Over a year ago, I started to think about a mountain trek in the Himalayas, Now, as I sit at the Kathmandu airport, ready to board a flight to Delhi, I can't believe that we actually did it, that I just completed the most exhilarating hike of my life so far and the biggest adventure thus far in our trip.
We arrived in Kathmandu on November 1st. It was a cloudy day, and we could just barely see the mountains peaking through big, fluffy clouds. As our plane descended below the clouds, the beautiful foothills revealed themselves as lush greenery, full of life and the promise of adventures to come.
Our first few days in Kathmandu were spent making the necessary preparations for our trek and I imagine other trekkers spend the beginning of their trip in the same way. Many trekkers choose to travel with a guide and porter, but we decided against it for more flexibility and to keep our costs down. We picked up a couple of North Face trekking pants, one real and one for a ridiculous USD 6 at one of the many knock off stores along the tourist beat known as Thamel. You want cheap, fake Hardtail, Marmot, Mammut, Mountain Hardware, you got it, but as we were to find out soon enough, you get what you pay for. After a few trips to Thamel for socks, sunglasses, gloves and our registration cards and Annapurna Conservation Passes, we were ready to go.
We bought our bus tickets to Besisahar, the starting point of the Annapurna Circuit from a tour operator in Thamel. My uneasy feelings towards the two sleazy agents were confirmed when we later discovered that they had charged us double for a local bus ticket, Rs. 700 when it should only have cost Rs. 350. I guess it didn't take us long to get scammed! On Friday morning November 5th, we arrived at the bus station and the adventure began.
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