Trekking and Tea Houses to Annapurna Base Camp — Trip report

by Rachel Swift, all photos by author

Trekking Annapurna Base Camp.  In October 2017 my husband Bill and I decided go trekking in Nepal!  This is a description of the trip with an emphasis on the accommodations, teahouses, and meals.  [See also Rachel’s trip report on High Sierra Camps.]

We signed up for a guided group trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) at 13,500 feet in the Himalayas through an outdoor adventure company called Active Adventures based in New Zealand.  October and November are the best months to do this trek as it is after the summer monsoon season but before winter sets in. The adventure started and ended in Katmandu where the only international airport in Nepal is located. It included 9 nights in teahouses on the trail and a few days in Katmandu and Pokhara on the front end and the back end. What an adventure!

We arrived in Katmandu at about 10 pm at night. We flew from San Francisco to Hong Kong (13.5 hours) and then Hong Kong to Katmandu (5 hours), a very long and tiring journey. The Katmandu airport is quite small compared to other international airports we have been through.  We picked up our bags and stood in line at a kiosk to get a 30 day visa. Then we found our driver and drove 20 minutes to the Thamel Eco Resort Hotel. Thamel is a neighborhood where most of the international trekkers stay. Our room was very spartan, but it did have air conditioning which was important as it was very humid. In the morning, we found that the hotel had a nice courtyard with lots of super fit looking trekkers and climbers milling about. We had a buffet breakfast with instant coffee and decided to wander about Thamel to get our bearings.

Thamel is a crazy place! The streets are very narrow, almost like alleys, and there are no sidewalks. The road base is a combination of packed down dirt, pavement, and cobblestones combined with big cracks and potholes.  Only small cars and motorcycles were driving on these narrow roads. There were no tall buildings, – about 4 stories max. There was still a fair amount of rubble left over from buildings that were destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. There were large masses of tangled power lines overhead and many stray dogs.

Loads of people were wandering about and shopping. Nearly all of the shops in this part of town cater to trekkers. There were a few authentic outdoor gear stores like Northface, Marmot and a Korean and a Nepalese brand. But the vast majority were mom and pop shops selling knock offs at a fraction of the US retail price. This stuff is referred to as “Northfake”. As far as I could tell though, most of this merchandise was decent quality.

Even though Katmandu was chaotic, I did not feel unsafe or threatened wandering around.  The shopkeepers were welcoming, but unassuming. I learned that Nepal is a mostly Hindu country and people have a strong belief in Karma.

That evening we met our 2 Active Adventures guides and the other 9 group members, all Americans!, in the hotel courtyard.  Amanda, was our New Zealand guide, and Shree was our Nepalese guide. Both were very fit, energetic young people.

In the morning we went to the airport and boarded a small propeller plane for a half hour flight to Pokhara. Although Pokhara is only 200 kilometers away, it would have taken 6-8 hours to get there by bus as the road is in very poor condition and is crowded and windy.  Pokhara was much smaller and quieter than Katmandu and  situated on a pretty lake.  It had many similar “Northfake” outdoor gear stores and some nice cafes. Many of the streets had sidewalks, so it was pleasant to walk around. We stayed in another Eco Hotel.  Our room was spartan, but it had air conditioning and a clean shower.

At 8:30 the next morning, we met our porters who would be carrying our belongings.  They looked to be between 20-40 years old. I was surprised how small they were physically for the amount of weight each would be carrying. Bill and I had consolidated our belongings into one large blue duffle bag we had been given the night before for this. Our duffle bag weighed close to 50 pounds.

We boarded a minibus and the porters followed behind us in a small van. The ride took about an hour and a half and was absolutely terrifying.  Once we got outside of town, the bus started up a narrow windy road into the mountains.  The road was paved, but in very poor condition with many large potholes and hairpin turns. Many crowded buses came careening towards us traveling in the opposite direction and barely missing us.  Needless to say I wore my seatbelt!

