Trekking in the Annapurna Sanctuary

Poon Hill (Bishnu-porter, us, and Ganesh-guide)


We just recently returned from a 12 day trek into Annapurna Sanctuary. It sounds like a long time in terms of backpacking, but for Nepal, it is quite a short time. First of all, trekking in Nepal is not a wilderness experience. Although the scenery is amazing of the Himalaya, you are never far away from a village. In fact, you walk from village to village, usually no more than 2 hours apart, and you can stop and have lunch or stay the night where you please. The trails are pretty busy, both with ther trekkers and with people that are carrying goods from other villages. They usually have a basket that they carry with a band around their forehead, and they can haul an incredible amount of weight. So, although we were away from cars and walked everywhere, we were never away from other people.

We were blessed with great weather. Everyday it is clear in the morning and for sunset, but when we were in the sanctuary, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The temps got cold as soon as the sun went down, but while it was shining, we could hike in shorts (a skirt for me). The views were incredible each day, and one of the highlights was waking up before dawn one day (a major feat for both Drew and me) and walking up a place called Poon Hill, and watching the sun rise on the Himalaya. First the mountains turned pink in alpenglow, then golden, then whitish blue as the sun rose completely. It was magnificent!

Sunrise from Poon Hill

We also saw some cool animals along the trek. There are forests of rhodadendron in Nepal. I grew up with bushes in Seattle, but these are huge trees! I'm sure it is beautiful in the spring when they bloom. In the trees, we spotted langurs, which are white monkeys with black faces. We watched them for a long time as our guide, Ganesh waited patiently. In Nepal, they aren't very excited about monkeys, since they see them all of the time. We also saw a strange animal called a tahr, which is like a mountain goat.

When we got into the Sanctuary it was picture perfect. Annapurna Base Camp is in a natural amphitheatre surrounded by huge 7,000 and 8,000 meter peaks. The actually mountains almost seem stunted by the immense size of everything. Drew and I both read a book about Chris Bonnington's expedition up the south face of Annapurna, and it seems so crazy. It's incredibly steep and you can constantly hear rockfall and avalanches coming down. Plus there are huge glaciers to cross, and unbearably cold weather. I think I'll just stick to looking up at the mountains!

Machhepuchhare ("Fish Tail") from the Sanctuary

Besides the obvious glory of the Himalaya, we both very much enjoyed the cultural experience of the trek. We learned a lot about the country and the people. In some ways, it makes me feel very lucky to be American, because we have opportunities that many people in the world don't. The people who live in the countryside of Nepal are quite poor, living mostly by farming for themselves, selling what they can to buy a few things that they can't grow. There is something beautiful about the simplicity of their lives, living hand to mouth, and a happiness that shines through sometimes bleak conditions. The people who are doing the best make money from the tourists, which makes us a target. Sometimes I am bothered by this, and yet I understand that everyone wants to make a living. I think I can learn a lot about simplifying my own life from these people, and to remember that happiness can exist with very little.

The highlight of the trip for me was working in two local schools in small villages, writing ebooks with the students. It felt like a truly authentic experience, where we weren't simply tourists, but teachers. Drew was so helpful, taking pictures and was just as involved as I was with the students. He also set up the project with the second school on his own, which I feel so grateful for. The schools were both quite poor. The kids wore torn clothes, and some had strange cuts that weren't healing properly. But they seemed happy, all the same. The schools were both chaotic in nature, with kids of all sizes coming in and out of the classroom, totally curious of what we were doing. But, we learned so much from the experience, and how different things can be in Nepal on so many levels. In the end, both sides won, and while we learned about the people in more depth, the students will each get a copy of a book they wrote about their village. They are trying to learn english, and so it was also an opportunity for them to practice, and for them to teach their parents. It was the beginning of a bigger project that Kelly Keena (in Colorado) and I am trying to do, where we write books with students from around the world about their communities, called the Global Library. It went fantastically well, and I will post a link to the books when they are finished.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving on the trek, and while we were dreaming of turkey and mashed potatoes, we instead ate dal bhat.... again. It is actually quite delicious, lentils over rice with a veggie curry, but not like homecooked turkey. We've become vegetarians in Nepal, after our stomach bugs, and I can eat an incredible amount of food these days. But anyways, we still talked about all of the things we are thankful for and I wrote in my journal.... "I am thankful for my family, and when family is doing well, life is good. I'm thankful for Drew's family, and the two new members, Braeden and Bridget. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for this opportunity to travel and for having Drew to share it with. I am thankful for my health and happiness...." I feel like there is a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! We celebrated the next day with a dessert called a snickers/mars roll. It's a candybar rolled in dough (like a springroll), and deep fried! It's dangerous, gooey, goodness.

I feel I hardly expressed my thoughts and emotions that I felt on this trek, but hopefully it scratches the surface of the incredible journey we are having. We are always thinking and loving

our friends and family, so even though we are far away, you are always with us.

Annapurna Sanctuary