1. The Ultimate Trek - Annpurna Circuit Jayant Doshi
(1st October 2010 to 17th October 2010)
I met Shailesh, a keen trekker, in Pune after my
Makalu trek in 2007. We exchanged our emails. It
was in April 2010 that he wrote to me asking me if
I would like to join them on a 17 day Annpurna
Circuit trek. As I so much wanted to do this, I
replied and said I would be glad to join them.
However, later in the year I had some health
issues and it became difficult to decide till the last
few weeks if I will be able to fulfil this dream. Just
ten days before leaving London, I decided that I
am going as I was feeling perfectly in shape. I left
London on 1st October and met Shailesh together
with Vivek and Abhay (all 40 or nearby) on 2nd
October in Kathmandu. We spent the next day
sightseeing in Kathmandu.
Right from day one it appeared that they did not seem comfortable talking either in Hindi or
English, they tended to talk all the time in Marathi which I do not understand. That very day they
talked about changing our original program. It was argued that after Muktinath, there is a vehicle
road, and it is no fun walking with vehicles passing by all the time. Alternative plans were made to
utilise those days, including some trekking in Poon Hills. The arguments seemed logical and I
agreed with them. I shared the room with Vivek and he was quite friendly and we talked when we
were in the room, but when the three of them
were together all the talk seemed to be in
Marathi. If I mentioned anything either in Hindi
or English, I just got a one sentence short reply
and then talk reverted to Marathi.
Over the two weeks I got used to it and I would
read my book while they were talking. Others
also noticed that while I was with these three we
were not talking to each other much. While
playing cards with one of the porters he got
angry and told them not to talk in Marathi when
we were playing. But I guess they were so used
to talking in that language, and that they were
uncomfortable speaking in either Hindi or
English, that they could not help it and they did not notice that they were excluding me all the
time. However, as far as daily activities were concerned they gave me lot of respect, always called
me when something was happening and generally treated me well.
The Trek
First Day : We were supposed to travel by bus to
our starting point but then opted for a taxi. It
was planned that we would reach Bhulbhule
(height : 820 metres 2690 ft) by lunch time and
then we would start our trek to reach
Bahundanda for the night. But the traffic was
choker block. Everyone was trying to overtake
the others, and as such blocking the lane for
the oncoming traffic. Later, after we had spent
hours lingering in that traffic, we came to a
bridge which would take only one vehicle at a time, and it took a long time to cross that bridge. All
the way we were faced with clouds of dust, diesel fumes and stench of oil. There were hundreds of

2. trucks and buses belching out smoke. We passed through greenery, mountains and rivers, but we
had no chance to stop or view the beautiful scenery. It was 5.30 in the evening by the time we
reached our destination and the plan to trek to
our final destination was shelved.
Our trek proper as such started on 5th October
at 7.45. We walked through valleys, with river
flowing along out trek and beautiful views all
around. We had to cover the trek of the
previous day and also trek planned for today.
We first reached Bahudanda (height : 1310 m.
or 3608 ft.). Then we continued to Chamje
(height : 1560 m. 5118 ft) Our first day of
trekking turned out to be a long day. We
walked for 10 hours with about 2 hours of
break in between. It was a long tiring day.
When we started walking, I was in the front as is my usual pace of walking. For an hour or more I
led the way and others were far behind. But then they caught up with me, and overtook me. I was
told that they were spending lot of time photographing lovely scenery on the way which slowed
them down. Vivek and Shailesh had sophisticated cameras with lots of different lenses, and they
seemed to be perfectionist in their hobby. But once they had passed me they took a great lead, and
I was almost an hour behind them.
We were still at lower altitudes, and it was
really hot. I must have drunk over eight litres
of fluid during the day, but I was sweating by
the bucket and I hardly passed any urine
during the day. Walking through the valleys
and mountain slopes with lots of greenery, and
the gushing waters of river all the time giving
us company, made it a wonderful day for
trekking. The terrace farming on the mountains
gave it a beauty of its own, but in reality the
terrace farms were encroaching onto the
natural vegetation on these beautiful
mountains. With pressure of growing
population, and the need to develop the economy, it is natural to expect more of such farming on
these mountains.
My three colleagues were much younger, fitter and experienced trekkers, and I should have realised
that I would never be able to keep up with their pace. But doubts started occurring in my mind. I
felt that I had taken my fitness for granted, and that I had not prepared myself for the trek. The fear
cropped up that I might not be able to do the pass and just the thought scared me. I started
visualising the scene when everyone was walking ahead, I was lagging far behind and ultimately I
am told to go back the way I had come. I felt
that I had passed the age and I should not
have even come on this trek. Walking for
almost ten hours, after a long period, seemed
to have taken its toll and I felt tired when I
reached the destination. But my legs were not
hurting, and once I had sat down I was fresh in
no time. There was no urge to lie down or sleep
to recover.