We finally arrived at the trailhead area, and it was a chaotic scene. Cars and buses were coming and going and honking at each other and fighting for parking. The porters unloaded our duffle bags from the top of the bus and headed out.  Each carried a blue duffle bag with a strap wrapped around his forehead at one end and then wrapped around the opposite end of the duffle bag at the other end.  Most of the porters wore sneakers (not hiking boots), and a few wore flip flops!

Trekking Day One

This first afternoon of trekking was my least favorite. We walked along a dirt road for a few hours that followed the Modi River. It was extremely hot and humid and we went mostly uphill without a spec of shade. I was soon drenched in sweat. Lots of small, crowded buses and jeeps passed by and we had to quickly move aside to allow them to pass.  We each carried a daypack with water, snacks, rain gear, and a cell phone/camera.  See Adventure Tours website for details on number of kilometers hiked and elevation gains each day.

At about 1:30 we stopped in a village for lunch and a rest. Lunch consisted of of salad, French fries, and rice with vegetables mixed together. After lunch we crossed over a large pedestrian bridge. From that point on we were away from the road and the traffic. Things became much prettier and more pleasant. We descended some stone steps back toward the Modi River and came to our first teahouse where we would spend the night in a tiny village called Kyumi. From this point on, the villages we would pass through were accessible only by foot. Villagers who live there are very self sufficient and only own what they absolutely need.

 

Kyumi was very picturesque. There was a large stone plaza in the middle of the village with covered tables where we were served lemonade when we arrived. There were terraced gardens all around growing cabbage, onions, and potatoes. There was a large chicken coop nearby and lots of clotheslines around the plaza. There was one water spigot off to one side of the plaza with 2 plastic buckets. This is where you wash your clothes out, brush your teeth, refill your water bottles…Behind the spicket was a small stone building with 2 doors. Behind one door was the only toilet – a hole in the floor!  Behind the other door was a primitive shower. Actually, it was a bucket shower and the water was not heated.

Bill and I were assigned to a room with a cement floor with 3 single beds and two windows.  It was primitive, but clean and pleasant. It had one lone light bulb on the wall and one electrical outlet. The beds each had a fitted sheet and a pillow. We unrolled our sleeping bags and placed them on top of the mattresses. Bill spent his time sterilizing our water for the next day with his steri-pen. I washed out our sweaty clothes and hung them on a line to dry. Unfortunately, it was so humid that the clothes did not dry out very well. I also took my first bucket shower ever. I doused myself with water from a cup in the bucket. It felt great to rinse the sweat off of my body.  At 6:30 we had a group dinner on the plaza and were then handed breakfast menus to order what we wanted for the next day. There was a good selection of food to choose from, both Nepalese and Western food.  I went to bed exhausted and hoping that the teahouse the next day would have a western style toilet with a real seat on it!

Trekking Day Two

 

We got up early for a 7 am breakfast and were on the trail by 7:45. The porters had left earlier with our duffle bags. Starting early is important because it is nearly always clear and cool in the morning. We climbed 3000-4000 feet that day (I lost count) to a village called Chhomrong. This section of the trek was through an area of lush jungle vegetation which I did not expect in the Himalayas. Most of the trail consisted of a stone staircase through the jungle. The stairs were all hand made and different heights.  I had to pay attention to each step and use my poles. One of our guides, Amanda, was usually out in front, and the other, Shree, was sweep. I tended to stay in the back. However, the slower group was never more than a few minutes behind the others, – so the pace we moved at was quite brisk and nobody ever lagged far behind. By 10 am, I was drenched in sweat.

We stopped for “tea” after an hour and a half which consisted of cold lemonade and a plate of vanilla wafers we all shared. Two hours later we stopped for lunch at a very large developed teahouse called Jhinu. We would spend the night here on the way back down. There were loads of international trekkers resting and relaxing here on the plaza.

