Annapurna-Trekking

As we wrote in the last entry we went on a 10-Day-Trek in the Annapurna-Region...IT WAS AMAZING !!!

ANNAPURNA 1 - 8091m - View from Lete

On the starting day we first drove by car for about 1 hour to Nayapul, which is the town where you have to enregister with ACAP, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, before starting the trekking. As we decided to walk with a guide, we didn't have to worry about the paper work;-) Talking about the guide: he's name is Kopil and he lead us thru the mountains, giving us some precious information about the peaks, local people, religion and made us laugh with his funny behaviour. In this area it really is not necessary to be guided, as the trails are very well maintained and obviously marked and the guesthouses, called teahouses, are widely spread out along the tracks. Even though April is a good time for hiking in this part of the Himalayas, we never had any troubles to find a bed to sleep and food to fill our empty stomachs. Our idea in hiring a guide was mainly the benefit of getting interesting background information, which at the end was rather disappointing and not worth the money, because our man was not one of the experienced ones and his english skills ware pretty basic. But at least we supported a local family (Kopil is a part-time university student and a proud father of a daughter)!

On day three at 4.30 in the morning we started walking up to Poonhill, one of the most famous lookout-points in the Annapurna range, to see the sunrise. We were blessed by superb weather conditions...so we not only could admire the view, but also see the six stripes of the Himalayas before the sun rised over the peaks. What a unique moment!!!

It didn't matter that hundreds of other trekkers from all over the world shared that time up there with stufabi. Happiness was written in everyone's face that morning...

The day before climbing Poonhill, we were walking seven hours with 1200m difference in altitude, constantly ascending. After descending from Poonhill, eating cornbread and drinking milktea for breakfast, we continued walking downhill to the village of Tatopani, 1200m lower and seven hours further. This was quite a bit of work for our legs and shoulders, and at the same time our thoughest two days. This torture absolutely was rewarded by the mentionned Poonhill-views, as well as passing thru blooming rhododendron-forests and coming along waterfall landscapes forming pools with cristalclear, icecold mountainwater.

It was also very interesting to see how the hilltribes live and how they are able to grow different grains (corn, wheat), vegetables (cauliflower, potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, onions, spinach) and fruits (apples, apricots, almonds) in barren earth.

Most of those tribal people have tibetean roots. It can easily be seen in their different clothing, the colourful jewellery the women wear, the art, and the religion which is Tibetean Buddhism. Praying flags are waving everywhere, Praying rolls are installed in every tiny little village and Bhudda's Eyes are watching you from all over...

stufabi in front of DHAULAGIRI - 8167m - View from PoonHill