Annapurna Base Camp Day 3

With the second section the day before being quite challenging, I mentally prepared myself for the upcoming trip. Parlad Dharel, my guide, assured me that only the first half of the hike has a steep ascent, the rest is a "mountain flat" path to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC).

I was worried about this section, since this is where the elevation sickness usually kicks in, and the monsoon rains could very well completely cover the sky and hide all views from us.

Check out other hikes from this trip:

• Kathmandu Day Tour
• Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) Day 1
• Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) Day 2
• Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) Day 3 (you're here)
• Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) Day 4
• Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) Day 5
• Pokhara World Peace Stupa 71

During breakfast, the guide said the company sends guides in shifts, and this is his last shift of the season before September. Usually characters in movies say something like that before dying, so I was a bit anxious if we'd survive this trip.

In any case, we had our breakfast and set off to the Annapurna Base Camp with some small stops on the way. I haven't even finished packing up when the rain started again, making me really upset I'll have to wear the rain coat and would look goofy in all photos. But it's not like I had a choice.

The path to Deurali, the next village on the way, was very uneven. We climbed a lot of steps to a temple under a big rock, then had to climb down and up again to reach the village.

We walked past the Hinku Cave, a historic shelter with a shrine for pilgrims walking the trek. When I was there, I haven't realized it was a functional shelter, so I took pictures of the shrine and left without looking deeper into the cave.

The village itself was just a few huts grouped together. It seemed not many people were staying inside at the time. To my surprise, they had a radio tower, so I had perfect 4g while taking a break there.

This was our last major resting stop until Machhapuchhare Base Camp (MBC). There were no more houses on the way, only occasional locals fixing the road or chopping down weeds. First, we walked across a waterfall near the Rodolfo Viewpoint. That's the only waterfall that needs manual crossing with no bridge or planks across it, with signs saying not to stop or take breaks during the crossing. I have successfully missed those signs and stopped right in the middle for some photos. Thankfully, nothing bad happened.

After lots more climbing, we finally reached MBC. The sign for it is much closer to the main trail compared to the actual camp houses, so you still need to walk for a few minutes before you can rest. Still, the area already has some greenhouses and garden-like areas growing cabbages and other vegetables, which made me at peace knowing I'm back in civilization.

We had lunch at one of the tea houses there, discussing the leftover way in front of us. From this point onwards, the road is a slow and steady incline, with no surprises or steep sections. I assumed so high up the vegetation would be barren, but instead I was happy to see tons of shrubs, flowers, and some bushes.

Soon after, we reached the Paradise Pond, also known as the Mirror Pond. Made from melting snow and rainfall, its water reflects everything around it, including Machapuchare (6993 m). In my case, one of my worst fears came true and the whole area got covered in rainy clouds and fog, so there was nothing but gray sadness reflected in the pond.

It wasn't all bad though. I still had hope that the sky will clear up by the time we reach the Annapurna Base Camp or later in the evening, so I just kept going. Once we reached the camp, we hanged up our wet covers and clothes to dry and headed for a snack. Then, Parlad suggested I should have some sleep and he'll wake me up if the sky clears.

A few hours passed and at 6 PM the guide told me to come out and take my pictures. There was no chance for the sky to fully clear, but it was good enough to see all the mountains around. I took my photos, called up the other European hikers, and we went to the "top" of the camp to look over the ridge at the glacier area and the slope of the mountain.

It's a weird, surreal experience. You're there staring at the slope. The glacier looks the same as on the Höllental route to Zugspitze (2962 m), the rocky bottom of the slope is similar to Cima Sophia (2360 m) in the Dolomites while the snowy slope reminds me of Frau Hitt (2270 m) in Austria. All peaks that I've been at and connected with.

And then it hit me. Yes, all of this looks similar, but where is it? What's the scale here? At some point I saw a small flag planted near MBC on the slope of Annapurna III (7555 m). It was easy to spot on a white background, but the giant flag was like a spec of dust on a big wall. My whole field of view was taken up by a single mountain far in the distance.

It takes four kilometers to get to the base of the Annapurna ridge. Then four vertical kilometers to any of the summits, although approaching the ridge from the south is incredibly technical and hasn't been attempted in a long time. So the mountains I was seeing in front of me were closer to a distant panorama than a tangible set of mountains I'm used to climbing. It was like I'm looking at a picture book in reality, I didn't feel present in the moment at all.

Then there's also the matter of all the dead bodies along the way. There's not as many of them as on Everest, but enough to wonder if it's worth it. Although I'm not planning to go up any time soon, maybe ever, I was curious of how the process normally works. Well, you take 28 days in total, with 4 camp stops along the climb, overnight stays in villages along the way to the base camp (on the northern side under the ridge), many acclimatization days and just a few hours of climbing per day. The elevation and distance per day actually don't seem all that crazy to me, something I normally do almost every weekend, but here comes the fun part.

The lack of oxygen. When I came to the base camp and got some tea with cake, I was expecting a delicious meal followed by an enjoyable nap. I got the food and the drink and by instinct stopped the fork before chomping on the cake. Despite being hungry and thirsty, for some reason, I couldn't get any food inside. I took it slow, ate my portion (it was, in fact, tasty), and headed to sleep feeling a bit dizzy, assuming that was just me being tired from three consecutive days of hiking.

When I was in bed, as soon as I got into a horizontal position, I got a migraine. I would turn to one side, spend 15 minutes waiting for the migraine to subside, fall asleep only for it to come back. I would then turn to the other side and the cycle would repeat. This continued for the whole time until Parlad called me outside.

When I came out, the nausea and dizziness came back, while the migraine disappeared. Those symptoms weren't as bad, and I've been dizzy while climbing the Höllental via ferrata, so I knew the feeling and could compensate for it. Same with nausea, everyone has it from time to time. So I managed to enjoy the photoshoot and the views without problems, had my dinner, and went back to sleep. My question on why it takes so long to do an actual summit climb got answered at the base camp. Knowing me and my sensitivity to altitude, without those rest days getting used to the oxygen levels, I'd probably just collapse.

When I fell back asleep in the evening, my body was already undergoing the acclimatization changes, and by morning I felt fine. There was a tiny hope left that the sky would clear up at night like it sometimes did during the previous days, but for my trip that wasn't the case. During breakfast I met a very peculiar database engineer from Oracle Belgium and talked to him for a bit. In case you're reading this, reach out to contact@mykolamor.com or to my LinkedIn, I'd love to connect.

All in all, this was a great experience despite the weather. Although it was rainy and cloudy during the monsoon season, there were benefits to this time of the year. The flowers were in full bloom, and I've been told you don't get to see them in any other season. The waterfalls are full and impressive, while drying up otherwise. And the snow from the colder seasons already melts by this point, so you don't have to bring winter clothing or shiver in the tea houses at night.