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| I had already developed a good
habit of waking up early after days of sleeping at high
elevation. My body alarm woke me up naturally at four,
and after thirty minutes of freshening up and preparation,
it was about the right time to have my usual chat with
the beautiful stars. My close encounters with them often
brought surprises. This morning I discovered that the
stars expressed their moods with colors. |
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| 6:20am, the morning ray gradually
removed the giant curtain on the sky, unveiling Annapurna
South and Hiunchuli to us who had been eagerly awaiting
their arrival. |
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| He is Dilip, the friendly caretaker
of the lodge who have been managing the Fish Tail Guesthouse
for three years. You might not see him again. He passed
his Korean language test recently and is in the midst
of applying for a job in Korea. You may ask what is so
great about the outside world than his own Himalayan country
and mountains. I have no idea. |
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| The only time you can see Annapurna
South and Machhapuchhre peaks at the same time. |
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| The intense, yet beautiful sunray,
captured honestly by my camera. |
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| Couple of minutes later the morning
ray turned into lens flare through my L lens. This is
no photoshop'ed mate! |
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| It was a pleasant one and a half
hours uphill walk to the Annapurna Base Camp, the only
problem was seeing ourselves fighting for oxygen. Gasping
tends to be more serious here. Our guide Rishi constantly
reminded us to slow our pace to avoid getting Acute Mountain
Sickness (AMS). Well, the sunlight was so intense, I thought
I would die from severe sunburn and sunstroke before I
develop AMS. |
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| I simply couldn't believe what
I saw, the mountains were up close! Well, the view is
deceptive; it actually takes weeks to reach them in reality.
Its giant size has done a good job in deceiving our eyes.
Hikers taking a break to admire Annapurna I (8,091m),
the 10th highest mountain in the world. Annapurna Base
Camp is just 10 minutes away. |
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| Tears welled in my eyes after
seeing the welcoming sign - I knew I had made it finally,
4130m! For a non-regular hiker like me, the sense of accomplishment
was even greater than hitting a lottery, owning a Ferrari
car, or marrying a Miss Universe! At this moment, nothing
was more beautiful than the mountains before my eyes,
nowhere in the world was more calm and peaceful than my
inner heart. |
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| Our lodging for tonight, at 4130m.
As usual, we were the first guests-of-honor who 'checked-in'. |
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| 10:22am, I loaned my cool 'Oakley'
sunglasses to Rishi for this shot. The intense sunlight
left a beautiful burst on its glass. By the way, this
cool Oakley is only USD3, bought in Pokhara. Obviously
it's worth every single penny and the effort to bring
it along, at least it turns my guide into a superstar! |
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| This is the second time in my
life seeing chortens and prayer flags, first being in
Ladakh, a Tibetan-like region at Northern India. I took
a walk down memory lane again… |
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| Gandharba Chuli (6250m) and Machhapuchhre
(6992m), flanked by colorful prayer flags. |
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| Colorful prayer flags hoist above
Annapurna I (8,091m), the 10th highest mountain in the
world. |
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| At this elevation, we not only
felt the intense heat of the sun, but also heard the loud
crashing sound of falling rocks caused by glacier movements.
The movements were so frequent that I thought the whole
mountain was going to collapse anytime soon. |
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| The sense of fulfillment was
indescribable. Not for the pride of reaching a high altitude.
Not for the hurdles I overcome in reaching here. It's
solely for the serenity I received, a calmness that I
had never experienced before in my life. Ohm mani padme
hum! |
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| My guide Rishi told me that expeditions
to Annapurna I (8,091m) are accident-prone. He was once
in an expedition when avalanche came crashing down with
a frightening speed and killed one of his teammates. |
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| A chorten that was turned into
a memorial site, in memory of climbers who perished in
the course of achieving their dreams of reaching high. |
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| 12:42pm. Due to the peak hiking
season, late arrivals were either arranged to sleep in
the kitchen or storeroom, or being asked to descend the
same day. Five lodges at Annapurna Base Camp are obviously
not enough to cope with the influx of hikers. The deep
blue sky two hours ago was totally engulfed by thick mist
at noon. Notice from the photo the mist was actually following
the tails of the hikers. |
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| A high-altitude tuna cheese pizza
served on a Chinese plate. I still find the pizza at MBC
more delicious. |
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| My porter Lawati has this weird
habit of resting at hidden locations. "You don't
see me!" He must be thinking. Behind these rocks
is a steep ravine, or rather a deep valley caused by glacier
movements. |
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| 1:52pm. We had the entire afternoon
free for roaming, most people chilled-out at low viewpoints
but I chose to hike further up. |
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| above. It was a misty
afternoon without mountain view at all, but my intention
was solely to check out a higher viewpoint for tomorrow
morning. It was a real steep climb, I slid down several
times stepping on unstable rocks. Coupled with the chilly
temperature, I gave up half way, but I had at least ascended
100m, so my official highest elevation was 4230m. Hurray...
100m higher than everyone else! I had just done an acclimatization
exercise unknowingly, adhering to the 'climb high, sleep
low' practice. I told my guide Rishi I wanted to come
back again tomorrow and he nodded with smile. He knew
me too well, or rather; he knew me and my camera too well. |
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| Another round of thick mist shrouded
the entire sky, leaving the Machhapuchhre peak untouched.
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| 6:12p.m. The last moment before
the mountains gave way to darkness and night-time coldness. |
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