As already mentioned, I have been on a ten-day hike in the Annapurna region: from Birethanti via Poon Hill to the Annapurna Base Camp and back. For a considerable part, the path consisted of thousands of steps which sometimes made the walk a bit strenous. Still, it was simply fantastic!

We started our hike – I was travelling with Exodus in a group of 15 brits (along with three local sirdar, nine porters and a guide) – at about 1,000 metres above sea level, close to Birethanti. From there, we climbed some 3,500 steps to Ulleri, and then some more to Banthanti. There, we have seen the first blooming rhododendrons – but those were not simply bushes, they were whole trees!

I was prepared for that, though. What really surprised me was their sheer number: There are whole forests of rhododendron trees that coloured the hill slopes in purple. For me, that was the first big surprise on this hike.

On the second day, we reached Ghorepani at the foot of Poon Hill, about which I have already blogged. This view point with a height of approximately 3,200 metres is very popular at sunset: We shared the hilltop with hundreds of others. The first rays of sunlight were even greeted with applause. However, that did not diminish the beauty of the great panoramic view of Annapurna South, Machhapuchhre, and Dhaulagiri.

From there, we continued our hike through rhododendron forests, over a pass to a small river valley through which we descended again. This narrow valley with its gnarly, mossy trees seemed as if it was enchanted. It was definitely one of my favourite places on this hike.

Finally, this valley was followed by a hundred metre deep canyon. The canyon walls were also covered in blooming rhododendron trees – a fantastic sight. Unfortunately, it has started raining by then, as it did most afternoons. Therefore, there are no pictures of this canyon. These afternoon rains, by the way, are rather atypical at this season. Usually, it does cloud over in the afternoon, but it should remain mostly dry.

After four days, we reached Chhomrong at (about) 2,170 metres above sea level. This village could be nicknamed “The Stairs Village” as it is built into the hillside, along a series of rice terraces (where, however, some grains are grown at this time of year). In order to have terraces, you need an incline, and therefore you need steps to get up and down. On the fifth day, we had to descend all the way to cross a river on a suspension bridge – and then we had to climb as many steps on the other side again!

After doing that, the number of steps fortunately decreased, and the ascent towards Annapurna Base Camp along the Modi Khola river was more gradual (though not without undulations, to our dismay). On the sixth day, we had the biggest elevation gain to cover: from Dobhan (2,600 metres above sea level) to Machhapuchhre Base Camp (3,700 metres above sea level). Luckily, this was the only day without rain. So, we remained dry while ascending through bamboo forest (which had replaced the rhododendrons by then). Only after reaching an altitude of 3,200 metres, the trees (and soon after that also the shrubbery) started to disappear – an amazingly high tree line! For me, that was the second big surprise on this hike.

Even though it did not rain, this day’s walk did drag out a bit towards the end. So I was relieved when the Machhapuchhre Base Camp finally came into view – but our sirdar suddenly turned away from it, and we continued on to another guest house, a couple of hundred metres further on. For me, these few hundred metres probably were the most exhausting ones of the whole trekking tour.

The next (our seventh) day finally was the “summit day” – even though the Annapurna Base Camp is of course no summit as such. This day already started with almost cloudless skies and a great sunrise. So, the last 400 metres ascent truly were a delight: Hiking through the snow in brilliant sunshine, surrounded by six- to eight thousand metre high peaks – what more could you ask for? This day was my personal favourite of the whole holiday – even though the clouds started to move in soon after we reached the Base Camp, and we finally also experienced some precipitation (at this altitude it was some snow, of course).

For the way down, we needed three more days. Unfortunately, on our first day of decent, it snowed/rained basically the whole time. Especially after the tea and lunch breaks it was hard to put on the wet clothes and to get out in the rain again. I guess all of us were very happy when we finally reached or guest house that day.

After retracing or steps for almost two days, we got to know a new trail on our last day. Due to a small blunder of our sirdar it was even more special then usual, and we ended up hiking through some tiny local villages – a very interesting end to a great treck!