Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Part 2 (Days 13 - 21)
Originally posted to RohJuh.com on Dec 13, 2005.
Day 13 (Friday, Nov 11) – Thorung Pass (5416 m), Muktinath (3800 m)
Today was the day nearly everyone looked forward to with a bit of uneasiness and apprehension. Not only would we reach our highest elevation of the entire trek (17,769 ft), but this day would likely be the most physically demanding one as well. I was feeling nowhere near 100%, and perhaps even more disconcerting was that Judy woke up feeling really nauseous. Things weren’t looking too good.
Wanting to get an early start to ensure plenty of time in getting to our destination, we awoke at a god awful 3:30 AM and started hiking at 4:30 AM. The sun hadn’t risen yet so it was still dark outside. Everyone had their headlamps on, and it was pretty cool to look ahead and see an orderly procession of lights moving up the mountain in the darkness.
Not only was it dark, but it was also pretty cold. I was fairly comfortable, temperature-wise, hiking with a T-shirt, light fleece, windbreaker, and down jacket.
Ramesh had initially taken Judy’s day pack since she was feeling so bad. Strangely enough, as we continued our ascent, Judy began to feel better and no longer felt nauseous. She soon was feeling fine and took her pack back. Unfortunately, I wasn’t getting any better as I slogged up the hill, and had to give my pack to Ramesh temporarily.
As we neared the pass, the wind really picked up. Ramesh commented later that in all his treks along this circuit, he had never seen the winds so ferocious. So not only did I have the bad luck of being sick during the day of the pass, but we also had to have abnormally fierce winds. Fantastic! I soon had to add my Gore-Tex shell to all the layers I was already wearing in order to stay warm.
The wind was really whipping when we finally reached the pass. I was relieved to find that there was a small shelter there. It was still pretty cold inside, but it was out of the wind and I was able to get some hot tea. This marked our highest elevation point and the rest of the day would be spent descending. I’m typically much faster on the descents so I thought that the hardest part of the day was over. Little did I know that the descent would prove to be far more challenging than I expected and that the day was far from over.
The descent was hell. Quite a bit of snow remained (knee deep in many places) and the recent sunny days added icy patches to many parts of the trail. Actually, there really wasn’t even a trail – we just followed the footprints of those ahead of us. Whereas on the uphill I could hike at a relatively steady, albeit slow, pace, the downhill turned out to be very different. The snowy/icy conditions required much more strength and mental concentration, and I found myself only being able to take a few steps before having to rest and catch my breath. It was a really slow process. Poor Ramesh was assigned to stay with me and while he might understandably be annoyed or frustrated with my pace, he never showed it.
Ramesh and I did manage to have some fun, however. On several hills, we found it easier to simply slide down on our butts as opposed to walking down slowly and cautiously. It must have been amusing to watch. It worked OK, but what I really wanted was a snowboard. It was all downhill and I could have easily been all the way down the mountain in a fraction of the time.
By mid-afternoon, Ramesh and I had caught up with Judy, Leigh, and Prem, not because I had gotten any faster, but because they had taken a long rest break. We continued on, but I soon fell behind again. Ramesh diligently stayed with me.
There was only one teahouse during the entire descent, and when Judy, Leigh, and Prem arrived, the rest of the group was there and about to leave. Leigh decided to go on ahead with them while Judy and Prem waited for Ramesh and me. When I got to the teahouse, I stopped for some water and a veggie noodle soup. The soup was delicious and hit the spot, especially since I hadn’t had any real food since breakfast.
From the teahouse, the four of us marched on. The snow on the ground soon began to fade which made hiking much easier. We didn’t reach Muktinath until around 4:30 PM or so – a really long day considering that we had been up since 3:30 that morning! I was exhausted and extremely happy to have the day behind us.
That evening, Judy tried to learn how to play the Nepalese drum and found that it’s harder than it looks. Nevertheless, with Gurung’s patient instruction, she soon was able to play a simple beat.
Day 14 (Saturday, Nov 12) – Jomosom (2710 m)
I was feeling better today, not only physically, but also because the toughest day was over. Today was supposed to be relatively flat so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Before we left that morning, I ran into a Canadian unicylist who was planning on doing the Annapurna Circuit in the reverse direction (we were going counter-clockwise and he planned to go clockwise which is supposed to be more difficult). He had started in Jomosom (our destination city for today) and had unicycled without a porter (which means he carried all his stuff in his pack). He planned to hire a porter today in Muktinath before continuing on. Pretty cool! Hopefully he made it!
Raj warned everyone that we might be encountering some pretty windy and dusty conditions during today’s trek. As a result, I decided to purchase a bandana to wear over my nose and mouth. I ended up getting a bandana with “The Daily Leaf” printed on it. It had a big marijuana leaf printed on it along with a bunch of gibberish. Despite the comical contents of the bandana’s printing, it served its purpose quite well.
Our hotel that evening was quite luxurious. Our room had a full bathroom in it, complete with sink, western style toilet, and shower. Although the flush didn’t work on the toilet (you had to pour water down it), it was still nice to not have to squat. The shower was warm, but as with all showers on the trek, once the water was turned off, you froze your ass off.
Day 15 (Sunday, Nov 13) – Kalapani (2530 m)
Both Judy and I awoke feeling tired, surprisingly more so than the previous day (the day after crossing the pass). As we walked through Kalapani, we passed bunches of French adventure racers who were running the Annapurna Circuit clockwise. From their faces, it looked like they were in pain and anguish. One had a bloody nose and was continuing to run. Boy, that looks like a lot of fun – I just don’t see the appeal in doing something like that.
Jomosom has an airport and we saw several planes take off. I doubt I was the only one feeling this way, but a part of me wouldn’t have minded hopping on one of those planes and going home. I could have been done with the trip today and been perfectly happy, but with nearly a week still to go, that was not to be.
We encountered some really windy and dusty conditions while walking across the dry river bed. Once again, my hemp bandana proved its usefulness. There was some heavy road construction along a stretch of the trail, and we did a bit of somewhat precarious hiking along the mountainside to avoid the construction. We also had some great views of Tukuche Peak. While the day’s trek was for the most part flat, it was still pretty tough because of the long distance covered.
After passing a bunch of really nice looking hotels in Kalopani, we finally reached ours. Leigh had a monster blister on her heel which Dr. Phil was called in to pop. Troy had also reported a large blister and needed it popped as well. While he indeed had a blister, when compared to Leigh’s gargantuan blister, Troy’s looked more like a dry pimple.
