Annapurna Base Camp (Y2014 Summer XP1)

BASIC INFORMATION

Trek: Y2014 Summer XP1

Date: 27 April - 9 May 2014

Location: Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal

Elevation: 4,130m

Duration: 7D6N

BRIEF ITINERARY

Day 1

Transport to Tribhuvan Airport

Overnight stay at Hotel Thamel

Day 2

Transport to Pokghara

Day 3

Transport to Kathmandu

Day 4

Start of Trek

Travelled from Nayapool to Ghandruk

Day 5

Travelled from Ghandruk-Chomrong-Sinuwa-Bamboo

Day 6

Travelled from Bamboo-Dovan-Deurali

Day 7

Travelled from Deurali to Machhapuchere Base Camp, went up to acclimatized and back down to MBC again

Day 8

Annapurna Base Camp

Day 9 - 12

RnR

Day 13

Transport back to SG

Nepal is undoubtedly one of the finest places a trekker can go to. To simply put it, it’s a Haven for trekkers. We were given the honorary privilege this summer when SMUX trekking team embarked on a trek to Annapurna Base Camp. With the help of our organizing committee, which includes Clinton, Leon, Leah, Xuejuan, and Nicholas, a team of 16 of us headed for an adventurous journey with much to learn and appreciate after our finals ended.

Day 1

We departed from Singapore for Kathmandu on 27th April at 1535 hrs. The travelled by Malaysia Airlines (777-800) and transited at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for about 3 hours. Looking back, the anxiety level was pretty high in recent light of the incident of the missing MH170. Thankfully, we landed safely at about 2245 hrs at Tribhuvan Airport and cleared the customs around 2315 hrs. I recalled oddly enough that the arrival form, under the gender option, of having Male, Female and Others. Dhruba, the managing director of Marvel Travels whom we liaise with for this trip as our vendor was there to pick us up. He told us to manage our baggage as there were locals at the airport who try to blend in to help us with our baggage to earn some tips from us. After placing our trek bags on the top of the bus, we departed for Hotel Thamel where we would spend the night. Weather there at night was about 20 degrees Celsius, pretty cooling.

Day 2

We woke up to the sunrise at the roof of Hotel Thamel the following morning. Jeanne had the honour of waking us up by knocking ‘gently’ on our doors. Breakfast came after where we had a good spread of a typical American buffet breakfast, just less variety. The yoghurt with oats and muesli tasted amazing. The plan for day 2 was free and easy, which we paid an additional USD$24.00 per person for a tour around Kathmandu. Everything was settled by Dhruba, and after breakfast while waiting for the bus to arrive to pick us up, some of us went to change USD to rupees and purchase a phone SIM card. The tour took us to a total of 3 tourist attractions-Swayambhuath, Patan Durbar Square, and Boudha Stupa. In between we stopped to have lunch at Café Du Temple, where we enjoyed a plate of western continental dish with lassi drink. The attractions gave us a sense of appreciation of the culture and history of Nepal, where it is predominantly a Buddhist and Hinduism country. We also learned that Kathmandu was surrounded by a main road called The Ring Road. We ended the day back at the Hotel where Dhruba kindly arrange a Birthday celebration for Ryan’s 22nd Birthday. It was a nice gesture from our host and there was nothing but sincere appreciation for that. We had dinner, which included fried kebab, at a nearby halal restaurant and some of us went to shop for trek equipment in Thamel. We packed and turned in for the night as we prepared to travel to Pokhara the next morning.

