The Last Group of Annapurna Circuit Shots

This group of photos picks up in Muktinath, after our descent from Thorung La. The landscape was drastically different on this side of the mountains. It resembled a desert canyon scene, dry and scrubby, with little visible life.
After our incredibly long day of crossing the pass (we were up at 3:30 AM), we arrived in Muktinath around 3 pm, took HOT showers, ate momos and slowly hobbled up to Muktinath temple. The temple is a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Buddhists from around the world. This temple and village attracts many national and international tourists. It is not difficult to understand why it is considered a holy place. The temple sits up on a hill, peering out into the wide expanse with mountains circling at 360 degrees. We were fortunate to be there at sunset. Not only were we the only people at the temple, but the mountains were lit up from behind with the setting sun yielding a silhouette view that was magnificent. Visiting the temple was indeed a spiritual experience to end an incredible day for us. The trek in the days building up to the pass challenged our minds and bodies more so than ever before, both with the physical strain of the trail and the worries about altitude sickness. Standing at the temple at sunset on weary legs, we both felt such a sense of fulfillment in our hearts. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to do this trek together.


Prayer flags and old chortens.

Sudhir was fascinated by these balanced rocks. Look closely and you'll see the dark silhouette of a mountain in the background.

View of Jharkot Village across from Muktinath.

The zig-zag etched into the side of this cliff is actually a long, arduous trail (that we did not attempt) that takes travelers to the Upper Mustang region. Upper Mustang is a very old region of Nepal that borders Tibet. The traditional villages have a strong Tibetan influence and a lot of trade is done between these villagers and Tibetans. The Upper Mustang area is carefully protected by laws that require foreigners to pay USD $700 for a permit to visit for any period of time. Though we cringe at the thought of paying so much to visit, we are pleased to know that the traditional cultural and lifestyle are being preserved. Some of you may have seen the movie Himalaya by a famous French photographer that documents the Dolpo area of Upper Mustang. We hope someday to make a trip back to explore this region! Anyone interested in joining us?

Desert-like surroundings on the trail between Muktinath and Kagbeni.



This is a "famous" little place in Kagbeni that attracts "McDonald's" fans by calling themselves "YacDonald's." Beef is rarely served in Nepal, but yak and buffalo are meatlovers' favorites.

View of the old settlement of Kagbeni, right on the edge of the Kali Gandaki river and Mustang region. We visited a temple and several stupas that were built in the 1600's and are still well-preserved today with thankas, murals, and Buddha statues that are beautiful.

View up the Kali Gandaki river into the Mustang region.

Our trek from Kagbeni to Marpha was exhilarating with howling, gale-force winds whipping up the river. We were forewarned not to try to trek after noon because the winds come up strong every day, but we wanted to spend the night further along the trail. We were completely bundled up and still managed to get sand between our teeth and in every crack and crevice. Though we followed the flat riverbed for much of the trail, at one point we went up the side of a cliff and on our way down the steep trail, the wind was so strong that we could balance leaning into the wind with no effort!

Many strange rock formations delighted us along the way. Geologists from all over the world come to this region to study the rock mysteries.

The wind can be seen in the distance whipping up sand storms along the dry riverbed.

Sun setting over the mountains behind us as we rounded the corner to Marpha.

Sudhir "conquered" this rock on our way from Marpha to Lete.

A common sight on the trail were caravans of ponies carrying goods (salt, groceries, hotel supplies) from village to village. When we saw them in the distance, we always looked for a safe place to stand. The ponies often push through with no idea of space between them and an innocent trekker. We had a couple of intimate encounters with ponies when we were on narrow cliff paths!

Annapurna I (26,493 feet). Mountaineers acknowledge that this is the most dangerous of all "Eight Thousanders," mountains with a height over 8,000 meters. Actually, 40% of those attempting to summit Annapurna I have died ( compared to a 15% average of people summiting other Eight- Thousanders) and only about a third of the attempts have been successful. Maurice Herzog, with his French team and Nepali sherpas, summited the peak in May 1950 making it the first mountain above 8,000 meters to be summited in the world.

View of the Dhaulagiri Icefall from Lete. This was the mountain that Herzog and his team had originally planned to summit, but upon arrival and surveillance, they realized that it would not be possible and they went for Annapurna instead.

Sunrise behind Annapurna I

On the trail from Lete to Tatopani.

Swings are built all over Nepal for the festival of Dashain. These kids were swinging on a cliff edge next to a deep gorge!

A landslide consumed the trail on the top righthand side, which has now been replaced by a lower trail that can be seen on the lefthand side of the photo. Landslides were common along the trek and we never did manage to get used to walking on a narrow rocky path, with loose boulders looming over our heads and steep drops to the river down below.

On our way to Tatopani, we came across this caravan of sheep that were traveling from Tibet.

Buffalo relaxing in the warm afternoon sunshine.

The trek from Tatopani to Ghorepani was ridiculously arduous. We literally trekked up hill for 7 hours straight, gaining 1,560 meters in one day! We were absolutely exhausted by the time we reached Ghorepani. Unfortunately, we had our first morning of fog and clouds in Ghorepani and missed the supposedly spectacular view of the Himalayas from Poon Hill.

The last day of the trek lead us through gorgeous old forests, thick with moss, vines, and lush vegetation. Though it was our last day, it was a very long one. We hiked 11 miles, including one stretch that consisted of 3,421 rough stone steps down hill! We made it back to NayaPul just as it began to rain (the first time on our whole trek!). We shared a taxi back to Pohkara with our newfound friends, Catherine and Gregory. Unfortunately, just when we thought we could relax, we ended up on a hair-raising ride through the rain on dark, slippery roads in a taxi with no windshield wipers, no headlights, and a maniacal driver who thought he was competing in a race against time. Just as we arrived in Pokhara, the suspension shocks on the car broke and we screeched to a halt on the pavement. We were exceedingly happy to catch another, safer taxi the rest of the way to Pokhara, where we were met with the next challenge- to find a hotel in rain, in the dark, in an area of town with a power outage. It was not easy to do given the circumstances (and after having hiked 11 miles and suffered an insane 2 hour taxi ride)!

Phewa tal (lake) in Pokhara

Finally resting! It was sheer pleasure relaxing by lakeside in Pokhara and enjoying a good meal.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two nights in Pokhara with Catherine and Gregory(and fine steaks, ice cream, and cold beer). They are a lovely couple from France whom we hiked with for several sections of the trek .


THAT'S ALL FOR OUR ANNAPURNA ADVENTURE. STAY TUNED FOR PHOTOS AND STORIES FROM INDIA. WE ARE OFF TO DELHI THIS MORNING AND WILL NOT POST AGAIN UNTIL WE RETURN IN MID-DECEMBER. LOVE SUDHIR AND RACHEL