The Annapurna Circuit Retrospect

Dipankar Shakya
A lesson in persistence, patience and perseverance taught in the high, vivid and beautiful classrooms of a harsh unforgiving landscape

I recall being engulfed by anxiety the night before the morning we were set to leave for Besisahar from Kathmandu to begin our trek across the Annapurna circuit. Lacing up an old pair of trekking boots that I had bought years ago simply because they had caught my eye and not for their intended purpose, thoughts of doubt ran knots in my mind. Reminiscing those life-lasting experiences now, those knots are well undone and I am extremely glad I went along.
Soon after we arrived in Besisahar at around 2pm, the six of us got busy drafting out plans for the entire trip. The evening that day was one filled with anxiety and celebration of old friends coming together who had been bound apart for the past year in their inevitably diverging streams of individual lives. The following day, the six of us were seated in a four-wheeler bound for Manang with a 25 year old foolhardy. We arrived late at Brakha close to 7pm but were welcomed with a nice hot Nepali meal at a hotel that had a room to spare given the time.

A wonderful bright morning greeted us this day as we prepared to start our trek. We began at 3450m at a way-sign pointing towards ice-lake across the road from the hotel. Slowly we walked upward through the slopes above Brakha, careful of our breathing. On we marched moving higher and higher until a little tea shop greeted us. “You will take 1:30 mins to reach Ice Lake”, its board read to us treading the path, urging us to go on after a short rest and refreshing tea offered in the calm loneliness of its solitary owner. The wind had picked up strength now later in the day but with newfound vigour we walked with pace, so much so that we almost missed a grand view. When we did finally turn around to see the grand majesty of a mountain shimmering in the sunshine in full glory with its calm blue aura, we stopped flat in silence and smiles in a shared sense of inner peace. As stated, an hour-and-a-half later the stillness of a glistening emerald green lake resting in the laps of the surrounding mountains greeted us. A stillness engulfed the air as tiredness drowned in the tranquility and the songs of the wind soothed the silent admirers. We returned from the 4650m high Khecho Lake immersed in a sense of peace and personal achievement.

About 15 minutes north of Manang, we enjoyed long hours basking in the sunshine and the silently admiring the shimmering beauty of Gangapurna: the mountain, the lake and the river. A lower altitude, warm sun, little wind, untainted natural aesthetics and the pristine waters bound us in its peaceful embrace and hours flew by like minutes in comfort. Thereafter we continued on our trek to Tilicho base camp, staying the night at Khangsar and moving past Shreekharka. All the way to Tilicho, mountain after mountain greeted us, smiling at us and forever fixing their majestic gaze as we moved through the Annapurna-range family. The captivating beauty of the path makes one forget the risks one undertook in treading difficult paths like the landslide areas.

Starting from Tilicho base camp at 4:30am, we slowly walked upward moving past frozen streams. A little while later clear white mountains turned bright flaming orange and in heavy breath as we turned around the sun rose instilling warmth and hope across the mountains and in us an innate yet unexplainable happiness for life. Same must have been for the Blue Mountain Sheep that came out to graze, frolicking on the slopes. From there followed the tiring walk up a 22 hairpin winding across a steep upward slope. Past the hairpins and behind a corner then turned, we were welcome to the majesty of Snow Country. A little further hiding behind a snow covered hill, suddenly a clear deep blue shimmering lake greeted us. Everyone started jumping about in ecstasy at the beauty of a shy lake hiding behind her mother high up at 4919m. In a single glimpse, it was verified that heaven is a myth, and this before us was real. The majestic Mt Tilicho must have smiled in the sunshine as everyone, like children played on her lap finding comfort in her soft snowy skin captivated by the beauty of her and her daughter.

After a tiring day long trek from Shreekharka to Thorang-phedi, the day finally arrived to trek through Thorang-La pass. Early in the morning at 4 we started from Thorang-phedi, joining a line of upward creeping headlamps in the freezing morning cold. Each day of trekking was a preparation for this final challenge as the path was long steep slopes, a number of slippery and narrow icy trails,

limited oxygen, windy, cold and a rucksack to carry along. However we climbed along the mountainous path, closest to mountain peaks that we had ever been. Many ups and turns later close to 11am we finally arrived at a board beyond which it was all downhill. We had done it, Thorang-La pass was conquered! At 5416m we cheered and embraced each other in joy. We commemorated the moment with a prayer scarf known as ‘khada’ tied to the congratulatory board and pictures to forever capture the moment. As the winds blew stronger we started downhill, feeling high and proud like never before, to Muktinath to formally end the trek.

A landscape that must have been forged in immense pain to the earth and yet so beautiful, perhaps indicating that pain is an essential element endured in the procreation of beauty. The trek through the Annapurna circuit was more than just covering altitudes and distances. It was a lesson in persistence, patience and perseverance taught in the high, vivid and beautiful classrooms of a harsh unforgiving landscape through an unforgettable journey that reinforces and lifts one’s spirit with gratitude to the grandeur of what Mother Nature has to offer.