Survive Annapurna

A Guide to Finding the Best Apple Pie in the Himalayas. Based on trekking "Around Annapurna", Nepal, May 2018.

With the advent of a new year and new opportunities, all the travels of the past are sure to be remembered; I can confidently call one of the most colorful adventures in my life a trip and trekking in Nepal with Kirill from Outdoor Ukraine. My boyfriend already had experience of hiking with Outdoor to Everest Base Camp, and we had no doubts under whose leadership we would go again.

Both before and after the trip, we were asked many of the same questions - Was it difficult? Did you prepare physically? What did you take with you? Have you spent the night in tents? Therefore, I will try to combine impressions and some answers in one story.

Point 1. Find out about the place where you are going.

The author of this guide is a rather thoughtful person. However, for some reason I did not inquire about the national park on our route and flew to Nepal in the firm belief that Annapurna is alone, high, and we will go around it; perhaps we'll see the top of it. It’s absolutely incredible - we’ll see very far away the points of the climbers conquering it.

The reality is this: Annapurna is a range of mountains. The highest peak is Annapurna 1, an eight-thousander. All others fall short of it by 100 to 1000 meters. And our route passed through Annapurnas 2, 3, 4. And they are huge! Tall, covered with snow caps, massive. On our way we encountered avalanches, icy slopes, and lonely temples in the distance.

Point 2: Prepare thoroughly for your trip.

The author of this guide is also a traumatized person. Two months before the trip, I received injuries on both knees and was actively treated before the trip. This can answer the question “Did you prepare, did you go to the gym?” My physical preparation consisted of crossfit training several months before the hike, a more or less active lifestyle for many years, and hikes in the Carpathians (I never climbed above two thousand in Nepal).

Physical preparation is important, but equally important (although many people forget) is travel gear. Don't neglect the list and don't skimp on a warm and light sleeping bag, down jacket, windproof and shoes. If you have problems with your knees or feet, you need to take care of knee pads and insoles. It was this, and not the gym, that helped me climb the first 5400 m in my life: when my legs ached, knee pads saved me; when I was shaking to the point of icy washes in the morning, a down jacket and trekking woolen socks helped; at long distances, trekking poles and a well-fitted backpack took the load off my shoulders.

One mistake cost me the “blind” climb to the icy lake at 5 thousand - neglecting sunglasses (I didn’t take them that morning). At the top, the sun reflects so strongly from the snow that, without sunglasses, it can cause a burn to the cornea. In order to protect my eyes at least a little, I had to pull a black buff over my face and look only at my feet (through it). This “blind bandura player” climbed 4 thousand:

Point 3. They don’t go to a Nepalese temple with their own charter. People go there with cookies.

The most anticipated place in Kathmandu for me was the monkey temple: a huge park with stupas and many completely out-of-cage monkeys, which you can potentially touch, treat with food, see a lot of (maybe even take an interesting photo). Haha, naive fools who think so! Accustomed to the attention of tourists, the monkeys react to the slightest rustle of the wrapper; the most experienced and aggressive ones simply rush in, trying to tear out all the treats. There are, of course, terribly cute creatures, and there are also “godfathers” into whose territory you dared to enter.

The monkeys have gotten so comfortable with people that they can tell from the bottle that it contains cola, and they can beg for it or take it away and divide it among a group of relatives.

Point 4. Nepalese nights

We spent the night in lodges, in mountain villages along the way. These are not hotels, not hostels, in essence - these are 4 walls and a roof from rain and snow, which are not heated and do not change for years (tens of years). There is a bed with bed linen on which you need to carefully place your sleeping bag, stuff down clothes into it for warmth, put a bag of things under your head and calmly fall asleep to the patter of rat feet under the floor (to be fair, this only happened twice). Breakfast and dinner are held in a common warm dining room, showers and toilets are often with a view of the mountains and take much less time than in ordinary life - you can’t stand for long in the chilly wind, even with hot water.

It’s not terrible, it’s not inconvenient, it doesn’t interfere - it’s just part of the Nepalese flavor and a feature of the hike. In the evening you brush your teeth, and in the morning the stream often freezes)

Point 5. Food

The list of dishes in the menu that we were offered during the hike directly depended on the size and remoteness of each village in which we stopped. The larger the village, and the closer it is to trade (roads or air routes), the cheaper and more meat there is) There you can get hold of cinnamon rolls, yak steak, English or European breakfast, cans of cola or forfeit, and also drink coffee for breakfast. In the highest village there was the most modest (but already familiar) dinner with nems with the aroma of something meat...

Before the hike, I (not knowing what to expect), stocked up with dried fruits, nuts, dried meats and freeze-dried soups. The latter can be an excellent option when lunch is limited in time, the group cannot wait, and Nepalese people are starting “Nepali time”.

Clause 6. Service or "Nepali time"

You need to understand the topic so as not to go hungry!

Situation 1. Kathmandu, first day. A small group of first-time arrivals, flying on the same flight from Ukraine, piled into a small restaurant on the street next to the hotel. The menu has a variety of exotic (and conventional) dishes that pleases the eye and makes the stomach growl. Everyone orders a variety of salads, sandwiches, or mutes, and after about 15 minutes one dish is proudly brought out. Out of ten) After 15 minutes - two more. Some mysterious European salad (with cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes) is still being solved by the chefs somewhere above us in the kitchen. After about 30 minutes, two or three more dishes. Our group is divided into well-fed and satisfied people, and hungry and irritated people. At the moment of heightened emotions, a small smiling boy with a bunch of carrots squeezes between our tables, and just 10-15 minutes after that, we finally get a European salad!

Conclusion - order the most identical dishes or be prepared to trade time for food.

Situation 2. Pokhara, last days in Nepal. In the morning, upon arrival at the hotel, the plan is as follows: order lunch, clean up while preparing it, eat something and go for a walk. Our group (a dozen hungry, mountain-weary pro-tourists) gathers in the dining room at the appointed time and they quickly serve us... (just kidding) and wait. After some time, the first 3-4 dishes are brought out. For now, education takes precedence over instincts and we calmly wait. At this time, the Nepalese are peeking out of the kitchen (I wonder what they want to see?). Having looked out, we go further to the kitchen and soon we get another half of the dishes. Instincts take over, your stomach aches and you feel incredibly hungry. We sit there angry, and at this very moment after serving, the Nepalese look out of the kitchen again! about 15 minutes) Perhaps this is a way to understand whether you like the food and whether to do more? No, it's Nepali time!

To a greater or lesser extent, this will often come your way.

There may be many, many more items here - bring a bag of Nepalese hats, take out insurance with a helicopter, bargain until you're hoarse, fly on a paraglide, don't miss Pokhara at night, etc. However, this all leads to the last (but not least) piece of advice: soak up Nepal to the fullest.

So, where is the best apple pie? In almost every village in which we stopped for the night) The best apple pie is found where, after a radial hike in the snow and rain on an icy lake, after climbing and descending many hundreds of meters, you, dirty and tired, sit by the stove in a small kitchen, Nepalese porters are fussing around and the owner of the loggia brings hot lemon tea, and the guys from the group tell stories from their lives and travels, joke or just discuss the past day. At this very moment, porter brings an apple pie. And it's incredibly delicious)

We'll be back to taste it again.

Olga Trostyanchuk, February 4, 2019.