Annapurna Base Camp (Y2018 Winter Trek)

Basic Information

Location: Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal

Elevation: 4130m

Length of Trek: 5D4N

Surrounded by the majestic mountains, greeted with serene atmosphere every morning and sometimes freezing temperatures that brought us all the more, closer. The whole experience has truly been unreal to all of us, scaling one of the 10th tallest mountains in the world together and meeting people from all over the world.

Day 1

We departed for Kathmandu from Singapore on 10 December 2018. We split into 2 groups with one group taking Air India departing at 0820 with a transit at New Delhi and the other group taking Thai Airways that departed at 0815 with a transit at Bangkok. The first impression of Nepal we had when we arrived at the airport surprised us. The airport was not your typical metal, glass infrastructure but instead made of bricks, looking like one big house altogether. We were warmly greeted by the lead guide for our trek, Sudip from Mountain World Treks & Expeditions, who personally gave us each a marigold garland that holds a great significance in their Hindu culture. After both groups have safely arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport, we then began our bumpy ride of 8 hours in total to dinner and to Grand Holiday Hotel in Pokhara where we would rest for the night.

Day 2 - The Start of our Journey

We woke up at 0630 for breakfast in Grand Holiday Hotel followed by a drive from Pokhara to Nayapul-Sewai. The ride was extremely bumpy, with pretty sharp turns as the landscape changed from the town to mountainous region where there were many potholes and uneven, dusty roads. Despite the rocky ride, many of us managed to sleep on the bus. Arriving at Nayapul-Sewai, we began our trek to lunch. It was pretty warm and we removed our layers mostly during lunch, with most of us putting on the shirt provided by Mountain World Treks & Expeditions. Our lunch at the halfway teahouse consisted of fried rice and spaghetti which tasted pretty good. We continued our trek to Chomrong where we expected to spend the night. The journey started out pretty smoothly with the occasional glimpses of the mountains along the way was a first for many of us was really amazing, an indescribable majestic beauty. We crossed 2 suspension bridges, the longer one which extended 278m, about 400m above ground. The following trek up the mountain was really draining and tiring for some of us, we were just going up and up that felt like no end. If there was any advice I would give, it would be not to underestimate the difficulty of climbing up stairs. We took much longer than expected to reach and nightfall had come before we reached the teahouse in Chomrong. We eventually all reached safely and breathless at 1930. Dinner provided included pizza that was light and fluffy, rice with curry and ginger tea. We prepared to sleep almost right after dinner since it was too cold to do anything outside the rooms, with the absence of heaters.

Day 3 - Unexpected Cold

We woke up early enough to catch the sunrise. We packed our things and had breakfast provided by the teahouse. The breakfast we had was pretty similar to what we had previously. The views from this teahouse was absolutely stunning being situated at the peak of the mountain we were on, which overlooked the valley below and the peaks of the nearby mountain ranges. Together we set off at 0730. Being told that the climb on the first day of the trek was a ‘gradual up and down’, which did not turn out to be so, we were wary of how today’s trek would go. In the end, this trek was much better than the first day, with generally gentle upslopes and downhills. The ground was more muddy, as we walked through mini stream and crossed quite a few bridges either made from tree trunks or iron metal. The temperature was slightly cooler today. We wore at least 2 layers of clothing after lunch. We were extremely hungry and some of us ate up to five plates of rice! Lunch included fried rice and some spaghetti, served with Hot Lemon Tea. The further we trekked, we also began to see the ‘first signs’ of winter, ice was starting to form along the path. It was pretty exciting for most of us as it will be the first time we will be seeing snow. The path also had many small rocks or pebbles that made us feel like we were walking on reflexology paths. The last of us reached the teahouse where we would spend the night in Himalaya just slightly after dark. The temperature in Himalaya was much colder at - 4-degree Celsius. We were shivering sitting at the dining hall, waiting for dinner to be served. Unfortunately some of us were feeling nauseous that night, with some experiencing food poisoning. It was a tough night, those that were in good health took care of those experiencing discomfort while those who felt unwell, pulled through the night in the unusually cold temperatures.