This was the first hotel in which the entire group could sit around a single table. Judy had the dahl Bhaat and reported that the dahl was the best she’s had so far. Afterwards, the porters put in a cheesy Nepalese action flick DVD. Many of us watched along with them.
Day 16 (Monday, Nov 14) – Tatopani (1190 m)
Last night was fairly warm with a low inside our room of only 43 F (6.1 C) or so. During the night, I heard a mouse scurrying around upstairs. This continued for a few minutes. Then there seemed to be a bunch of scurrying interspersed with squeaks. Then finally, there was a loud squeak and then silence. My guess is that a cat took care of the mouse problem.
I felt much better today and just felt like hiking fast for some reason. I went out ahead of the group and eventually caught up with the porters as well as Lila who had been sent ahead to get a hotel room. When I got to Ghasa, I kicked back in the sun, ate an apple, and waited for the others. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant in front of a cool waterfall. I ordered the dahl Bhaat which was excellent. Judy was jealous because the dish contained lots of greens.
The environment was noticeably different as we continued to descend and became much more humid and tropical. Our hotel rooms in Tatopani required climbing several sets of stairs. After the long day of trekking we had gone through, this was not very pleasant – you could really feel it in your legs as you climbed the stairs.
The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the hot springs which were a quick jaunt from the hotel. Man-made pools were constructed in which hot water from a natural hot spring was flowed in with a pipe. Because direct water from the spring was too hot, another pipe carried cold water into the pool. The hot water was very refreshing and for me and helped loosen the muscles in my legs that had gotten somewhat tight from the over two weeks of continuous trekking.
Day 17 (Tuesday, Nov 15) – Ghorepani (2750 m)
Early during our trek that morning, I saw a pretty cool sight in the distance. A large herd of mountain goats was crossing a suspension bridge. The bridge was filled end to end with mountain goats, definitely a unique sight. I wanted to get a better shot of it so I rushed on ahead hoping to get close enough before all the goats had crossed. Unfortunately, I ran into a huge traffic jam – another large herd of mountain goats was completely blocking the trail, preventing my passage. By the time this herd had cleared, too much time had passed and the first herd had completely crossed the bridge. Oh well.
When I finally got to the bridge, there was another large procession of animals, this time donkeys, crossing the bridge in the opposite direction (towards us). We had to wait a good 15-20 minutes for all the donkeys to pass. During a short lull, the bridge was momentarily open and Barbara and I decided to cross. Unfortunately, we just made it to the other side. Another group of donkeys was preparing to enter the bridge, preventing the rest of the group from crossing.
Barbara decided to continue on ahead. I waited a while and then decided to go on ahead as well. By that time, Barbara had gotten far enough ahead that I couldn’t see her. I continued on for a while along the main trail, but soon stopped because I didn’t want to get too far ahead of the main group. So I pulled to the side, chomped on an apple, and waited. And waited. And waited. Hmmm… something’s not quite right. They weren’t that far behind me.
Then I saw Prem coming along the trail towards me and discovered that I had gone the wrong way! I missed a turnoff and was headed towards the town of Beni which was in a completely different direction from Ghorepani, our intended destination. Prem asked if I had seen Barbara and I told him that I knew Barbara was ahead of me but that I hadn’t been able to see her in some time. Not knowing whether or not Barbara had made the correct turnoff or not, Prem raced ahead to try to find her.
As I waited for Prem to return, I met a mother and daughter from Holland. They initially said “Kenichiwa” to me thinking I was Japanese. When I informed them that I was not Japanese and was in fact Chinese-American, the daughter started speaking to me in Mandarin! I always find it very odd when a Caucasian person can speak an Asian language – it’s very cool, but also very strange for some reason. It turned out that her Mandarin was at least as good as mine, maybe even better! It turned out that she had spent a lot of her life in China. Anyhow, they were headed to Beni and were going the right way.
Prem returned without finding Barbara. We hoped that she had gone the right way, but we soon ran into a Nepalese couple who suggested otherwise. Prem asked if they had seen Barbara and we both gave them a pretty detailed description. They indicated that they had indeed passed someone who fit Barbara’s description, and that that person was headed towards Beni. Oh no! Prem decided that we should just head back and then decide with Raj what to do.
Since we had lost a lot of time, Prem and I ran back – it was a nicely invigorating morning run. When we reported what happened to Raj, he decided to continue on towards Ghorepani. I wasn’t sure that that was the right decision given the information we had. Maybe he figured that if Barbara had gone the wrong way, she would eventually figure things out and get where she needed to be.
The three of us continued on, climbing a long section of really steep stairs. We were still trying to make up for lost time so we climbed up the stairs at a pretty good clip. By the time we reached the top of the stairs, we were all pretty hot and sweaty.
It turned out that Barbara had gone the right way. So much for the Nepalese couple’s assertion that they had seen Barbara headed towards Beni. I guess to the Nepalese, all those white people look the same anyway. :-)
The rest of the day was pretty hard. It was a long day with endless steep uphills. Judy actually felt that this day was tougher than the day of the pass. I didn't agree with that assessment, but it was a hard day regardless.
The hotel we had was really nice and big and had a volleyball court in front of it. We actually had a very good view of the court from our hotel room. Despite that, I decided to head down to get some courtside action of the game in progress. The court was on pavement which seemed like it would be murder on the knees. The people playing were actually pretty good so it was fun to watch.
When Judy arrived a bit later, she asked if we could play. Unfortunately, it was some sort of organized team play so they politely declined. It would have been fun to play, although with my legs tired from the day’s trek, I probably would have only had a credit-card vertical.
There were hot showers at the hotel and they were the best showers of the trek. The water was truly hot and it was not nearly as cold after the shower. We found out later that the water was heated by a “donkey” which, despite its strange name, was a great way of heating water. Basically, water is heated by the wood furnace in the dining hall and then piped to the showers. Unlike the typical solar powered water heaters, the hot water would not run out. Hot water would be present until the furnace was extinguished.
There were quite a few people staying there and most everyone hung out in the very large dining room. This was where the furnace was so it was very warm. Assorted laundry was strung around the furnace to dry.
Tomorrow’s plan was to get to Birethanti and stay the night. The following morning, we’d have a very short hike to catch a bus that would take us to Pokhara. Someone floated the idea that we should go straight through Birethanti and catch the bus to Pokhara the next evening. That way, we could be at Pokhara first thing the following morning (instead of arriving at around noon). This was supposedly a very desirable thing since Pokhara was apparently a really cool city that we would want to spend lots of time in.
