Nepal

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ACT Day 12 - Yak Kharka to High Camp

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The Valley

The morning mist was interspersed with drizzle yet again, but by then we knew that it would lift if we just waited. When the views gradually opened up after our breakfast--which was tibetan bread (NPR270) and jam (NPR60/2) once again--they revealed the two towering mountains of Annapurna III (elevation : 7555m) and Gangapurna (elevation : 7454m) way down the valley to the south. The plan was to head all the way to High Camp (elevation : 4925m) that day as it would then mean that the elevation gain the following day would be practically halved, from 1000 metres to about 500. Read more

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ACT Day 11 - Tilicho Base Camp to Yak Kharka

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Morning Run

The mountains finally revealed themselves as the sun rose that morning. As soon as I glanced out the window and saw the snow-covered peaks that surrounded Tilicho Base Camp (elevation : 4150m), I knew that I had to head up to the ridge above once again. My Salomon X-Ultra 3 GTX shoes were low-cut and were light enough for a trail run, so I quickly put them on and grabbed my camera before heading out to the trail head. Read more

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ACT Day 10 - Tilicho Lake

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The Ridge

The mist that was interspersed with bouts of drizzle permeated the morning air. We had a lot of time to play around with that day and so decided to wait until the drizzle ceased before beginning the hike to Tilicho Lake (elevation : 4920m). As such, we leisurely ate breakfast, which was jam (NPR105/2) and pancake (NPR280/2) that had been deep fried for some reason. We also ordered tibetan bread (NPR305/2) to take-away for lunch later on. By the time we set foot on the trail that began just behind our guesthouse, 'Hotel Kangsar Kang', it was already past 09:00. Read more

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ACT Day 09 - Khangsar to Tilicho Base Camp

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Views of Pisang Peak

Since the mist had yet to lift that morning and we had a relatively short hike ahead of us, we started the day languidly with a late breakfast of omelette with onion (NPR230/2) and tibetan bread (NPR230/2). Whilst we were eating breakfast, the mist lifted and as it did incredibly dramatic views of Pisang Peak / Jong Ri (elevation : 6091m) to the east began to be revealed. The clouds that hugged the mountains seemed fickle however, and would first waft away to reveal the summits before sinking down once again to obscure them. They seemed to rise up from the base of the mountains and gave me the impression that the mountains themselves were burning. Read more

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ACT Day 08 - Ngawal to Khangsar

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To Manang

I woke up around 02:00 that morning to try and capture a shot of the Milky Way, but the heavy mist foiled my plans once again. All that could be seen were bats that flitted around overhead as they chased moths that had been drawn by the lights of the guesthouse. It was still misty when I stepped back out of the room and into the courtyard five hours later, and almost everything was obscured in a white-out. We had breakfast, which was apple pancake (NPR350/2) and tibetan bread (NPR300/2) to take-away, and were pleasantly surprised to see that the mist had lifted by the time we were packed and ready to leave the guesthouse. Read more

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ACT Day 07 - Route to Kang La

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Flower power!

The southern views of the Annapurna Range from Himalaya Hotel were supposed to have been perfect. Scorpio would have been clearly visible, as would have Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.. that is, if not for the perpetual mist that shrouded everything from view each and every time the sun set. I got out of bed twice that night just to check whether the Milky Way was visible, but every single attempt that night and for the rest of the trip would turn out to be to no avail. So that morning, we decided that we would spend another night at Ngawal (elevation : 3660m) Read more