Nepal offers a huge variety of exciting trekking experiences and choosing one to do for the first time can be somewhat overwhelming and often confusing. I remember arriving in the bustling district of Thamel in Kathmandu for the first time and being accosted by a hawker on the street shouting what seemed like hundreds of different names that I assumed were trekking areas or mountain regions and not having a clue what to say or do! The smells, noise and heat made me feel uneasy and I just wanted to get out of the capital and into the mountains as soon as possible. I knew I wanted to go trekking but had no idea about where to go to get good advice and to avoid getting ripped off. It seemed like every other shop in that part of town was a trekking agency, each trying to outdo each other on price and quality of service. After wandering around dodging the noisy motor bikes and speedy cycle rickshaws I ended up speaking to several different agencies and began to get a good feel for price and what trek to do given that my trekking experiences were fairly limited. I wanted a trek that was around two weeks long and had a bit of variety in landscape and topology. I was keen to take photos of the lush foothill jungles that I had heard so much about as well as capturing images of the awe-inspiring snowy mountain peaks of the Himalayan range. I gambled on one particular guiding group who seemed friendly and well organised and chose to trek to Annapurna Base Camp.
The trek is located in the Annapurna region to the north of Pokhara in mid-west Nepal and forms part of the longer Annapurna Sanctuary Trek. Although this trek is one of the more popular, the time of year (early September) meant that the trail was fairly quiet and free from the crowds that I had heard about. The trek was suitably challenging for a person of my moderate fitness and the mountain views were spectacular, particularly of the famous fish-tail mountain, Machapuchare. The trek starts close to Pokhara, lasts around 12 days and required minimal specialist equipment, just the basic walking shoes and rucksack along with the common essentials that are listed here. This is the perfect trek for anyone visiting Nepal for the first time. It combines mind-blowing scenery with the more intimate experiences of meeting the fascinating local Nepali people along the route in the many mountain villages. The rigmarole of evading the dodgy guides in Kathmandu was forgotten as soon as the trek began and the experience of the 12 days will remain in my memory for ever.