Second Day : Next day was supposed to be easy
walking. We started at 7.45 a.m. and walked
till 1.00 p.m. when we stopped for lunch. Most
of the walking involved steep climbing. After
lunch we walked for three more hours, and as such we walked as much as the day before. It
appeared that the timings given by the guide never seemed to be anywhere accurate. We passed

3. through Tal and then Dharapani (1920 m –
6298 ft) and ultimately to Bagarchhap (2160 m
= 7085 ft). Today we passed a few waterfalls,
and crossed the river several times. As we were
going up it got cooler and walking became
easier. Today also I lagged behind rest of the
group though I was told that I was not that
much behind them. But my confidence had
been dented and I was still not sure if I will be
able to cope with the uphill walks which would
follow later. Due to less haemoglobin, I always
had breathing problem while walking up an
ascent.
Unlike Everest trek, this area is much more
populated and well served with amenities. The lodges were of better standard, hot water for shower
was available during the early days, mobile phones were working and food at meal times were of
better variety. However, the lodges lacked the atmosphere that existed in Everest trek. There was no
heating in the dining hall, and no room for all trekkers to sit around and get to know each other. It
is nice to see lot of awareness in the country. Wood fires are almost nonexistent, use of solar panels
to heat water and for electricity is very common, and
planting trees can be seen all around.
Third Day : Today we left at 7.00 a.m. and it was
comparatively a short day for walking. We reached
our destination by 2.00 and took few breaks.
Walking was moderate to difficult today. Our
destination was Chame. (2630 m – 8627 ft.) All the
way during the trek we had clear viewing of
Annpurna 2 and 4 peaks, and our trek was along
River Marsyangdi. My back pack caused some pain
on the left shoulder blade, and it was hurting me
while walking, and after wards also. I lay in bed
after lunch. The back was paining and the thighs
had become stiff. I had to empty my bowels in nature, and squatting was painful as thighs were
very stiff after walking for three days. Later we went for bathing in hot water springs. My three
colleagues were not keen on the same. The very hot water was coming out of the ground but there
were no proper facilities for bathing. I sat on the step next to the river and the porter filled the jug
with hot water, I mixed it with river water and took the bath. It felt wonderful bathing in hot
sulphur waters. Little was I to know, as per my colleagues, that the same bath would transform my
walking from the next day. Today was our first evening when we had free time, and were able to
play some cards.
Fourth Day : Today we were told that it would be
a long walk and as such started at 6.45 in the
morning. I left a few minutes before the rest. I
kept ahead of everyone for most of the trek.
Everyone was joking that spring waters had
done a miracle. But to me I was walking at
same speed as any other day. Others were
either busy taking photographs, or perhaps the
initial burst of energy had evaporated, and their
bodies were refusing to walk at the same pace
as the first three days. But for me, this was a
great boost in my confidence. I realised that I
was as good at walking as in the past and that
crossing the pass should not cause any problem. The first three long days of walking had not
affected my capacity to continue walking at the same pace. Everyone was surprised to see me
reaching Pisang half an hour before everyone else.

4. Pisang (3190 m – 10466 ft) has a lower section
and upper section. Also there were two routes
from Pisang to our next destination. Some other
trekkers suggested that upper route is much
more scenic. Guide was discouraging us from
taking that route. When we reached Pisang the
guide also told us that there was no chance of
finding a room in Upper Pisang, but we insisted
that we want to go up there and we found
rooms at the very first lodge we tried. It had
wonderful views of all the snow peaks, and the
professional photographers in the group were
excited by the lovely photos they were able to
take of the snow peaks in the morning sun
shine when the sun is rising. In the evening we
walked to a Buddhist monastery which was a very steep long climb.
Our evening meals were taken around 7.00 and we would be in bed by 8.00 or soon after. Dal and
rice with vegetables seemed to be the popular item though pizza, spiced boiled or fried potatoes,
Mexican items and egg items were also available. We met two trekkers from Mumbai who gave us
company for most of the days. We got a chance to intermingle with other trekkers now and then. If
we were early we would enjoy some card games. Showers were available for most of the early days.
Fifth Day : After giving consideration to the
choices, our group decided to take the easier
lower route from Pisang. It had rained previous
night and the morning was cloudy and misty.
