I have never thought that dreams could seem so small part of reality. We had a hiking trip to Everest base camp that in every aspect exceed our expectations. Organised perfect, guided by well experienced guides. Thank you Upendra, Bal, Kesab. Words cant express my gratitude.
A great trek with a fantastic organisation The Annapurna Base Camp trek is full of variety, walking through farmland, then bamboo forests before reaching the snowfields as you approach ABC. In early spring there is much snow in the Annapurna Sanctuary and spectacular views of many high mountain peaks. I am only a moderately fit walker and found this trek to be easily within my abilities.
I came on to write a review of the trip I have just returned from and found that two other group members, Irene Neilson & Steve Terry have already submitted reviews. What they have written is almost exactly what I intended to write so there is no point in simply duplicating. I travelled with my wife & son. We have travelled & trekked extensively for many years but consider this particular trek to be one of the very special ones. It was truly superb, with every day a new experience. Manaslu isn't as well recognised as the Everest or Annapurna regions and is all the better for it. We travelled towards the end of the trekking season and on some days only saw two other trekkers. Near the high pass where routes & itineraries converged we saw more people, but then only around 20-30 trekkers per day. Most of the time we felt we had the trail to ourselves except for the occasional mule train carrying goods to outlying villages. We were particularly pleased to pass through many villages which seemed to have changed little since medieval times, with weaving, spinning, winnowing & haymaking abundantly evident. We also saw several monasteries and many chortens, stupas & prayer wheels. Several villages had tea shops & lodges, suggesting the route had capacity for many trekkers, but we certainly didn't see large numbers.