Nepal is known for its mountains and trekking and yes, sometimes (for example during the hot season when we can hardly breath in Nepalgunj without breaking a sweat) I wish I lived up there. Well, I don't, and thus I go there for vacation. So, together with my colleague and good friend Anne, I set out for the Annapurna Circuit in the end of April, and the end of the trekking season. 
Even though it was the end of the season, we were not the only ones on the track. The road that's under construction to Manang will take a few more years and therefore the donkey traffic jam will be a normal sight for quite some time more. In spite of their size they are fast walkers and they stop for nothing. Further up, we also got to see the yak. They are funny looking for sure. It was not season for yak yogurt but the cheese is good. In the Annapurna area most of the people are Buddhists and praying 
wheels are frequent on the side of tracks. Most of the times they are nicely carved wooden wheels, but if that's not available, anything that's round works... We arrived at base camp without any problem, the trek was much easier, and much warmer than I had anticipated. The view was super and we only had one morning of rain. During the night before doing the pass, some snow came which made me very happy, I love snow! This is not the highest I've ever been, but this time I could really feel the altitude. However my headache was not hard to bare in comparison to the altitude sickness that two friends 
got. Seeing someone walking around as if she is extremely drunk, and not responding to anything really makes one respect the altitude! We all made it, and really enjoyed the beer we had when coming to Muktinath!
The original plan was to fly from Jomsom in order to get back to work in time. However due to wind and rain in Pokhara (I'm being nice, there were also some issues with some Nepali guides and hotel owners not fulfilling their reservation promises...), the flights were cancelled and instead we got on motor bikes! So we ended up doing the full circle, even though the equivalent to two days walking we did sitting behind some crazy drivers. It sure wasn't easy riding a bike with a back pack even though I was not driving myself for a change. The view was great though and I enjoyed the ride, too bad it's not possible to take good pictures. I will for sure do more trekking, and I'm sure (I know many of the readers are too) that I will stand at this point, 5416 meters above sea level, again.
got. Seeing someone walking around as if she is extremely drunk, and not responding to anything really makes one respect the altitude! We all made it, and really enjoyed the beer we had when coming to Muktinath!The original plan was to fly from Jomsom in order to get back to work in time. However due to wind and rain in Pokhara (I'm being nice, there were also some issues with some Nepali guides and hotel owners not fulfilling their reservation promises...), the flights were cancelled and instead we got on motor bikes! So we ended up doing the full circle, even though the equivalent to two days walking we did sitting behind some crazy drivers. It sure wasn't easy riding a bike with a back pack even though I was not driving myself for a change. The view was great though and I enjoyed the ride, too bad it's not possible to take good pictures. I will for sure do more trekking, and I'm sure (I know many of the readers are too) that I will stand at this point, 5416 meters above sea level, again.
