided to make a trekking group. When we came to Ghermu, we stopped at the same teahouse as them, in order to hang out with our new trail friends at dinner. Unfortunately, we hadn't yet heard the advice for choosing a teahouse - don't stop at the very first one you see in a village. Often, the main village is a little further along, containing more options with better amenities. Our teahouse for the first night was fine though very basic, even for the Annapurna Circuit. It had 2 beds per room (and one MASSIVE spider) and a porch on the upper level, where we ate dinner. Looking back, it was nice to have one night where it was warm enough to eat outside with just a fleece on. I was so tired that the teahouse quality barely mattered to me. While Ciara, Rachel, and our new trekking friends chatted before dinner, I actually fell asleep on the table. I would have just gone to bed, but we hadn't had lunch and only snacked on trail snacks, so I needed some dinner. In each town, the teahouse menus have to be approved by the tourist board and they are pretty standard throughout the Circuit, except for the prices, which increase as you go higher in altitude. The menus offer the Nepalese staple of Dal Bhat (rice, lentils, and curry), curries, fried rice, noodles, potato dishes, soups, oatmeal, muesli, chapati (flat bread), tea, coffee, and some desserts. Dinner for me was potato curry - cheap and filling. We also shared an "apple pie" for dessert. Cutting into it, we knew that the filling was not apples, though it tasted somewhat similar. Shortly after eating the "apple pie", the lack of apples was confirmed when we ordered oatmeal with apples for breakfast and were told that they had "no apples". To this day, I have no idea what was in our "apple pie". Daily trekking distance: 13 km
Total trekking distance: 13 km Starting elevation (Bhulbhule): 840 m/2756 ft Ending elevation (Ghermu): 1130m/3707 ft Costs Bus Pokhara to Besishahar: 500 NPR ($4.59) Jeep Besishahar to Bhulbhule: 333 NPR ($3.06) Room + dinner + breakfast Ghermu: 467 NPR ($4.15) *They keep track of all expenses at the teahouse and you settle up in the morning after breakfast.*
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The reason we traveled all the way to Nepal was to trek the Annapurna Circuit, or "Round Annapurna" as the locals called it. The whole circuit takes about 20 days. We had two weeks off from work and, when we added in multiple days for flights and getting to the start of the trail, there was just no way to make the math work - we couldn't do the entire thing. So, we scoured the internet for information about which parts were must-see, which parts we could shorten, and how much we could pack into the little time we had. I have to say it: the whole thing is a must-see. Don't shorten it if you don't have to. We had to cut out much of the second half and now my friends and I are planning a trip back to complete the circuit and do the Annapurna Base Camp trek. I will add detailed posts about each day, the scenery, the distance and difficulty of hiking, and the teahouses where we stayed as I complete them! To get you started, this was our itinerary as we made our way Round Annapurna. Our 11 Day Itinerary on the Annapurna CircuitClick on a picture to read the blog post about that day's trek. Day 1: Pokhara to Ghermu (13 km)
We took the earliest tourist bus out of Pokhara, departing at 6:30am. A bumpy 4-hour bus ride brought us to Besishahar, the official starting point for the Annapurna Circuit. To shorten the trek a bit on the front end, we took a jeep from Besishahar to Bhulbhule, cutting out 9 km of walking. We trekked from Bhulbhule to Ghermu (13 km), where we stayed the night. Day 2: Ghermu to Darapani (18 km) Our first full day on the trail was long and filled with steep stone steps. The steep stone steps really got me because your legs have to push your body weight plus your pack weight up over and over. I find a gradual uphill trudge to be easier, but I know that not everyone does. We passed through some really charming towns, following along the river, across suspension bridges, and past a beautiful waterfall. Just before Tal, we climbed steeply for quite awhile. But, after we descended, we stopped for lunch in Tal, at a pleasant garden teahouse with DELICIOUS food. Probably my favorite food we had on the circuit. From Tal, we continued about 2 hours to Darapani. Day 3: Darapani to Chame (16 km) Our third day, in my opinion, was easier than the second day. It was slightly shorter and, though we did some climbing, it seemed less intense than the previous day. Or my body was starting to get used to trekking day after day. Most of the towns that we passed through were quite small. We also got our first views of snow covered peaks today! We stopped in Chame, and there were many shops where we could buy things like hand sanitizer, snacks, and