boroangel said:
Thansk bluemoon. Do you have any recommendations for the tour guides which you haev tried yourself? For the Annapurna trek is it purely trekking or is it part walking, part on wheel? I am looking for trekking that is not too strenous and no sharp cliffs as I have a phobia of heights:embrass: ......trekking on flat ground is perfectly ok with me even if its on the mountains....as long as no sharp cliffs right beside where you walk.....
How distance did you walk on the Annapurna trek roughly per day and do you mind sharing your itineary?
For any trek in Nepal, it is purely trekking, no wheel. The wheels will bring you only as far as the starting point for the trek, and bring you back from the ending point.
There are 2 treks in the Annapurna area, the Annapurna Circuit (3 weeks) and the Annapurna Base Camp (10-14 days). Both are reasonably strenuous, a lot of ups and downs, some gradual, some steep. But don't be daunted; my 2 companions on the last trek did not exercise regularly but still made it all the way up to the Base Camp. Go for it man! No worries there are no sharp cliffs beside you. If you're trekking in Europe at 3000-4000m you would be pretty high up, might have some cliffs, but in Nepal at 3000-4000m you're at only half the height of the Himalayan giants around you :bsmilie: The most scary experience might be crossing a bridge over a river. :bigeyes: Some of the paths are narrow but don't worry about the animals, you can hear their bells from a mile away, just duck to the side of the path and they will pass by peacefully.
Both times I've gone with an agency called Mountain Adventure, they're not in the guidebooks but they're very reliable. You can google for them. Our trek was 13 days long, each day we would trek about 4-6 hours. Roughly about 10km maybe? Not sure
My itinerary was:
Day 1: Fly into Kathmandu
Day 2: Free day kathmandu
Day 3: Transport to Pokhara
Day 4- 16- Trekking
Day 17- Free day Pokhara
Day 18- Transport to Kathmandu
Day 19- Fly back
You can shorten the trek, just have to walk more each day. I personally prefer not to rush through a trek cos there's so much to see (and shoot!!) along the way
If you happen to run into any Maoists, they will ask for a little tax, usually 1000 Nepalese rupees per person (about S$25), then leave you alone. You can bargain if you're a student heh. I personally didn't run into any.
Hope this helps... and hope you get to go there!