Page 27 - 2023 AMA Spring

The drive was utterly terrifying. I had never seen anything like it. All the way, I was pressing my emergency imaginary brake, praying to any God that would hear me to make it to the destination alive. I had one hand on the door handle ready to jump out as driving on these dirt roads, overlooking the cliff, could barely fit a Fiat 500 let alone a 4x4. We also drove past a house that had been smashed by a boulder just 2 hours before and manoeuvred through waterfalls thinking we're going to get swept away. After three failures on the journey; one tyre puncture, lights not functioning at night and engine failure, we finally made it to Dharapani sitting at 1860m.
On the first day of the trek, we woke up to a traditional Nepalese breakfast which included Tibetan bread. We then trekked 15km to our next destination, Chame, sitting at 2630m. Along the way, I felt like the anchor of the group. My body wasn’t adjusting to the altitude and each step was a struggle, especially getting the oxygen my body craved. For a while, I contem- plated that I might have bitten off more than I could chew for this expedition. The views on our journey were phenomenal. With towering snowy mountains, fast-flowing rivers that glistened in the sun, breath-taking waterfalls and what felt like endless suspension bridges. This was my first experience of an Asian country and I felt truly blessed. When we arrived at Chame, we turned our head torches on and our travel guide took us to a local hot spring which was directly located next to the cold river.
On the second day of trekking, we woke up to the sunrise on the Annapurna Mountain range. We then set off to Upper
Reaching Dharapani at 1860m
Pisang with an ascent of 650m. The second day was a contrast from the first as my body had adapted to the altitude and was finally acclimatised to the mountains. Within our group, we had some extremely experienced instructors with SSgt Yam, who had previously summited Mount Everest and SSgt Kumar who was equally knowledgeable. They went on to share their knowledge and the importance of going slow and hydrating. We stopped at a tea house and were treated to one of the best doughnuts I have ever tasted, made from locally grown apples. When we reached Upper Pisang (3300m) at 1600hrs, a few people in the group started showing signs of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). In the evening we had the opportunity to attend a Buddhist monastery and sit in during the prayers which I found to be very enlightening.
On the third day of trekking, we headed to Manang which stood at 3540m. This was by far the longest trek we had done so far, having set off at 0800hrs and reaching Manang at 1830hrs. We would stop here for a further day of acclimatising. I found Manang to be a very beautiful town mixed
Taking in the Culture
with modern buildings and shops. In the evening, we visited the old part of Manang where the houses had been built by hand with stones from the mountainside. It was also the first time I had seen ‘Yak’ on the menu so I decided to give it a go. It was very tasty and I was happy to get some protein into my body.
Day 5 of trekking, we headed from Manang, to Yak Kharka sitting at 4230m. From this point forward, there would be no meat on the menu, hot shower facilities, WIFI or phone signal. This was the day I saw most of the wildlife Nepal had to offer including yaks, mules, horses, Himalayan goats, blue sheep, musk deer and plenty of wild dogs along the way. I felt guilty as I was away from my son Noah and it was his 9th birthday, but the team made a video for me singing Happy Birthday to him at 4000m which he was overjoyed with.
Day 6 was from Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi, sitting at 4450m. You could really start to feel the air getting thinner as we ascended. A few of our team started to struggle with oxygen intake along the
Mission Accomplished
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