Day 3

Pokhara was a 7 hours bus ride from Kathmandu. We deposited our trolley baggage with Hotel Thamel. Travelling with us was Dhruba and the assistant guides and a few portals. They included Tenzing and Ganga. The road terrain is similar to those near Cameron Highlands, winding and bumpy at times. Weather was hot and humid too, about close to 39 degree Celsius as measured by Robert’s watch. Pollution was very bad and at times we had to close the window of the open-air bus as the dust was getting to us. We drove past Trisuli River, where we would be doing our white-water rafting after our trek. Midway we had lunch at a restaurant at Prithvi Highway. Most of us slept through the journey and we finally arrived at Pokhara around 1630 hrs. We stopped by a trek shop to collect our rented down jacket before checking in at hotel Third Pole. While waiting for everybody else to settle down after check-in, the rest of us whip out our phones for the hotel’s wifi. We went shopping after, with plenty of stuff to shop for. Trek bags, trek poles, hard-shell, track pants and souvenirs like postcards and T-shirts. Price range from 1000 to 4500 rupees. We realized after the trip, that Pokhara is a better place to shop than Kathmandu. Kathmandu have the more extreme ends stuff, while Pokhara has more of the middle range items. Had dinner at an Indian halal restaurant. On the way back to the hote

l, we bought water and certain comfort food like snicker bars and Coke as it is way cheaper than buying it on the mountains. Head back to Third Pole at 2130 hrs for debrief and we packed for our trek. We placed most of the unnecessary stuff in the trek bags and carried a day pack with essential items such as water, first aid equipment and personal particulars. We turned in for the night before we finally head for the Annapurna Mountains the next day.

Day 4

We woke up at about 0730 hrs and met up at 0800 hrs. The bus was ready to pick us up at that time. They placed most of the trek bags at the back of the bus seats. The portals sat along with the driver in the driver’s compartment. We said goodbye to Dhruba after he handed over to our main guide, Doichi. Dhruba took a flight back to Kathmandu for business via Buddha Airway. Our bus ride to the start of the trek was about 1 and a half hour. We arrived at Nayapool at about 1000. Took a group photo with Dhruba’s company Marvel Travels’ shirt and we changed and prepare to start our trek. The portals wrapped our 55L trek bags around some duffel bags which included our down jacket and sleeping bags. It looks damn heavy to us, probably hitting close to 20 KG per portal. They are just amazing, the way that they support the load with their head. They earned our respect and admiration. The weather was hot and humid, as we trek through a small town and into the rocky terrain at the foot of the mountains next to a river. The sun was scorching hot, and one hour into the trek we were all drenched in sweat and perspiration. We trekked past many paddy fields, cows and their dung. Along the way there were donkeys with a bell around their neck as well. The chiming sound they create while feeding on the fields echo across the greenery. It was a pleasant sound to hear. We hit our lunch area around 1300 hrs. There we had a huge variety of lunch with fried rice and ‘chaomein’, or better known as fried noodles. Prices for cold drinks such as a glass of coke or Fanta were at 170 rupees already, as compared to a mere 40 in Pokhara. Jonathan started to voice out, of having discomfort and diarrhea. He didn’t eat much for lunch. After lunch we headed to our destination, which is Ghandruk, a 3 hours trek away. However due to the earlier heat we all pretty much tired and went very slowly. Some of us were starting to get cramps due to the number of stairs there were. Jonathan’s condition started to deteriorate as well, and we knew it wasn’t good when he needed help with carrying of his bag, as he’s one of the fittest members of the team of 16. As we hit 1600 hrs, it started to rain, or so we thought. We suited up to our hard shells while Joel, Ryan and Elvin braved the light hail with their ponchos. We finally hit our Lodge at about 1830 hrs when the rain/hail started to get very heavy. Everyone went to get dry and stay warm. Jonathan went straight to rest and Nicholas went over to monitor him. Everyone was glad when dinner was served with warm food and hot tea as we were all exhausted from the first day of trek. As nightfall hits, Jonathan’s condition got worse with fever and diarrhea despite having taken some medication, we decided that he needed to be evacuated. Nicholas and Doichi called up the insurance company and had little sleep that night. The portals gave us back our trek bags, which they do so every night, and we repack to make our day packs lighter. We turned in for the day slightly crestfallen due to the fatigue and anxiety for one of our team members.

Altitude: 1500m to about 1900m

Temperature: 18-22 degree Celsius

Travelled from Nayapool to Ghandruk.

