Hiking the Annapurna Base Camp trek in early winter

Aud
Aud
Jul 23, 2017 · 7 min read

Fewer tourists, cold like hell, but so worth it and very manageable for first-timers.

EIGHT solid days of hiking and a total of 12 days in Nepal over Christmas and the new year, 2017. Couldn’t have asked for a better place to be at. And this was my first proper mountain hike over many days. LOOK AT THOSE VIEWS!

At base camp, 4,100m

I’ve only ever done day hikes of two to six hours and this was my first multi-day hike on such a large scale and the highest I’ve ever been. It was hiking for four days to base camp and four days back down again.

BEFORE GOING
Expect it to be below freezing, especially when you’re going to an altitude of 4,100m and because it’s winter. At lower altitudes, during the first two days, day temperatures were about 15–18 degrees C and night dropped to single digits. At higher altitudes, the temperature during the day was around 5–10 deg while at night, the lowest was around -10. (these are all a very rough gauge).

I used this website to check the forecast there — http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Annapurna-Sanctuary/forecasts/4130

So prepare the appropriate winter gear. If not, buy some in Kathmandu. If the down they have is good for the locals, it is good enough to wear. Our guide said that gear in Pokhara is more expensive as it’s a more touristy town.

End December was a great time to go, apart from the fact that I had to make use of public holidays to conserve leave, but I would recommend the earlier part of December as it would be warmer and not too crowded as October or November.

Our guide posted photos with another group in end Jan and there was lots more snow.

BOOKING A GUIDE

I booked my guide and porter with Nepal High Trek. At USD750 for two people, it was a steal. Not sure if prices will still be the same this year but he said other companies charge around USD1,400!

For the price I paid, everything was included except flights. Airport transfer, accommodation for 1 night in Kathmandu, bus to Pokhara, accommodation in the lodges along the trek and all three meals, 1 last night in Pokhara and Kathmandu. And TOILET PAPER. Most important thing out there.

This doesn’t include tips for our guide and porter of course. And our porter was so amazing throughout the trip, a friendly jovial guy hefting our combined backpacks of around 25kg!

TRAINING
Do not neglect, especially if you are a complete noob like me. I kind of regretted not climbing the 40-storey apartment blocks more. I only had three sessions of climbing 4 to 5 of these blocks. But I was in the gym 2–3 times a week one month before the trip doing squats, dead lifts and high intensity cardio sessions to just get my fitness up.

I think stair climbing with a 5 to 7kg load two to three times a week would be really good training.

BUT, my friend whom I went with, is substantially older than me, did not do as much training and was always in front of me most of the time during the trek. LOL. But she does lots of walking like everyday and has climbed more mountains than me, so she’s an old hand at it.

The trek is very doable because it does not have extremely steep portions or require technical climbing. I needed two trekking poles but my sure-footed friend managed fabulously with one pole which she did not even use most of the time.

All you need is the tenacity to keep. climbing. those. damn. stairs.

But only for the second day. And seventh. To and fro from Chomrong.

But anyway.. The trek takes you through terraces, over bridges, past rivers, through forest, over rocks, past various guest houses and with stunning views every step of the way.

Comparing ABC to EBC (Everest Base Camp), which my friend has been on, she said ABC is way more beautiful. It has more stairs than EBC but the views more than make up for the climbing.

Each day, you wake up, have breakfast and set off at around 7.30am or 8am, trek for about 2–2.5 hours, break for tea, trek for about 2 more hours, break for lunch at around 12–12.30pm, and continue for around 2–3 more hours, with a tea break in between if needed, before reaching the next guest house at 4–5pm.

Dinner is at your own time, usually at 7pm, so there is time to clean up and by the time we were done eating, we were more than eager to hit the sack.

Along the way, we met trekkers coming back down or over taking us. Most people are friendly and say hi along the way. At lower altitudes, you’ll have to step aside to let the yaks or cows pass by first.

During the day, we sweated so much that there was no need for jackets especially with the sun high in the sky. But as soon as you stop, the cold winds will rise again and the White Walkers will appear. Just kidding, no White Walkers but cold winds, definitely.

The important thing is to go at a slow, even pace so you can acclimatise and don’t get altitude sickness as you go higher. And if you’re tired, you can always stop along the way, hydrate, munch on some energy bars or bananas before carrying on again.

Who’d be tired with a view like that just compelling you to get closer? #nofilter yo

LODGING
The guest houses or tea houses are very basic. There is no heating but they’ll provide really thick blankets (that have a funky smell of the kitchen) but really helped in minus temperatures over our sleeping bags.

Toilets are squatting ones, which were hell on legs sore from the day’s hike. Times like these I wish I were a guy haha. Most of the toilets, with the exception of Jhinu Danda (the lodge with the hot spring) are located outside of the rooms, usually down the corridor. Tried to not pee during the night but you’ll tend to pee more at higher altitudes. I was really thankful I borrowed my friend’s headlamp so I could see and not fall into the toilet bowl, given my clumsiness.

Prepare to not shower and survive only on wet wipes and dry shampoo. By the end of eight days, I felt there was a whole new eco-system flourishing in my hair.

Hot water is chargeable at 100 rupees each time you refill your bottle. But we survived with tap water and water purification tablets. The water is cleaner the higher you go but we still brushed our teeth with purified water.

Food at the lodges is a GODSEND. Breakfast consists of the usual toast, eggs, porridge, muesli, but there’s also gurung bread which is a fried bread, sort of like Singapore’s youtiao, that you can eat with the honey or jam provided. Absolutely loved the salty rosti too.

Lunch and dinner fare at the lodges consists of regular Nepali fare such as dal baht (SO satisfying after a long day), momos with cheese or tuna, vegetarian noodle soup, fried rice, chow mein and even Korean Nongshim instant noodles, which my friend was addicted to. The rice and noodle portions are HUGE and can definitely be shared, unless you’re ravenous.

Dal baht. YUM.
Momos!
giant plate of fried noodles bigger than your face
Gurung bread. Simple but tasty! There’s honey and jam to go along

DO NOT eat meat though. Our guide told us that meat is not fresh by the time it gets transported up the mountains and no one wants to get food poisoning when there’s a lack of loos along the way.

Anyway, I don’t remember there being meat dishes on offer. Load up on the carbs and veggies!

Wash the meal down with hot masala tea or coffee. Drinks such as coke or fanta are chargeable though.

The dining rooms of lodges are great places to get to talk to other trekkers. We met a group of Malaysian friends, spoke to a couple from England and another couple from Australia. I remember at one of the places we stopped for lunch, this guy from China even brought his mum who looked like 80-something. LIKE, WHAT. Amazed.

There were people in their 20s and 30s but also a fair amount of trekkers in their 50s. I remember a large group of Japanese hikers were definitely in their late 40s or early 50s. My colleague who is 57 had gone on the trip in Oct and our guide said his oldest client was 79. This trek is definitely doable for all ages and age is certainly not a barrier!

I was nervous before going, thinking that I would be dead beat and dying just after one day, but the fears went away during the trek and I came away with great memories and experience…and just two black toenails.

Can’t really see that they’re black but they were and STILL ARE, even two months on lol. Oh and I slightly sprained my ligament because i stepped wrongly on some rock. Also, a bruised bum from falling down three times because of small gravel ._.
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