[manolin]

I was in Nepal last year, trekking the annapurna base camp trek. I went with zero prep and no trekking experience and I went solo; had a hard time the first 3 days. 4th day onwards I was comfortable. My advice would be simple. Just do it. and order this book called EBC trek published by Cicerone.http://www.flipkart.com/everest-1852...b-e17054d5a83d Its very comprehensive.

I spoke to lots of people who had done the EBC. Their main advice was to be careful about altitude sickness- thats the main concern in EBC.The distances you cover each day in EBC are apparently not that hard, because you have to make sure that you do not gain more than 600-700ft each day. Yes, if you want to climb Kala Patthar then you need to be fit- but just the trek itself can be done easily, you will just have a hard time the first three-four days as your body adjusts. The most important rule is- walk at your own pace, a trek is not a race, it is a holiday and you are there to enjoy. So if you want to rest, then rest- there is anyways the entire day to walk the path.

IIRC the maximum height you reach in the EBC trek is 5500m; there are lots of Indian treks which go that high and to which people go as their first trek. Its just that EBC is very well written about, so you know, things get amplified. As long as one can walk 5 km in an hour in an Indian city, one can do this - 10 km per day with as many stops as you want. And why not, the more you stop, the more you take in the scenery, and the more you enjoy.

Costs- porter charges, if you use porters, will typically be around 1600 to 1800 NR per day. Stay is at tea houses, which have fixed rates - stay is typically very cheap, as you eat at the same tea house which subsidises it. Expect stay+dinner+beakfast to average around 1000NR per night. This amount goes up as you go higher up.

Permits - Sagarmatha National Park permit + TIMS (Trekkers information Management System) card. You can get these in Kathmandu - just ask any trekking agency. There are concessional rates for SAARC nations (something like 200 NR). And I think TIMS is not compulsory for SAARC nations, except that it is actually better to get TIMS, so that at least people know where to look for you, if things go wrong.

Organising Trek - Go to kathmandu, to thamel - the tourist centre. Walk into any trekking agency, and join any of their group treks leaving in the next 1-2 days, or just ask them to arrange for a porter for you. You don't need a guide for a popular trek like EBC. Organised treks are slightly easier because you don't have the headache of worrying about whether you will get a sleeping bed in a lodge or not - its their headache. In the high season - oct- early nov, and march, its definitely a headache.

What to take-
1. clothes - one down jacket and one light waterproof jacket, thermal inners, waterproof gloves, sweat lick/dry fit t shirts, dual layered track pant or my favourite convertible pants (reasonable quality stuff available cheap in kathmandu- takes one hour to buy all this).
2. sleeping bag- if you don't have, rent/buy in kathmandu. Lodges can provide extra blankets if needed, but take sleeping bag always.
3.trekking poles - take at least one pole - your knees and ankle will thank you.
4. medicines - broad spectrum antibiotics, immmodium, diamox, bandaids for blisters, painkillers (regular as well as for minor nerve pain).
5. hat, headlamp,woollen cap which covers ears - nice variety available in Kathmandu.

Blisters are very easily managed if you have chosen the right size shoes, worn them in over a distance of at least 50 km of walking, and wear trekking socks. Do not get new shoes to the trek.

The main thing is if you are fit when you start the trek, then you enjoy the trek and scenery from day one. Otherwise you start enjoying it a little later. The number of 50-60 year old fat people doing these treks is insane, and sometimes makes one wonder if we Indians use our general lack of fitness as more of an excuse (i do, now i realise).

Nepal is a great place to trek for Indians- the people are friendly, they share our culture, Indian rupees can be used everywhere (don't carry any INR500 notes, it won't be accepted, even to change money), and the place is geared towards the trekking economy - they have gas powered hot water showers at 5000m - beat that!

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by manolin

My advice would be simple. Just do it.

Hey manolin!

Thanks a lot for taking time out and responding in detail!

Truly appreciate your support. Just what i was looking for.

Will keep all the points in mind and order the book also! Thanks again!

[deadman]

Very informative post by manolin.

I'll be at pokhara by end of this month. I'm planing for 1-3 days short trek from pokhara. Planing to trek Dhampus.

here is my plan:

Day 1: Drive Pokhara to trek start point at Phedi by bus/car ( 45 mins ). Trek to Dhampus for 2.5-3 hrs. Relax in the beautiful hill, explore the village , enjoy the sunset on the Himalayas. O/n in mountain lodge .
Day 2: Early morning watching sunrise on the Himalayas. Trek through forest and countryside to Kande (Khare) and drive back to Pokhara.

