Well, our last morning. This morning Nabin picked me up on his scooter for a quick blast to Moonlight Hotel to have breakfast with Uttam. So good to see him again and see his renovations to the hotel.

One last coffee at the Himalayan Java and one last Masala Tea in the KGH gardens. Evan has not long walked out of the barber shop trimmed and looking more like the Evan we are used to.

Thanks to everyone who followed the adventures of Annapurna Base Camp 2017. The comments were all well appreciated as we sat around dining room lodges trying to stay warm. Lots of ups and downs both physically and emotionally.

​The time has come...........

Most were sad to farewell Pokhara. We all enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere it offers. Our flight was on time and by around 10.30 we were pulling into the gardens of KGH.

Everyone went there own way for the afternoon, John down to Durbar Square to see if Kumari wanted to join him for a Khukari Rum. I enjoyed a sandwich at Pumpernickels with Michelle and Sue. John, Evan and Elaine did some "back street tours" and found a cafe for lunch. Jason and Danielle found the hospital for an MRI. He will get the results tomorrow. Greg and Anne visited the Garden of Dreams.
We met at 6.30 and went to a Thai Restaurant. Beautiful curries.

Tomorrow morning I am having breakfast with a good long time friend Uttam at his guest house before our 11am pick up for our 1.55pm departure. One more Masala tea.

A great day today wondering the streets of Pokhara. Running into everyone with shopping bags proudly displaying their purchasers. Evan and Elaine both had massages claiming it was the best massage they had ever had. Saw glimpses of Greg and Anne exploring the shops. Had lunch with Prakash, Michelle and Sue on Lakeside. Last time I saw John he was trying to convince a restaurant owner that Happy Hour should start at 10am. Haven't seen him since. Danielle and Jason are off wondering too and I haven't crossed paths with them either.

Weather has been perfect again although it's looking rather stormy in the mountains.

Today I cheated and gave Prakash money to purchase a couple of shirts for the boys local price not tourist price. Yes, he bargained better than me.

​A 9.20am flight in the morning back to Kathmandu with last minute shopping or relaxing in the gardens of the Guest House.

A touch of sadness this morning as I stuffed my sleeping bag into the compression bag one last time. I'm never on a high on our last day. The simplicities of village life end and you're quickly thrown into dodging cars and motorbikes and avoiding the touts on the street. Instead of dodging donkeys, donkey poo, and giving way to porters on a mission to deliver trays of eggs and gas cylinders to villagers before dark.

Compared to other days today was relatively easy. Albeit we pounded out 21kms of ups and downs before we hit the road and walked about 5km with the odd tourist bus going past. John G is back to normal now and good to have him back in the group.

We were back in Nayapul where it all started 10 days earlier. Our van was waiting and we were loaded up and heading back down to Pokhara 1.5 hours later. Five minutes into the trip I looked at the seats behind and every Porter was sound asleep. Officially off duty and I felt rather satisfied seeing them so relaxed. Something you don't see during the trek.

We arrived in Pokhara around 4.30. A quick chat to Greg and Anne to fill one another in on the past 48 hours and it was into the shower. We were meeting our guide and porters at 6.30 to do the traditional dinner and tipping. Greg handed each of them his cartoon sketch he had done each night whilst on the trek. Lots of hugs and kind words to each of them and they departed back to the hotel with an early start for them on the local bus back to Kathmandu tomorrow. Prakash will stay on and fly back with us the day after tomorrow. Sue R commented that she didn't want the trek to end (sorry Ian, I suppose this means she's not missing you yet)!!!

​A day of relaxing tomorrow with everyone doing their own thing. Michelle had a facial this afternoon. Evan and Elaine are having massages tomorrow. Sue will wonder the shops....did I tell you Sue likes to shop??? John will find a place selling Khukari Rum and sit there for the day. And I'll find things to do around Lakeside. Greg, Anne, Danielle and Jason visited the mountaineering museum and said it was well worth a visit.

Wow wow and wow. Heavy snow overnight and we have heard that a metre of snow fell at Base Camp last night. Our thoughts were with Jason, Danielle, Greg and Anne. We woke up to beautiful blue sky with a beautiful ground cover of fresh snow. As the morning progressed we kept thinking we would hear the helicopter any minute but apparently the snow and ice had settled on the helicopter and it wasn't moving until it had defrosted. The pilot knows best!!!! At around 11.30 we heard it coming down the valley obviously with the team we had left at ABC.