We walked along the river and had a long climb
over a steep ridge taking us to 3400 m (11152
ft) and then a descent into the valley to 3325 m
(10906 ft) where there is an air strip. We then
climb up to Manang (3500 m – 11483 ft).
Sixth Day : Manang is a large village and a
normal stopping centre for acclimatisation. It
allows trekkers to get adjusted to the thinning
air and lessening pressure as we go to higher
altitudes. Most trekkers would walk to various sightseeing points around the village and rest for the
ardous walks to follow. We walked up a hill in the morning where we got a wonderful view of the
Annpurna range. Later we walked around the village. We rested for rest of the day.
Seventh Day : The sky was clear and sun was shining the early next morning and my colleagues
woke up early to take some lovely photos of the sun rays glistening the peaks of the snow capped
mountains. While it is possible to reach
Thorung Phedi in one day, the trek is divided
into two days to allow for more time to get
acclimatised. We walked to Tengi which was a
gradual uphill walk taking us to 3620 m (11874
ft) and then we continued steadily upwards to
Gunsang at 3930 m (12891 ft). The vegetation
and the scenery now were Alpine with scrubs
and alpine grasses. We got a clear view of
Gangapurna peak (7454 m – 24450 ft)) and
Annpurna III (7555 m – 24780 ft). Just to see
these majestic snow-capped peaks made the
trek worth undertaking. We reached Yak Kharka
|(4090m – 11341 ft) where we spent the night.
The day had wonderful sunshine and clear

5. skies.
For some trekking is a passion. Walking in
unpolluted air, in the open in the mountains
and seeing the beauty nature has created is
what drives that passion. For some trekking
is not only walking and seeing the natural
beauty of the mountains but also a challenge
– a challenge to set a target and to achieve it.
For others the aim is to capture the beauty
of the nature and of the snow capped peaks
in their cameras, and once this is achieved
they are happy about their achievement. My
colleagues, who had decided not to walk
along a road where vehicles are passing, but
who had decided to climb Poon hills to get a
view of the Annpurna range of snow capped
mountains, had another change of mind.
Since they had got wonderful viewing of the same range of mountains and had captured those
views on their professional cameras, they decided that it was not worth climbing that height (1830
m - 6000 ft to Pun hill top) just to view the same range again. As usual, the decision was conveyed
to me after three of them had discussed it in Marathi. I did not have a choice or a chance to express
my opinion so I listened to their decision quietly.
Eighth Day : We had some snow fall during the night. In the morning all the garden furniture in our
lodge and all the bushes were covered with snow, but there was no snow to affect our walking. We
left at 7.45. Today it was going to be a short
walk. The early part was treacherous downhill
walk with small stones and dry soil, and later
some muddy patches made it difficult. I slipped
a few times and actually fell down once. After
crossing a bridge, we had steep uphill climb.
The trail continued along a steep bank and we
reached Thorung Phedi (4441 m – 14570 ft)
which is the last stop before we cross the
Thorung La Pass. Phedi means foot of the hill.
The guide suggested that after lunch and a little
rest we should walk up the hill as far as
possible to acclimatise and to prepare for the
long walk the next day. We four started walking
up the steep slope (which leads to the High Camp which would be our first stop for breakfast next
day). While three others stopped after a while and returned to our lodge I continued walking
prompted by the porter who accompanied us. Walking up hill causes breathing problem for me due
to lack of sufficient haemoglobin in my blood,
and I am huffing and puffing after every few
steps. Prompted by the porter I kept walking
and even though it was difficult and laborious I
reached the top to the High Camp. I had no
money with me so we could not buy tea but I
refilled my water bottle. I was not fully prepared
and the cold really hit my hands. But I had the
great satisfaction that I made it to the top. I
walked down to the lodge. Walking down is also
not easy as the fear of slipping is always there
and I am extra careful on that point. While the
walk was tiring, I was not that tired that I
needed to lie down. Also the difficult uphill walk
did not give me any pains or aches and I felt
quite fresh.

6. Ninth Day : Today was the big day. We woke up
at 4.00, packed our sleeping bags and rest of our
baggage, got ready, had tea and biscuits and left
by 4.45. It was freezing cold – I assume at least
minus ten degrees or even less. I was dressed for
the cold weather and I had gloves on my hands.
Walking generates heat, and putting too many
clothes can also cause problem in walking, no
matter how cold it is. I was originally planning to
wear just wind cheater over my tee shirts but on
second thought I put on my warm fleece jacket.
Even with that, while walking I felt a chill on my
abdomen. My face also was freezing with the cold.
After that day I caught a bad cold and a sore
throat which lingered for long time.