even clothing. I had major panic about being cold, so I bought a fleece-lined hat for less than $2.50 and a knock-off North Face long sleeved shirt for $7. It smelled like a plastic bag but made me feel better to have an extra long sleeved shirt. Day 4: Chame to Upper Pisang (14.5 km) One of my favorite days on the trail! The day started with a trek through pine forests, which smelled lovely, with the Marsyangdi River rushing along below us. We passed through an apple orchard, along the road with views of snow covered mountains constantly in sight, and through another dense forest. We stopped for lunch in Dhukur Pokhari, sitting in the sun with views of the mountains, and then continued to Upper Pisang for the night. When we trekked into Upper Pisang, we noticed that the village went up the hillside toward a monastery perched at the top. We also noticed that there were insane views of Annapurna II, and, tired as we were, we decided that we had to stay at the teahouse highest up on the hillside. The dining room had a fireplace to keep us warm and unobstructed views of Annapurna II. We dropped our packs and immediately went to visit the monastery. The entire day was wonderful, from the scenery to our leisurely lunch to the monastery to the views of Annapurna II as the sun went down. Day 5: Upper Pisang to Manag (19.5 km) There are two options to get to Manang: the Upper Pisang trail and the Lower Pisang trail. I'm not going to lie - the Upper Pisang trail was extremely challenging, but the views were amazing and the traditional villages along the way were interesting. Additionally, the upper trail is GREAT preparation for the steep climb to High Camp and over Thorong-La Pass. The trail ascends steeply between Upper Pisang and the next village, Ghyaru. It is a long slog with switchback after switchback, and I was really feeling the effect of the altitude on my breathing. But, at the top, there were amazing views of Annapurna II, III, and IV. Later on, to counter the ascent, there is a steep descent as you move toward Manang. At the end of this day, nobody in our group was speaking because we were so exhausted and were literally hobbling into Manang. But, I still think that the Upper Pisang route was worth it, especially since it is followed by a rest day. Day 6: Rest Day in Manang (0 km) The rest day in Manang was glorious. We didn't have to pick up our packs at all. We went to one of the bakeries to have coffee and tea, met fellow trekkers, and saw a movie. Day 7: Manang to Letdar (10 km) This day went very quickly for us, as it was considerably shorter than the previous trekking days we had done. The landscape was stark and barren, and we passed by some Maoist graffiti. In Letdar, we had finally reached the place where we were no longer connected to the outside world by technology. There was no wi-fi at our lodge in Letdar, but we spent a fun afternoon and evening chatting with our fellow trekkers and soaking up the warmth from the fireplace in the dining room. Letdar was the first place where we had a really lively crowd in the dining room at night, most likely due to the lack of lodging options. Day 8: Letdar to High Camp (6 km) Once again, our day seemed super short in comparison with earlier days on the trail, but we had to keep the mileage short in order to ensure that we did not gain too much elevation too quickly. Between Letdar and Thorong Phedi, we passed through a landslide area, which made me nervous initially, but we didn't see a single rock falling or sliding. We rested in Thorong Phedi for a short while before tackling the final push to High Camp. As I mentioned before, I was extremely grateful that we had done the Upper Pisang trail because this section (Thorong Phedi to High Camp) was very similar, steep with switchback after switchback. We knew how to tackle it after completing the Upper Pisang trail, slow and steady with breaks to catch our breath. We arrived in High Camp before noon and spent all afternoon and night in the dining room, hanging out with our trail friends. Day 9: Crossing Thorong-La Pass: High Camp to Muktinath (15 km) Crossing Thorong-La Pass seems to be the pinnacle of the Circuit, what everyone had been working toward as we climbed day after day, higher and higher. A very long day, we woke up around 4:00am, ate breakfast, put on all our warmest clothes, and hit the trail by 5:30am, in order to cross the pass before 10:00am when the winds pick up. The ascent was tough and cold and I once again felt the effects of altitude on breathing. I didn't realize at the time that I also had a cold, which was making it even more difficult to catch my breath. We reached the pass by about 8:00am, quicker than the time estimates, and it felt joyful to know that we had reached the top of the Annapurna Circuit. On top of the pass, we encountered most of our trail friends, took lots of pictures