Let me tell you about the Annapurna Circuit Trek. It's a hike that changed how I see the world. I’m not a super-athlete or a mountain expert, but this trek in Nepal blew my mind. Mountains, deserts, waterfalls, and even a hidden village that feels like stepping back in time. If the Ghorepani Poonhill Trek was my first hiking love, the Annapurna Circuit was the adventure that made me fall in love with trekking all over again.
Here’s the cool part:
This trek is a loop (that’s the “circuit” part), so you walk about 130 miles (210 kilometers) around the Annapurna mountain range. It takes 10 to 21 days, depending on how fast you go. The highest point is Thorong La Pass at 5,416 meters (17,769 feet). That’s way higher than Poonhill! For comparison, it’s almost as high as Everest Base Camp (5,364 meters), but you don’t need ropes or ice picks. Still, it’s tough. The rest get tired or sick from the altitude. But I made it (with lots of breaks and cough syrup!), and let me tell you the view from the top is worth every sore muscle.
The best thing about this trek? It’s like ten mini-adventures in one. On day one, I walked through green jungles with waterfalls so big, they sounded like thunder. By day five, I was in a dry, rocky desert with cliffs that looked like Mars. Then came the villages. Oh, the villages! In Manang (3,540 meters high), I stayed in a teahouse with a family who grew potatoes in their garden. The grandma made me garlic soup to help with the thin air. “Breathe slow, eat hot,” she said. It worked!
But the real magic happened in Muktinath, a holy town with a temple where Hindus and Buddhists pray side by side. There’s a wall of 108 water spouts shaped like bull heads, and pilgrims walk under them to “wash away their sins.” I’m not religious, but I tried it—and wow, that freezing water woke me up faster than coffee! My guide, Pemba, laughed and said, “Now you’re pure enough for the mountains!”
The hardest part was crossing Thorong La Pass. We started hiking at 4 AM in the dark, wearing every layer we had. The air was so thin, I felt like I was breathing through a straw. My water bottle froze solid! But when the sun rose, the whole world turned gold.
Here’s a funny story: On the way down from the pass, I met a 68-year-old grandma from Spain who was hiking alone. She carried a tiny backpack and sang Spanish songs the whole time. When I asked if she was scared of the altitude, she winked and said, “Age is just a number. The mountains don’t care how old you are. She’s my hero now.