Day 5

We woke up to see the mountains in the early dawn. The skies were cleared after yesterday’s rainfall. It was our first sight of the snow-capped mountains and we instantly fell in love with it. It was a sight to behold. As we packed up once again and have breakfast which consists of muesli and oats and hot tea, we learned of the news that Jonathan will be heli-evacuated out along with our team manager Nicholas who will be accompanying him. Doichi stayed behind to settle that and will catch up with us. So the 14 of us bid farewell and continue to press on. We started around 0830 hrs, and it was going to be a long day today as we needed to hit chomrong and then bamboo, a total of about 6-7 hours trek. We met a few people on the way up, like an Israeli who just finished army and was trekking alone. Met 3 Korean dudes who had badminton rackets as well, unsure how that works. The terrain was not as bad as the first day, even though it was up and down, but the altitude gain was not that bad, hovering at about 2100 to 2300m above sea level. We crossed a river and saw the mountains hiding behind the one we saw ahead of us at the river. “That’s where we need to go” said Ganga, our assistant guide. We reached Chomrong around 1200 hrs and continued to Sinuwa for lunch. Weather was kind to us and it got a lot more cooler as we headed up, even though the sun is out and shining brightly. After lunch at Sinuwa, we broke into 2 groups, whereby the faster ones will go ahead to hit Bamboo lodges first, while the rest of us will take it slow at our own pace due to fatigue and cramps. It started to rain a little while after, and we suited up with our hard shells again. As we trek along, the snow-capped mountains appeared permanently, and that motivated us up and we were so excited with the sight of it. It’s like seeing a wandering stranger you had an eye on in school, and you finally have the chance to get to know her/him, because she/he will not disappear from your sight in time to come, well at least not in the next few days. It was just spectacularly beautiful. Plus the chilly weather and wind add on to the shivers you already have from the sight of the snow-capped mountains. We reached Bamboo around 1630 hrs, and our spirit was lifted as we managed to hit our destination with much time to rest. The lodges were much better also as compared to Ghandruk. Rain started to pour heavily as well and thankfully we were all under shelter already by then. There was also hot shower for 150 rupees per person, which 12 of us gladly paid for. The shower power was very weak and the hot water was heated by fire at the side, so we had to keep turning it on and off to keep it at an appropriate temperature. Not too hot or cold. It was about 35-40 degree Celsius. So when you turn off the shower your body will literally start to steam with water vapour condensing around you. It was too damn cold as well. Dinner was served with hot tea as well, and Ryan started to introduce Coup to us, a game which we all have to lie to one another to win. Ironically, through that game we got to know one another better and earned some trust through a game of lies. We turned in for what seemed to be a more joyful day.

Altitude: 2100m to 2350m

Temperature: 13-15 degree Celsius

Travelled from Ghandruk-Chomrong-Sinuwa-Bamboo

Day 6

Day 6 started with a refreshing cold water wash up with natural stream water, next to our lodge and the portals’ hut, where they cozy up the night before. We had pancakes and eggs for breakfast, along with our favourite hot tea. As usual some of us were late, due to the packing of essential items and the repacking of trek bags. It was getting colder as we go higher up, so heat packs were a good help, thanks to Wei Bin who purchased it for us. Our main destination today was to hit Deurali. From Bamboo up to Dovan, the terrain shifted to more rocking boulders and less forestry. We started to walk in between the valleys of the mountains and entered the territory of the snow-capped mountains. They were just right next to us as we trekked. More waterfall and river site can be seen. The gushing of the water and glaciers become prominent as well from far. We hit Dovan at about 1130 hrs, and lunch at Himalayan which is about 1 hr away from Dovan. Passed Dovan, there cannot be any fresh meat around. For lunch we each had instant ramen, and also was treated to potatoes and pepperonis. There was cheese also, the ones that are hard and stored in the open. And the Nepali humjipeng version- Puri. It was a sumptuous meal and just looking up from the mini town, was a giant snow-capped mountain, almost as if you could reach out and grab it. After lunch we continued our trek to Deurali which took about 2 hours. Arrived there around 1600 hrs. We stayed in a lodge called ‘The Dream Lodge’ and had the company of 3 dogs with us. We ended up cozying up in the dining area. Leah had unglam shots of her dozing off taken, while Gabriel looked like Yoo Jae Suk from running man after wearing specs and his beanie. We manage to convince a group of Korean children who were staying in the lodge higher up and had a good laugh about it. Dinner was served with Dal curry and rice, along with Pizza and hot tea. Our spirits were a lot better, though Ryan started to feel a bit of headache and had block nose. He took 2 panadols and had a nasal spray. Felt much better after that. We ended the day doing star-gazing, and manage to capture a galaxy on camera thanks to the wisdom of Joel. Doichi was kind enough to negotiate with the Lodge owners and allow us to charge our camera batteries for free.

