📸 — Day 5 & 6: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal

We planned a short day of hiking since we ended a bit early yesterday (we picked a village closer than our planned final destination to avoid an extra 3–4 hours of hiking today).

We finally figured out a breakfast that was good for the day. You order the night before so that your food is ready when you wake up to avoid the prep time. Typically, every time you eat it takes an hour or so to make the meal since everything is prepared fresh. And when I say fresh… What I mean by that is Olivier ordered a chicken curry and after he placed the order the tea house owner went to the backyard and killed the chicken…

But we liked to keep breakfast simple — Tibetan bread and porridge were winners that gave us good energy, and not too much hassle to digest.

The next two days were by far the best days of the entire trek. The landscape changes from rice fields to rainforest to the now fresh and cool smell of pine trees. The landscape reminded me a lot of the Canadian Rockies.

Prem gave us credit today, and told us that we were both “fit” and doing well with pace and efforts during the hikes. Both of us do feel stronger but this is the longest hike we’ve ever done since our trek through Salkantay in Peru was 4 days + 1 up to Manchu Picchu itself.

Maeghan’s stomach pains got worse and when we arrived in Chame, we had two pharmacies to choose from — they were both wooden huts with medication that has been sitting out in the open for assuringly months on end… but hey, after we looked at the list of pills they had and cross referenced on Google… we bough them and it worked! Maeghan felt 100% better and we were on our way, full throttle.

Day six, Prem warned us that it would be tough — we started early and had a few “peaks” to climb. But as we made our way through — it was by far the most incredible views with gradual include that was all manageable for the two of us. Olivier started to experience some signs of acute mountain sickness (headache and fatigue) but we managed to trek though monitoring the situation closely.

We passed some famous apple orchards and crossed a ton more bridges — all in all, these two days were incredible and I think by far our favorite views.

Day Five Summary:

Start time: 9:20am
Total distance: 10.1 km
Timang → Chame

Day Six Summary:

Start time: 7:30am
Total distance: 16.7 km
Chame→ Pisang

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Our tea house was surrounded by great mountains.

Eating breakfast and getting ready for the day.

The smell of pine was so familiar and comforting. The cooler weather was also nice.

Three weeks before we started our trek, there was an avalanche that killed a few people. We were nervous to book the hike but went through with it anyways.

When we reached the location of the avalanche — it was bone chilling. A bulldozer cleared the path for hikers, but the trees, dirt and destruction was still visible. We also learned later the bodies of those people are still in the snow…. something I am saddened but appreciative to have learned later.

It’s become a challenge for tourism in Nepal as the weather has been changing dramatically and the hiking season is more unpredictable. If it snows and then quickly warms — there is a greater risk for avalanches and trekking accidents.

Dab that.

Through out the trail, you reach many check points. Each trekker has a trekking permit and checks in to confirm they are still alive (and have paid to be there).

Not bad at all.

We decided 5 days in to do our first load of laundry. Washing isn’t too bad, but drying in the cool air is a bit of a challenge. You fight with other trekkers for hanging your clothing in the sunlight while you can.

Our adventure to the “pharmacy”. It’s funny, no one was there most of the day — just open and unattended. We came back a 3rd time and found someone who was willing to sell us the drugs we needed. Thanks Google for verifying!

The local kids come up to you and practice their english or just wish you Namaste. Our bathrooms at this point also transitioned to Wet rooms — where your shower and toilet and sink were all in the same space without separation.

Sherpas call this mountain the “Gateway to Heaven”, because if you walk on the ridge of the mountain and fall, you will go to heaven very very fast.

This was another avalanche that occurred this spring that the river has broken through. As you walk by — you feel a extra cool breeze.. which is pretty chilling (literally).

Many years ago, some Japanese trekkers were killed in the black forest and a memorial with flags has been hung in their place. It is hard to avoid the constant reminder that what you are doing isn’t without risk… so you should always do your best to be prepared.

Sonam (left) Prem (right)

You reach a point where the new road that has overtaken the trail becomes a bit of a hassle — this was our first occurrence. You hike along the cliff side of a mountain and cars with tourists who don’t want to walk or locals carrying supplies blitz past you — bringing up dust, pushing rocks and pushing you against the wall.

We reached 3,300M today, both of us had slight headaches — but the views were worth it.

We stayed the night in these brand new wooden cabins that had a view of the glaciers we walked by. For $4 a night… it was well worth it!

See more on our website www.alittledetour.ca🌏✈️👫