Annapurna circuit and basecamp 2024

At the end of the trip, we had three more days off in Kathmandu. The days were spent sightseeing and souvenir hunting. In the evenings it was time for good food and drink. The Divali Festival also offered endless photo opportunities.

Fortunately, there were no unexpected delays during the trek, so the unused reserve day was turned into an extra day in Pokhara. In addition to the farewell dinner, massage and Khukri rum, I went for a walk around the town and paragliding.

The next day we hiked all the way back to Lower Sinuwa. The end of the road leading to Pokhara was only a few kilometres away from Lower Sinuwa, but it was naturally on the other side of a giant gorge.

We ascended about 2,000 vertical meters in two days from Lower Sinuwa to Annapurna Base Camp for some great views and photo posing. The quota of a lifetime for stairs was filled in one go!

We climbed to Poon Hill to watch the sunrise illuminate Dhaulagiri, one of the world's 8000m peaks. Trekking to Lower Sinuwa was surprisingly strenuous with constant ups and downs.

On the south side of the Annapurna circuit there is now a car road almost all the way. We took a bus to Tatopani, where we relaxed in the hot springs. The route to Annapurna base camp began with a 1700m climb to Ghorepani.

Thorong La pass reached! And contrary to our guide's assumptions, I too managed the 5416m pass without a pony ride. After the pass, a 1700m descent to Muktinath awaited.

At 03:30, we started the climb to Lake Tilicho, 4900 meters above sea level. At this point, my slow acclimatisation pace made itself very apparent and I barely made it to the lake.

As we continued to over 4000m, the lush scenery gave way to a more rugged and dry mountain environment. Although the nights are already cool at this altitude, the days have been warm.

In previous years, a rest day for acclimatisation was scheduled at this stage. As the villages on this section are at relatively similar altitude, this year the stage was split into two short sections instead of a rest day. A good solution!

After the initial warm-up of the first few days, we climbed some 1,300 metres over the next two days to an altitude of more than three kilometres. The rapid ascent was already making us pant.

The first days of the trek were spent in a lush valley. The altitude of less than two kilometres doesn't affect your performance yet, but it was really hot in the sun and after a few hours all your gear was soaked in sweat.

After three days, we moved from Kathmandu to the starting point of the trek in Bahundanda. It took us a whole day to make the transfer by the tour operator's minibus and public bus, although the distance is only about 200km.

In the beginning of October, I flew to Nepal with two friends for a trek combining the Annapurna circuit and base camp. Before the actual trek, we had time to explore Kathmandu for a couple of days.