Altitude: 2350m to 3100m

Temperature: 8-10 degree Celsius

Travelled from Bamboo-Dovan-Deurali

Day 7

We woke up in good spirits, looking towards the snowcapped mountains for motivation. The sunlight reflected upon the snow covered mountains, a dreamy sight that one can only possibly imagine. We had a good breakfast in the dining area which included pancakes and oatmeal, before we set off for machhapuchere base camp. We slowly made our ascent up, coming across a beautiful river with nicely path out floodplains for us to walk by the side. From there we were just mesmerized by the sight. It just gets better as we go higher. Stopped by a rock to take selfies and photos. By about 1100 hrs, we could see machhapuhere base camp’s first lodges. We continued until we reached fishtail lodge, where the lodge looked like a mansion on top of a hill from far. We were now at 3700m in altitude height, and some of us could feel the throbbing headache coming, a sign that AMS was hitting us. Doichi communicated with the lodge owner and they made us tea. He told us not to sleep as much as possible because that would result in us being more susceptible to AMS. Ryan’s headache was getting quite bad. Gave him Panadol again and we had lunch after. After lunch we placed our stuff, including our daypacks in the rooms. We set out to acclimatize for the following day’s ascent to ABC. Doichi said we will feel better after the acclimatization trek up and coming back down. We started to hit glaciers and trekked on them, at times it was super slippery, plus AMS symptoms were increasingly present in most of us But thankfully we didn’t had too much weight on us, so that helped a lot. Hit the midway point of the climb to ABC, and we stopped to take photos of the scenery. Surrounding us were just mountains, with the nearest exit all the way down by the side. We took turns to take photos on a rock. Some of us took the opportunity to pee off the mountain, hence achievement unlocked. As we made our ascent down we started playing with snow/ice and had a snowball fight. Perhaps getting a high from seeing all the snow, we slid down using the trek poles as if we were skiing, and walked like penguins for a video shoot by our very own expert Joel Khoo. We headed back after and reached back fishtail lodge around 1630 hrs. Leon had a massive headache after due to the fact that he descended too fast. But after he ordered a ramen, he felt a lot better. The rest of the afternoon we kept ourselves busy by playing bridge and coup, while we were also entertained by Elvin’s fortune telling using poker cards. Nightfall came after dinner, and it was very chilly and windy. We gladly hit the bed at about 2100 as we were all exhausted, also having to wake up at 0400 hrs the next day for our ascent to ABC to catch the sunrise.

