Annapurna Base Camp(ABC) Trekking Adventure 07 to 21 October 2013
Day 08 (14.10.2013) Trekking day 06 MBC to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) (13,550ft, 620.hPa)
Breakfast at 8am. As it was raining the whole of last night till this morning and as we could not wait for the rain to stop, we trekked at 10.30am to ABC. At this altitude, we slowed down to a comfortable pace with regular rest, going too fast would give us severe headache or even forced to return to MBC or lower villages like Deurali or Dovan.
After a 2 hour trek we finally arrived at ABC at 12.30pm. Upon arrival at ABC, we were all very happy and quickly congratulated each other for the very successful achievement.
We had lunch straight away before taking a good rest as it was still raining and very cold at 12C. We were all seated together in the dining room with heater as it was too cold to be in our rooms.
In the afternoon at 4pm as it was still drizzling and being impatient I walked out to see the edge of the base camp. There were fairly a number of trekkers out there admiring the Annapurna Mountains which seems so close to us.
And suddenly I heard a very loud rumbling noise and noticed that the people there were pointing towards the mountain. Beside me was Mr Shankar who shouted “avalanche avalanche”. I turned around and quickly used my camera to capture the avalanche on video.
I was there at the right time and at the right place to be able to witness an avalanche on the mountain of Annapurna South. Am so happy as it was once in a life time to be able to see it live. Back in the guesthouse, I was showing team members of the avalanche I caught in my camera.
During dinner time, we were told that the picture of the three Koreans climber hung on the wall disappeared while climbing the Annapurna 1 mountain in 2011. They were found missing on 18.10.2011 and their families came to perform the memorial service on 17.10.2012. The three went missing while attempting a new route on Annapurna. Young-Seok Park, Dong-Min Shin and Gi-Seok Kang decided to abort the climb at around 6400 meters due to heavy rock fall and went missing during the descent. Despite a dangerous and daring rescue operation to find the missing climbers, no signs of Park, Shin or Gang were found. The Korean Alpine Federation called off the rescue operation for Park and his team at 12:00hr on October 28, 2011.
The Annapurna chain contains six major peaks:
Annapurna I 8,091 m (26,545 ft)
Annapurna II 7,937 m (26,040 ft)
Annapurna III 7,555 m (24,786 ft)
Annapurna IV 7,525 m (24,688 ft)
Gangapurna 7,455 m (24,457 ft)
Annapurna South 7,219 m (23,684 ft)
The night temperature was about 2C
Sleeping: Annapurna Guest House and Restaurant, ABC
Charges for a hot water shower was R1,500
Heater charge was R100 & battery charge was R200
Note: hPa is the atmospheric pressure force exerted on a surface by the weight of air. The average sea level air pressure is 1013.hPa.
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| Namaste! we are at the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). |
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| Reaching ABC was
a very emotional and fulfilling end for me of the 6-day trekking that was very
intense in all its breathtaking beauty. |
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| After a 2 hour trek we finally arrived at ABC at 12.30pm. |
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| We had lunch straight away before taking a good rest as it was still
raining and very cold at 12C. We were all seated together in the dining
room with heater as it was too cold to be in our rooms. |
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| We mingled and chit chat
with other trekkers from all over the world. |
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| Our porters past their time playing card games. |
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| Upon arrival at ABC, we were all very happy and quickly congratulated each other for the very successful achievement. |
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| (L-R) One for the album - Datin Yogaranee, Ching Neng Bin, Sitta Kanagasabai, Lim Min Heng. |
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| I am holding a Malaysian flag - "Malaysia Boleh" - we later pinned this flag on the wall. |
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| During dinner time, we were told that the picture of the three Koreans
climber hung on the wall disappeared while climbing the Annapurna 1
mountain in 2011. They were found missing on 18.10.2011 and their
families came to perform the memorial service on 17.10.2012. The three
went missing while attempting a new route on Annapurna. Young-Seok Park,
Dong-Min Shin and Gi-Seok Kang decided to abort the climb at around
6400 meters due to heavy rock fall and went missing during the descent.
Despite a dangerous and daring rescue operation to find the missing
climbers, no signs of Park, Shin or Kang were found. The Korean Alpine
Federation called off the rescue operation for Park and his team at
12:00hr on October 28, 2011. |
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| The scale of the Annapurna range is breathtaking. |
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| Annapurna South (8,091m/26545ft) as seen from Annapurna Base Camp (4,130m). |
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| There are 4 guesthouses at ABC with very basic facilities for eating,
sleeping and no showers - with the very cold, my advice is to skip
bathing. |
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| There are 4 guest houses at ABC. All just the very
basic facilities for eating, sleeping, and bucket wash in a separate shack. No
showers. When very cold, the advice is to skip washing. |
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| Prayer flags expressing compassion at this monument to fallen climbers. |
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The three Korean climber were found missing on 18.10.2011 and their
families
came to perform the memorial service on 17.10.2012.
|
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| A monument to all the fallen
heroes... RIP. In 1997 Anatoli Nikolaevich
Boukreev a Russian was killed in an avalanche during a winter ascent of
Annapurna. His companion, Linda Wylie, edited his memoirs and published
them in 2002 under the title, Above the Clouds: The Diaries of a High Altitude
Mountaineer. |
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| Alex MacIntyre had been
killed on the South Face of Annapurna ... RIP |
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| There were fairly a number of trekkers out there admiring the Annapurna Mountains which seems so close. |
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| We could see the clouds rolled into the gorge below. |
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And suddenly I heard a very loud rumbling noise and noticed that the
people there were pointing towards the mountain. Beside me was Mr
Shankar who shouted “avalanche avalanche”. I turned around and quickly
used my camera to capture the avalanche on the right side.
I was there at
the right time and at the right place to be able to witness an avalanche
on the mountain of Annapurna South. Am so happy as it was once in a
life time to be able to see it live. |
 |
| Annapurna South; 23,684 feet / 7219 meters) was first climbed in 1964 by a
Japanese expedition, via the North Ridge. Annapurna is Sanskrit for
"Goddess of the Harvests." In Hinduism, Annapurna is a goddess of
fertility and agriculture. |
The Annapurna Mountain Range Panorama
The Annapurna Base Camp trek leads to a natural amphitheater that is used as the base camp from which climbers start on their way to conquer the great six Annapurna Mountain peaks. The mountain reaches 8,091 meters above sea level, and the base camp's altitude is 4,130 meters above sea level.
The whole trek was beautiful, breathtaking and the hardships have been worth a thousand times for all of us. We were gifted every day without any incident of AMS until we arrived at ABC.
When I think back of the 6day trekking adventure, it was such a fantastic episode. You walked and walked, and there is nothing else at this moment as you walked the nature - there was no past , no future, only the now ..... I was completely in the moment of time and that was really nice .....
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| thank you mighty Annapurna |
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| A very, very cold night in ABC, with heated room temperature
around 10 and outside less than 0 degree. Going to the outside toilet at night,
leaving your warm sleeping bag, was plain suffering. |
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| There was heater in the dinning room, so everybody stay put here before going to bed. |
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| Our porters and guide taking their dinner in the kitchen. |
