The Annapurna Circuit: You have to work for it!

       Like any valuable spiritual wisdom or pertinent life lesson, the Himalayas do not reveal themselves immediately.  I expected to walk off the plane into Kathmandu and see an endless horizon of colossal snow covered peaks.  That would have been too easy.  I then figured that once we set out from Kathmandu and left the smog behind, our eyes would feast upon sights of jagged towers of rock and ice.  This too was not the case.  As our bus weaved through deep, green canyons, the sky remained hazy and the prize remained elusive.  Surely, I thought, once we arrive in Besi Sahar where our trek would begin, the mountain tops would pop out from every direction.  However, we arrived in a rain storm and all we could see was the entrance of the river gorge, into which we would venture the next day.

      On our first day of walking, the clouds did separate for a few moments providing just a glimpse of Annapuna II’s mid-riff.  Though it was just a tease, we were amazed as we exclaimed, “That thing is HUGE!”  For the next few days, the canyon remained steep and deep and clouds continue to fill the sky.  At one point, as we traversed the trails leading to Manang, I wondered aloud to Jo as to why we had yet to see these mountains that we have dreamt of for so long.  “We haven’t worked hard enough” was her insightful reply.

Indeed, it was not until the 6^th day of trekking and our 9^th day in Nepal that the magnificent summits of the Annapurna Range began to reveal themselves in their entirety.  The clouds that had previously obscured the horizon finally lifted.  As we awoke in Pisang on that 6^th morning of the trek, we looked up to see Annapurna II in all of its majesty.  From where we stood, the landscape rose sharply up, up and up some more – 15,000 feet above us (and we were already approaching 11,000 feet).  The sight was astounding.  As we hiked up to Manang over the next several hours, we were welcomed by Annapurna IV, Annapurna III and Gangapurna.  Indeed, each day that we awoke in Manang, we were greeted with the sight of the goliaths overhead.  Like pearls of great wisdom, these giants illuminated and inspired our hearts.  In the afternoon, the setting sun would play the most beautiful hues of orange and pink over the glaciers and icefalls.

We had to work for it for sure.  It was worth every drop of sweat.  I’m pretty sure Jo would even say it was worth 2 hospital visits, consults with the Himalayan Rescue Association and a crazy (by crazy I mean dangerous) pharmacist, as well as many days of feeling ill.  The opportunity to gaze with our own eyes upon these wonders of world was a dream-come true.