We finally arrived at Chhomrong, way up on top of a hill after a steep and exposed ascent up a set of stone stairs. There were great views of 3 peaks ahead, – Annapurna 1, Annapurna 2, and Fishtail. Fishtail was the most dramatic. It is considered a sacred mountain, so nobody is allowed to climb it.  About half the group went off for a 20 minute walk to a German bakery down the other side of the hill. I was too tired to go, but fortunately they brought back some pastries to share. They were delicious. The bakery also served brewed coffee, a real treat because the teahouses only serve instant coffee in the morning. How amazing to find a German bakery in a remote village in the Himalayas!

 

Shortly after arriving in Chhomrong, Shree handed each of us a dinner menu so the kitchen staff could prepare our meal for our assigned seating time. The menu was quite large. Again,  half of food was Nepalese and the other half was Western which we now knew was the usual. The Western food was mostly different versions of pasta or pizza. No meat is available in these villages because they do not have refrigeration. Bill and I chose to have “dal baht” that night, a Nepalese dish consisting of rice with lentils and vegetables. You pour a bowl of soupy lentils and vegetables over a large mound of rice and mix it all together. It tasted great. All the food is locally grown and made from scratch.

Trekking Day Three

So the routine seems to be…wake up at 6 am, repack our blue duffel bag and put it outside the door for the porter to pick up. Eat a hearty group breakfast at 7 am and hit the trail around 7:45. We order breakfast the night before just after dinner so it is ready to go at 7 am. There is loads of food to choose from on the menu from eggs, pancakes, potatoes, different kinds of bread, yogurt, hot and cold cereal. I usually had a cheese and onion omelet to get some protein in my body for the day ahead. Coffee is always instant with steamed milk.

We hike for one to three hours and stop for a break at a tea house which is always cold lemonade and a plate of vanilla wafers. We continue on for another one to two hours until lunch. We arrive at our teahouse for the evening around 3 pm. Shree assigns our rooms and gives us each a menu to order what we want for dinner. We shower if we wish to, wash out our sweaty clothes, rest, and treat or sterilize our water for the next day.

Most teahouses have a few toilets that are a hole in the floor and at least one that has a western toilet seat.  You must bring your own toilet paper. You do not flush your toilet paper down the toilet, you place the paper in a plastic bin next to the toilet which we learned is commonplace where there is less western-like plumbing and sewers. Showers are primitive with poor water pressure and sometimes are not heated. But they do the job. There is usually a sink outside of the toilet area to brush your teeth and to fill up your water bottle. All of the teahouses provide bottled or purified water for a price.

Around 5:30, the group often meets in the dining area before dinner to chat, play cards, share some popcorn, and check their cell phones. Some of the teahouses have wi-fi for a $3 fee and a place to plug in and recharge your phone. Internet is spotty, but usually available.

It cools down considerably in the evening, so I always changed into pants before dinner. It often rains late in the day or at night, but always seemed to be clear in the morning. I tended to go straight to bed after dinner as I was always exhausted and it got dark shortly after 6 pm.

The trekking day 3 was extremely difficult – again. We descended a very long steep set of stairs with no shade and then up another set of steep stairs. I was told this terrain is called “Nepalese flat.” This means “up, up, up, down, down, down, up, up, down, down, etc.” Ha! Ha!

I have to admit though that the scenery that day was quite picturesque as we passed through many small villages. There was terraced farm land all around, women picking vegetables in baskets, small children playing, and huge water buffalo wandering about. Women tend to wear traditional Nepalese clothing and the  men wore more western clothing. Homes are modest, made of stones or bricks with tin roofs, often the color blue. Floors are cement. Possessions are few, just the necessities for farming and cooking. Everything the villagers own is made locally or carried in by foot. Trash is either burned or carried out. Most households own some chickens and goats and maybe a water buffalo. Nepalese people are polite and friendly, but not overbearing. Most spoke some English.

The trail that day was extremely crowded with people, especially traveling in the opposite direction. There were trekkers from China, Korea, Malaysia, Germany, Japan, and Australia. Before the trip, I had expected the Himalayas to feel like the middle of nowhere. But it was actually quite the opposite. I joked that I felt like I was walking down 5^th Avenue in NYC! Most people traveled in groups with a guide and porters. A few traveled in pairs, but they always had a porter to carry their things for them.