Altitude: 3100m to 3750m ; Temperature: 5-8 degree Celsius with strong wind

Travelled from Deurali to Machhapuchere Base Camp, went up to acclimatized and back down to MBC again

Day 8

We woke up at 0400 hrs, cold and dark outside. Went up to wash up and ate some comfort food we brought from home. Prepared our headlamps and headed out to the ice cold glaciers. Everybody stick closed as it was dark and we didn’t want to lose anybody. As the sun rose, around 0500 hrs, it lit up the entire mountain range, showing us the pathway to our heavenly snowy destination. It got a lot warmer and we took off our down-jackets after a while. As we headed past the midway point, we could see ABC’s lodges from far. The gradient lessen and we were trekking on top of a frozen river running beneath us. Ryan’s AMS got pretty severe but he pressed on slowly. Jeanne also had quite a headache, and Xuejuan helped to carry her bag. We went up slowly, and eventually hit the sign board that says “Welcome to Annapurna Base Camp”. Clinton slipped on the ice the moment he reached there. Most of us couldn’t help but smile as the sun shone at our faces, where it was just hovering on top of the snowcapped mountains. We continued up and went pass the lodges till we reached the summit of ABC, where all the memorials were built in memory of lost trekkers or those who passed on. There we stayed for 45 minutes and took photos and selfies of us (which is most of our facebook’s profile and cover picture) with the scenic mountain range, and even made a coke commercial with the coke we brought up all the way from pokhara. Ryan didn’t manage to enjoy the view as his AMS was very bad. Tenzing went down with him first after that to reduce the pain in the headache. The best treatment for AMS is to descend as much as possible. After the summit high, we said goodbye to the beautiful place, feeling fulfilled and pleased, and made our sad descend back to MBC where we had breakfast around 0900 hrs. Most of us just couldn’t believe what we just saw and were actually part of it. After breakfast it was just focusing on making back to bamboo by the end of today. Along the descend we came across a helipad that we missed, and every time we turned back, all we see is the disappearing sight of the snowcapped mountains. We reached Himalayan for lunch around 1300hrs, before heading back to bamboo. We were a lot faster going down, and manage to cover about 1.5 times faster than going up at times. So we reached bamboo around 1700 hrs. Thankfully weather was kind to us, as 1 hour later, a hailstorm hit us. Xijie was showering when it hailed down heavily. He got out fast enough as it got heavier and flooded the area. Some of our clothes and towels flew off the cloth lining, as the wind was super strong. Loking back, it was really a blessing as the next 2 days, it was snowing and hailing heavily at ABC. We had a hearty meal and dinner and everybody was in good spirits. We ended the day, fulfilled and satisfied.

Day 9

We said goodbye to bamboo, the place where everything started to went well for us, and headed to jhinudanda, where a hot spring was waiting for us. We had to stop by chomrong first as that’s the only way back before we could head off to an alternate pathway. That meant going up and down the steps and stairs we covered earlier on. We were all tired and our legs were giving way for some due to the fatigue level. After all, it was day 6 into the trek. We hit Chomrong around 1300 hrs. We stopped for lunch and that was the first time we watched television in the Annapurna region. It was showing EPL highlights which the guys got excited over, as it was close to the season’s end. As we ended lunch, we were entertained by 2 dogs that were chasing and fighting playfully with each other. Then we headed off to Jhinudanda where we will be meeting Nicholas, who will be joining us after sending Jonathan off the previous day in Kathmandu, where he flew back to Singapore. The trail to Jhinudanda was just going down all the way, steep decline by stairs and we could literally see the place just by looking down from 400 metres above the place. No more snowcapped mountains though sadly. We met Nicholas shortly we arrived, around 1500 hrs. We checked into Hotel Namaste, where it was the prettiest hotel we have seen so far in the Annapurna range. Thereafter, we took a 15 minutes’ walk to the hot spring. The hot spring had 4 pools whereby they are located next to a gushing river. Stones were pretty sharp there. We rinsed our body in hot running water and submerge ourselves after. The place was still pretty cold and the warm water helped a lot. It was also the first time we had a good shower since the trek started. There was also a small hut for people to change. By 1700 hrs, all of us headed back to Hotel Namaste, where we crashed for the last night of the trek, before making our descend back to civilization the next day.

