Dashai at Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)


Four of us, Pramesh dai, Diwash dai, Nivesh and myself got ready for ABC trek. We left Kathmandu on October 11. We picked our one foreign friend from Pokhara and headed to Phedi on a cab. We were lucky, cab driver was damn funny always cracking non-veg jokes and within no time we reached Phedi.
At Phedi, before starting the trek.

This was the place our trekking should began. According to our itinerary we have to reach Pothana on same day. But, we only reached up to Dhampus(1650m). We found a good lodge there and had a good time with Machapuchhre, spent hours clicking the beautiful peak!

After watching the good sunrise and having a quick breakfast we started our trekking. Today's destination was Chomrrong.

A very good morning at Dhampus.
Diwash dai was carrying a SLR camera, so he was little slower then us. Nivesh was our time keeper, we bought a map for him at Dhampus tourist check point. His guesses about our speed were matching correctly! Pramesh dai was naturally on high :D as always.

Eva, our foreign friend was slower then us and we hired a potter for her from Landruk after having lunch. We left her at Landruk with other tourist we met on way. Finally, we reached Chomrrong(2340m) at around 7;30.
Eva crossing the Mardi Khola.

The hotel owner we stayed at Chomrrong was pretty cool. We had a good time at Chomrrong. It was a clear morning at Chomrrong.
Taller than Mountain!

We left Chomrrong at around 7 and today's destination was Deurali. We even booked a hotel at Deurali because its a peak tourist season and people suggested us to book hotel above Chomrrong. There are limited hotels upto ABC above Chomrrong. It was tough downhill and uphill upto Sinwa. It took 1 and half our to reach Sinwa from Chomrrong.
A suspension bridge on Chomrrong-Sinwa section.

During the downhill section, Diwash dai got problem with his knees and he was walking slowly with walking stick. Pramesh dai hyper active and was already ahead of us. He had to  wait for us at Bamboo(2335m) for lunch.
Locally made bridge.

After lunch we sent Pramesh dai and Nivesh ahead to reserve hotel room because two of them were on high as always. After lunch it started showering lightly. The real climb started from Bamboo, but it was not so tough there were no any descent up to the ABC.
A section of Sinwa-Bamboo trail. 

We were gaining the altitude and the rain was getting more intense. We encountered  a lot of tourist from India, especially from Calcutta some with whole family! They were too moving slowly. After reaching Cave we saw first glimpse of Deurali (3100m). We met a young couple from  Singapore. The girl ( was too CUTE!) was having trouble so they were moving slowly. We reached Deurali at 6:30, Pramesh dai and Nivesh were there already.The hotel we booked had no more room for us instead they showed a hut! Pramesh dai had managed another hotel for us but our bedroom was a dining hall! Well we managed to sleep there. We met interesting people at the dining hall. The hotel owner, Kamal dai was cool,  tourist guides were friendly Diwhas dai drank a lot with them! It rained whole night and was chilling cold outside.
Deurali seen from Cave.

It was raining till morning and there was no sign it will stop. We decided to trek on rain and left hotel at 8. We put our heavy bags on the same hotel and carried only necessary stuffs on one bag. It rained, rained only rained. We were not prepared for the rain so we were almost wet. It was a tough job for me to save cameras from water.
The Best Poser!

We reached Machapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) at 10. We had lunch and dried our cloths and again started walking. This time Nivesh and myself leaded the trek. We left Pramesh dai with Diwash dai back. Pramesh dai still on high and dancing too!! It was still raining, finally at 12 we reached ABC(4130 m). We found hotel room at ABC, so decided to stay there. It stopped raining at around 3.
Climbing high along the Mardi river.


Weather became clear, luckily we had 360 view of Himalaya peaks around us. We moved a bit higher from hotel. Four of us were taking photos. Pramesh dai was ahead of us and suddenly we heard a big sound. It was an Avalanche! For the first time in life we saw an avalanche.
Avalanche!!

Weather became cloudy and again started raining. We came back to hotel and like others stayed inside dining room.
At ABC.

It was a good sleep for me but not for other three guys as they said. They woke several times at night. I woke up at 5:30, went outside and there was majestic view of Annapurna. No clouds, blue and crystal clear sky! But, after 6 the weather became bad. We came back to hotel, had breakfast and started descending down. It was nearly around 10 hours walk back to Chomrrong. Next day, we were at Pokhara from Chomrrong.
Mighty Himalayas.

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