Annapurna Circuit, The Last Episode

So we rented mountain bikes in the town of Muktinath from Mustang Mountainbikes and headed downhill... mostly. We had a lot of fun whether it was terrorizing small towns that are a dream to ride through, or screaming down high plains and salt flats at high speeds.

Here are the girls sneaking out from under a Gompa.  Inside, you can stand at full height and enjoy religious paintings.

Here are the girls racing each other on parallel roads.  It is hard to tell, but this is actually a steep descent.

Here is Ali cruising town like a pro! (Note the face mask for dust protection.)

Rhiannon . . . not so much!  :)

Cruising down rocky roads and steep cliffs made for hair raising excitment.

We took our time to do side trips and explore lakes and hidden forests.

As we dropped elevation the scenery became greener and lush. It was like riding in a magical forest.

But it was very exhausting none the less! Even Jurian, the owner of the bikes was feeling it.

Don’t you love when water buffalo come to say hi during your lunch break?

The road continued downhill almost endlessly.  It was blasted out of the side of the hill with loose rocks, mud holes and water crossings to keep it exciting.

We met other bike riders and all stopped for a break at the last waterfall before our ride came to and end.

Jeeps provide local transportation, but the bikes seemed safer. Maybe he drove down the river to pick those funny looking plants?

After the amazing ride and a break at the Tatopani hot springs we had to start hiking again, and this time up to Poon Hill.

Talk about slow food movement. All our food was local and as far as I can tell, organic. 

Forest nymph abound. Aren’t they cute?

Eventually, we made it to the top of Poon Hill. Can you spot Ali taking in the view on the bench below?

Since Rhiannon had to leave us in Tatopani, Jennifer offered to be our new trekking friend. She fit in right away!

I had to! How often do you get a selfie with a goat?

As we dropped from Poon Hill we decended into lush rain forests with wild orchids everywhere.

Last shot of the Annapurna circuit. The vegetation was back and so were the rivers. It was so tempting to take a dip in those swimming holes. Twenty-one days after we started, we completed the traditional Annapurna circuit and loved it!  We made our way to Pokhara where our legs would be sore for almost two weeks. 

Annapurna, we keep climbing.

After a few days of rainy weather and less than ideal rumbly tummies, the weather cleared up and our spirits were high. 

The views were grand and the sun kept us warm.

We stopped for tea at a smaller village where we had the most unusual tea setting.

The longest row of prayer wheels we saw. I spun all of them!

This part of Nepal is Buddhist without a doubt.

After unmounting our horses we entered the town of Manang.

The area turned out to be very photogenic. Can you spot the caves on the pinnacles where monks used to live?

In Manang we learned why we were so out of breath. We also decided to stay a few extra days and do day hikes to acclimatize.

Ali had the highest O2 concentration of everyone that attended the presentation on high altitude. She earned a candy bar for that feat.

Our day hikes took us to some amazing view points and we got to acclimatize. Climbing without the packs seemed easy and we almost sprinted up the hills.

We left Manang and went to a town with the funny name of Yak Yakarta. Wonder why they call it that?

We kept climbing for days, above the tree line the valleys became barren and dry. Below, the river was becoming a trickle and the waterfalls that fed it were frozen. We were getting close to the source and the pass.

To cross Thorung La pass we left before sunrise. The sun greeted us from the other side of the mountains.

Eventually we all made it to the top of the pass. That is 17,769 feet for the non-metric viewers. I found it exhausting and our trekking was not even halfway done.

What goes up must come down and the same day we crossed the pass we had to hike down the valley to where the trail ends on a patch of green. It was a knee buster!

So what to do when you have eight thousand plus feet to go downhill and you are an adrenaline junkie?  Well, mountain bike down the Himalayans of course!  But we'll save that for the next post.

Annapurna Circuit in Omar's Pictures

Alison already posted a riveting account of our ups and downs on the circuit. Here are some of my favorite pictures that I took on the hike along with stories about them as needed.

From Kathmandu the Annapurna circuit begins with a 6 hour bus ride along treacherous roads and unprotected cliffs. After all, nothing is flat in Nepal. Fortunately for us our bus was emblazoned with this goddess that kept us safe the whole time. Her third eye must be able to see those vehicles passing on blind corners.

Our trek started at low altitude with lush greens and warm weather. It could have been the entrance to Yosemite valley for all I know.

The waterfalls here rival those of Yosemite as well. The trek has amazing waterfalls every day.

The first of many suspension bridges that we had to trek across. They get really wobbly as you keep walking on them and are very windy in the middle, but it's all part of the excitement. The good news is they appeared structurally sound!

Most significant towns have entrances that let you know a tea house is not far. This is the town of Tal. Notice the bit of smoke in the hill...

Turns out the whole hill was on fire. But according to the locals this was normal and nobody was worried about it. “It happens all the time,” we were told, “go to bed."

This cutie pie let me take her picture in Dharapani. We spent an extra day here waiting for Alison’s parasites to stop partying.

Rhiannon almost adopted a goat in Dharapani. Too bad the goat didn’t understand English.

Our hosts at the Dharapani Lodge. They cooked us delicious meals for two days.

Eventually we would make our way to Thanchok to find another tea house.

Our great cook in Thankchok. This kitchen is a window into Nepali life. A lot of cooking is done with fire and tea house owners appear to be the wealthiest in town.

Who doesn’t love a mule with a giant bell. Most horses, donkeys, and cattle seem to have them in the mountains here.

A giant prayer wheel in the town of Chame. I was praying for no parasites, but I must have done it wrong.   :(

Another suspension bridge over the Marsyagdi River.

Isn’t Yosemite great. Oh yeah, I meant Annapurna. It just felt like home!

Of course the prayers carved into the slate and welcoming us into towns, reminded us that we are not home. This is Nepal and it's amazing.