Excuse me waiter, there are 3 flies in my soup...

The name Kathmandu conjures up a mystical image of far-flung lands, a whispered rumour of a medieval city hidden amongst cloud-shrouded valleys only seen by the most intrepid of explorers. Well that may have been true once upon a time, and indeed the medieval roots can still be glimpsed by the myriad tiny cobbled streets and alleyways, however modern-day Kathmandu has developed according to it's visitors needs, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the chaos of Thamel, the backpacker area.

Pedalo on Phewa Tal, British-style

Our time in Nepal was always going to be about trekking, so we chose the Annapurna Circuit which is widely acclaimed as one of the best treks in the world, however this is hugely threatened by the road which is in the process of being built the whole way around. Already half is complete and within 2 years time the majority of the circuit will be accessible by road. It seems a shame to us but all the locals are for it, bringing as it would a variety of modern benefits. Life in these areas is fairly tough graft so you can hardly blame the locals for wanting it.

Not even half-way and already celebrating... what fools we were

The first leg we travelled atop the roof of a disintegrating bus, trying not to be too alarmed when pieces of the roofrack came away in my hands! Jumping off the roof was the start of the hike, straight away scrabbling down the riverbanks and crossing the first of the mighty glacial meltwater rivers we would encounter. The first real trial was a 500m rise to the village of Bahundanda, which in the midday heat of 30+ was particularly excruciating - Tom was already looking for a taxi to take him back home at this point.

Tibetan prayer-stones, carved with 'Om Mani Padme Hum' mantras

This trek is called a 'tea-house trek' due to the numerous villages with lodges, teashops and restaurants dotted along the trail every few hours or so. Lodges are particularly cheap (about £1 for a double room) as the rules are that you eat where you stay, which is where they make their money. As such, standards can vary considerably, with some places sporting decorated rooms with solid walls and hot showers in attached bathrooms, while others being little more than a couple of planks of wood with a paper-thin mattress in a shack with more holes than a sieve. Menus, on the other hand, are mass-printed and circulated to all guesthouses in the area, with the same fare on offer everywhere (at least on paper). In practice, however, it became clear that many guesthouse owners have little knowledge of how the dishes they advertise should look or indeed taste. In contrast there was the odd gem to be found with beautifully home-cooked dishes in lovely environments.

The days seemed to get even harder, after a gruelling introduction we then hiked over 6 hours, climbing 850m in 18km - Beth even offered to take the big bag to give my shoulders a break - she managed to carry it for 5km which nearly killed her!

Taking a well-deserved break   

Climbing into Upper Pisang gave us a dramatic view overlooking the valley from our guesthouse (we sadistically chose the highest one!), as the weather closed in we settled into the fire-warmed "dinning" room with games of cards whilst we waited over 2 hours for our dinner (the first lady couldn't speak english so fetched her friend, who also couldn't read the english menu, who fetched a third guy who finally got the ball rolling).

Rambling fools

This was also the place where we acquired our team name of "The Howling Bitches" thanks to Beth, who couldn't stand playing cards with us 4 boys due to the level of good-humoured bitching at each other.

We decided to take a couple of rest/acclimatisation days in Manang, as Janine had some serious Delhi-belly going on. The healthy ones among us decided to take advantage of this time to explore the area and climb the nearby viewpoint, enjoying a 360 view of a glacier, lake and the valley, and some locally-made Seabuckthorn juice - delicious and packed with vitamin C.

Miniature dudes off to school

A broken Beth after walking up from the valley floor

Our real trial, however, came the following day when we decided to forego a rest day by hiking up to an icelake at 4600m before climbing back down to help us acclimatise more to the altitude. This proved to be a huge physical exertion - Beth named this "broken" day, as it involved 4 hours of relentless uphill from 3500m, and when we got up there the lake wasn't even frozen. Trying to cast wishes of a zip-wire back home, we stumbled back down with Beth suffering from headaches and nausea from the altitude combined with severe knee pain, taking us another 3.5 hours to return.

It's literally begging for a zip-wire

Yes, it was actually that cold!

Moving on from there we climbed into colder air through Yak Kharka (yaks becoming more and more apparent at this altitude), onto our highest camp of Thorung Phedi (4500m), where we found it particularly difficult to sleep.

A hairy beast

Another hairy beast

Climbing over the highest point in the hike, the Thorung La pass at 5416m, was a breathless early-morning ascent but physically easier than the icelake climb so it had prepared us well. Beth was extremely pleased at the top to have made it in her little green sneakers after her hiking boots fell apart on the 2nd day!

This photo brought to you by Evian Mineral Water - FRESH!

At the peak we celebrated with a large bar of Dairy Milk carried all the way from the UK (thanks Mum!).

The photos say for themselves the amazing scenery we witnessed on the route down to Kagbeni, a delightful green oasis in a desert landscape, like a green snake slithering through the barren valley. This was where we spent our first day off for 12 days, in the comforts of a very welcoming guesthouse.

From here onwards a dust-track had appeared that supported jeeps and seemingly indestructible buses, so we crammed ourselves in and rode down to Tatopani, passing more incredible landscapes but unfortunately descending back down to the oppressive humidity and ubiquitous mosquitoes. Tom was delighted to be back into beef territory after being a forced veggy for 12 days (with the exception of a less-than-pleasant experience with yak) and settled down to a good steak.

Spot the peak of Annapurna II (7939m), momentarily visible through the clouds

I insisted on us trying to climb Poon Hill, but 15 minutes from the top it started to rain hard and the clouds closed in spoiling any chance of a view, so we turned around before the summit - quite fitting really, the Poons couldn't be bothered to climb Poon Hill!

Everyone's favourite critter

 A not-so-friendly Praying Mantis came a-knocking on our door

Our final day of hiking was Beth's 2nd broken day, a monstrous 2200m descent mostly down giant stone steps - after 2.5 hours Beth's knee gave up the ghost so after a shocking lunch (of tomato-soup with no less than 3 flies adding a bit of protein), Beth was forced to offload her backpack on mine and with my assistance painfully hopped down the remaining 4.5 hours where we swiftly jumped into a taxi driving through an impressive thunderstorm back to the comforts and relaxation of Pokhara.

So our next move is a flight to Hong Kong tomorrow, a first-world culture shock that's been a long time in coming! The usual patisseries and random signs to finish ;)