by the sign, and strung prayer flags, all while we tried to stay warm. From there, we spent the rest of the day descending and shedding layer after layer of warm clothing until we reached Muktinath, a holy city for Hindus and Buddhists, where we relaxed and took hot showers. Day 10: Muktinath to Tatopani by Jeep It was very strange to have completed our walking on the Annapurna Circuit. I didn't want to be done, but we had to start making our way back. Initially, we thought, "There's no way that it will take two full days to get back to Pokhara." Then, we experienced transportation in rural Nepal. We should have gone to the jeep stand a lot earlier in the day. As it was, we caught a jeep to Jomsom at 11:30am with 9 other trekkers, so we were able to split the cost. In Jomsom, we had to wait for the jeep drivers to finish lunch before we could get another jeep to Tatopani. We arrived in Tatopani about 7 hours later - 2 hours to Jomsom, waiting in Jomson, 4.5 hours to Tatopani. Day 11: Tatopani to Pokhara by Bus & Jeep On Day 11, we officially left the Annapurna Conservation Area. We took a local bus (rookie mistake) to Beni and had to put up with attempts to rip off the tourists as well as a bus ride that was reminiscent of riding a mechanical bull. There was literally a Nepalese man vomiting out the window in front of me. That bus left at 8:30am-ish and the ride took about 4 hours. From Beni, we paid for another jeep for the final leg to Pokhara, where we arrived about 3 hours later, bruised and exhausted from the bus and jeep rides. On the way from Atlanta, Georgia to Kathmandu, Nepal, we ended up with a long layover in Doha, Qatar, since we flew Qatar Airways. I was thrilled since I had never been to the Middle East, and a long layover would give us time to leave the airport! After doing some online searching, I learned that Qatar Airways offers free city tours of Doha during long layovers. These tours include a visa, transportation, and a variety of city sights. I thought, "Perfect. We won't have to worry about making arrangements ourselves." So, when our flight landed, Ciara, Rachel, and I hustled through the sparkling clean Hammad International Airport to the city tours desk.. They were full. No spots left. Now, what were we supposed to do for 8 hours? We waited for the tour to actually meet, just in case someone who had signed up didn't show. But, when the last name had been read off the list and all tickets had been given out, we realized that a free city tour wasn't an option. "What if we just went into Doha ourselves?" asked my friend Ciara. We hadn't really done any research, since we had been counting on the free tour, but a quick Google search told us that Americans can get a visa upon arrival at the airport. We approached the information desk and asked the nice man about what to do in Doha. He recommended that we visit Souk Waqif and gave us some tips on getting a taxi. Going into Doha was unbelievably easy. We breezed through security and passport control. Since we had checked our bags, there was no luggage to worry about on the layover. At the passport control station, I walked up, paid for my visa, and walked out. We made a brief stop at the money exchange counter. I've always heard to avoid changing money at the airport because the rates are worse than in the city, but we needed cash for the taxi and ultimately only had to change a small amount for our few hours in Doha. There was a line of taxis waiting outside the airport. We found one, discussed the rate, and confirmed before hopping in. Within 20 minutes of making the decision to take a taxi into Doha, we had navigated security, changed money, secured a taxi, and driven to Souk Waqif. Souk WaqifRather than try to zip around the city in a limited amount of time, we decided to pick one spot to explore, and that spot was Souk Waqif. A souk is a marketplace. Souk Waqif is comprised of a number of beautiful stone buildings and labrinythine alleyways filled with fabrics, spices, and even pets. It was renovated in 2006, so, while the stone looks old, it is very clean and well-preserved. As we wandered through the souk, we came upon a stand selling traditional Middle Eastern food - meat skewers, hummus, pita. Having not eaten dinner, we ordered a little of each to share. Everyone around us was eating with their hands, tearing off pieces of pita and using the pita to get meat off the skewers or scoop up hummus, so we ripped off pieces of pita and dug in. This food was perfection. I could have eaten five more orders. Without trying, we stumbled into the Souk Waqif Art Center, a building with stunning architecture, colorful lanterns, and intricate tile. Vendors inside this building displyed paintings for sale. When we came to a dead end or a turn, we just picked a direction, wandering without direction but taking in all of the sights and sounds. Different