Sun break in the Himalayas
That sublime moment when the sun rises at Annapurna Base Camp makes the cold, grime and exhaustion of the trek worthwhile
In the lexicon of great Himalayan treks in Nepal, ABC comes before EBC in the alphabetic sense. Not surprisingly though, the iconic Everest Base Camp trek is at the top of everyon e’s wish list. This doesn’t mean that the Annapurna Base Camp trek is without attractions and charms. Sure, it is shorter in length (five days versus nine days) and less demanding in altitude gain (4,100m vs 5,500m). But, it has an equally stupendous view at journey’s end.
Adventurers are ageless and so it is that my group of close friends, all senior citizens who first got hooked on trekking while at St. Stephen’s College in the 1970s, still continue with this fine passion. Two trekkers who passed me on the way down when I was within sight of the ABC had told me, “You are very brave, sir!” To be honest, I don’t know that I feel very brave, but I do know that you have to be very determin ed an d driven to go on a deman ding mountain adventure.
Up the airy mountains
Annapurna I (8,091m) was the first 8,000m peak ever to be climbed. This was accomplished by legendary mountaineer Maurice Herzog and his French team on June 3, 1950, three years before Everest was summited. The peak, of which there are four sisters linked in one giant massif, is named for the Hindu goddess of food and nourishment who is said to reside there. Annapurna has the reputation of being the most dangerous mountain in the world, with a fatality rate of nearly one-third, meaning that of every three people who have summitted it, one has never returned. By comparison, Everest, which has by far the greatest amount of ascents at over 4,000, has a fatality rate of less than six per cent.
The trek to ABC used to start at the village of Phedi, but in recent years the road has pushed further up the valley of the Modi Khola which drains the Annapurna Sanctuary, cutting out a day-and-a-half’s walk. On a rainy misty morning we found ourselves on a trek organised by South Col expeditions. We crossed the tributary Kimrong Khola over a long metal suspension bridge and passed through the picturesque village of Jhinu Danda (known for its hot springs) before our first serious climb to the larger hamlet of Chomrong, which controls the entrance to the sanctuary. But the weather was still socked in and of the great mountains ahead of us, there was as yet no sign.
The next morning we stopped briefly to have our permits for the Annapurna Conservation Area checked. (What we pay for the permits goes back into the development of the villages.)
IT TOOK ALMOST TWO GRUELLING HOURS BEFORE WE BROKE THROUGH THE FOREST COVER AT THE GIANT HINKO CAVE
Then the trail dropped down through terraced fields and neatly painted homes, each with its garden of marigolds, to where the tributary stream that drains the outer flanks of Hiunchuli and Annapurna South plunges down in an icy torrent towards the Modi Khola.
These ups an d downs are very much part of the trail experience in Nepal and we had to cross several smaller side valleys on our gradual ascent. It can be disheartening to give up hard-won altitude so quickly to descen d to a river crossing, but that’s just the nature of the game and it is important to factor this into your expectations.
I was impressed by the level of trail development. A metal suspension bridge soared above the chasm across the Chomrong Khola, the remains of the older wooden bridge visible beneath it. At each mountain village there were neat wooden signs in English giving place names, distances and expected time taken. For most of the lower trail up to Deorali, the ascents were made easier by stone steps cut into the mountainside. Food and accommodation, while basic in nature, was readily available, and
LIFT YOUR EYES AND YOU WILL HAVE YOUR BREATH TAKEN AWAY BY THE MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE OF THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN AMPHITHEATRE IN THE WORLD!
some lodges even had hot water showers and Wi-Fi available. This is definitely a trail that a lone trekker can attempt without a guide or porter, and we saw many young Nepali students making their way up. What they lacked in equipment and technique, they made up for in spirit and enthusiasm, the unique double redand-blue triangles of the Nepali flag fluttering gaily from their backpacks.
Hotel California
There is always on e day on a trek when things go badly wrong. On Day three, the plan was to walk from Bamboo to Deorali with our maximum daily height gain of 800m and an expected time of four-five hours. I was prepared for a tough day’s climb but, initially, there was absolutely no sense of that and I began to relax. Maybe the trek notes were wrong, I thought. The trail wound gently up through a thick bamboo forest. It was a lovely, picturesque walk, with glittering waterfalls plunging down from
the towering crags to take respite in crystal clear pools with gravelly floors before the swelling streams poured over more rocks and disappeared into the undergrowth. Far above us in a clear blue sky towered the twin summits of Macchapuchare (translated as the Fishtail Peak). A solitary sentinel standing guard over the head of the valley, its distinctive fluted shape looked like the finest Swarovski crystal glittering in the sun.
Abruptly the fairytale came to an end at a small stone temple behind which a steep flight of stone steps soared into the forest above. Now the climbing was relentless and we gained height rapidly to our lunch stop. Following that, it took almost two gruelling hours with the clouds closing in and the temperature dropping before we broke through the forest cover at the giant Hinko cave (where the mysterious yeti was apparently sighted by the 1970 British expedition that climbed the South Face of Annapurna). After a brief respite, we set off for the distant beacon of Deorali, using torches to pick our way over the stones.
The next morning dawned a perfect mountain day and all the exhaustion slipped from my body as if by magic. I looked up at the blue vault of heaven cut off by the forbidding walls of the canyon closing us in on all sides, softened by sparkling waterfalls plunging from impossible heights. “Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light’’—but this was the sunlight reflecting off the solar panels in Chomrong from where we had started our journey. The climb eased off and the vista widened out over the next two days as we followed the giant moraine of the Annapurna glacier up to the Base Camp.
Morning has broken...
ABC appeared in the distance as a cluster of low white buildings with blue roofs, perched on the rim of the moraine at a height of 4,130m. Below was the great brown expanse of the Annapurna glacier which drains the entire South Face, covered in dirt and debris fallen from the slopes above. It is a desolate an d lon ely place in the surreal wilderness but just lift your eyes higher and you will have your breath taken away by the magnificent spectacle of the highest mountain amphitheatre in the world! The four great Annapurnas an d their atten dant peaks of Gangapurna, Bharhachuli and Khangsarkang girdle the sanctuary like a vast Olympus of protective deities, not one summit lower than 7,500m.
In the pre-dawn darkness, we joined a small, shivering huddle of enthusiasts to catch the first rays of the rising sun as it came up behind Macchapuchare. Standing guard at the entrance of the sanctuary, the stunning mountain took on a very different aspect. The separation of the two tails was no longer apparent and the serrated ridges and steep snowfields that sweep down from its summit slopes made it look like an impregnable ice fortress.
Finally, the sun broke over the shoulder of Macchapuchare and Annapurna’s sacred circle lit up for a few seconds in alpenglow, one of the greatest spectacles that nature has to offer. The crowd fell silent, staring at the giant glowing wall of ice and snow surrounding them. For me, this sublime moment was what makes it all worthwhile—the bitter cold, the sweat and grime, the inedible food, the exhaustion. One more moment that will live forever in my memory.
THIS SUBLIME MOMENT WAS WHAT MAKES IT ALL WORTHWHILE—THE BITTER COLD, THE SWEAT AND GRIME, THE INEDIBLE FOOD, THE EXHAUSTION