Thorong La Pass; Annapurna Circuit Trek 2018

Bismillah...

I happened to be quite free this weekend as I took a day off after the awal Muharram public holiday. I have no pending chores and sadly, the Olympic Games has ended. I was busy catching up with all the finals last weekend. So, I have been spending this weekend to settle my UK Visa, did some cleaning up on my YouTube channel, put up a new banner there and edited some videos. I'm not planning to monetize the channel. I just want to make it a proper place to store and share my travel memories. Here is a video I made on our trip to Thorong La. I just realized I never write about it. Partly because I went straight for a week course right after that, another trip followed and then life went on hahaha

We went with the same company that organized the trip to Gokyo in 2014 but they have changed the company's name to Himalayan Hub. The arrangement was easy as I already know how they deliver their service. I did make price comparison with some other companies and still this company gave us the most reasonable cost which was USD 295 per person. However, we did not opt for full board service thus we allocated a separate budget for food. Why was it not full board? In my previous experience, the food was wasted because we were too exhausted to eat after a hike. But..... it was the opposite with these guys whose appetite increased as we go to higher altitudes hahaha 

Our itinerary goes like this

Day 1: Arrival in Kathmandu

We arrived during Holi Festival which explains why those two had their faces all smeared in red.

Day 2: Drive from Kathmandu to Chame (2600 m)

It was not a comfortable drive, to be honest. The five of us were squeezed inside a small jeep. We had to switch seats towards the end as LH was having a bad motion sickness. It was a scenic journey as we approached the mountainous area, though.

Day 3: Trek from Chame to Pisang (3250 m)

Manang can actually be reached by car. Some hikers start there but of course going to higher altitude faster means a higher risk for AMS. Since we were walking on the gravel road, I remember it was quite hot as there were no trees shading the path. This was when I immediately notice that this circuit was less populated than Everest region. Although there were villages, but they were further apart and relatively small.

Day 4: Trek from Pisang to Manang (3519 m)

What was unique about the circuit to me was the contrast of its landscapes. At the point where I was standing to take this picture, in front of me was this barren land with all those dwellings on the clifftops and actually behind me were lines of snowcapped mountains. To think of it now, I should have put more effort to capture that hahaha

Day 5: Acclimatization day

Leisure hike to this vantage point and Gangapurna glacier lake

Day 6: Trek from Manang to Yak Kharka (4000 m)

The snow covered mountains that I just mentioned above. At this point, we were standing in the dry barren area. This was the day when we started to cover more elevations; 500 m elevation per day. That was why we needed a day for acclimatization. However, personally, I think the climb was still okay.

Day 7: Trek from Yak Kharka to High Camp (4925 m)

The above is Thorong Phedi. Some hikers, those who stretched their climb over several more days than us, will stay here before going to the High Camp. As for us, we had lunch here and then went straight to High Camp after that. I say, the most strenuous climb was from Thorong Phedi to High Camp.

This is High Camp and this place is extremely cold at night. We were huddled together just a few centimeters away from the fire and I was still shivering! That morning, when we went to the toilet before we start our hike to the pass, we had to break the ice layer inside the pale to get water beneath it

Day 8: Trek down to Mukhtinath (3800 m) via Thorong La Pass (5416 m)

This was the condition of my shoe as I trek to the top! I was scooping snow and rocks all the way. I tried to catch up with the porter boys because I had my extra shoes inside my bag but of course they were too fast for me despite those loads they were carrying. And the rest.. is history~