Sherpa Survival Skills on the Annapurna Circuit

Author: Joanna Neibler

Sherpa Survival Skills on the Annapurna Circuit

Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
Read this entire feature FREE with photos at
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/jetset/nepal/altitude.html

"The Himalayas,"I said to myself as the sky grew dark around us.

The Annapurna Circuit is the most popular trek in Nepal. The entire trek lasts three weeks from start to finish, weather permitting. Most trekkers begin the trek out of Pokhara (about five hours outside of Kathmandu). From there one must obtain an easy-to-process permit in order to spend more than one night on the circuit. The area is administered by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, which strives to preserve the cultural, and natural resources.

Without any hassle my friends and I hired a Sherpa to take us on a guided tour throughout the circuit. I am thankful we did because our experienced Sherpa saved my life.

My travel companions and I edged our way along the Annapurna Circuit towards our rest stop for the night, trying to beat nightfall. It was December and the air was cool that time of year in Nepal. The night before we left, I had come down with a simple head cold.

I never thought this trip would bring me danger.

In the distance I could barely make out a village where we would be spending the night, after our long eight-hour day of hard climbing. The word village was a funny way to describe three shacks and a mud hut restaurant perched on a mountainside, lit up only by candlelight. I remember this one night in particular, the night my trekking adventure took a turn for the worst.

A weathered but beautiful Nepalese woman greeted us upon arrival. Her hands were dirty and callused from an obvious hard day in the vertical layered fields she plowed into the mountainside. Her eyes were deep, dark, and told a long tale without her saying a word. She warmly smiled at our tired expressions and showed us to where we would spend the night. Her children played and curiously popped their heads in and out of the doorway to our room. Playfully they would yell "Namaste" then run away excited for us to respond. They were so content in their world, far away from the noise and chaos of the city; bare feet and torn clothes, but not a care in the world. To them happiness was really within and not in the circumstance.

After a warm meal I was

Read this entire feature FREE with photos at
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/jetset/nepal/altitude.html

By Joanna Niebler - Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent - at www.jetsettersmagazine.com