Now that I was more or less healthy again, I didn’t really care either way, although I had a slight preference to stick with the original plan. I didn’t really see the benefit in pushing a really long day just to get to Pokhara a few hours earlier. I also wasn’t convinced that Pokhara had anything really that great to warrant such an action. Additionally, there were some others in the group who were not feeling that well and who did not feel comfortable making such a push the next day.
Ultimately, we decided to play it by ear. At mid-day or so, we’d see how everyone felt and then decide whether or not to push on further.
Day 18 (Wednesday, Nov 16) – Birethanti (1025 m)
Today’s itinerary was to wake up early and catch the sunrise at the top of Poon Hill. Troy decided to sleep in instead, and everyone else left at around 5:30 AM. Renee turned back after a few minutes because she thought it was raining.
It wasn’t raining. In fact, the weather turned out to be great. We slogged up the hill and after the long uphill day yesterday, our legs were definitely feeling it. When we got to the top of Poon Hill, there was a rickety looking lookout tower and a whole lot of people. It was kind of disappointing to see so many people, but the panoramic view made it worth it. We were above the clouds and were treated to a beautiful sunrise.
After spending some time atop Poon Hill and taking lots of pics, we headed back down to the hotel for breakfast. Soon, we were trekking along the main route again.
During one of our rest stops, Guy decided to take a pee in one of the bushes. Bad move. A lady rushed out of the nearby shop, grabbed Guy’s walking stick, starting yelling at him in Nepalese, and took a few good whacks on Guy’s backpack. She was clearly unhappy with Guy’s choice of urinal. After yelling a bit more, she walked back to her shop and threw Guy’s stick on the ground.
Judy apparently ate something bad during lunch as she had to make two emergency toilet stops that afternoon. Ramesh might have gotten the same thing as he was forced to make several stops as well. We found out the next day that he had to perform an emergency pit-stop 7 times that afternoon! Poor guy!
It turned out to be another long day. Instead of the relentless uphill of the day before, today was relentless downhill, most of it over rocky trail that made it pretty tough on the knees. The lead group arrived at the hotel at around 4 PM, with Barbara and Hannah arriving 10-15 minutes later, and Judy and Leigh 15-20 minutes after that. Based on the reactions of most of the people, I’d say that most were glad we were staying the night in Birethanti as opposed to pushing on to Pokhara.
The hotel was somewhat strangely layed out and dark inside but it had a decent bathroom and a warm shower. I for one was happy that tomorrow would be our last day of trekking because quite frankly, at this point I was sick of trekking and ready to go home.
Day 19 (Thursday, Nov 17) – Pokhara (820 m)
After breakfast, it was a short (1 – 1.5 hour) hike to catch the bus. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Pokhara which gave us plenty of time to check out the town.
After a very nice shower and a clean change of clothes (I went down the street to buy a new shirt and socks so I could have a fresh set to wear), we sent our clothes to the hotel’s laundry service. Leigh, Judy, and I then ventured into town.
We spent some time shopping and then had an outdoor lunch at a restaurant on the lakefront. Since this would be one of our last opportunities to have dahl Bhaat, both Judy and I ordered it. We were not disappointed as the dahl Bhaat dishes contained far more side dishes than what we had become accustomed to, and much to Judy’s joy, there were plenty of greens.
Lunch lasted a good long time – the setting was very tranquil so we took our time to eat and converse. After lunch, Judy and Leigh decided to continue shopping. I had had enough shopping so I decided to spend some time in an internet cafe. Being accustomed to a fast computer with broadband, I found the super slow internet speeds annoyingly frustrating (even though I was at the cafe with “the fastest internet connection”), but it was still nice to get online and regain a bit of touch with the rest of the world.
Dinner was delicious, but they didn’t make enough food. We set the table up so that the guides and porters could all eat with us. Once dinner was done, the porters were each handed envelopes with their tips – each person in the group contributed approximately 1500 rps or about $21 (since there were 12 of us and 5 porters, each porter got around 3600 rps or $51 – about $2.50/porter/day). At that point, the real fun commenced. The table was moved out of the way, the music started, and some serious dancing began.
Day 20 (Friday, Nov 18) – Bandipur
All the porters had departed with the exception of Raju and Dhon. They rode with us a short ways on the bus and then we dropped them off. They were a great group of people and we’ll miss them.
It was a 2-3 hour bus ride to Bandipur, and when we arrived, we had a Western lunch at our hotel consisting of tuna fish sandwiches with cheese. We were told that on a clear day, the view from the hotel was really nice. Unfortunately, it was cloudy today so we couldn’t see much. After lunch, I took a stroll with Guy and Phil. We did a short loop of the surrounding area, but there really wasn’t a whole lot to see.
Later that afternoon, the group went on a hike and I decided not to go. Judy ended up going and said that it was pretty boring. I spent the afternoon reading and napping. Perhaps I should have gone hiking because as the afternoon passed, I began feeling a bit unwell. I thought I may have eaten something bad for lunch.
By the time dinner rolled around, I was feeling nauseous. At the dinner table, we met a few people who were also staying in that hotel for the night. There was a really nice couple from Australia who had done part of the Annapurna Circuit. The girl had found out she was pregnant and broke the news to her husband just a couple days prior while at the top of Poon Hill. Pretty cool. We also a met a mountain biker who was biking his way through Nepal. It seemed like a really interesting adventure but I wasn’t feeling well enough to ask him more about it.
I went to bed early and had an extremely fitful night of sleep. I’d alternate between having hot flashes in which I’d wake up completely drenched in sweat and then cold flashes where I couldn’t get warm enough. It was really bizarre. I had never experienced anything like that before and didn’t know if I had simply eaten something bad or if I had caught another bug.
Day 21 (Saturday, Nov 19) – Kathmandu
Well, I woke up feeling like shit again. What the hell was going on? This was extremely annoying! I usually get sick only on rare occasions, but on this trip, I couldn’t seem to keep from getting sick. I figured I had eaten something bad for lunch, but nobody else seemed to be sick and I didn’t have the runs. I had no idea what was going on.
We had a long 5-7 hour bus ride to Kathmandu so both Judy and I took some Bonine to help prevent motion sickness. Before getting on the bus, however, we had to take a 1 hour jeep ride to get to the bus. I sat shotgun with Barbara instead of in the back of the jeep. The ride wasn’t that bad.