Now my query is:
1] for Dhampus trek i need to have TIMS permit and pay ANCAP?
2] how much lodge or dorm will cost me at Dhampus? / is there any option to book online?
3] Is there any better trek than dhampus which i can do in 3 days max?
4] exchanging currency is not required as INR accepted in nepal?

[manolin]

Originally Posted by deadman

Very informative post by manolin.

I'll be at pokhara by end of this month. I'm planing for 1-3 days short trek from pokhara. Planing to trek Dhampus.

here is my plan:

Day 1: Drive Pokhara to trek start point at Phedi by bus/car ( 45 mins ). Trek to Dhampus for 2.5-3 hrs. Relax in the beautiful hill, explore the village , enjoy the sunset on the Himalayas. O/n in mountain lodge .
Day 2: Early morning watching sunrise on the Himalayas. Trek through forest and countryside to Kande (Khare) and drive back to Pokhara.

Now my query is:
1] for Dhampus trek i need to have TIMS permit and pay ANCAP?
2] how much lodge or dorm will cost me at Dhampus? / is there any option to book online?
3] Is there any better trek than dhampus which i can do in 3 days max?
4] exchanging currency is not required as INR accepted in nepal?

Hi deadman,

Your plan for Dhampus seems good. The only thing is that the view of Macchapuchare and the annapurna from dhampus will probably be very similar in angle to what you would get from Pokhara/ Sarangkot (which is a small view point near Pokhara), except that from Dhampus they will appear much closer. I went on the ABC trek from Birethanti, so I have not been through Dhampus. However, I understand that it is one long steep stone staircase I am sorry, I don't know for sure if you need ACAP for Dhampus, but as far as I remember, the Annapurna Conservation Area starts after Chomrong, and you should not need it for Dhampus. Don't bother with TIMS for a trek to Dhampus.

No need to book in advance, you will get a place to stay. Costs should be very reasonable (at max, Rs.500); and standard across the hotels. Indian currency is accepted everywhere, and anyways, you won't get Nepali currency with any money exchange in India, even if you wanted to. Barring SBI cards, other Indian cards generally don't work, so carry cash.

For 3 days I would suggest a better trek, to Chomrong, on the ABC route. Day 1- Nayapul, Birethanti, Syauli Bazaar, Jhinu Danda. or Nayapul, Birethanti, Ghandruk (long day - 6-8 hours)
Day2 - Ghandruk / Jhinu Dhanda - Chomrong - short day if from Jhinu, medium if from Ghandruk. Chill in Chomrong. Enjoy very good food, and great views.
Day 3- walk back from Chomrong to Nayapul (6 hours, downhill mostly)

If you have 4 days, then you could consider going for the Ghorepani Poon Hill trek; in addition to what you get to see on the Chomrong trek, there are views of Dhaulagiri from Poon Hill. Dhaulagiri is situated behind Annapurna I when looking from the ABC trek so is generally not visible during the ABC trek (though it is visible from Pokhara on a clear day).

See the annapurna sanctuary trek detailed map given here to see locations of Dhampus, Poon Hill, phedi, Birethanti/Nayapul, Chomrong.
http://howadoor.umbra.cz/img/map/Ann...dpi_colour.jpg

In Pokhara though, keep some cash aside for lots of adventure activities - a 2 seater flight over the mountains, which takes you right on to edge of the mountains, or can go ziplining (2km line with speeds upto 150kmph), or paragliding. There is a great mountain musuem in Pokhara - do not miss.

[KSM-Vtec]

Ok guys thanks to all the inputs on this thread and the inputs we got from various forums/people we have completed the EBC trek successfully. Hence you can expect a lot of detailed firsthand inputs on all the aspects involved.

It was a complete DIY tea house style trek and we did not join any commercial group. We did the trek at a reasonably fast pace - 11 days from Lukla to Lukla including 2 days for acclimatization.

More details and a TL soon...

[Tanmay K]

We have an EBC trek planned from December 7 to December 22. I know its going to be super cold!

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Ok guys thanks to all the inputs on this thread and the inputs we got from various forums/people we have completed the EBC trek successfully.

Kaushik, did you hire a guide for your trek? We aren't planning to make bookings with a tour company or anything, but I was wondering how important is it to go with a guide in December when there are hardly any other trekkers on the route.

[Syed_Munazzir]

Here is a compilation of the most frequently asked questions about EBC.

Click here

Cheers and All the Best!