Instead of going off on a ready-made, mapped out trek found in a guide book, our landlord/fixer here in Kathmandu (a veteran of 14 years of guiding and mountaineering experience) composed a fun fourteen day trek for us, using elements of the old Jomsom trek along with a quick dash in to the Annapurna Base Camp.

So tomorrow we will set out for Pokhara by bus, a five or six hour ordeal (we’re a bit rusty when it comes to travel). Pokhara is said to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, bar none, so we will spend a couple of days there, taking in the views and getting ready for the trek. After that, we will fly up to Jomsom, a frontier town that will be our trekking base for a couple of days. The Jomsom area is the southern part of the ancient kingdom of Mustang, an area that still enjoys a certain degree of autonomy. Permits for exploring further into Mustang would cost us 500USD per person, so we’ll just have a look at the outskirts.

At Jomsom we will hop on a jeep and head further south, where we begin the second leg of our trek. We will go into the heart of the Annapurna massif – a gigantic amphitheater comprised of a virtual hall of fame among world’s highest peaks: Annapurna I, II, III and IV, Roc Noir, Glacier Dome and Machhapuchhre. I know these names mean little to most people, but we’ll most certainly unload a lot of pictures on this blog once we get back to civilization

After going in to the Annapurna Base Camp, we will double back and head for Pokhara again. There are a few hot springs on the way home that I hope we can soak ourselves in for a fair bit. I’m pretty sure we’ll deserve a beer by this point too.

Putting the trek together in this way will make sure that we see at least three different types of landscapes: the high arid mountains of the north, the rhododendron jungles of the south, and the alpine Himalayas of the sanctuary.

Am I excited? I am excited. I am hopping around chuckling to myself, that’s how excited I am.

Related posts:

1. Where to Trek? Nepal is a wonderland for people who like to trek....
2. Trekking Update   We’re hitting the road again in less than a...
3. We’d Love Your Opinion! We’re due to talk to our landlord/trekking extraordinaire tomorrow about...
4. Stok Kangri (6120m) Climbing Report Wow, was this ever an adventure. It started as a...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.