Walking this morning was the most amazing experience and hard to describe. The trees were laden with snow and as the sun was hitting them the snow/ice was falling on us. It was like being in the middle of a snow ball fight. We all had grins from ear to ear.

We completed our steep descent down to the swing bridge, crossed the river and then tackled 2887 steps up. I know this thanks to Courtney who counted the steps a couple of years ago. We arrived at Chhomrong and waiting for us was John. So good to see him again. He told us he had been using the local medicine of Khukari Rum every night to fight his chest infection and I have to say it worked. He was in good spirits and I think quite happy to be reunited with the team.

A steep drop down to Jhinu Danda and the place of the natural hot springs. OMG hot water on our "bits" that have been accustomed to moist towelettes for the past number of days.

We are currently sitting in our lodge dining room joining John with a bottle of Khukari Rum (even though we don't have chest infections). I'm not a spirit drinker but have to say it would kill any germ present.

Quote of the day has to go to Sue R. "I think I've lost weight in my feet. I have to do my laces and gaiters up tighter than I've ever had to before". Well done Sue, she even finished her tea tonight, then ate half of Michelle's. She's come along way from tomato soup in the early days. Still a tough day tomorrow of around 21kms so she should power through.

The porters are very happy and relaxed tonight as they know they have one more day of carrying bags before they are officially off duty. Next update will be from Pokhara. After a shower, after putting on clean clothes, after fighting the chaos of cars and motorbikes that we haven't missed for 10 days.

We have made contact with Jason and he has had an X-ray in Pokhara to confirm nothing is broken. No MRI machine there so will need to have this done in Kathmandu. Tomorrow night will see us back in Pokhara. This is were we will shout our guide and porters out for tea and say farewell to our beautiful porters.

Sorry for no update but we haven't had Wifi for a day and a half and only have it now for an hour while we stop for lunch. Should have wifi later today at tonight's stop.

So we started as 10 and we are now 5. A phone call from Annapurna Base Camp to Jason's insurance ($38 USD) and a helicopter was organised to fly him and Danielle back down to Pokhara the next morning. The helicopter has 4 spare seats and Greg and Anne have chosen to fly back to Pokhara with them. Unfortunately when we woke up this morning the snow was falling.....and rather heavy. No choppers would be flying in this. So our guide and two porters decided it would be better if they stay at Base Camp with Jason, Danielle, Greg and Anne, while Michelle, Sue R, Evan, Elaine and myself along with 3 porters started our way back down.

Crampons were needed again along with gaiters and warm gear. It wasn't bad at all walking in this condition as the snow was quite dry. After a few hours of snow it turned into light rain but again nothing bad. We were all comfortable walking and managed to keep warm. We had no view at all of the mountains and commented how lucky we were that our final ascent up to Base Camp the day before with beautiful blue sky was such a contrast 24 hours later.

Evan and Elaine had purchased woollen hats back in Kathmandu with Annapurna Base Camp sewn into them. They had been wearing these hats back-to-front in the days leading up to Base Camp. They can now proudly wear there hats the right way around.

As we were walking we heard a helicopter in the distance. We stopped to find it and couldn't believe that it would be flying in these conditions it came into sight just as it was preparing to do a 180 degree turnaround and head back down. Obviously too much fog and cloud to fly. Half an hour later we reached the village of Himalaya and here we saw the helicopter had landed. We spoke to the pilot and he told us he was on his way to Base Camp to pick up an injured trekker (Jason) but had to turn around due to weather. We introduced ourselves as being the group Jason belongs to and he said he will now stay at Himalaya and see what it's like in the morning.

We arrived at our lodge in a village called Bamboo. We had all managed to stay dry. Two hours later the dining room door opens and in walks our guide Prakash and the 2 porters. They decided there was no need to wait at Base Camp as Jason and his family were happy to wait out the bad weather. So what took us 7 hours including a lunch stop took our guide and porters a little over 3 hours!!! Ok, they do it all the time.

A phone call up to the lodge at Base Camp to make sure they were all ok and Greg said it had been like a blizzard up there all day. I told them the rescue helicopter is waiting out the bad weather and when they wake in the morning if there is blue sky it should be there around 7.30am.

So we are currently sitting in our lodge and the light rain has turned to heavy snow. Anything can happen up here as with yesterday's blue sky.

