Daybreak on the South Face of Annapurna. This massive 3000m high face was famously climbed by the Brits in 1970, led by Chris Bonnington. Annapurna is 8091m high and after K2 is probably the most difficult 8000'er to climb. For every 2 people to summit, 1 person pegs it! While I was at base camp, an number of Russian climbers were getting evacuated with frostbite.
Warm by the fire. Inside one of the lodges, sheltering from the daily rainstorms that tended to hit every afternoon. The Annapurna region is so remote everything has to be carried in on the backs of the small but considerably strong local Ghuregs.
Goat traffic jam on a suspension bridge.
Just press play, dude..........................
.....................another Jimi Hendrix convert.
Dhaulagiri, 8167m and 7th highest mountain in the world. Very pretty mountain.
Me at Annapurna base camp, with S face of Annapurna in the background. Been there, got the T-shirt.
Well, I made it out off the mountains alive!! After 2 weeks of continually walking up and down hillsides, living on dal bhaat (lentils and rice) and getting up at 5 am, I'm now considerably fitter and a few pounds lighter. Which is no bad thing after doing minimal exercise and eating curry everyday for the past 6 months. The adventure started off quite slowly. My legs just weren't use to walking up hills, and my pace dropped even further when a friendly guide gave me a load of locally grown weed. Oh well. After a few days the going got easier as I adapted to getting up early, doing the days hike, getting to a lodge by lunchtime, then watching the storm clouds envelop the mountains from the comfort of my pot filled room:) In common with the rest of the trip, my plans of where a was actually going were quite fluid. The original plan was go and trek up to a town called Jomson, but after talking to a couple of Argentinians, it didn't sound that great. Instead I decided to go up to the Annapurna Sanctuary, where I could get a much closer look at the South Face of Annapurna, and get right into the big mountains. As always, the Lonely & Paranoid guide book turned out to be complete bollocks yet again, describing the route as dangerous and avalanche prone. Turned out to be a pleasant 5 day walk, up beautiful forested valleys, topped with HUGE snow capped mountains. Annapurna base camp is at about 4100m, so in the evening it tended to get a bit chilly, but any physical discomfort was completely overshadowed by being surrounded on all sides by massive Himalayan peaks.
I'm now safely back in Pokora, where I'm happily drinking beer and eating anything but fucking dal bhaat. Immediate plans are to have a shave and a hot shower, then go and do some white-water rafting and then maybe stay at a Yoga Ashram for a few days. With only 3 weeks left, for the first time I'm going to have to be a bit creative with my time management!
P.S Happy birthday, Mum!!
P.P.S Thanks for reminding me, Dad.
Warm by the fire. Inside one of the lodges, sheltering from the daily rainstorms that tended to hit every afternoon. The Annapurna region is so remote everything has to be carried in on the backs of the small but considerably strong local Ghuregs.
Goat traffic jam on a suspension bridge.
Just press play, dude..........................
.....................another Jimi Hendrix convert.
Dhaulagiri, 8167m and 7th highest mountain in the world. Very pretty mountain.
Me at Annapurna base camp, with S face of Annapurna in the background. Been there, got the T-shirt.
Well, I made it out off the mountains alive!! After 2 weeks of continually walking up and down hillsides, living on dal bhaat (lentils and rice) and getting up at 5 am, I'm now considerably fitter and a few pounds lighter. Which is no bad thing after doing minimal exercise and eating curry everyday for the past 6 months. The adventure started off quite slowly. My legs just weren't use to walking up hills, and my pace dropped even further when a friendly guide gave me a load of locally grown weed. Oh well. After a few days the going got easier as I adapted to getting up early, doing the days hike, getting to a lodge by lunchtime, then watching the storm clouds envelop the mountains from the comfort of my pot filled room:) In common with the rest of the trip, my plans of where a was actually going were quite fluid. The original plan was go and trek up to a town called Jomson, but after talking to a couple of Argentinians, it didn't sound that great. Instead I decided to go up to the Annapurna Sanctuary, where I could get a much closer look at the South Face of Annapurna, and get right into the big mountains. As always, the Lonely & Paranoid guide book turned out to be complete bollocks yet again, describing the route as dangerous and avalanche prone. Turned out to be a pleasant 5 day walk, up beautiful forested valleys, topped with HUGE snow capped mountains. Annapurna base camp is at about 4100m, so in the evening it tended to get a bit chilly, but any physical discomfort was completely overshadowed by being surrounded on all sides by massive Himalayan peaks.
I'm now safely back in Pokora, where I'm happily drinking beer and eating anything but fucking dal bhaat. Immediate plans are to have a shave and a hot shower, then go and do some white-water rafting and then maybe stay at a Yoga Ashram for a few days. With only 3 weeks left, for the first time I'm going to have to be a bit creative with my time management!
P.S Happy birthday, Mum!!
P.P.S Thanks for reminding me, Dad.
1 comment:
What brilliant photos - just been killing myself with laughing at your comments----can't you adopt that beautiful little girl(presume its a she???) shes absolutely melting with that smile.
Thanks for your birthday (belated) wishes - dad's birthday is the 31st May in case you forget!!!!!
Got your e-mail about the parcel, thanks.
Just getting a load of Bruce S[pringsteen - we are going top see him next Wed night in Manchester - Old Trafford Football ground --can't wait.
Cant wait to see you and linsey again
Mum
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