Overview

I spent about 10 days hiking the Annapurna Circuit with my Dad in 2023, with a few days in Kathmandu and Pokhara on either side of the hike. I put together a couple of thoughts if you are prepping for Annapurna/Nepal, though this is obviously a very narrow slice of the Nepal experience. Typically, I’m about a 5/10 on the luxury needs scale (I like a good meal occasionally but typically won’t seek out something very fancy, I don’t mind being dirty and wet for a few days but I also love some good clean sheets) and I’m probably 8/10 on the adventuresome scale (I know my limits, but I like pushing them).

This trip felt very much like a “glamping” trip to me. The hike and altitude was tough at times, but getting to sleep indoors every night made it feel extremely comfortable overall and much nicer than I was expecting. Prose summary of my experience here.

Annapurna Circuit:

• As of April 2023, you are required to take a guide in most regions in Nepal, including Annapurna and EBC. We encountered 2 or 3 people on our hike who didn’t seem to have a guide with them, but we decided to go with a guided trip and chose this trek with the Nepal Hiking Team. I’d strongly recommend them if you’re looking for a guided trip.
• One thing to note is that customizing your trip, even with a guided trip like that, is extremely easy. If I were to do it again, I might add a couple extra days to go to Tilicho lake, or a few extra days after my trek in Pokhara.

Tips and Tricks:

• Decide if you want to take diamox ahead of time - Acetazolamide is a medication you can use to prevent altitude sickness if you choose. It both helps prevent acute mountain sickness and treats the symptoms if you do have it, but it’s best to start taking it 24 hours before you reach altitude
• Bring hiking poles - I’m not a big hiking pole person, but on the long days they make you approximately 20% more efficient, and they are easier on your knees for the long hike down from the pass, particularly
• Bring a water bladder - To help with altitude sickness, you tend to drink 3-4 liters of water per day. It’s very helpful to be able to do that easily while hiking without always having to stop.
• Bring some electrolyte packets - you’re drinking a ton of water, and sometimes having a little flavoring in there, or the quick hit of sugar and electrolytes when you are on a long section of hike
• Bring anti nausea, anti diarrheal, and an antibiotic if possible - we had a number of people on our trip get some sort of food poisoning which really took people out for 24-48 hours. Obviously you want to clear whatever bacteria you picked up, but we were short on medicine which just limited options for everyone
• On the pass night, you are hiking in the cold for quite a while. Turn your water bottles upside down in your backpack to start the ice freezing from the bottom rather than from the cap. Similarly, after drinking from your bladder, blow air back through the tube to keep it relatively empty and keep it from freezing.

Kathmandu:

• Overall I did not love Kathmandu - if you have extra days to spend somewhere, I’d recommend prioritizing Pokhara instead. There’s lots of shopping for knockoff gear and small souvenirs if interested.
• Seeing Hands Massage - a great place for a post-hike massage if interested. Blind masseuses.
• Monkey Temple - a beautiful temple complex and lots of monkeys to see!
• Durbar Square - beautiful royal palaces, temples, and some small museums
• Pashupatinath Temple - this temple is known for its crematoria. You can see bodies being cremated right out in the open. I didn’t really visit but I stopped quickly on my way to the airport. It’s a difficult but interesting stop.
• Fire and Ice pizzeria - a very delicious pizza place if that’s what you’re feeling!