I forgot to mention we all sang Advance Australia Fair on Australia Day......with a few deep breathes in between the sentences. Last night we had a bit of fun around the dining room table in the lodge and held an auction. What were we auctioning you ask??? Jocks. Brand spanking, never been warn before still with tags jocks. Gave me an indication who was getting desperate. All proceeds to go to the porters. Bidding started and strangely Danielle bought them. Realising they would be too small for Jason she donated them to Sanchez, the Porter who took John Gerring back down and turned around and came back up under headlamp. The women's undies were purchased by Sue R. Not that she's getting desperate but thought it would be nice to have something clean for Pokhara. A bit of fun amongst headaches at 4130 Metres.

Tomorrow we continue on to Chhomrong. Here we will descend 3000 steps, cross a swing bridge then climb 3000 steps.....cruel. It's also here were we will pick up John Gerring who has hopefully been able to rest and shake off his chest infection. (We are told John is good and drinking a bottle of Kukari Rum a night which has helped with his chest).

We will then drop down the Chinu (Hot Springs).

Our final ascent up to Annapurna Base Camp. We got through the avalanche section unscathed. After two hours of climbing we reached Machupachare Base Camp (MBC). A big pot of Lemon Ginger tea and snickers bars and coconut biscuits.......how the heck do we still manage to loose weight!!

Here's a run down on the group. Sue R has come up trumps and I've got to say there was a time earlier on in the trip around day 2 that I didn't think she would have the strength to make it this far. She found her niche, after fuelling properly and working out a pace that works and stood with us 2 hours ago at Annapurna Base Camp.

Evan and Elaine, wow what can I say. Give Elaine an ice axe, set of crampons and some ropes and she would go beyond Base Camp with Evan following closely behind.

Greg and Anne.....both have been able to name every plant they have stumbled across and have got just as much out of the flora as what they have the mountain scenery.

Michelle is a trooper, although she feels the cold at night. Finds her own pace and doesn't stop until the destination.

Jason and Danielle......hats off to Jason, shear guts and determination has seen him stand with the rest of the team at ABC. Amazing where mental strength can get you. Danielle has supported him all the way and also finds her pace although maybe a tad slower than normal to stick with Jason.

Johnny Gerring......wish you could have stood with us John. You are definitely here in thought and hope you're recovering well back in a warmer temperature.

A few within the team have commented they have slight headaches. I've told them to drink up and hopefully the headache will go after a couple of hours of rest. Jason and Danielle look like being choppered out in the morning as we doubt Jason will make it back down within the time frame.

​Tomorrow we descend 2000 Metres. A huge day.

Note: The internet here is very poor, and I am having problems updating the remainder of my photos from today..!! Will continue trying.

Well John Gerring conquered Everest Base Camp 3 years ago, but unfortunately has succumbed to the mighty Annapurna due to a chest infection. This morning we said goodbye to John with two days before reaching Base Camp. Not nice saying goodbye to one of the team and it's the first time we have ever had to. Fighting back tears we all waved him off. He negotiated with one of our porters to carry his backpack down to a lower warmer altitude were he will have 3 days to recover before we pick him back up. The Porter will then turn around and come back up carrying no bags and hopefully be here before dark. This is what they do for you.

Queen of the mountain goes to Sue today. I think she's finally found what food will give her the energy she needs to get her through the next day. She proved this today with a good climb this morning with not too many recovery stops.

Carly has definitely given up on us and maybe the challenge of the Annapurna's was too much for her. Evan says she might be more suited to the Everest trek!!! John would agree if he was here..!

Jason's knee has seen him through another day which is positive.

We have just heard that John has made it back down to Chhomrong and has a room with toilet and hot shower. Hopefully a few days of warmer weather will see him improve before we come back down.

Tomorrow is our final ascent to Base Camp with a climb of over 1200 metres. We don't know what to expect with the weather but have been told it's cold.

WiFi is now very hit and miss. I am unable to post more of todays photos and am unable to read your comments from yesterday's post. I promise to read through them when I can.

A good day walking today, maybe not as hard as the last few days but none-the-less ups and downs. A steep descent down from Chhomrong over a swing bridge than a steep climb up for our morning tea stop 2 hours later.

