Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Annapurna Base Camp Trek




Annapurna base camp trek is so special for me. It was my first trekking & unforgettable memory in this trip. It was in March 2006. I had gone as a porter. There was a couple, I forget who they were & from where. 

The guide was a drunkard; I also used drink lot in the early 20s. We would get free "Raksi” local alcohol in the most of the guesthouses. I think we didn't pay for Raksi. Most of the guides & porters would drink in this area. This trekking area is safe to drink. If you go Annapurna Circuit Trek, & Everest base camp trek, normally they don't drink. Guides & porters are very careful in Everest region but they drink in Annapurna region because here no high altitude risk. You should not trek in very high altitude area in Annapurna region.

So, we would drink every single evening, most of the guest houses, & lodges used to offer Raksi. I think it was their competition, & business policy too. There was an event in Chhomrong, we also went there & participated in the cultural program. We are rich in culture; we have our own singing, 7 dancing number. We have a duet song, especially, questioning, & answering by singing. We sang the song almost the whole night. You can imagine, you are trekking every day & singing for a whole night with alcohol & not sleeping.

It was a nice night but the next two days were absolutely not beautiful nights. After two days, we reached to Annapurna base camp. Unluckily, I got a worse headache in base camp & I couldn't eat anything, couldn't sleep the whole night. It was hangover then high altitude, & carrying a bag-pack. I was weak, tired, & sick on the way back till Pokhara. So this Annapurna base camp trek is memorable for me. I learned that we should not drink in trekking.

There was another story in Chhomrong before going to base camp; one of the Guide named Sange was sick, he was frequently vomiting, & not eating anything. I think he was sick before starting this trek. He was vomiting blood, guest house owner & local people rescued him by carrying in the next morning to Pokhara. It was sad news, he passed away when we came back to Chhomrong after Annapurna base camp. It made us upset. I always have that scene he is climbing up to Gurung hill after Ghorepani.

No comments:

Post a Comment