Around lunchtime, we entered a sacred sanctuary. The trail became more level and the temperature dropped as we entered the woods. There were loads of waterfalls, huge old rhododendron trees, and tall bamboo trees. It was a relief to be in the shade.

Eventually we reached our teahouse for the evening called Dovan. It sat on a perch overlooking the Modi River below. It was surrounded by steep cliffs and waterfalls. Very dramatic.  Dovan was quite a large complex of buildings with all sorts of interesting international travelers.

After dinner that evening, I heard a loud rushing noise as soon as I returned to our room.  It was a massive rainstorm that lasted for several hours. Thank goodness we were not trekking then or we would have been absolutely soaked.  The good news is that the sound of the rain and our exhaustion helped us get a good night’s sleep.

Trekking Day Four

Today’s trek was cooler than the previous days as we continued through a dense forest of rhododendrons covered in moss. Waterfalls near and far were all around us. Although the trail was still uphill, it was more gradual than the previous days. We crossed over several make-shift bridges made of sticks and narrow logs. The real bridges had been washed out by the summer monsoons.

We arrived at a teahouse called Duerali for lunch and were given room assignments. We were told that we should spend the afternoon here resting because we were now above 9000 feet and needed to give our bodies time to adjust to the altitude.  At these elevations, the “rule” was to only gain a couple thousand feet of elevation each day. We were also told not to shower here or at the next teahouse because it was quite cold and there was too much risk of getting sick.

Now that we were above tree line, the scenery was more rugged and open. The vegetation was mostly low shrubbery. There were steep rocky slopes all around us with the Modi River in a deep canyon far below. When we first arrived in Duerali, there were some great views of FishTail and the Annapurnas. But as the afternoon wore on, large cloud masses rolled in so we were not able to see much.

That afternoon was a bit boring as it was too cold and cloudy to go out and explore. Most of the group passed the time in the dining hall chatting, playing cards, and checking emails and FB. The dining hall was also warm inside compared to our  individual rooms which were not heated.

Trekking Day Five

Today was a crystal clear morning. This was a relief after a very stormy night with howling winds. We only hiked in the morning that day and arrived at Machhupuchhre Basecamp (MBC) at 12,000 feet about 11 am.  This particular trek was the prettiest one yet and is what I had imagined the Himalayas would look like before we left. The landscape was rugged and windswept as we hiked along a steep ridge with the Modi River below and there were waterfalls all around us.  We passed through a field of wild flowers which looked like large yellow daisies. High above us was a large rock perch with a bunch of honeycomb hanging down from it. This honeycomb was supposedly hallucinogenic from these wild flowers!  There were great views of Fishtail and Annapurna South along the way.  I stayed in the back of the pack that morning as the altitude was pretty intense.

MBC was just gorgeous when we arrived, a cluster of buildings with blue tin roofs in an open meadow with snow covered peaks all around. There was a mother sheep and several lambs wandering about as well as a Bernease mountain dog with a large bell around its neck. Three young Nepalese boys were playing soccer in a field below the tea house.

We had a nice lunch and some hot chocolate at 12:30 and were told to “take it easy” for the rest of the day to continue adjusting to the altitude and to conserve our energy for the next “big” day. I wandered about to explore the area after lunch, but did not get far because a thick fog rolled in and stayed most of the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the dining room as it was the warmest place to be. I had hoped to hang some of my damp clothes out to dry that I had washed two days ago, but decided not to as the air was still too moist.

This teahouse had a helicopter landing pad in an open area which was the first one I had seen so far. This caused me to reflect on how fortunate our group had been not to have had any mishaps along the way. No sprained ankles, blisters, diahrea, throwing up…A few people took diamox for altitude sickness, but seemed fine. It would have been very difficult to evacuate someone from where we had been on previous days in the dense jungle.