Hundreds of other trekkers also were on the slope at that time. We had to use our torches to see
the trek. I was feeling the chill in my body and my hands seemed to be freezing. Because of the
dark and many trekkers on the slope our progress was slow. While my thighs and calf muscles were
not aching, there seemed to be some sort of resistance in the thighs. After every few steps I had to
stop because I felt as if the thighs were refusing to move. Day before, I had climbed in one hour and
fifteen minutes and today it took me one hour
forty five minutes. This was because of
combination of factors but I kept wondering if
previous day’s walk would have affected my
speed of walking.
When I reached the High camp at 6.30 in the
morning I went inside the lodge dining hall to
take breakfast. But my hands were freezing
and my fingers had gone numb. I had problem
removing my gloves and to undo the clasps on
my back pack. The numbness in the fingers
left them useless. I rubbed both the hands
frantically to bring them to life but that did not
help. After a while, I went into the kitchen and
warmed my hands on the electric hot plate.
After doing that for a while I felt life coming
back into my fingers.
We had some breakfast at High Camp. Many trekkers had stayed at High Camp making their
crossing of the pass much easier. But our guide advised that altitude can possibly have adverse
effect on us. Up to now it was steep uphill walk but after High Camp it became moderate uphill
walk. I reached Thorung La Pass at about 10.00.
Shailesh was ahead of me but others were
behind. While I kept my pace of walking steady
for all nine days, it seems others lost their initial
speed and slowed down. I felt proud that not
only I had made to the top, but that I did not
struggle or was not slow in this walk. Others did
not have to wait for me. The scenery around the
pass was spectacular. We could see various
snow capped peaks from this point. A board
showing the height and name of the pass stood
prominently on the site and we all took photos.
We had reached height of 5416 m or 17765 ft. I
was overwhelmed. Some guides, porters and
other trekkers came and congratulated me. One
guide requested to take photos with me. At my

7. age, this was a great achievement and
those who knew my age were impressed.
Our guide and the porters had great doubts
about my ability to cross the pass,
especially after seeing me trailing behind
during the first few days. They were full of
praise.
We started our walk down to Muktinath.
Muktinath is one of the most sacred Hindu
temples and get many devotees coming
there. Our walk to Muktinath was down hill
most of the way but it was tricky as small
stones and dry soil made it easy to slip on those slopes. Also walking down hill can easily injure the
knees and we had to be careful about that. Sometimes too much fear of slipping cause tense
muscles and that could tire the muscles even more. While we were given the impression of easy
three hour walk, it did not seem to end. I was able to keep up with rest of the group but by mid day
I was feeling really tired. We stopped for lunch. I decided to take extra time before I started walking
again. We were to cross a bridge to go across but we found the bridge path was blocked and the
bridge seemed to be damaged. So we followed the trek to the bottom of the valley, crossed the river
in a precarious position, and walked up a steep
hill to get across on the other side. This took
considerable time and our day got longer and
longer. It was tricky and treacherous walk along
a narrow path. It in itself provided us with an
adventure walk for the already tiring day. When
we reached Muktinath, the guide was waiting
for us to show the famous temple so that we do
not have to come again. However the temple
was closed. From there to the town centre and
our lodge seemed like eternity but we had no
choice but to walk it. It was a long day – over
twelve and half hours of walking with some
breaks. But all that was soon forgotten with a
hot refreshing shower. Vivek and I were both
ready to go and visit the temple but no one seemed to be sure if it would be open so we turned back
and decided to go the next morning.
In one day we had climbed from Thorung Phedi to High Camp (692 m - 2270 ft) and then from High
camp to Thorung La Pass (305 m – 1000 ft.). Then on the return we walked down from Thorung La
Pass to Muktinath (1726m – 5660 ft). In short we climbed up 3270 ft and climbed down 5660 ft in
one day. That was a great achievement particularly at my age.
Return Journey : As per the original plan we were to continue our trekking but with the change of
plans it was decided we take taxi from
Muktinath and go to Jomsom and fly to
Pokhara. However, we could not get the air
tickets. Muktinath being an important
pilgrimage centre, dirt roads that can take
vehicle traffic have been built, but being
mountainous region the roads are bumpy and
driving quite difficult. Again there was change
of plans. Our plans to climb Poon Hills was
shelved as the argument went that they had
seen all the peaks and taken all the photos so
why climb that hill. We were to proceed to
Pokhara and spend a few days there and then
go the Chitwan National Park where hotel
bookings had been arranged.

8. In the early morning we went to see Muktinath
temple. It was a long steep walk and I wondered
how many devotees would cope with this walk.
