📸 — Day 7 & 8: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal

The sun is warm, but the breeze is cool from the higher altitude and surroundings covered in snow. We go to bed pretty early, around 8 pm every night… we did this preemptively in the event that the higher we climbed, the harder it would be to sleep due to the lack of oxygen… but a week in, we both were still sleeping great.

Oli has been listening to Chris Hadfield’s audiobook every night to fall asleep. His voice is very relaxing if you ask Maeghan… but Olivier would say that it kept him up and he is now motivated to be an astronaut (it might be a little bit late for that buddy).

We’ve lucked out so far with great weather, clear skies and sun every day. We’ve also lucked out with friendly fluffy dogs that have followed us along the way. Many puppies from various villages walk back and forth with trekkers in search for food… or maybe just company. But we had a nice fluff black pup appear and walk with us some of the way.

To date, the trail has been very easy. No pain, no stiffness — all very manageable ( I say that gracefully, as we met a couple of french tourists who had the worst time on the trek, blisters, colds, sore muscles etc..). But day 7 we had a big hill or mountain side to climb, making it our 3rd time strenuous accent .. which both of us did with ease.

People are so kind here, and every teahouse has been a special experience to stay in. Also, the wildlife has taken a turn for the great… and in a single day we saw yaks, goats, cows, Himalayan deer, blue sheep oh… and vultures. Like… REALLY REALLY BIG vultures.. they circle you and come close as you hike up the trail. Maeghan assumes they knew she would die later on.. but they were just looking out for a quick bite to eat… not a crazy girl waving her walking poles in fear.

Now that we arrived in Manang, we have a few days to acclimatize and give our legs a bit of a break.

Day Seven Summary:

Start time: 7:30am
Total distance: 13.4 km
Pisang → Nawal

Day Eight Summary:

Start time: 8:45am
Total distance: 11.7 km
Nawal→ Menang

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Little kids playing in the Tibetan temples by spinning the prayer wheel.

On the even of day 6 — we decided to make our way up to the Tibetan temple above the village.

We were not the only ones that wanted to go… we had a few goats follow our lead.

We reached the prayer wheel and hill to ascend to the temple and found locals seriously practicing their archery. Oli was mesmerized and stopped to watch.

Oli, Prem and Sonam talking about the history of buddhism. Or talking about who will win Ludo tonight. One of the two.

Maeghan has a 6th sense for puppies, and she found one playing in the temple.

Our tea house was really nice, and they invited us into the kitchen to watch them cook. Typically only the guides and locals are allowed in, but Prem was really great at bringing us in to experience the local culture.

Every night we would eat, check our oxygen levels and play a game of ludo. Maeghan would also look at the pictures they took during the day.

The menus are standard, and more money.. so cool!

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful view and were ready to get walking again.

The abandoned villages you walk through.

We hiked about an hour or so up hill to reach this gate, and from there — the views were perfect. Oli took so many pictures it was crazy.. and couldn’t stop saying how amazing this day was.

Prem getting his back cracked. On demand chiropractor

Slight ascent, but around the mountain we went.

The vultures… seriously, they came so close, Maeghan was always too scared to pull out her camera when they did.

For lunch we stopped in a tiny village with only two places to eat. But they had a prayer flagged area that we sat down and got to soak in the moment.

Stacked rocks, the only thing we’ve seen everywhere in the world. Here the tradition is to put a rock on top of the pile to bring yourself good luck and safe passage.

This was the end of the hike that day, and Maeghan will remember it because she had to go to the bathroom very badly… and there was no where she could go.

When there are no bells, there are prayer rocks that you walk by and touch.

Old monastery up in the mountain. You could hear the monks singing.

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