My Solo Trek To Annapurna Base Camp (4130m) , ABC Trek, Oct. 5–8 2019
I was planning to go to Panch Pokhari in Dashain since a long time but, unlucky me, I couldn’t get the bus ticket to Bhotang. I went to the bus station at Narayantar for two days straight but with no luck because of dashain festival. Thus, I switched my plan pretty fast and decided to go to Annapurna Base Camp which is one of the most popular trek routes in Nepal. I was worried though as I might not get the bus ticket to Pokhara too. Since I had limited leave days, I wasn’t sure if I could complete the trek in time. So, I decided to leave for Pokhara that friday night. I took the leave early from office, quickly got home and collected my bag and other belongings and left for the bus park. I reached bus park at around 6 pm. When I reached the ticket counter, the guy in the counter told me that all the bus were already booked. I was disappointed as I had to get to Pokhara anyhow to complete the trek in time. Even all the tourist buses were packed. Luckily, I talked to a guy who got me the ticket for a last bus leaving for Pokhara. The ticket was for the bonnet seat. The bonnet was packed, more than its capacity, and there was very little space to sit. The bus left the buspark at 8:30 pm. I was restless that time and wanted to get some sleep but there was no way I could do that in so little space. I just got about an hour of bad sleep. Finally, the bus arrived Pokhara at around 4:30 am in the morning.
Day I (Pokhara to Nayapul to Matkyu to Jhinu danda to Upper Chhomrong to Lower Chhomrong to Lower Sinuwa to Upper Sinuwa -2360m)
As I had to get to Nayapool to start my trek, I caught a bus to Beni which got got me to Nayapool early in the morning. At that time, I thought I had to start my trek from there but a guy told me I can get a jeep to Matkyu. And so I did. I reached Matkyu(1500m) at around 11:30 am. From there, the awaited trek started.
The trail was downhill at first until a big suspension bridge that was constructed recently.
After the bridge, the uphill trek started with a lot of stairs.
I reached Jhinu danda(1750m) after about one and half hour walking. There were pretty nice hotels there.
I kept walking and again the stairs trail started.
After walking for sometime, I saw the clouds gathering and covering the sky from me.
Modi khola was seen down below the trail.
The village just across the khola was very beautiful! Then, I reached Upper Chhomrong.
There were a lot of hotels at Chhomrong. Many trekkers stay and rest at Chhomrong during the trek.
But I kept going as I was not tired enough and it was a beautiful day to trek. Thirty minutes downhill lies Lower Chhomrong. There were less hotels there.
Just after Lower Chhomrong, I crossed a suspension bridge. After the bridge, again the uphill trek started. Just after that, I met a group of six Nepali trekkers who started their trek from Ghandruk and were going to ABC as well. I reached Lower Sinuwa after an hour and half walking.
There were some hotels there but I decided to stay at Upper Sinuwa which was an hour uphill. It started getting dark. Just when it was getting dark, I saw a glimpse of Mt. Machhapuchchhre(6993m) which was glooming through the dark.
Finally, I reached Upper Sinuwa(2360m) where the group of guys I met earlier booked a room for me at that hotel. It was a tiring day. Since I wasn’t feeling sleepy, I hanged out with the guys for some time, ate my dinner and went to sleep.
Day II (Upper Sinuwa to Bamboo to Himalaya to Lower Dovan to Upper Dovan to Deurali to MBC — 3700m)
The next day I woke up with a wonderful view of the mountains!
After having a cup of tea with the refreshing views of the himals, I departed from Upper Sinuwa. I was excited because of the mountains. The trail got downhill.
After about one hour walking, I got to Bamboo(2145m).
There are five hotels at Bamboo.
The trail got more beautiful after this place. There were waterfalls and springs with many small waterfalls.
Mt. Machhapuchchhre was seen once again with very lovely view.
After walking for about one and half an hour, I reached Dovan(2505m). There are three hotels at Dovan.
From Dovan, Himalaya was about two hours and Deurali about four and thirty minutes. As my plan was to reach Machhapuchchhre Base Camp that day, I didn’t rest there and continued walking.
I met a porter in between and we had some chitchat. There was a waterfall en route to Himalaya. The guy told me that the waterfall is seen at a completely different angle from Himalaya. This concluded that the place was far and so I started walking fast.
After walking for some time, Himalaya could be seen nearer which made me very happy.
Finally, I reached Himalaya(2920m).
A helicopter was seen trying up in the sky which was trying to go to ABC and returning back for some time. It couldn’t reach ABC since there were a lot of clouds. It returned back as the weather turned bad.
I kept walking.
As I was walking, clouds and fogs started to gather even more.
But then, it started to clear up. It looked lovely!
Finally, hotels at Deurali were seen very near. I was excited and hungry.
I had my lunch there and started the trek soon after. The trail got even more beautiful!
I reached Avalanche Risk Area soon after.
But the trail was refreshing!
As I was walking, I had a glimpse of the peak of Mt. Machhapuchchhre again. It was from a different angle and its body was hiding in the clouds.
My pace got a little slow afterwards as I was enjoying the nature. It was so refreshing! Since most of the trekkers stayed at Deurali, I was alone in the trail. It was wonderful for a solo trekker like me. It was pretty fun and exciting.
As I was walking slow, the same six crossed my path. They said they were getting to Machhapuchchhre Base Camp(MBC) too. I let them walk in front as I was still in the nature-enjoy-mood! I told them to book me a room at MBC. My pace became even slow as I was enjoying the nature to the fullest! And in no time, it got dark. I still had to walk about an hour to reach MBC. I was alone! I took my torch from my bagpack as I was walking in the dark.
