The Literal and Figurative High Point of the Trek

This part of the trek led from Letdar to the highest point on the Annapurna Circuit, the Thorung La Pass at 5416m. It’s hard to believe that you can simply walk to such an altitude but you can, and I did.

Yak!

Horse

People are tiny amongst the giants

Trekking. Look at my cool mittens!

It wasn’t that dangerous

After reaching the aptly-named ‘High Camp’ at 4850m I decided to take a short walk up as far as possible to help with acclimatization. I followed a path until it ran out and got to 5100m. It was nice to get a little off the main path and feel the isolation immediately

Hi mum (look at my awesome mittens again!)

The night after the supermoon, the moon was still super brilliant

I walked to a viewpoint at 5000m. I was alone; everyone else was already in bed due to the cold (at 8pm). The feeling of isolation was thrilling. It was cold but there was no wind. That was a special time

I loved looking at the stars and still it was bright enough to clearly see the mountains. The hazy area on the left is where the Milky Way should be if it wasn’t so bright

High Camp the next morning. Today’s goal was the Thorung La Pass at 5416m

Many people start extremely early in the morning to give themselves sufficient time to make it over the pass. Although that means it will be very cold. I preferred to wait a little and have the sun for company. Also I felt pretty great compared to previous times at altitude so I wasn’t worried about not making it

So made it on the backs of horses, others had porters like these bagless trekkers

My shadow for the only company

I made it!

The way up to the pass was actually no problem. The way down was long and boring, plus I started to get a headache. Anyway at Muktinath, the next stop, I was really back in ‘civilization’ as there were many other non-trekking tourists. In fact the temple at Muktinath is considered one of the most important in Nepal (news to me when I entered the town; as usual a well-informed traveller). Passing underneath each of the 108 water sprouts in the shape of a cow’s head is meant to clear you of sin. I settled for putting my hand in each of them and almost slipped and fell due to the ice. I wasn’t hardcore like the guys that ran through all 108 in their underwear

The moon sets in the early morning

 

Muktinath marked the end of my trek. Of course it’s possible to continue many more days trekking but I wanted to save my time for other destinations in Nepal. So that meant bus time! First a short but very bumpy bus to a town called Jomsom

And a short walk to the bakery for breakfast before getting the next bus to Ghasa

I was sat right up at the front of the bus next to this mini shrine. At least I had good views out of the windscreen

But oh my goodness it was a dusty and bumpy road. Many trekkers skip this section exactly because there is traffic and that makes the way extremely dusty and not very pleasant

However there are still some amazing views to be seen

I feel ya buddy, I feel ya

As the sun goes down I have the last view of mountains on the trek. What a great experience it has been

Next up: Lakeside Pokhara, the birthplace of Buddha and Chitwan National Park