Annapurna Circuit trek starting tomorrow!
Yesterday (Wednesday, 25 October) morning I woke up not really knowing what to do about the current trekking situation. I wanted to leave the following day but there was a major problem. The Nepalese government just re-wrote the rules on trekking in Nepal. As of 21 October all trekkers must hire either a porter or a guide through an authorized trekking agency along with obtaining two separate permits through the agency. A permit has always (since 1986) been required to trek in the Annapurna region but you can no longer simply buy this permit yourself. There are several checkpoints throughout the trek where they check your permit, so its not possible to simply go without permits. If you do, you get turned back...No Bueno!!! Previously you could just go out and start trekking on your own once you picked up the permit, which is what is what I had planned to do, so this new rule was a major road-block to me.
Ben, whom I've been traveling with since Lhasa, left yesterday to go on a shorter, 1-week trek in the Langtang area, so I was once again traveling solo. So I went this bakery that has a bulletin board for travelers to post messages on. The traveler's bulletin board there is not very well known so my hopes weren't high, but not 5 minutes after I posted a flyer I saw someone come up, read my flyer, and start writing down my email address. I was still sitting in the bakery and went up to talk to the girl, who looked familar. Yvette (from Holland), whom I had met before somewhere but we can't figure out where, also wanted to go trekking in the Annapurna area and was in the same situation as me with regards to the new trekking rules. We decided it was no use trying to fight the system and agreed to hire either a guide or porter and split the cost. So we spent a good portion of yesterday planning our trip, visiting various travel agents, and working on getting the necessary permits, etc. In the end we decided to go with this 'eco-trekking' company (its probably 'eco' in name only, but I liked the guy I talked too). Yvette couldn't leave until Friday ( 27 October) but that was okay with me since it would have been impossible to get the permits that day anyways.
This morning (Thursday, 26 October) Yvette and I went down to the trekking agency and filled out all the paper worked and signed contracts. We will meet the guide this evening at 6 PM and then leave tomorrow morning by local bus for Besi Sahar, the Nepalese town from where the Annapurna Circuit trek starts. The guide's salary is $12/day, which we split 2 ways, so its not prohibitively expensive or anything but considering everything else here its a large chunk of change all at once. The permits costs us $30 and $5, which also seem pricey for Nepal. But it worked out really nicely for both of us since we are both traveling alone and would otherwise have to hire a guide on our own.
From Besi Sahar, we have planned on 18 days of 'guided trekking' around the Annapurna Circuit, ending in Pokhara on 13 November. We obviously don't need an actual guide as the route is very highly trafficked, but I'm trying to look at it from the point of view that we are giving a local Nepali a desperately needed job, and I'm sure he will be able to impart some cultural insight to us which will also be interesting. We may add on a 2 or 3-day side trip at some point or I might go guideless (since I'll have all the permits already) up to the Annapurna Base Camp at the end of the 18 days. I might be able to email a few times along the trail but don't count on it. I'm really excited to start trekking tomorrow afternoon.
The amount and quality of trekking food available in Kathmandu is really admirable, especially compared to Tibet (yuck). So I went and stocked up on some snacks (meals I can buy in the tea houses) for the trail this morning to the tune of $38 for 6 kg (13 lbs) of food. I dread the thought of carrying 13 lbs of food but I'm sure I'll appreciate it when I'm eating cashews, trail mix, granola, chocolate bars (incredible variety), cookies, dried fruit, granola bars, fruit bars, and tang (for drinking). Yum! Wish I had some of that my last hike....
The tour company we are using is called EncountersNepal.com (977-1-4411142, www.encountersnepal.com) and they may or may not be able to contact our guide (and therefore us) while we are trekking.
I'm back in my glasses after one day of contacts caused my right eye to freak out and get all red :-( I really don't want to trek for 3 weeks in my glasses and 'too-dark' clip-ons.
Ben, whom I've been traveling with since Lhasa, left yesterday to go on a shorter, 1-week trek in the Langtang area, so I was once again traveling solo. So I went this bakery that has a bulletin board for travelers to post messages on. The traveler's bulletin board there is not very well known so my hopes weren't high, but not 5 minutes after I posted a flyer I saw someone come up, read my flyer, and start writing down my email address. I was still sitting in the bakery and went up to talk to the girl, who looked familar. Yvette (from Holland), whom I had met before somewhere but we can't figure out where, also wanted to go trekking in the Annapurna area and was in the same situation as me with regards to the new trekking rules. We decided it was no use trying to fight the system and agreed to hire either a guide or porter and split the cost. So we spent a good portion of yesterday planning our trip, visiting various travel agents, and working on getting the necessary permits, etc. In the end we decided to go with this 'eco-trekking' company (its probably 'eco' in name only, but I liked the guy I talked too). Yvette couldn't leave until Friday ( 27 October) but that was okay with me since it would have been impossible to get the permits that day anyways.
This morning (Thursday, 26 October) Yvette and I went down to the trekking agency and filled out all the paper worked and signed contracts. We will meet the guide this evening at 6 PM and then leave tomorrow morning by local bus for Besi Sahar, the Nepalese town from where the Annapurna Circuit trek starts. The guide's salary is $12/day, which we split 2 ways, so its not prohibitively expensive or anything but considering everything else here its a large chunk of change all at once. The permits costs us $30 and $5, which also seem pricey for Nepal. But it worked out really nicely for both of us since we are both traveling alone and would otherwise have to hire a guide on our own.
From Besi Sahar, we have planned on 18 days of 'guided trekking' around the Annapurna Circuit, ending in Pokhara on 13 November. We obviously don't need an actual guide as the route is very highly trafficked, but I'm trying to look at it from the point of view that we are giving a local Nepali a desperately needed job, and I'm sure he will be able to impart some cultural insight to us which will also be interesting. We may add on a 2 or 3-day side trip at some point or I might go guideless (since I'll have all the permits already) up to the Annapurna Base Camp at the end of the 18 days. I might be able to email a few times along the trail but don't count on it. I'm really excited to start trekking tomorrow afternoon.
The amount and quality of trekking food available in Kathmandu is really admirable, especially compared to Tibet (yuck). So I went and stocked up on some snacks (meals I can buy in the tea houses) for the trail this morning to the tune of $38 for 6 kg (13 lbs) of food. I dread the thought of carrying 13 lbs of food but I'm sure I'll appreciate it when I'm eating cashews, trail mix, granola, chocolate bars (incredible variety), cookies, dried fruit, granola bars, fruit bars, and tang (for drinking). Yum! Wish I had some of that my last hike....
The tour company we are using is called EncountersNepal.com (977-1-4411142, www.encountersnepal.com) and they may or may not be able to contact our guide (and therefore us) while we are trekking.
I'm back in my glasses after one day of contacts caused my right eye to freak out and get all red :-( I really don't want to trek for 3 weeks in my glasses and 'too-dark' clip-ons.
posted by Dustin at 12:19 AM
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