After Kim and I arrived back from India in the middle of March, I had a period where I was moving around a lot, mainly in the UK. At one point I decided to write a list of everywhere I’d stayed since we got back and counted over twenty moves in eleven weeks. It’s a… Read More »
Before returning to India, I spent three nights at the Karma Travel Home in Kathmandu, located in the central tourist district of Thamel. It was not only the same hotel but the same room that Clare and I had stayed in on our previous visit. We’d liked it for its older-style, a quality we look… Read More »
After the Annapurna Sanctuary trek, I spent a few days resting in Pokhara and thought about what I would do next. I was due to fly back to India in a week’s time, so I decided to visit Chitwan National Park before returning to Kathmandu. Chitwan lies close to the Indian border, roughly midway between… Read More »
The Annapurna Sanctuary is a glacial basin surrounded by a ring of high mountains including the massive south face of Annapurna I (8091 m), Annapurna South (7219 m), Hiunchuli (6441 m) and Macchhapuchhre (6997 m). The only entrance to the Sanctuary is via the trekking route along the Modi Khola river, through a narrow valley… Read More »
After trekking the Annapurna Circuit, Clare travelled to Maharashtra state in India to begin a three week meditation and work retreat. My plan was to stay in Nepal, complete another trek and then meet up with her in India in three weeks time. There were loads of interesting treks listed in Lonely Planet’s guide, but in… Read More »
From Tal, we followed the trail north along a narrow path, cut into the steep rock face above the river. The valley had narrowed considerably and its walls rose high on each side. We crossed the river several times via long suspension bridges before reaching the village of Dharapani (1860 m) where the trail was… Read More »
To begin the Annapurna Circuit trek, we boarded a brightly decorated local bus from Besisahar to Ngadi, a journey of 15 kilometres north over some of the worst roads I’d ever encountered. With our backpacks on the roof and the joyful and magnetic trance of Nepali music blaring from the speakers, the bus bounced and… Read More »
Besisahar is a bustling town in the Lamjung District of Nepal that is generally regarded as the starting point for the Annapurna Circuit trek. We arrived in Besisahar by bus from Kathmandu and got settled in our hotel before taking a walk around the town. It was much larger and busier than I expected with… Read More »
Flying east from Delhi to Kathmandu took just over an hour. As we neared the Nepalese capital we were treated to our first views of the high peaks of the Himalayas. They sat above the massive foothills and deep valleys of the lower land as if somehow suspended above the landscape, like intermediaries between the… Read More »