We went to bed early that night because the next morning we would get up and leave at 4 am for Annapurna Basecamp (ABC) at 13,500 feet – our final destination, – and watch the sunrise over the mountain peaks.

Trekking Day Six

I slept in my clothes that night as we got up at 3:45 am and left at 4:00 am. It was only 32 degrees outside, so I wore my heavy weight down jacket for the first time. I also wore a head torch over my wool hat to help see the path. There was a beautiful full moon that morning illuminating the way.  We hiked uphill 1500 feet from MBC to 13,500 feet where Annapurna Basecamp (ABC) is located – our last and final teahouse.  We arrived just before 6 am. I was surprised how crowded the trail was so early in the morning. But in retrospect I realized that watching the sunrise over ABC was the highlight of the adventure.

We went up to a high ridge to watch the morning sunlight gradually illuminate the snow-covered peaks all around us. It was stunning – well worth all the effort to get there.  We peered down onto glaciers at the base of these mountains. There was a small stone stupa on the ridge dedicated to all the people who had lost their lives trying to climb these peaks. There were photos of these people inside an opening in the stupa and prayer flags flapping the in the wind all around it. It was quite a spectacular scene against such a majestic backdrop. There was a plaque on the stupa which read:

“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve. They are cathedrals where I practice my religion.”

 

After taking photos and admiring the views, we hiked down to the teahouse dining room for some hot tea and cookies to warm up. There was lots of excitement in the air as we were all very pleased with what we had just accomplished.  Then we hiked back down to MBC, packed up our belongings for the porters, and had a nice breakfast outside on the plaza. It was a stunning crystal clear morning, with a 4000 foot descent awaiting us.

That day we hiked all the way back down to Dovan where we had been 2 nights previously.  I quickly discovered that I use an entirely different set of muscles going down than going up. Ouch! At one point when we were back in the jungle, we spotted a family of monkeys high up in a vegetated area above us. It was probably several families as there must have been 20-30 monkeys. They were hopping from tree to tree and swinging from vines. They were quite large animals with long tails. It was fun to stop and watch them as I had never seen monkeys in the wild like that before.

Trekking Day Seven

Another long, tiring day. The first half of the day, we hiked downhill back through the rhododendron forest. It was lush and shaded and there were very tall waterfalls all around us. However, at about 11:30 we came to the bottom of a very long set of stairs that we had to ascend in order to get back to Chhomrong. We hiked up 3100 stairs – no joke! It was hot and humid and there was no shade. The climb seemed endless. I got into my own little head zone and just took one step at a time using my poles. It took over an hour, but I finally made it to the top of these stairs. At the top, there was that German bakery I mentioned before.  I ordered a Coca-cola and it was the BEST coke I ever had. When the whole group arrived, we had lunch. It was a veggie burger and it was absolutely delicious.

After lunch, a steep descent took is back down to Jhinu, our teahouse for the night. It was quite a large, developed compound compared to the others. There was even a large table of crafts for sale by the locals. I bought a wool hat and some jewelry made of yak bone as gifts.  We were assigned to a large clean room that had its own bathroom with a western toilet and a hot shower. I felt like I had just checked into the Ritz Carleton. I was in heaven.

Trekking Day Eight

We woke up to a fantastic view of 2 snow covered peaks glistening in the sun. We hit the trail early and trekked downhill through a dense jungle. My clothes were soon soaked through with sweat.  We learned that the route we had planned to take that day was closed due to a recent landslide. Fortunately, there was a lovely alternate route. We passed many waterfalls and pretty vines with deep purple flowers hanging down. Some clouds rolled in, so it was not so unbearably hot that afternoon.

Eventually we emerged from the jungle and followed a dirt road to a large village where we stopped for lunch. It was interesting to watch village life as we ate – young school girls in dark blue uniforms walking to school, older men tending to the fields, and women washing out clothes in plastic buckets under a spigot. We continued along this dirt road to Tolka and  last overnight teahouse. This teahouse had a large flat grassy area with tables and chairs set up for people to relax and enjoy the views of terraced farmland.