Day 4

This day was one of the most difficult. Some of us felt nausea and suffered from Altitude Sickness and were unable to continue with the trek up to ABC so they unfortunately had to stay back while the rest of us departed on our hike to the summit. Though we saw some beautiful frozen waterfalls and lakes along the way, the hike was quite tough as there were multiple upslopes and the air was getting thinner, but we managed to push through to our lunch place. Lunch was piping hot fried rice which tasted amazing in the cold and while we were eating, it had started snowing. For many of us, it was our first experience with snow and trekking in heavy snowfall was truly an experience. We headed towards MBC after lunch, trekking in -8 degrees weather during a heavy snowfall. The mountains around us turned white and paths started being covered with snow. Some of us were so fascinated with the snow that we actually laid down to make snow angels amidst our trek! The trek up to MBC had us all tired and panting for air and when we finally arrived at MBC, a huge sigh of relief was heard amongst us. However, the heavy snowfall had soaked through some of our outerwear and left us shivering in the dining hall at -14 degrees weather. We were so glad when dinner, Maggi Mee noodles, finally came, and we all wolfed it down in seconds before heading to sleep that night.

Day 5

Today we woke up with the aim of hiking up to ABC as we didn’t manage to do it yesterday due to the snow. The hike up from MBC to ABC was an exhausting but beautiful one. The snowfall from yesterday had turned everything, from the mountains to the trekking paths, white. It was a gradual upslope trek in the light and fluffy snow, which sparkled under sunlight, leaving many of us fascinated by it. We took slow steps and time to look around our surroundings, taking in the majestic views of the mountain range as we trekked up to ABC. It took us about 2 hours to reach ABC and the emotions we felt as we reached the summit was an overwhelming mix of pride, relief and joy to finally have known we made it after 4 tiring days of trek. We spent about 30 minutes taking many photos at the base camp and learning the names and brief facts about other the other mountains within the same mountain range before departing down to MBC for lunch. The descend to MBC was a slippery one as the paths were all covered with snow, and there were times where we actually had to sit down and slide down certain paths. It was a new and exhilarating experience which also made our descent all the more fun. Our lunch consisted of the same Maggi Mee we had the day before but many of us still wolfed it down like hungry monsters. Then, we started our trek down towards Dovan where we spent the night. Our trek down was a lot easier compared to our trek up as it consisted of mainly going down the same stairs we climbed up the day before. However, it was slippery, wet and muddy as the sun had begun to melt the snow that covered the trails so many of us got our shoes and pants wet in the process down. But overall, the hike down towards Dovan was quicker and a lot less tiring compared to the days before.

Day 6 - Reunited

This is the day where the group that was unable to continue the trek and those that summited met again in Chomrong. There was a mad rush to go down before sunset since trekking in the dark was not easy. Instead of staying for one night in Chomrong, it was decided that the group would continue trekking past Chomrong to get on the bus and be on our way back to the hotel. We were so excited to be reunited with one another and to hear each others’ stories of what happened over the past 2 days. We chatted while literally raced down the side of the mountain, through the treacherous uphill (now downhill) path we had done a few days before. This time we took a shortcut back, that took us about 2 hours from Chomrong to the bus. There was this path we took that really shocked us. The path was covered by hundreds of sheep. The locals opened a gate for us to access the path, our guide Sudip led us, walking in front. We walked in a single file through the sheep that rushed to the gate, right beside us. It felt like there was no end to the number of sheep that brushed past us. Even though we knew they were not going to hurt us, it was still a pretty thrilling experience.