My football strapping came in handy on Jason's knee as I tried to support it as best I could. He still is in a lot of pain and climbing the steps like a ladder favouring his good leg first. A credit to his toughness here. The options are he and Danielle slowly make their way back down with their Porter, or we put our travel insurance into place and get a chopper out for him. It just so happens that when we arrived in Dovan an Aussie doctor on his way back down had a look at his knee. It could be a Meniscus tear. He said he should try and continue and maybe look at a chopper evacuation from Base Camp.

It appears our new found mascot Carley found a group of Koreans to follow back down as she started off with us this morning, but we haven't seen her since lunch. Now it's fairly common she could show up in the morning wagging her tail ready to continue up with us.

Quote of the day goes to Evan......"I can't believe we've had "western boggers" all the way. Just missing those little hand dryers that blow warm air on your hands". Maybe you get those on the Everest trek David.!!.

A message from Sue to Andy to tell Liz about the blog and follow the journey.

​John has a tiny case of Man Flu. But a little bit of sympathy has seen him get through the day.

Thanks for updating the blog David, correct, no WiFi last night.

From yesterday - Sunday 22nd

So accommodation last night was one of our better ones. We had attached bathrooms to our bedrooms. This means that for some of the team....without mentioning any names, didn't require the use of their pee bottles, hummus container or Jalna yoghurt container. It also meant there wasn't a need to stick the headlamp on and traipse down the end of a corridor to relieve oneself. Last night I went to bed quite excited about this fact knowing somewhere between midnight and 2am I'd be woken with the urge. But guess what? No urge came. I woke feeling totally annoyed that I didn't need to use this luxury facility that had cost us an extra $2.

Sue has started Diamox to help with her breathing and it seems to be doing the job as she's trekking along nicely.

The morning was an early wake up call of 5am and we were heading up the trail under headlamp to watch the sunrise. It was so mild at that time of the morning but when we got up the top our extra layers came out.

Jason's knee is giving him grief and he is taking panadol and anti inflammatory tablets along with a knee brace. He's trying everything from the local Tiger Balm to a massage from Prakash. We have already discussed the possibilities of what if........he is prepared to try and manage it at this stage but is in a fair bit of pain. Bill Brown, along with managing his knee issue, he also has another small problem that you discussed earlier on in a comment. Yep the old bunch of grapes. How right you were.

We got to use our crampons today and everyone commented it was the best 1200 rupees ($15) they had ever spent. No sooner did we get off the ice and take the crampons off, someone in the group slipped over. See the photo and who can guess who belongs to the bum.

Quote of the day goes to John Gerring. And sorry David but John has commented that "the Annapurna walk is looking to be harder than Everest". Now this will cause a stir amongst some blog followers but the picture of John at our lunch spot sums it up.

Today - Monday 23rd

Another hard slog on the mountain today. Our walk started with a 1000 metre very steep decent. Jason is a walking junkie dosed up on anything he can to relieve his knee pain issue. Determination should pull him through.

Sue has discovered that a bowl of vegetable soup for tea simply isn't enough fuel to get you through the next day as she struggled the last 1.5 hours of today's walk. A good feed of Dahl Baht which is the food the porters eat twice a day and the meal I tend to order will see her running the mountains tomorrow.

We have had a dog follow us for the past two days. We were calling her Annapurna, until we found out her name is Carley. Alasdair, don't be surprised if mum smuggles it home. She's fallen in love with it.

After a hard morning walk, we arrived at our lodge at 1.30pm. Our only early day where we had a chance to shower.....yes hot water. We all smell so so sweet. We have even done some washing. A good opportunity to rest our legs before tomorrow's attack on the mountains.

Everything went to plan this morning. Our flight to Pokhara was due to take off at 8.30am and at precisely 8.31 the engines were revving as we took off. Of all the times I've been to Pokhara I have never seen the Himalaya mountain range so clear as it was today..!

Our van driver was waiting and we headed off to the trailhead of Nayapul arriving around 11am. Our 5 porters were waiting and Harry who has portered for me in previous years was there too. A casual walk to our lunch spot before about a 3 hour walk uphill in warm sunshine at around 25 degrees.

Currently as I'm sitting at our lodge the sun has just gone behind the mountain. Funny thing about the sun going down behind the mountain in the Himalayas is this happens a little after 4pm as the mountains are so high.! I have promised the team that we will get to use our down jackets and warm stuff they hired, but hard to imagine in 25 degrees...!!