That evening was a celebratory dinner that we shared with our porters. A goat was slaughtered for the occasion, the first meat we had on the trip. After dinner, the porters set up a circle of chairs on the lawn for all of us.  They played a drum and a tambourine and sang us Nepalese songs.  We all danced inside the circle as the sun went down with big smiles on our faces.  Shree brought out a chocolate cake with candles on top that had been specially baked for us. It was fun to have this time with our porters and to show our appreciation for them making this trip possible.

Trekking Day Nine

Our last day on the trail we walked along the dirt road, passing many villages along the way where we stopped for tea and then lunch. Along the way, we passed many young children playing in their yards, and goats, water buffalo and dogs wandering about.  There was some cloud cover that day, so it was not too hot. Eventually, we got back on a trail that descended down to the highway for about 45 minutes. When we got to the highway, a van and our porters were waiting for us to go back to Pokhara.  The one hour drive was a harrowing experience – again!  But we all just smiled through it all, given what we had just done.

We stayed in a different hotel in Pokhara this time that was much nicer than  our previous hotels. Our room had a balcony, a nice bathtub, and upgraded bedding. By western standards it was not luxury, but I still felt like a princess being there. The entrance to the hotel had a nice veranda where we sat and ordered cappuccino and pastries and watched the world go by. We also dropped off a large bag of laundry at a storefront down the street where it all got washed overnight for just $10.

Our group met in the hotel lobby that evening and walked 20 minutes along the main tourist drag to a restaurant where we again met our porters for dinner. We sat at 2 large round tables in a courtyard in the back. Fortunately, the tables were covered with a tarp because it started raining pretty hard. We had a buffet dinner of dal baht and chicken tiki masala, – great comfort food. After dinner, we thanked our porters for their hard work and presented them with a group tip. Each of them walked around our table and hugged each one of us. It is interesting that in Nepalese culture, men often show each other physical affection. They often hold hands and hug each other and there is no stigma attached to this.

The next day was a “day off”  with no planned activities. Bill and I both felt a little bit sick with scratchy throats and a cough, so we decided to lay low. I think all of the trail dust we had breathed in finally caught up with us. I had an hour-long deep tissue massage at the hotel in the morning, which felt great. In the afternoon, we went window shopping and walked along a path around a pretty lake in the middle of town. On the way back to the hotel, it started raining hard. A Nepalese man in a barber shop looked at Bill’s mangy hair and beard, and motioned for us to come into his shop to get out of the rain. Bill ended up with a great scissor haircut and a knife shave from this man for $6.50. It looked great and then the rain stopped.

We had dinner on our own that night. We sat at a nice table on the balcony of a nearby restaurant and watched the world go by.  Pokhara was quite lively that Friday night with lots of young people out enjoying themselves. It was fun to watch.

The next day we took a short afternoon flight back to Katmandu and returned to the same Thamel Eco Resort Hotel.  The group had a pleasant farewell dinner that night at a local restaurant.  It was a great time to re-live some of the stories and experiences we had had out on the trail together. There were lots of stray cats wandering around the restaurant looking for food scraps. There was also a group at the table behind us passing around a “hooka” pipe which looked like a bong.  How fortunate we had been that our group had gotten along so well and were so positive.  We also said our good-byes to Shree that night as he was leaving to lead a trip to Everest Base Camp the next morning.

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Reflections

If I had really understood how difficult the hiking on this trip would be each day, I probably would not have signed up for it. I did not expect the intense heat and humidity at the lower elevations and I had not expected so much of the trail to be a steep stone staircase through the jungle.

However, now that I have actually done it, I have a sense of empowerment and expanded capabilities. This opens up a whole realm of travel and hiking possibilities worldwide that I had never considered before. I feel very fortunate that I was able to have this empowering experience in the Himalayas with the beautiful, welcoming Nepalese people and culture as an important part of the trip.