Trekking in the Himalayas

The infamous Fishtail Mountain framed with prayer flags

Even though we came to Nepal to go kayaking... there was no way we were going to leave without spending some quality time in the Himalayas. So all of Team Kiwi and USA got together and embarked on a 8 day journey from Pokhara to Annapurna Base Camp and back.

Hessie stoked to be at ABC (Annapurna Base Camp)

And this trip was sooooooooooooooooooo gooooooooooodddd!!!! Who knew that walking uphill for 5 days straight with packs on your back then turning around and coming down could be so much fun!!!!

Team Kiwi loving ABC - Emi, Hayley, Soph, Hess, Malaika, Anna and me

Basically it involved spending a week with my best mates, in a stunning area, meeting amazing locals, climbing to over 4200m, eating real good food, taking millions of photos, NOT getting sick, laughing constantly, enjoying the bluebird days, tasting very bizarre/straight up gross chocolate cake, teaching locals how to make poached eggs, bartering for the best priced accommodation, getting lost in Tibitan Prayer Flags, soaking in the views and even sheding a few tears remembering those who couldn't be with us that day at the top.

Soph have a chilled moment amongst the prayer flags and infront of FishTail

The trip it self was pretty easy... the tracks were extremely well formed from years of tourists, mules and locals walking these paths, but the gradient was definitely something that caught us by surprse.

Note my surprise when seeing the cross section of the map and where we were walking too

The steepness of some of the hills plus the effect the altitude was having on us... definitely made us breath alot faster and reddened our checks quicker than ever before.

Sofa feeling the burn after the steepest hill of the whole trip

Due to the time of year that we went, there was practically noone else there which meant crowd free walking tracks, cheap accom, tranquility and peace....ahhhh hows the serenity!!! However everytime we did meet people - whether locals or foreigners... we received the statutory "oh no porters???... no guides???... oh be careful"!!

Cheers... to free accommodation as long as we buy their food!!!

Emi getting amoungst some yoga at about 3800m and 2 degrees!!!

We were loving it so much that we even started walking before the sun came up most mornings!!

Emi and Hess cracking the whip for us t o start before the sun starting rising!!!

It was sooooooo nice to just go walking in amongst these beautiful mountains and get back into the vibe of fully and wholly enjoying nature. Our time up there went so fast. I honestly can say that I enjoyed it even more than the San Koshi trip - there were no dramas, no timeframes, no stress, and just amazing people with great attitudes to hang out with the whole time.

The entire team at ABC (4200m) just before our decent, with Annapurna Mountain behind us.

Its just another 4000m to the top from here!!!! Some Base Camp aye?

Noone really pictures the Himalayas as having a tree line... but it is lush and beautiful

Some classic little chickas used to the high altititude showing off their carrying prowess

It was refreshing to meet mountain people and hear their stories of how they work and live, compared to the money crazy peeps in Kathmandu... we met one 50 year old man who walks up to ABC with 50kgs hung from his head every 2 days for a living!!! He was an absolute machine!!! We saw him on his way up AND down, in the same time that we were going up (and we were pretty fast too!!!). Our little lungs just could not compare with his, after living in the mountains his whole life.

Malin struggling with the Altitude

Team Xtreme loving being at the top

Pretty much the only time we had to share the track!!!

And before we knew it, it was Day 8, we were back in tourist-ville and we were bartering with much less friendly locals for a taxi back to Pohkara... what an amazing trip with such amazing people!!!

Me and Sofa reminiscing on the trip we had just completed from view at Pohkara