It turned out that we didn’t have the bus all to ourselves as we had had previously. Instead, we shared the bus with other locals. I basically tried to sleep as much as possible during the ride.
When we finally arrived in Kathmandu, the bus dropped us off at the same point where we had been picked up 20 days ago. From there, we had to carry our stuff back to the Kathmandu Guest House. Judy, inspired by the Nepalese, decided to carry her bag on her head, a technique that seemed to work pretty well.
Leigh and Judy decided to pass the afternoon by going shopping in Kathmandu. Since I was still feeling like shit, I just rested in our room.
Dinner was at Rum Doodle. It was a very Westernized restaurant – they didn’t even have dahl Bhaat for crying out loud! Rum Doodle is not really known for its food (it was just OK), but more for their tradition of large foot-shaped papers in which groups can write and draw on. These paper feet are then stuck onto the walls and ceilings of the restaurants as a more or less permanent memento of the group’s adventure.
After everyone had eaten, it was time to present the guides with their tips. Troy gave a little speech expressing the group’s gratitude and appreciation of all that the guides had done for us, and then presented each with their tip envelopes (similar amounts to the porters).
As the night was wrapping up, a problem arose because we were coming up very short on the bill. We were supposed to put in extra money for the assistant guides’ dinners, but apparently, they spent quite a bit more than what was expected. However, that alone wasn’t enough to explain the large shortfall.
It wasn’t clear exactly what had occurred, but I wasn’t feeling very well and wanted to get back to the hotel. I bid adieu and started heading back to the hotel. I got lost and ended up hiring a rickshaw to take me back to the hotel. It only cost 30 rps, but I gave the guy 50 rps because that was all I had and wasn’t in the mood to bother with change.
Sunday, Nov 20 – Bangkok
In the morning, I felt only slightly better. I was, however, very happy to be finally going home. Judy and I had breakfast with Leigh outside on the second floor terrace of the restaurant in front of our hotel. Leigh was staying until Tuesday. Guy, Rob, and Lisa were headed back today and were in fact on the same flight to Bangkok as Judy and myself.
We soon said our farewells and were on a taxi to the airport. We left the hotel at around 10 AM which left plenty of time to spare for our 1:50 PM flight.
During the transfer in Bangkok, we lost Guy, Rob, and Lisa in the mad shuffle of people so didn’t get to say our goodbyes. We had an overnight layover in Bangkok and Judy had booked a hotel near the airport. The thing we hadn’t thought about was whether or not we needed a visa in order to leave the airport. We tried asking the information desk, but the lady’s English wasn’t very good and based on our conversation, we weren’t quite sure that she knew the answer anyway.
We decided that it might make more sense to just stay at one of the day rooms in the airport, but the day rooms turned out to be outrageously expensive. So we decided to just get our bags and spend the night in the airport. While retrieving our bags, we found out that Americans don’t need a visa in Thailand if the stay is less than 30 days. In that case, we might as well stay at the hotel that Judy had already booked and paid for.
There was a taxi service by the airport exit so we used it to get a taxi to the hotel. It cost around 600 bhat (~$15). Judy wanted to get a Thai massage which they offered at the hotel, and since I don’t really enjoy massages, I decided to just to hit the hotel’s buffet. The hotel was really nice, especially compared to what we had been used to for the last several weeks.
Monday, Nov 21 – Hong Kong
We had to wake up at 4:45 AM to catch our 8:25 AM flight. The taxi from the hotel to the airport was only 150 bhat, a big difference from the 600 bhat we had paid just the night before. Clearly, we had been ripped off by the prior night’s taxi service. Oh well.
Our final layover was in Hong Kong where we had some time to shop around and have lunch. Shortly after lunch, I began feeling nauseous again. Goddamnit! What the hell’s going on? The nausea continued onto the plane. Great, the flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco was around 14 hours and now I’m sick again?!
The flight was really long and although I felt like throwing up a few times, it never quite came out. I did have the runs however and had to make several jaunts to the cramped airplane bathroom.
A few hours before we were to land in SF, Judy started feeling nauseous and was soon throwing up. Good thing for those throw up bags they place behind every seat! By the time we had finally arrived in SF, we were both in pretty sorry shape – completely and utterly weak. We struggled just to walk through the airport with our daypacks by the time we retrieved our bags, we felt like debilitated senior citizens.
The most likely explanation is that we both got food poisoning from our lunch at the Hong Kong airport. Since Judy got it much worse than me, it was probably one of her dishes that was bad. She ate most of her order while I just had a few bites from it. At any rate, it felt sooooo very good to finally be back home and to be able to take a nice hot shower in a clean bathroom and then to be able to put on clean, warm clothes. It was definitely good to be home.
All in all, it was a fun trip and a very unique experience. Obviously, we both had a bit of bad luck (me more than Judy in getting sick on the toughest day of the trek), but even had I remained healthy during the entire trip, I still think I would have found the trip a bit too long . Honestly, if the trip ended after the Thorung Pass (Day 13 of the trek), I would have been perfectly happy. I would have seen all that I wanted to see and experienced all that I wanted to experience.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that I regret going on the trip. Certainly, we have many great memories (and pics!) from the trip and now have some good stories to tell. We had the opportunity to learn from and interact with the Nepalese people and see firsthand how they live their lives. The people were very friendly and humble, and even though they may not have much from a material standpoint, they seemed to be genuinely happy.
If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have elected to to the Everest Base Camp trek instead of the Annapurna Circuit trek. The trek to the Everest Base Camp is quite a bit shorter (15 total days as opposed to 22) and the sights and experiences are pretty similar. I’m happy to have the many great memories from the trip but am also very happy to be home. Of course, memories tend to fade which is why I took all these digital pictures. :-)
Here’s the official trip dossier from GAP Adventures. Actually, the original dossier available to us prior to the trip was in PDF format. During our trip, GAP Adventures revamped their website and did away with the PDF version. Since I didn’t save a copy, I just pulled the new dossier, in HTML format, from their website. Both versions seemed to have mostly the same content anyway.
[Holy cow, this trip report turned out to be extremely long. It's definitely the longest I have ever written, but I guess that's to be expected since this is the longest trip we have ever taken. About halfway through writing the trip report, I started regretting the decision to do a detailed write-up. However, at that point I had already written so much that I couldn't stop there. So I finished it up and it's a monster. If you've actually read the whole thing, I'd be impressed!]
