Thorung La - One of the World's Highest Passes

The nights became colder much faster than the days. We all plied under dusty, dirty blankets at night. Jaume had a thin, summer sleeping bag and scavenged whatever he could find to stay warm.When we hiked during the days, it was rarely as a group. Tress would race ahead, twice my stride. I'd be following him, then Emily, then 'Los Abuelos' or the grandfathers shuffled up the mountain slowly behind us.

On Day 8, we were headed to sleep at Thorung Pedi at 4500m. Thorong describes the pass that we were headed over. Pedi is the name given to any camp at the foot of a long walk.

Video from this time: Around 4500m

I passed by two older Canadian men who likely were true abuelos and their 2 porters. I stopped for a water break a bit later and when they came by, we started to talk. After a bit, one man turned to me and asked if I had ever hiked at high elevation before, which I had not. He told me to slow down and take it easy. Above 4000m he says everything, walking, eating, putting on clothes, should be slow. I never fully believed this advice until I watched the porters. The moved so methodically with one little step after another and would break whenever they could.

We reached Thorung Pedi one-by-one in the early afternoon. Emily had gotten food sickness the night before, likely from the Dal Baht we both ordered. She had a miserable night and her and Paul didn't leave camp until noon. It is a very rough experience being uncontrollably sick in such a foreign and bitterly cold place. While sick Emily seriously considered changing her flight plans home and how long she would keep traveling for. She's a tough Kiwi though and was feeling much better 24 hours later.

We were all ready for one more cold night and a big day over the pass. The lodges at Thorong Pedi were strictly businesses with no village life around. They were more expensive and less enjoyable than lodges farther down. We were simply perched at a chosen location on the rock slope.

After good health the entire trip, a splitting headache hit me in the afternoon. This led into food poisoning throughout the night. Thorung Pedi is a tough place to be sick. You are trapped with the very large pass day looming overhead. The cost of everything was high, I spent $9 trying to keep down a sprite and crackers. It was very cold outside the dining room and the bathrooms were dirty and had no running water.

I knew the entire group was ready to go, but I was not willing after my nightlong sickness. The entire group quickly decided to stay the day and wait with me at Thorung Pedi. I remember smiling, sick in my bed, thinking what a good group of people had come together. It was a  very long rest day at Thorung Pedi, we played cards and tried to avoid almost everything on the menu. We warned anyone who would listen not to get the Veg burger, which I blamed for getting me sick.

The next morning we started walking at 7:00 a.m. The pass day requires you to climb around 1000m to the pass at 5416m. There are many false summits along the way, extending the apparent length of the long walk up. Especially over 5000m, the pace slows dramatically and constant breaks are needed. There are many consolations though. You break to look at beautiful views, everyone around you is in the same breathless state and you know that the reward is coming soon.

 The Panorama Video

The slow ascent right up to Thorung La was liking walking on clouds for me. I recognized it from photos and immediately gained the energy to walk steadily towards it. It was plastered with prayer flags and I was amazed to see a small stone teahouse standing beside it. After we had all arrived and taken pictures, I did not want to stay long and started the long descent down.

The next morning we saw clouds move in behind us. In fact, the next few days were very cloudly. Though I don't know for sure, we all suspected snow had come in behind us. When snow does come in, it blocks Thorung La for days and around December closes the pass for the winter. The pass had been very climatic for all of us. So we celebrated, drank and had incredible hot showers a mountain pass away from where we had been the night before

Above 3000m

The middle mountains had a strong look like Canadian forest. There were pine trees engulfing the trail and the familiar look and feel of walking over brown pine needles on the ground. If it were not for the Nepali people and villages, I would often forget where we were. A few times we saw groups of school kids moving along the trails. They had big smiles, wide eyes and tried out whatever English they could muster. Every lodge we had stayed in so far was empty, save for the 5 of us. On the trails during the day we rarely saw any other people. Those we did see we saw repeatably, like a game of mountain leapfrog.