The temple has great significance for Hindus
and it is located on vast piece of land, and
fenced by wall. After breakfast, we got ready by
nine to board a taxi. To make up numbers we
joined another group, and as such we were
totally 13 in the taxi. It was a very bumpy ride
with pot holes, rocks, puddles, and sometimes
deep holes where the tires of the taxi would not
be able to come out. In such places driver would
put stones under the wheel to let it drive
through. At one place the road was blocked with
rocks and we had to move the rocks to pass
through. We saw lot of trekkers on the way.
Number of cars passing on the road was minimal, may be one per hour at the most. I felt pangs of
regret. We cancelled this part of trekking because we did not wish to walk with cars whizzing past
but there was nothing like it.
We reached Jomsom and walked across the
town to find another taxi. We took our lunch
and kept waiting for the taxi. Other group
decided to go on their own, and we could not
find a taxi. After 3.00 p.m. we got on a bus. It
was not a comfortable ride, with hardly any
place to keep our legs, and the bumpy road did
not help much in the cramped bus. Seats
could hardly take two, and our heads were
knocking against the luggage rack. The bus
kept rollicking side to side. We reached
Marpha which is famous for its apples and
apple by products. Some of our colleagues and
porters were out buying apples. Vivek and I
were in the bus when the bus took a U turn
and before we knew driver was driving the
same way we came. We were told that the bus was going back to Jomsom to collect some luggage.
We went through the same bumpy ride again. The top of the bus got fully loaded and rest of the
luggage was put between the seats leaving no space at all. We did not have any space even to move
our legs. Some more passengers were taken in the already full bus. We picked up rest of our group
from Marpha and continued our journey.
It was 8.00 p.m. by the time we reached Gasa.
From there we arranged a private bus taking
three groups to fill the bus but more people got
on the bus and it took some time to sort out the
outsiders. We drove on and just about 10.00
p.m. we found the road blocked. We waited for a
while, police were called and some hasty
negotiations took place. We were informed that
some villagers had blocked the road in anger.
When the villagers were told that there were
only tourists on the bus they let us go. We
reached out hotel at 10.45. While others went
for dinner, it is not my habit to eat so late, and
so I went straight to bed.
In the morning when I saw the location of the hotel and its surroundings I felt that we made a
mistake not completing the trek. The hotel with lots of greenery, river passing by and the hills with
greenery in the back made the place look wonderful. I had good sleep. We went for hot water bath

9. in the nearby river spot and it was totally
refreshing. On my return I was informed
that there was a change of plan. This
“change of plan” had become a big joke
during this trip. I had heard this so many
times. Now I was told that everyone was so
tired with the taxi and bus journey of the
previous day that they did not want to do
any more such travelling. They had decided
to cancel all plans and go back home. At no
time did they consider my views. I was
angry, I was frustrated but I felt it was best
to keep calm.
We had a comfortable journey to Pokhara. I
also learnt that my colleagues were planning to fly to Kathmandu. I stated that I will join them
whatever they decide. After reaching Pokhara I
had a shave and a massage. I felt rejuvenated. I
made some calls to arrange for my flight to
London. On return to my room Vivek told me
that others were now talking of going to
Chitwan National Park and suggested that I go
and talk to them. I told him that I will wait till
they tell me. I took every one for dinner that
night, and told them that I was going to
Kathmandu next day and will be flying home
day after. No one made any comment.
Next morning we all went to Kathmandu by taxi.
Of course, plans to fly had been changed by
morning time. Day after I flew to London and
the others all took a flight to Pune. While the
successful crossing of the high pass was a great
achievement, it was a big disappointment for me that I did not do the trek as planned. For them
there will be other opportunities – but for me this perhaps was my last opportunity. For them
having captured all the important peaks on their cameras was the height of their achievement and
satisfaction. For me, to have walked for the projected seventeen days, would have been the height of
achievement that would have given me immense satisfaction. But I was happy for what I had
achieved. Walking for such long hours did not give me pain in my legs or thighs though I did feel
pain a few times in my calf muscles in my sleep.
That is to be expected after such walking. But
after a long days walking I was not shattered,
unlike many others, I did not crash into the bed
at the end of the day, nor did I need to lie down
to recover myself. Trekking in the mountains
gives a pleasure which cannot be expressed in
words. In spite of all the difficulties one
encounters, the ultimate satisfaction cannot be
quantified.
The bill board in Nepal says “Never say Good bye
to the Himalayas.” Would this trek be my “Good
bye” to the Himalayas? I wonder that will be so in
my case – only time will tell.
(comments to jubhai@aol.com – other reports on
www.jayantdoshi.yolasite.com ))