Finally, I got to MBC(3700m). The guys were there and booked me a place to stay too. I refreshed myself and had my dinner. I quickly went to sleep afterwards as the next day, I had to walk early in the morning to catch the sunrise at Annapurna Base Camp(ABC) which was about one and half an hour from MBC.
Day III (MBC to ABC to MBC to Deurali to Himalaya to Dovan to Bamboo to Sinuwa to Upper Chhomrong-2600m)
I woke up very early in the morning as I had to reach ABC before the golden sunrise over the mountain peaks. The time was around 4:15 AM when I did. I quickly packed my bag and went to the dining room and left it there. Then, I started the walking at about 4:30. It was really dark. There were two Nepali guys who were staying in the same hotel as me. They left the hotel earlier than I did. Their light was seen very far. I was walking all alone in the dark and hoping to see the mountains as soon as possible. I was very excited. At that moment, I saw some people coming towards me who just left MBC and were very down. As I was walking, dogs started barking and the sound was coming from far. Firstly, I thought they were tied somewhere but I was wrong. The sound came nearer and nearer. Suddenly, those dogs were right next to me barking at me. I got scared at first as I didn’t know what to expect from them. After some time, they stopped barking and became friendlier. I was relieved. I started walking again. When I was walking, I could see and feel the snowy white mountains right in front of me like flash in the dark.
Finally, after walking for one and half hour, I reached the Annapurna Base Camp(4130m).
The weather was cold but pretty refreshing. And then, the sun started to shine.
It was an amazing experience surrounded by the mountains so early in the morning. At that moment, I forgot everything and just enjoyed the nature. Wonderful, just wonderful! I walked around the base camp and took photos. Then , I just sat in a random stone just looking at the mountains and thinking for about half an hour. I was so small in front of those huge snow-towers. I asked a guy to take my picture with the himals. Here it is!
I took some more pictures of the mountains surrounding me.
There were some dogs too at the base camp.
After some wonderful moments at the base camp and taking some pictures, I decided to return back. Since it was very early, I planned to get to Pokhara the same day and then to Kathmandu in a night bus. Thus, I started walking down. Now, I could see the beautiful trail from MBC to ABC as it was dark before.
I reached MBC pretty quick. I had tea, paid the bill, took my bag and left MBC very fast.
I walked fast because of my plan to reach Pokhara anyhow. After some walking, I reached Deurali.
After Deurali, there was a very nice waterfall that I missed when I was trekking up because I took the shortcut.
I took some pictures of the waterfall and started walking again. After some time, I reached Himalaya. I didn’t rest there and kept walking. Then, I reached Dovan. After Dovan, I reached Bamboo. It was all downhill until Bamboo from where the uphill trek started again with the stairs. After about an hour of uphill climb, I reached Upper Sinuwa and rested for 15 mins. There, I met the two guys I met earlier. I had some chat and started walking again. I reached Lower Sinuwa in no time. I rested there for 15 mins and started walking again. Afterwards, I reached lower Chhomrong after crossing a suspension bridge. When I reached there, it was already dark. My plan to reach Pokhara that same day seemed impossible. One of the two guys was walking with me. We had cups of tea at lower Chhomrong and waited for his other friend. They were planning to stay at upper Chhomrong. After about half an hour, his other friend came. Then, we started walking up again. It was already dark so we had to use our torches. After walking for about an hour, we finally reached upper Chhomrong. I decided to stay there too. I had my dinner and quickly went to sleep.
Day IV (Upper Chhomrong to Jhinu Danda to Matkyu to Nayapool to Pokhara to Kathmandu)
As I was planning to get the early bus to Kathmandu, I planned to start my trek very early in the morning. The two guys wanted to leave early too. We woke up at around 4:30 in the morning and left the hotel in the dark. After about an hour, we reached Jhinu danda and after walking 30 mins from Jhinu danda, we reached the big suspension bridge. After crossing the bridge, we separated. They were going down to Landruk and I was going up to Matkyu. There is an uphill trail from there until Matkyu. After some hiking, I reached Matkyu. There was no bus there as it was very early. I had a cup of marich-tea there and started walking towards Nayapool. That was my only option. I walked for an hour and a half, I heard the honking horn. A bus was coming from far and it was going to Pokhara. I was happy. The bus stopped and I got into it. When I reached Pokhara, as it was the “tika” day of the dashain festival, it was very hard to get the bus to Kathmandu. Finally, I did get a bus. The bus left Pokhara at around 12pm. I reached Kathmandu at around 6:30 pm, thus completing this amazing trek!
Anyway, this trek was a short and sweet trek. I enjoyed it a lot and everyone should go do this trek at least once in their life. I recommend it to anyone who is traveling Nepal and has at least 5–10 days here.
Some suggestions for future travelers doing this route:
- Trekking boots are a must as most parts of the trails are rocky.
- Wind-proof jacket, gloves, caps are recommended as the wind is very chilling.
- Altitude sickness medicines are recommended for first time high-altitude trekkers.
- Cold-creams, lip cares are needed as the skin becomes very dry.
- Total cost for me was Rs.6200 including the 1250 bus fare and 500 jeep fare. The cost may deviate depending on which hotel you live and what you eat.
- Don’t be scared of the nature. Nature always loves you . :)
Follow me on instagram for more pictures with the stories behind them:
https://www.instagram.com/suman_supertramp/
If you want to enjoy other solo trek blogs of mine, here are the links:
https://medium.com/@suman.dhakal/my-solo-trek-to-tsho-rolpa-4580m-may-16th-21st-2017-2552c92fe18d
https://medium.com/@suman.dhakal/my-solo-trip-to-kyanjin-ri-4779m-march-4th-8th-2017-c06e8de368af
