I have not made the time to properly update this blog in a while and I feel a little behind. I just returned yesterday from trekking for five days in the Annapurna Region. There are no words really that describe what it feels like to be gaining elevation steadily for days and then all of a sudden you look up and wham ... there are 8000m peaks staring you right in the face. Breathtaking and beautiful they tower above you and give you the strength the press on to even greater heights in the hopes that the view continues to get better. 
It happened to be my birthday that day as well so I was gifted with a bottle of red wine carried in by my guide Pasang Temba Sherpa. I was also treated to a homemade banana bread from the host family that ran the teahouse. Accommodations along the Annapurna Circuit trail vary from rooms added onto the family home to larger guesthouses and hostel style housing. The popularity of this region has prompted the local communities to band together and create these teahouses to generate much needed revenue and a spot for tired trekkers to lay their heads.
The most incredible part about trekking through this country is that there really are no 'roads' up in the mountains but in fact everyone walks between the villages on these trails that take a couple hours to get anywhere. Everything that you see in the villages from food and drinks to beds and houses ... every material was carried or portered up here on the backs of the men and women who live here.
In Kathmandu, I have seen men carrying couches on their back with nothing more than a tump-line. On the trails, men where hammering pieces of stone off of cliffs and carrying them up to their villages to build roofs or repair walkways. Every bottle of water, every pillow in your teahouse, every fridge, table or chair was portered up there. Unbelievably strong and hardworking people. To get to some spots it could take 8 days! On the first day, hundreds of goats were being herded down from the villages to Pokhara to be sold off in the markets.I saw some on day one and on day five as I was finishing and driving back to Pokhara, those very same goats had just finished being herded by the men down the mountain by foot. They sell the goats and return back up the mountain. Not vehicles, no trains, no nothing but two feet and a heartbeat.
The next day was Ghorepani which boasted the most tremendous sunrise I have ever seen. When we arrived in Ghorepani it was very cloudy so not much of the Annapurna's was visible. It was our plan to get up before dawn and hike in the dark to the pass into Tadopani. After an hours hike by headlamp, we arrived atop the hill to see the sun break from behind us and begin to light up the glorious sight that is Annapurna South, Huinchili, Macchupucchre along with a few others. I will post a map and photos when I can. These peaks are 8000+ metres and make you feel like the speck that you are in this world.
From Ghorepani, we hiked to Tadopani, Landruk, Dhampus and out. I will continue this later as I am heading to a briefing for the river expedition that I am embarking on tomorrow for the next 10 days. The Sun Kosi River is 270km of gnarly, foaming, monsoon filled water. Can't wait to sleep in a tent adjacent the roaring river. Here are a few photos from the previous week or so.
Namaste
A.
Climbing on the mountain has been restricted, for it is considered sacred by the locals.
Earlier morning about 5am on October 5th, which just so happened to be my birthday. The view from my guesthouse in Pokhara. The sun is just beginning to lightly glow in the alpine.
Sunrise about 6am.
Dhaulagiri I
Elevation: 8172m.
Hiked up here in the dark with my headlamp to get this view.
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