Day 10

We left Hotel Namaste around 0830 hrs, and descend down, towards Nayapool where we first started the trek. Weather was starting to get warmer, and along the way we came across someone who wasn’t feeling well, and needed to be carried down by a donkey. We hit our very first lunch area around 1230 hrs, where we had both our first and last meal of the trek. Quite a nice way to end the trek, with a sentimental start and end place. Weather by now was super-hot, just like the very first day. The terrain was just sandy roads, winding around and the sun was just blazing hot. We finally reached Nayapool at 1500 hrs. Some of us were just gone by then, tired out and joints giving way. But the realization that we completed the trek was accompanied by mixed emotions and feelings, unsure if we were happy or sad, or both. We left for pokhara where we re-checked in at Third Pole Hotel. Said goodbye and tip our portals. Had a group photo with them. Then we went shopping, some went for massage to get rid of the aches, and had a good dinner at a restaurant called Chilly nearby, where steak was only about USD 6.00. We did our last minute shopping, and regretted not getting more as pokhara was a much better place to get stuff than Kathmandu.

Day 11

We bid farewell to Nicholas, Joel, Xuejuan, Elvin and Gabriel, all whom will be heading back to Kathmandu while the rest of us will be going for white-water rafting at trisuli river. Along the way back to Kathmandu, which is the same route to trisuli river, we passed by their blue sky travel bus and saw Joel and Xuejuan looking out of their window seats. Didn’t managed to say hi though. We stopped by the road at one of the white-water rafting stores, where our guide Kemal was there to greet us. He brought us down to the river, which runs along the road and we boarded the 10-man raft with our life-jackets and helmets on. We were split into 2 rafts, 5 each. The rafting experience was a fun-filled one as we let go of every emotion we had and were just carefree about things. Chandan had the most memorable time, as he got trolled by his paddle. While trying to reach out to grab his paddle he just fell over. The rapids were fun and every single time we hit one, cold water just rushed into our raft and we got soaked. They had names too, like one was called monsoon. At some point we could also swim in the river as certain parts of it was safe to do so. We tried swimming up the current but only Xijie was strong enough to do so. We had lunch midway through the river at our campside. We stopped and parked our raft by the river and continued on after lunch, down the river. We stopped around 1530 hrs and pulled our raft up. Then we had to carry it on our heads to bring it up to the roadside stores. There Doichi was waiting for us as we drove back to the campside where we had lunch. Tents were set up for us already and we washed up. The camp side was called ‘real-stone beach camp’. There we had the company of a cute puppy. We had spaghetti, boiled vegetables and fried chicken for dinner. We left our stuff out to dry on the rocks and it started raining soon before dinner. We just rushed out to quickly place everything in our tents. It was nice to camp beside the river and it somehow had the Hawaii-feel. We ended the night to westlife and a campfire, accompanied by Everest beer and Nepali beer.

Day 12

We drove back up further to the start point, and started on our second day of rafting. We continue our mischief of yesterday, like tackling the other raft’s people down and pulling them down the raft, into the river. We traced back to the same place where we started, where along the way we came across an overlapping river. The currents were so strong along the rapids and our guides handled our rafts really well, even though he made us crash into some rocks and got us stuck for a while. We ended around 1130 hrs, and went back to Real-stone beach camp to wash up before heading back to Kathmandu. We were so tired by then. We had lunch along the way, and reached Kathmandu around 1700 hrs. We went off to continue our shopping before having dinner at a bar/restaurant called KC. The thing about Kathmandu shopping for trekking items is that they have legit real equipment, like black diamond equipment, that cost up to 10000 rupees, which is about USD 100.00. We only had budget for about 2000-3000 rupees. We ended the night on top of Hotel Thamel’s rooftop where we played cards and coup till late into the night.

Day 13

We woke up around 0800 hrs and we checked out of Hotel Thamel at 0900 hrs. Doichi was there to send us off at the airport with a white scarf for every one of us. Our flight was at 1235 and we said goodbye to Doichi, some of us hugging him and thanking him for all that he has done for us. As our plane took off and flew across the Himalayan region, the snowcapped mountains reflected upon the sunlight, and we bid farewell to what was a memorable and enjoyable summer trek 2014.