Day 7 - Free Day

We woke up for breakfast at about 0830, with a buffet for breakfast. We had a full day for R&R since we were down from the mountains a day earlier than planned. After breakfast, we first walked to the nearby Phewa Lake, in slippers - that relief and ease of putting on shoes in the morning. Sudip suggested that we could take a boat ride out on to the lake, which would last for about an hour, afterward we would walk around the area to explore. However, just at the moment we were all prepared to rent the boats, we saw many people doing paragliding across the lake. We inquired about the price of paragliding which was 70USD. Suddenly, many of us wanted to do paragliding instead of boating. The next thing we knew, we were on our way up another really bumpy ride with plenty of sharp turns up a small mountain. The mountains and rough car ride that we wanted to escape so badly from just the day before, who knew we would be back and doing it again. The top of the mountain overlooked Phewa Lake, it was an amazing sight, with many other paragliders in the sky. We were immediately pointed out to our pilots and led to put on our gear in preparation for the flight. Some of us did not want to do paragliding but also went up the mountain just to support us. It’s touching to see how we bonded over the difficulties we had in the mountains during the trek. One by one, we lifted off as we each caught a strong gust of wind. Personally, the experience was not scary at all, although I did feel pretty nervous just as we were about to do it. Instead, it felt strangely peaceful and free. The pilot guided us away from the take-off zone where many others circled around the area to increase their altitude. Here, we were soaring alongside eagles. Some below, above and right beside you, it was so breathtaking, being able to see the eagles up close at such a height. Some of us had the opportunity to experience acrobatic acts in the air, which the pilots have gone through training and are well certified to do so. On the other hand, due to the extremely short time we had to recover before embarking on paragliding, some of us suffered from motion sickness. One of us even projectile vomited in the air, oh the poor people below. The landing was unexpectedly soft and gentle. We took the car to the company and they provided us with the photos and videos taken by them in the air using a GoPro Hero 3. We had a late lunch, eating 150 momos shared between 13 of us. We then split up to explore the area, do some shopping and get more food.

Day 8 - Return to Kathmandu

It was pretty sad that we had to leave Hotel Orchid, they had hot water showers and a pretty spacious room. Most of us woke up late and we had to rush to board a bus on the main road. The bus was a public bus that we shared with other foreigners that were traveling to Kathmandu as well. Being exhausted from the activities the day before, we all slept throughout the 6-hour bus ride. Stopping at a rest stop to quickly grab lunch. Kathmandu is much more polluted, with pretty bad air pollution. But locals from both Kathmandu and Pokhara are very friendly and welcoming in general. We reached our hotel, Hotel Pilgrims in the evening about 1700 hours where we dropped off our baggage before heading out to shop and have a look around the area. Our guide, Sudip brought us to a mini-warehouse where they sold really cheap winter clothing, a thick winter jacket costs around SGD40. We had our absolutely delicious last dinner together right after, having burgers, chicken, just loads of meat compared to our vegetarian diet in the mountains. After our delightful dinner, we split up to explore the streets in the area around our hotel. We were all pleasantly surprised by the books we found in the bookstores. We did not expect there to be books from all over the world, and best of all, the books were sold at half price! Common items we bought on this trip included bracelets made from colourful polished stone and books. Shops here close around 2200 hours, the number of people on the streets also decrease significantly.

Day 9 - Experience BKK in 5 hours

For those of us who had a layover at Bangkok, we slept in and by the time we came down for breakfast, there were only eggs and a few sausages left. Still, the breakfast tastes pretty good. After packing, we boarded a minivan to the airport at 1100. We reached Suvarnabhumi AIrport in Bangkok at about 1800. Although we had plans to rush and do as many things as possible with our limited time here, we ended up taking our time to appreciate things such as the luxury of not-freezing cold water that we can wash our hands with and toilet seats. Upon clearing the customs, we then took the train from the airport to Ratchararop Station to visit the Pratunam Market. We had a feast of Thai food and Thai milk tea. WIth this bunch having 6 girls and 1 guy, we went crazy shopping at the market with snacks in between. We shopped till the shops started to close. Our legs were aching even more by then and we also finally got our long-awaited full body massage! The skills of the masseurs in the massage parlour we chose varied. Some of us experienced full out ‘cracking’ of bones while others had much lighter massages, although we did not request for any variation in the massage. Our massage ended at 0100 and we bargained for a taxi ride back to the airport. Our hobo life starts here, we found a row of seats that could fit the 7 of us and we made ourselves at home and slept. It was actually really uncomfortable, we kept waking up to change our sleeping positions because of the aching of our bodies.

Day 10

We were really tired from our almost sleepless night at Suvarnabhumi Airport, but we were all really excited to be finally going home to the comfort of our beds. We felt pretty reflective and thankful for the comfortable life we have in Singapore, and have grown to appreciate what we have back home. This trip is certainly a memorable one that has taught us many things along the way. As the plane departed from the airport we started to miss the times spent together and hardships we have been through, maybe even wishing we were there for a bit longer.