Our group had expanded to 5 now. There was a Canadian from Calgary named Tress. Tress was long and lanky. This was accentuated by the weight he had lost travelling 4 months through Southeast Asia. Though Canadian humour is universally hilarious, it was nice to have another Canuck to joke around with.

While hiking up switchbacks on the morning of Day 3, we noticed some porters taking an alternate, more direct route. We decided the switchbacks were for suckers and followed the porters straight up. I felt alright on this new trail but for some it was a scary mistake. A solo Spaniard saw Paul, the last in our group and gave him a 'Should I follow?' thumb up. Paul responded with a big smile and a even bigger thumbs up. When we all arrived at the top, panting 'Never again...' the Spaniard looked at us all shaking his head. He spit out, 'That was not the recommended route' . This is how Jaume from Barcelona joined our group.

It was not until we started moving above 3000m that the elevation started to become apparent. When exercising, it felt like you were gasping for oxygen and never receiving quite enough. The nights became much colder and the landscape became more barren as well. Some in our group had mild headaches and trouble sleeping, which are mild signs of AMS.

While all this was foreboding of what would come higher up, the scenery was quickly becoming breathtaking. After a tough stretch of switchbacks, we climbed out of the valley to 3800m. Across the valley was a view of several Annapurna peaks. For $1.50 each we shared a room and a cold night, with a perfect panorama of the mountains across the valley.

Moving Through the Lush Lowlands

After 6 hours on the local bus, we moved up to the roof to get a better view. The entire journey, like most bus rides I've taken in Nepal, closely followed a river. There were 2 large dam projects along way creating lakes along the otherwise light-blue water cascading river.

As we started to move through villages, we were often stopped by roadblocks made by children. They would hold a string or banner across the road and request some small payment to let the buses through. It was part of a the Hindu festival named Diwali and very cute, though repetitive, to see. Some children would boldly stand in the way of the bus. Often the groups were organized, with clear blockers and leaders who would come ask the bus drivers for money. The disorganized groups rarely got paid as we slowly rolled on through.

The adolescent roadblocks continued as we started to walk, with 2 children holding a open blanket with small bills in it. As we started our trek at 800m, we were walking along a rapid, light blue river and quickly ran out of all our small change.

One of the most redeeming parts of the Annapurna Circuit trek is walking through changing ecosystems as you climb upwards. As we started it was tropical, with lush plants, rice paddies and hot weather in the sun. It seems unlikely you are walking into the Himalyas until you rise briefly out of a valley and can see the high peaks off in the distance.

When we stopped for our first lunch, several porters stopped to rest close to us before continuing at a slow steady pace uphill. I realized quickly that all the food we ordered came directly from the fields around us. If I ordered vegetable momo's, a steamed dumpling, it was easy to see the lodge owner walk to the field and cut plants for the ingredients. If you ordered a 50 cent glass bottle coke, there is no doubt it was carried up on a porters back.

These tea houses were my favourite on the entire trek. Run out of people's houses and fields, the prices were low and the people are very welcoming and friendly. Elevation was not an issue yet and the nights were warm. But we came to walk through the high mountains, where the weather and environment are more harsh and less hospitable.

Preparing to Trek the Annapurna Circuit

Local Bus on the way to Annapurna Himilayas. Best seats are on the roof

 It is always funny what you imagine in anticipation of a new experience. I've realized that this fantasizing is what leads me to most new places that I go.

I had thought of Annapurna, a 55 km stretch of mountains almost as soon as I thought of trekking in the Himalayas. The largest mountain is Annapurna I, standing at 8091m and the 10^th highest peak in the world. The main draws for me were the long length of the trek and the accessibility of tea house lodges along the way. The teahouse are small lodges and means you don't need carry weeks worth of food and other gear. They are a major source of income for the small mountain villages along the circuit. Annapurna is one of the most popular treks in Nepal but this was reassuring for an independent trekker like myself.

