The Annapurna circuit the Google Earth way

I was playing a bit with Google Earth this evening.

Threw in the GPS data I recorded during the trip, some pictures from the Google Earth community and got something like this.

Back from Nepal

What an incredible trip. Nepal and trekking along the Annapurna Circuit has been one of the greatest trips I've done.



The scenery, the people, the contrasts, the physical challenge and the remoteness made it quite an unforgettable experience. The pleasure of being away and cutting off from the daily routines, and everything in general, in such a drastic manner is something wonderful and truly difficult to value enough.




Some random highlights and impressions of the trip were:

• Kathmandu is chaotic beyond belief (I've been told Delhi is even worse, need to see it to believe it)


• Pokhara is an active "little" city, more pleasant than Kathmandu in my opinion, and very touristic (lots of treks start and end there)


• The mountains are big enough to make words have a hard time to describe them


• The Thorong La pass is hard but totally doable if reasonably fit (the views of the Mustang valley during the descent are nothing short of breathtaking)





• When they say it's windy in the stretch from Muktinath to Jomsom they really mean it!


• Tatopani (meaning "hot water" for its hot springs) is a gorgeous, lovely little town, one must stop there


• Catching the sunrise from Poon Hill is a must-do if one takes the path up to Gorepani


• Paragliding in Pokhara after the trek is a good way of wrapping up the trip

Also... on the way back we had a long layover, 13 hours, in Bahrain (Gulf Air were cool enough to give free hotel and transportation to Manama for the day!). The National Museum is fairly good, the exhibit on the Dilmun civilization is really enlightening.

There are other curious pieces, like some mathematics book from the 18th century, apparently covering some geometry concepts.



I've got hooked, now I must go back and do the Everest circuit trek...

Trekking in Nepal

In a matter of hours, after a probably short night sleep, I'll be traveling to Nepal, taking nearly a month off to go trekking in the Annapurna region. I'm sure it's going to be an incredible experience.

I'll be back on the beginning of May.