parts of the souk had their own personalities. We rounded the corner into a noisy area filled with animal smells and sounds, where vendor after vender was selling pets. We walked past shops with beautiful and colorful bolts of fabric and tailors who would make custom clothing. We entered a pottery shop with hand made mugs and vases. We turned the corner and saw a wide path lined with hookah cafes and nice restaurants. Parts of the souk were almost deserted, maybe due to the time of night. After all, how many people go fabric shopping at 8:30pm on Saturday nights? While other parts of the souk were bustling with families and groups of people sitting at outdoor tables, enjoying a meal. Doha CornicheAfter exploring the Souk Waqif for a couple of hours, we walked down to the Corniche, a waterfront promenade in Doha that begins not far from the Souk Waqif. Like everything else we encountered in Doha, the Corniche was super clean and well maintained, lined by palm trees. From the Corniche, we had a view of the Doha nighttime skyline across Doha Bay. Between us and the skyline were tons of what looked like fishing boats, along with some boats lit up by neon lights, clearly catering to tourists wanting a nighttime ride on Doha Bay. The temperature was just right and the night was so pleasant that we sat on the wall bordering Doha Bay for a long time, staring at the skyline and watching the tourist boats dock. We mused over the fact that we were in one of the richest countries in the world, but we were soon headed to one of the poorest. We exclaimed over the various colors of lights in the Doha skyline and hypothesized what each building could be. We watched an almost full moon rise over the Museum of Islamic Art, and we wished that we had more time to spend in Doha. Final Thoughts about DohaThe most common question that I get from people who learn that we went to Doha is "Did you feel weird walking around in your Western clothes?" The answer to that is no! While Qatar is situated in the Middle East, a very conservative part of the world, Doha is a super modern city and an emerging financial center in the world, so you see a mix of all different types of people and dress. We walked by men in long white tunics and traditional white and red head coverings, but we also walked by men in jeans and t-shirts. Some women covered just their hair with a hijab, some women wore a full black abaya, some women covered their whole body except their eyes. I dressed modestly in a long sleeved black shirt with a crew neck and loose fitting black hiking pants, and I never once felt uncomfortable with what I was wearing. I also wore a scarf around my neck because I wasn't sure exactly where we would go and wanted to be ready in case a head covering was required.
Once we returned to the airport at about 10:30pm, I looked up information about Doha on wikitravel and found this tidbit about the free city tour offered by Qatar Airways: "Also note that the this tour is fast paced with only one ~30 minute stop at the Souk and just quick 5-10 minute stops in other places to take pictures (ie no admission to the museum, etc)." Upon reading that, I definitely think that we got lucky by missing out on the tour. Rather than jumping from place to place to place and spending the majority of our time on a bus, we were able to focus on just a couple of places in the city and explore at our own pace. By taking taxis, we chatted with people who live and work in Doha, who were friendly and told us about their city. We spent about 2 hours wandering through the souk and stopped for amazing food. We were able to walk along Doha Bay and take in the skyline on a beautiful night. We decided when to return to the airport on our own time, when we were ready. A free tour like that seemed so appealing online because they take care of all visas, transportation, etc., but nothing about leaving the airport on our long layover was hard. From the visa process to getting a cab to deciding where to go, the whole excusion was easy to navigate on our own. I am SO GLAD that we left the airport to explore Doha! It is unbelievably easy to see at least part of the city on a long layover, and my only regret is that we didn't have more time! I am left dreaming about the delicious food we sampled at Souk Waqif and all the unseen places like the Museum of Islamic Art and the Pearl. I guess I will have to book another flight on Qatar Airways (and, lets be real, it's a really nice airline to fly) to get that long layover. Or maybe I'll just book a separate trip to do some in depth exploration of this intriguing area of the world! |
AuthorMy name is Alyssa Good and I have a passion for travel, adventure, culture, and new experiences! I focus on budget friendly travel, trip planning resources, and seeking out new experiences. Archives
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