Day 13 (Friday, Nov 11) – Thorung Pass (5416 m), Muktinath (3800 m)
Today was the day nearly everyone looked forward to with a bit of uneasiness and apprehension. Not only would we reach our highest elevation of the entire trek (17,769 ft), but this day would likely be the most physically demanding one as well. I was feeling nowhere near 100%, and perhaps even more disconcerting was that Judy woke up feeling really nauseous. Things weren’t looking too good.
Wanting to get an early start to ensure plenty of time in getting to our destination, we awoke at a god awful 3:30 AM and started hiking at 4:30 AM. The sun hadn’t risen yet so it was still dark outside. Everyone had their headlamps on, and it was pretty cool to look ahead and see an orderly procession of lights moving up the mountain in the darkness.
Not only was it dark, but it was also pretty cold. I was fairly comfortable, temperature-wise, hiking with a T-shirt, light fleece, windbreaker, and down jacket.
Ramesh had initially taken Judy’s day pack since she was feeling so bad. Strangely enough, as we continued our ascent, Judy began to feel better and no longer felt nauseous. She soon was feeling fine and took her pack back. Unfortunately, I wasn’t getting any better as I slogged up the hill, and had to give my pack to Ramesh temporarily.
As we neared the pass, the wind really picked up. Ramesh commented later that in all his treks along this circuit, he had never seen the winds so ferocious. So not only did I have the bad luck of being sick during the day of the pass, but we also had to have abnormally fierce winds. Fantastic! I soon had to add my Gore-Tex shell to all the layers I was already wearing in order to stay warm.
The wind was really whipping when we finally reached the pass. I was relieved to find that there was a small shelter there. It was still pretty cold inside, but it was out of the wind and I was able to get some hot tea. This marked our highest elevation point and the rest of the day would be spent descending. I’m typically much faster on the descents so I thought that the hardest part of the day was over. Little did I know that the descent would prove to be far more challenging than I expected and that the day was far from over.
The descent was hell. Quite a bit of snow remained (knee deep in many places) and the recent sunny days added icy patches to many parts of the trail. Actually, there really wasn’t even a trail – we just followed the footprints of those ahead of us. Whereas on the uphill I could hike at a relatively steady, albeit slow, pace, the downhill turned out to be very different. The snowy/icy conditions required much more strength and mental concentration, and I found myself only being able to take a few steps before having to rest and catch my breath. It was a really slow process. Poor Ramesh was assigned to stay with me and while he might understandably be annoyed or frustrated with my pace, he never showed it.
Ramesh and I did manage to have some fun, however. On several hills, we found it easier to simply slide down on our butts as opposed to walking down slowly and cautiously. It must have been amusing to watch. It worked OK, but what I really wanted was a snowboard. It was all downhill and I could have easily been all the way down the mountain in a fraction of the time.
By mid-afternoon, Ramesh and I had caught up with Judy, Leigh, and Prem, not because I had gotten any faster, but because they had taken a long rest break. We continued on, but I soon fell behind again. Ramesh diligently stayed with me.
There was only one teahouse during the entire descent, and when Judy, Leigh, and Prem arrived, the rest of the group was there and about to leave. Leigh decided to go on ahead with them while Judy and Prem waited for Ramesh and me. When I got to the teahouse, I stopped for some water and a veggie noodle soup. The soup was delicious and hit the spot, especially since I hadn’t had any real food since breakfast.
From the teahouse, the four of us marched on. The snow on the ground soon began to fade which made hiking much easier. We didn’t reach Muktinath until around 4:30 PM or so – a really long day considering that we had been up since 3:30 that morning! I was exhausted and extremely happy to have the day behind us.
That evening, Judy tried to learn how to play the Nepalese drum and found that it’s harder than it looks. Nevertheless, with Gurung’s patient instruction, she soon was able to play a simple beat.
Day 14 (Saturday, Nov 12) – Jomosom (2710 m)
I was feeling better today, not only physically, but also because the toughest day was over. Today was supposed to be relatively flat so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Before we left that morning, I ran into a Canadian unicylist who was planning on doing the Annapurna Circuit in the reverse direction (we were going counter-clockwise and he planned to go clockwise which is supposed to be more difficult). He had started in Jomosom (our destination city for today) and had unicycled without a porter (which means he carried all his stuff in his pack). He planned to hire a porter today in Muktinath before continuing on. Pretty cool! Hopefully he made it!
Raj warned everyone that we might be encountering some pretty windy and dusty conditions during today’s trek. As a result, I decided to purchase a bandana to wear over my nose and mouth. I ended up getting a bandana with “The Daily Leaf” printed on it. It had a big marijuana leaf printed on it along with a bunch of gibberish. Despite the comical contents of the bandana’s printing, it served its purpose quite well.
Our hotel that evening was quite luxurious. Our room had a full bathroom in it, complete with sink, western style toilet, and shower. Although the flush didn’t work on the toilet (you had to pour water down it), it was still nice to not have to squat. The shower was warm, but as with all showers on the trek, once the water was turned off, you froze your ass off.
Day 15 (Sunday, Nov 13) – Kalapani (2530 m)
Both Judy and I awoke feeling tired, surprisingly more so than the previous day (the day after crossing the pass). As we walked through Kalapani, we passed bunches of French adventure racers who were running the Annapurna Circuit clockwise. From their faces, it looked like they were in pain and anguish. One had a bloody nose and was continuing to run. Boy, that looks like a lot of fun – I just don’t see the appeal in doing something like that.
Jomosom has an airport and we saw several planes take off. I doubt I was the only one feeling this way, but a part of me wouldn’t have minded hopping on one of those planes and going home. I could have been done with the trip today and been perfectly happy, but with nearly a week still to go, that was not to be.
We encountered some really windy and dusty conditions while walking across the dry river bed. Once again, my hemp bandana proved its usefulness. There was some heavy road construction along a stretch of the trail, and we did a bit of somewhat precarious hiking along the mountainside to avoid the construction. We also had some great views of Tukuche Peak. While the day’s trek was for the most part flat, it was still pretty tough because of the long distance covered.
After passing a bunch of really nice looking hotels in Kalopani, we finally reached ours. Leigh had a monster blister on her heel which Dr. Phil was called in to pop. Troy had also reported a large blister and needed it popped as well. While he indeed had a blister, when compared to Leigh’s gargantuan blister, Troy’s looked more like a dry pimple.