Another beautiful morning on our last day in Kathmandu. And to make it even more special, Danielle celebrated her birthday today. Happy birthday Danielle.

I believe Pa Tom (Elaine's dad) may be following the blog and if you are reading this, Elaine wanted to let you know she wasn't interested in the Monkeys!!!

This morning after breakfast we all walked 45 minutes to the Monkey Temple. Did I tell you I like monkeys? The back street blocks of Kathmandu are the best, you literally go two streets back from the main tourists streets and you find the local butcher shops, pictures attached, mechanics workshops, fish shops and even a pet shop. I have told the group that one of the best things you can do in Kathmandu is get yourself lost. And when you discover you are lost, keep going. You will see more being lost than what you will ever see on the main streets. Negotiate a taxi or ask for directions back to the Kathmandu Guest House when you've soaked up all you can.

Ok, here's something funny for the day. It's fairly common that when you spend time in a third world country your bowel movements change. To put it mildly, you get to a stage where you can't "pass wind" safely without fear of following through. I know this as it happened to a very good friend mine, without mentioning any names BILL BROWN. Well, Jason tells me one day before we start the trek that he's had to take a dose of Metamucil as he's "bunged" up. Is he serious!!! Watch this space!!!

After returning from the Monkey temple everyone went there own separate ways for a few hours. John ventured back down to Durbar Square in the off chance that he may be able to get Kumari's attention before the normal 4pm viewing. He left her a note on the wall saying he's going trekking but will be back on the 31st if she's interested. Michelle Sue and I had lunch and the best coffee in town at a great coffee place called the Himalayan Java. Evan and Elaine grabbed some lunch and soaked up the sun in the guest house garden and sorted out some last minute shopping, while Anne, Greg, Danielle and Jason enjoyed a nice family lunch to celebrate Dani's Birthday. Sue found an "original" North Face shop and sent her credit card into meltdown.......sorry Ian. Sue does like to shop. A lot of the streets around Kathmandu are dug up. Durbar Square back to the guest house has a lot of roadworks. They're putting in an underground water pipe to supply drinking water around the place. It's a bit of a mess.

With the help of Prakash our guide, Anne had organized a birthday cake for Danielle which was enjoyed by all in the Guest House Gardens. It was then time to pack our trekking gear ready for an early morning start.

We are being picked up at 7am to get to the airport for our 8.30 flight to Pokhara. From here we have a 1.5 to 2 hour drive to the start of our trek.

Let the adventure continue.

Tue 17th Jan. Bangkok to Kathmandu.
Everyone was up early for breakfast and 7.30am pick up to take us back to the airport. Checking the bags through to Kathmandu from Melbourne makes it so much easier.....more time for duty free shopping on the other side I say. A real buzz amongst everyone as we sat back and took off Kathmandu bound.
A slightly different flight path into Nepal meant the views of the Himalayas were not as good as normal but what we did see was pretty impressive.
Kathmandu was pleasant. Around 19 degrees. It took John and Michelle some time to get their head around the changes to the guest house. After viewing a few room options we settled into the tranquility of guest house life. Laxman our favorite taxi driver has moved on to another guest house!!! A Masala tea was enjoyed by John and myself and not long after everyone else joined in.
I thought I would take the group for a walk around the surrounding streets and let them get a feel for hussle and bustle. Jason was offered drugs within the first couple of minutes. It's not fair, I never get offered drugs!!! We met Prakash our guide and he joined us for tea at the New Orleans Wine Bar (photo1).
​Everyone is looking forward to some purchases tomorrow for the trek. Most know what they need so it should be fun. We are off sightseeing tomorrow.
​
Wed 18th - Kathmandu
So, James and the boys have gone away for a few days and I happened to ask how their morning was going!! My initial reaction when I read the response from James (photo2) was to abandon my group in Nepal and get the first flight home......then, after giving it some thought, maybe it is a typo error and I have nothing to worry about. How one letter can totally change the meaning of a sentence. I hope Brad enjoyed his "hot chocolate".

Hi all.
Welcome to the 2017 ABC trip blog.

Between Sue and I, we will update and post the progress of the team from their departure out of Melbourne to their slog up to Annapurna Base Camp at 4,300m amsl and then their safe descent and recovery back down.

Feel free to access this blog and drop them a comment during their trip. Depending on the availability of WIFI on the way up, the team will be rapt to hear from you. 

Cheers.

Sue & David