INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
extra blankets were aplenty at every
guesthouse, and I piled them over my
sleeping bag to stay warm enough for
a good night’s sleep.
Alone but Never Lonely:
The Annapurna Circuit in Winter
by Joshua Cook
Enduring the nights was worth it
when the days were so spectacular.
In three weeks on the Circuit, only four
days challenged me with inclement
weather. The rest of the time the
conditions were perfect. Views like the
one from the Upper Pisang Monastery
were a daily occurrence. Not a single
peak was obscured, and the true scale
could be felt.
Another fear I had had was the state of
Thorung Pass. What if it’s closed off by
snow? became a question that nagged
at me along the way. Or worse: What if
a storm comes in when I am trying to
cross? But the same risks exist in the
spring, and blizzards can even come
in October, the busiest time of year.
Luckily, the pass had little snow when I
crossed it. There was only a light wind,
and it wasn’t even cold enough to
require a coat.
The most common warning I had
received before embarking was: “There
won’t be anyone else there. You’ll be
alone.”
A highlight of winter trekking is having the trails to yourself. Photo: Tashi Sherpa.
“When I arrived at the miniscule village of Braga, the
only guesthouse in town was closed. I told a local
resident of my predicament and he offered me a room
behind his restaurant”
Barefoot, I ascended the steps at the
entrance of a Tibetan-style monastery
that sat high above the Manang Valley
in the Annapurna Himalayas. Peering
through the massive doorway, I found
the main room dark and empty,
except for a golden Buddha sitting in
composed serenity at the far end of
the room. He seemed to look on with
approval, and welcomed me inside.
The place smelled of varnished wood
and shadows. On the floor of the
adjacent wall, I was flanked by a row
of thick winter robes that had been left
standing up, as if the monks who once
wore them had simply evaporated.
I prostrated before the hospitable
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Buddha three times. The only sounds
were the creaking wood beneath
my feet, the shuffling of my clothes,
and the wind outside. When I turned
to leave, I went back through the
entrance and my eyes had to adjust
to the blinding brightness of snow and
sky. When they did, I was overwhelmed
by the view that stretched out in front
of me: the sharp fall into the valley,
the village below, and the stark rise
through the pine forests, culminating
at the enormous blue-white peaks that
scraped the clouds. At the top of the
steps, with the monastery behind me
and the whole of the Annapurna range
in front, I thought: Could this moment
really be mine alone?
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
I had stumbled upon a secret that only
a few trekkers knew: Winter is truly
the best time to be on the Annapurna
Circuit.
It turned out to be true. Alone, I explored
ancient monasteries around Muktinath
and meandered through dilapidated
villages of stone and mud in Humde
and Pisang. Alone, I circumambulated
stupas near Chame, and alone I made
my way across the arid expanse of
Lower Mustang. When I walked by
mani walls in Marpha and turned each
prayer wheel, leaving them spinning
and creaking in my wake, there was no
one else behind me. Alone I stopped for
water breaks and snacks in the middle
of forests, listening to the wind carving
through the mountains, the patter of
melting snow falling from pine boughs,
and the birdsong that filled the trees.
Before I started the trek, however, I was
not so convinced. “It will be very cold,”
a local guide told me. “You will have to
have a good sleeping bag and warm
clothes.” Though I was alone much of the time,
I never felt lonely. In being alone,
these moments were infused with a
supernatural quality, with the sanctity
of having a solitary experience in one of
the most extraordinary environments in
the Himalayas.
About a week in, I knew that this was
true. But only at night. Once the trail
reached above 3000 metres and the
sun went down, the temperatures
dropped to well below freezing.
However, there was an easy solution.
With a dearth of visitors in the area, The winter season does not deplete
the Annapurna area of all vestiges of
life. There were many people to greet
with a friendly namaste. Villagers
waited outside the few guesthouses
that stayed open. I’d sit with them at
lunch and engage in conversation.
The weather is also likely to be clear in winter. Photo: Ashok Amatya.
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
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