This was the first hotel in which the entire group could sit around a single table. Judy had the dahl Bhaat and reported that the dahl was the best she’s had so far. Afterwards, the porters put in a cheesy Nepalese action flick DVD. Many of us watched along with them.
Day 16 (Monday, Nov 14) – Tatopani (1190 m)
Last night was fairly warm with a low inside our room of only 43 F (6.1 C) or so. During the night, I heard a mouse scurrying around upstairs. This continued for a few minutes. Then there seemed to be a bunch of scurrying interspersed with squeaks. Then finally, there was a loud squeak and then silence. My guess is that a cat took care of the mouse problem.
I felt much better today and just felt like hiking fast for some reason. I went out ahead of the group and eventually caught up with the porters as well as Lila who had been sent ahead to get a hotel room. When I got to Ghasa, I kicked back in the sun, ate an apple, and waited for the others. We ate lunch at a nice restaurant in front of a cool waterfall. I ordered the dahl Bhaat which was excellent. Judy was jealous because the dish contained lots of greens.
The environment was noticeably different as we continued to descend and became much more humid and tropical. Our hotel rooms in Tatopani required climbing several sets of stairs. After the long day of trekking we had gone through, this was not very pleasant – you could really feel it in your legs as you climbed the stairs.
The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the hot springs which were a quick jaunt from the hotel. Man-made pools were constructed in which hot water from a natural hot spring was flowed in with a pipe. Because direct water from the spring was too hot, another pipe carried cold water into the pool. The hot water was very refreshing and for me and helped loosen the muscles in my legs that had gotten somewhat tight from the over two weeks of continuous trekking.
Day 17 (Tuesday, Nov 15) – Ghorepani (2750 m)
Early during our trek that morning, I saw a pretty cool sight in the distance. A large herd of mountain goats was crossing a suspension bridge. The bridge was filled end to end with mountain goats, definitely a unique sight. I wanted to get a better shot of it so I rushed on ahead hoping to get close enough before all the goats had crossed. Unfortunately, I ran into a huge traffic jam – another large herd of mountain goats was completely blocking the trail, preventing my passage. By the time this herd had cleared, too much time had passed and the first herd had completely crossed the bridge. Oh well.
When I finally got to the bridge, there was another large procession of animals, this time donkeys, crossing the bridge in the opposite direction (towards us). We had to wait a good 15-20 minutes for all the donkeys to pass. During a short lull, the bridge was momentarily open and Barbara and I decided to cross. Unfortunately, we just made it to the other side. Another group of donkeys was preparing to enter the bridge, preventing the rest of the group from crossing.
Barbara decided to continue on ahead. I waited a while and then decided to go on ahead as well. By that time, Barbara had gotten far enough ahead that I couldn’t see her. I continued on for a while along the main trail, but soon stopped because I didn’t want to get too far ahead of the main group. So I pulled to the side, chomped on an apple, and waited. And waited. And waited. Hmmm… something’s not quite right. They weren’t that far behind me.
Then I saw Prem coming along the trail towards me and discovered that I had gone the wrong way! I missed a turnoff and was headed towards the town of Beni which was in a completely different direction from Ghorepani, our intended destination. Prem asked if I had seen Barbara and I told him that I knew Barbara was ahead of me but that I hadn’t been able to see her in some time. Not knowing whether or not Barbara had made the correct turnoff or not, Prem raced ahead to try to find her.
As I waited for Prem to return, I met a mother and daughter from Holland. They initially said “Kenichiwa” to me thinking I was Japanese. When I informed them that I was not Japanese and was in fact Chinese-American, the daughter started speaking to me in Mandarin! I always find it very odd when a Caucasian person can speak an Asian language – it’s very cool, but also very strange for some reason. It turned out that her Mandarin was at least as good as mine, maybe even better! It turned out that she had spent a lot of her life in China. Anyhow, they were headed to Beni and were going the right way.
Prem returned without finding Barbara. We hoped that she had gone the right way, but we soon ran into a Nepalese couple who suggested otherwise. Prem asked if they had seen Barbara and we both gave them a pretty detailed description. They indicated that they had indeed passed someone who fit Barbara’s description, and that that person was headed towards Beni. Oh no! Prem decided that we should just head back and then decide with Raj what to do.
Since we had lost a lot of time, Prem and I ran back – it was a nicely invigorating morning run. When we reported what happened to Raj, he decided to continue on towards Ghorepani. I wasn’t sure that that was the right decision given the information we had. Maybe he figured that if Barbara had gone the wrong way, she would eventually figure things out and get where she needed to be.
The three of us continued on, climbing a long section of really steep stairs. We were still trying to make up for lost time so we climbed up the stairs at a pretty good clip. By the time we reached the top of the stairs, we were all pretty hot and sweaty.
It turned out that Barbara had gone the right way. So much for the Nepalese couple’s assertion that they had seen Barbara headed towards Beni. I guess to the Nepalese, all those white people look the same anyway. :-)
The rest of the day was pretty hard. It was a long day with endless steep uphills. Judy actually felt that this day was tougher than the day of the pass. I didn't agree with that assessment, but it was a hard day regardless.
The hotel we had was really nice and big and had a volleyball court in front of it. We actually had a very good view of the court from our hotel room. Despite that, I decided to head down to get some courtside action of the game in progress. The court was on pavement which seemed like it would be murder on the knees. The people playing were actually pretty good so it was fun to watch.
When Judy arrived a bit later, she asked if we could play. Unfortunately, it was some sort of organized team play so they politely declined. It would have been fun to play, although with my legs tired from the day’s trek, I probably would have only had a credit-card vertical.
There were hot showers at the hotel and they were the best showers of the trek. The water was truly hot and it was not nearly as cold after the shower. We found out later that the water was heated by a “donkey” which, despite its strange name, was a great way of heating water. Basically, water is heated by the wood furnace in the dining hall and then piped to the showers. Unlike the typical solar powered water heaters, the hot water would not run out. Hot water would be present until the furnace was extinguished.
There were quite a few people staying there and most everyone hung out in the very large dining room. This was where the furnace was so it was very warm. Assorted laundry was strung around the furnace to dry.
Tomorrow’s plan was to get to Birethanti and stay the night. The following morning, we’d have a very short hike to catch a bus that would take us to Pokhara. Someone floated the idea that we should go straight through Birethanti and catch the bus to Pokhara the next evening. That way, we could be at Pokhara first thing the following morning (instead of arriving at around noon). This was supposedly a very desirable thing since Pokhara was apparently a really cool city that we would want to spend lots of time in.
