Annapurna Base Camp Trek, Part One
April 14th, Day One:
Her little face and little eyes come right up to our table as Jeremy and I are eating dinner. She is a local girl, around the age of six, and her family operates the tea house we are staying in for the night. She has a playful smile and a curious smirk dwells in her eyes. She wants to practice English with us. She points to her face and boisterously states, “Face!” We repeat it back to her, laughing. “Eyes!” We shout back, “Eyes!” She touches her mouth, “Mouth!” We continue playing her game with amused grins.
April 15th, Day Two:
Stair after stair after stair after stair. It is an everlasting, extraordinary ascent for six straight hours, up we go, with farmland terraces resting on the shoulder of the mountain directly across from us. Thousands of steps made of stone slabs, and our hearts are beating out of our chests, sweat rolling down our foreheads. We pass donkeys, buffalo, horses, dogs, and cats along the way. Locals with softhearted faces greet us, “Namaste!” We make it to camp and drink ginger tea as hail suddenly pummels down from the sky.
April 16th, Day Three:
Red blooms and red stars; Rhododendron flowers bursting like fire on the branches of trees everywhere and the glassy backs of ladybugs floating about in the sky by the thousands. We are trekking in a moss-blanketed forest, fresh oxygen cleansing our lungs, following a stream that brings us to mountain villages along the way. The fog rolls in like a steady tide, cold touch to our faces, and we eat lunch at the edge of a mountain. We devour the most delicious, homemade vegetable soup and Momos, Nepalese dumplings. We finally arrive at camp, legs worn and shaky, and the most magnificent storm suddenly appears as we play cards. Rain, then hail, then rain again; playing sharp notes on the rooftop as we settle into our sleeping bags for the night.
April 17th, Day Four:
We awake with broken bodies, soreness everywhere. Strong coffee, homemade pancakes and Tibetan bread give us a slight lift before heading out for the day. Our bodies are tight and stiff, but slowly begin to warm within the first hour. Six hours trekking on uneven terrain, descending to the belly of a valley and up out of the river’s flow, around the face of a mountain, down once again, crossing a pristine river, and then back up once more. Our bodies feel heavy when we take a break to eat vegetable curry rice and we continue the final climb to camp. Rain clouds darken the horizon, the sky suddenly breaks open and showers down upon us. We finally arrive at camp, soggy and damp, and the storm rages throughout the night, with the wind whipping through.
April 18th, Day Five:
The morning brings the glorious sun and it feels like the sweetest kiss to skin. We are trekking to the very heart of the Himalayas today. Hours upon hours through young bamboo forests, past narrow waterfalls, and across dirtied snow. Then, the mountains were so close, you could feel them. We were finally in them. The tea house was fully packed for the night, with people from every part of the world sitting together in one room; eating meals, sharing laughs, telling stories. The heat of all our bodies warm the room and just outside I can see the outline of the mountains lightly dusted by the full moonlight.
April 19th, Day Six:
We take off at 7:30 with our bellies full and our spirits high. Jeremy and I have hit a stride, and our bodies and minds feel strong. The landscape is utterly mind-blowing. The snow-capped Himalayas fully surround us and there is an undeniable power and breathtaking stillness in their presence. It is a perspective I have only seen in pictures and now, here we are, standing right before them. We hike up to reach Machapuchare Base Camp, our final stop before reaching our end destination: Annapurna Base Camp. Every room is booked, so Jeremy and I are sleeping in the shared dining room tonight. As we are tucked away in our sleeping bags, members of a trekking group from India begin trickling in, one by one. They are distraught, emotional, and exhausted. They were lost in the frightening darkness, scared and alone, trying to find their journey's end in freezing temperatures. They made it though, every one of them, finally safe and warming their hands by hot cups of tea.