I started posting on a traveller's billboard in Kathmandu and searched online to find someone to trek with. While I waited in the city, I started to wander and explore. The air in Kathmandu is thick with pollution and dust. Like many people here, I walked with a cover over my mouth and nose while walking and dodging the traffic.

After a few hours of wandering, I realized I was close to the trekking permit office. Here all aspiring trekkers must to register with the Trekker's Information Management System (TIMS) and for the Annapurna Conservation Area. When I went into the crowded office, I was approached by a young French guy named Paul and a girl from New Zealand named Emily.

Paul, Emily and I decided within a minute to do the trek together. This was the start of group of 5 different people from 4 different countries that would travel inseparably the next three weeks.

Bus Stop in Kathmandu

The next day we rushed around the city to buy knockoff trekking gear. My biggest purchases were a $30 down jacket which has since started to fall apart and a set of gloves and trekking poles I've sold to another trekker.

Emily and I went out to the city bus station and found that all signs were written in Nepali. Nepali looks to me like Hindi and is completely indecipherable. A middle aged local man named Khil stopped to help us and facilitated the whole process. Emily and I were guarded around Khil, expecting him to ask for money in the end. Once everything was done, he only wished us good luck as we left. We were elated at what a nice encounter it had been. We decided to eat something quickly at the bus station (foreshadowing....) and found Khil eating at one of the stalls.

I was determined to buy him lunch so we stopped and ate bhaji with other fried food. Khil was a soldier for the UN and had served in the DRC and told us stories about fishing in Lake Victoria. He wanted us to come visit him, his wife and son when we came back. It was a very relaxed, unique conversation. I tried to pay when it was time, but he insisted on buying our meals and said when we are in Canada I can pay for the food.

We left the bus station feeling full, satisfied and happy to be surrounded by Nepali people. Emily would get terrible food poisoning from the food later in the evening. 

In anticipation of Annapurna I imagined an uphill hike in sunny weather. I picture big valleys, little villages and snow-capped mountains. What I couldn't imagine was the huge range of landscape covered. We would hike from tropical forests to far above the tree-line and most of the way back down again. In one day, we would hike a vertical 1 km up to 5416m and destroy our knees on 1.6 vertical km right back down. It was truely a trek where everything would change day to day.

Arrival in Traveler's District, Kathmandu

I'm sitting in Thamel, the main travellers district in Kathmandu, trying to determine the best way to spend a month or two in Nepal. It has been painless and non-intimidating travel so far. By any indication, the Nepali people seem very welcoming and friendly. This is despite an amazing affluence gap between travellers and locals (around 80% of Nepalis live on under $2 per day). I have a lot to see, but that is my impression so far.

I met with the owner of Ultimate Descents, Mal Ale last evening in order to talk about paddling here. He was a very welcoming, stout man with short white hair. We started talking about our shared acquaintance, Lee Chantrell, who worked in Nepal for 10 seasons and now lives in the Madawaska valley. Mal described to me, with a downturned face, that rafting here was not what it once was. It has been a general decline that as I understand been an international trend. It is hard to imagine here where walking through the tourist area, you'll see no less than 20 organizations offering rafting and kayaking trips.

Mal offered that I could come kayak on a Bhote Kosi trip when an American school would come rafting. The Bhote Kosi is 4 day trip with a lot of consistent class 4 paddling. The trip is not for 2 weeks and we agreed to stay in touch. I would like most to go on 8-10 day trip on the Sun Kosi or Karnali rivers and may need to pay my own way in the end.

The other option is to head to the Annapurna region and start a trek. The treks vary from 4-30 days around, over and into the bowl of the Annapurna mountain range. I first need to find a trekking partner. There are posting boards around town (it feels a bit like a dating board) and I am surrounded by gringos in this restaurant, so I don't imagine it will be a problem. 

For the next few days, I will balance the excitement of planning trips with the jet-lag and frustrations that accompany coming to such a new area. I notice the desire to chat up everyone around me grows and grows.