Now that I was more or less healthy again, I didn’t really care either way, although I had a slight preference to stick with the original plan. I didn’t really see the benefit in pushing a really long day just to get to Pokhara a few hours earlier. I also wasn’t convinced that Pokhara had anything really that great to warrant such an action. Additionally, there were some others in the group who were not feeling that well and who did not feel comfortable making such a push the next day.
Ultimately, we decided to play it by ear. At mid-day or so, we’d see how everyone felt and then decide whether or not to push on further.
Day 18 (Wednesday, Nov 16) – Birethanti (1025 m)
Today’s itinerary was to wake up early and catch the sunrise at the top of Poon Hill. Troy decided to sleep in instead, and everyone else left at around 5:30 AM. Renee turned back after a few minutes because she thought it was raining.
It wasn’t raining. In fact, the weather turned out to be great. We slogged up the hill and after the long uphill day yesterday, our legs were definitely feeling it. When we got to the top of Poon Hill, there was a rickety looking lookout tower and a whole lot of people. It was kind of disappointing to see so many people, but the panoramic view made it worth it. We were above the clouds and were treated to a beautiful sunrise.
After spending some time atop Poon Hill and taking lots of pics, we headed back down to the hotel for breakfast. Soon, we were trekking along the main route again.
During one of our rest stops, Guy decided to take a pee in one of the bushes. Bad move. A lady rushed out of the nearby shop, grabbed Guy’s walking stick, starting yelling at him in Nepalese, and took a few good whacks on Guy’s backpack. She was clearly unhappy with Guy’s choice of urinal. After yelling a bit more, she walked back to her shop and threw Guy’s stick on the ground.
Judy apparently ate something bad during lunch as she had to make two emergency toilet stops that afternoon. Ramesh might have gotten the same thing as he was forced to make several stops as well. We found out the next day that he had to perform an emergency pit-stop 7 times that afternoon! Poor guy!
It turned out to be another long day. Instead of the relentless uphill of the day before, today was relentless downhill, most of it over rocky trail that made it pretty tough on the knees. The lead group arrived at the hotel at around 4 PM, with Barbara and Hannah arriving 10-15 minutes later, and Judy and Leigh 15-20 minutes after that. Based on the reactions of most of the people, I’d say that most were glad we were staying the night in Birethanti as opposed to pushing on to Pokhara.
The hotel was somewhat strangely layed out and dark inside but it had a decent bathroom and a warm shower. I for one was happy that tomorrow would be our last day of trekking because quite frankly, at this point I was sick of trekking and ready to go home.
Day 19 (Thursday, Nov 17) – Pokhara (820 m)
After breakfast, it was a short (1 – 1.5 hour) hike to catch the bus. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Pokhara which gave us plenty of time to check out the town.
After a very nice shower and a clean change of clothes (I went down the street to buy a new shirt and socks so I could have a fresh set to wear), we sent our clothes to the hotel’s laundry service. Leigh, Judy, and I then ventured into town.
We spent some time shopping and then had an outdoor lunch at a restaurant on the lakefront. Since this would be one of our last opportunities to have dahl Bhaat, both Judy and I ordered it. We were not disappointed as the dahl Bhaat dishes contained far more side dishes than what we had become accustomed to, and much to Judy’s joy, there were plenty of greens.
Lunch lasted a good long time – the setting was very tranquil so we took our time to eat and converse. After lunch, Judy and Leigh decided to continue shopping. I had had enough shopping so I decided to spend some time in an internet cafe. Being accustomed to a fast computer with broadband, I found the super slow internet speeds annoyingly frustrating (even though I was at the cafe with “the fastest internet connection”), but it was still nice to get online and regain a bit of touch with the rest of the world.
Dinner was delicious, but they didn’t make enough food. We set the table up so that the guides and porters could all eat with us. Once dinner was done, the porters were each handed envelopes with their tips – each person in the group contributed approximately 1500 rps or about $21 (since there were 12 of us and 5 porters, each porter got around 3600 rps or $51 – about $2.50/porter/day). At that point, the real fun commenced. The table was moved out of the way, the music started, and some serious dancing began.
Day 20 (Friday, Nov 18) – Bandipur
All the porters had departed with the exception of Raju and Dhon. They rode with us a short ways on the bus and then we dropped them off. They were a great group of people and we’ll miss them.
It was a 2-3 hour bus ride to Bandipur, and when we arrived, we had a Western lunch at our hotel consisting of tuna fish sandwiches with cheese. We were told that on a clear day, the view from the hotel was really nice. Unfortunately, it was cloudy today so we couldn’t see much. After lunch, I took a stroll with Guy and Phil. We did a short loop of the surrounding area, but there really wasn’t a whole lot to see.
Later that afternoon, the group went on a hike and I decided not to go. Judy ended up going and said that it was pretty boring. I spent the afternoon reading and napping. Perhaps I should have gone hiking because as the afternoon passed, I began feeling a bit unwell. I thought I may have eaten something bad for lunch.
By the time dinner rolled around, I was feeling nauseous. At the dinner table, we met a few people who were also staying in that hotel for the night. There was a really nice couple from Australia who had done part of the Annapurna Circuit. The girl had found out she was pregnant and broke the news to her husband just a couple days prior while at the top of Poon Hill. Pretty cool. We also a met a mountain biker who was biking his way through Nepal. It seemed like a really interesting adventure but I wasn’t feeling well enough to ask him more about it.
I went to bed early and had an extremely fitful night of sleep. I’d alternate between having hot flashes in which I’d wake up completely drenched in sweat and then cold flashes where I couldn’t get warm enough. It was really bizarre. I had never experienced anything like that before and didn’t know if I had simply eaten something bad or if I had caught another bug.
Day 21 (Saturday, Nov 19) – Kathmandu
Well, I woke up feeling like shit again. What the hell was going on? This was extremely annoying! I usually get sick only on rare occasions, but on this trip, I couldn’t seem to keep from getting sick. I figured I had eaten something bad for lunch, but nobody else seemed to be sick and I didn’t have the runs. I had no idea what was going on.
We had a long 5-7 hour bus ride to Kathmandu so both Judy and I took some Bonine to help prevent motion sickness. Before getting on the bus, however, we had to take a 1 hour jeep ride to get to the bus. I sat shotgun with Barbara instead of in the back of the jeep. The ride wasn’t that bad.
It turned out that we didn’t have the bus all to ourselves as we had had previously. Instead, we shared the bus with other locals. I basically tried to sleep as much as possible during the ride.
When we finally arrived in Kathmandu, the bus dropped us off at the same point where we had been picked up 20 days ago. From there, we had to carry our stuff back to the Kathmandu Guest House. Judy, inspired by the Nepalese, decided to carry her bag on her head, a technique that seemed to work pretty well.
Leigh and Judy decided to pass the afternoon by going shopping in Kathmandu. Since I was still feeling like shit, I just rested in our room.
Dinner was at Rum Doodle. It was a very Westernized restaurant – they didn’t even have dahl Bhaat for crying out loud! Rum Doodle is not really known for its food (it was just OK), but more for their tradition of large foot-shaped papers in which groups can write and draw on. These paper feet are then stuck onto the walls and ceilings of the restaurants as a more or less permanent memento of the group’s adventure.
After everyone had eaten, it was time to present the guides with their tips. Troy gave a little speech expressing the group’s gratitude and appreciation of all that the guides had done for us, and then presented each with their tip envelopes (similar amounts to the porters).
As the night was wrapping up, a problem arose because we were coming up very short on the bill. We were supposed to put in extra money for the assistant guides’ dinners, but apparently, they spent quite a bit more than what was expected. However, that alone wasn’t enough to explain the large shortfall.
It wasn’t clear exactly what had occurred, but I wasn’t feeling very well and wanted to get back to the hotel. I bid adieu and started heading back to the hotel. I got lost and ended up hiring a rickshaw to take me back to the hotel. It only cost 30 rps, but I gave the guy 50 rps because that was all I had and wasn’t in the mood to bother with change.
Sunday, Nov 20 – Bangkok
In the morning, I felt only slightly better. I was, however, very happy to be finally going home. Judy and I had breakfast with Leigh outside on the second floor terrace of the restaurant in front of our hotel. Leigh was staying until Tuesday. Guy, Rob, and Lisa were headed back today and were in fact on the same flight to Bangkok as Judy and myself.
We soon said our farewells and were on a taxi to the airport. We left the hotel at around 10 AM which left plenty of time to spare for our 1:50 PM flight.
During the transfer in Bangkok, we lost Guy, Rob, and Lisa in the mad shuffle of people so didn’t get to say our goodbyes. We had an overnight layover in Bangkok and Judy had booked a hotel near the airport. The thing we hadn’t thought about was whether or not we needed a visa in order to leave the airport. We tried asking the information desk, but the lady’s English wasn’t very good and based on our conversation, we weren’t quite sure that she knew the answer anyway.
We decided that it might make more sense to just stay at one of the day rooms in the airport, but the day rooms turned out to be outrageously expensive. So we decided to just get our bags and spend the night in the airport. While retrieving our bags, we found out that Americans don’t need a visa in Thailand if the stay is less than 30 days. In that case, we might as well stay at the hotel that Judy had already booked and paid for.
There was a taxi service by the airport exit so we used it to get a taxi to the hotel. It cost around 600 bhat (~$15). Judy wanted to get a Thai massage which they offered at the hotel, and since I don’t really enjoy massages, I decided to just to hit the hotel’s buffet. The hotel was really nice, especially compared to what we had been used to for the last several weeks.
Monday, Nov 21 – Hong Kong
We had to wake up at 4:45 AM to catch our 8:25 AM flight. The taxi from the hotel to the airport was only 150 bhat, a big difference from the 600 bhat we had paid just the night before. Clearly, we had been ripped off by the prior night’s taxi service. Oh well.
Our final layover was in Hong Kong where we had some time to shop around and have lunch. Shortly after lunch, I began feeling nauseous again. Goddamnit! What the hell’s going on? The nausea continued onto the plane. Great, the flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco was around 14 hours and now I’m sick again?!
The flight was really long and although I felt like throwing up a few times, it never quite came out. I did have the runs however and had to make several jaunts to the cramped airplane bathroom.
A few hours before we were to land in SF, Judy started feeling nauseous and was soon throwing up. Good thing for those throw up bags they place behind every seat! By the time we had finally arrived in SF, we were both in pretty sorry shape – completely and utterly weak. We struggled just to walk through the airport with our daypacks by the time we retrieved our bags, we felt like debilitated senior citizens.
The most likely explanation is that we both got food poisoning from our lunch at the Hong Kong airport. Since Judy got it much worse than me, it was probably one of her dishes that was bad. She ate most of her order while I just had a few bites from it. At any rate, it felt sooooo very good to finally be back home and to be able to take a nice hot shower in a clean bathroom and then to be able to put on clean, warm clothes. It was definitely good to be home.
All in all, it was a fun trip and a very unique experience. Obviously, we both had a bit of bad luck (me more than Judy in getting sick on the toughest day of the trek), but even had I remained healthy during the entire trip, I still think I would have found the trip a bit too long . Honestly, if the trip ended after the Thorung Pass (Day 13 of the trek), I would have been perfectly happy. I would have seen all that I wanted to see and experienced all that I wanted to experience.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that I regret going on the trip. Certainly, we have many great memories (and pics!) from the trip and now have some good stories to tell. We had the opportunity to learn from and interact with the Nepalese people and see firsthand how they live their lives. The people were very friendly and humble, and even though they may not have much from a material standpoint, they seemed to be genuinely happy.
If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have elected to to the Everest Base Camp trek instead of the Annapurna Circuit trek. The trek to the Everest Base Camp is quite a bit shorter (15 total days as opposed to 22) and the sights and experiences are pretty similar. I’m happy to have the many great memories from the trip but am also very happy to be home. Of course, memories tend to fade which is why I took all these digital pictures. :-)
Here’s the official trip dossier from GAP Adventures. Actually, the original dossier available to us prior to the trip was in PDF format. During our trip, GAP Adventures revamped their website and did away with the PDF version. Since I didn’t save a copy, I just pulled the new dossier, in HTML format, from their website. Both versions seemed to have mostly the same content anyway.
[Holy cow, this trip report turned out to be extremely long. It's definitely the longest I have ever written, but I guess that's to be expected since this is the longest trip we have ever taken. About halfway through writing the trip report, I started regretting the decision to do a detailed write-up. However, at that point I had already written so much that I couldn't stop there. So I finished it up and it's a monster. If you've actually read the whole thing, I'd be impressed!]
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