Independent Trekking Annapurna - What the guide books don't tell you

Going Independent?

Nepal is easily the World's busiest adventure holiday hotspot. The kind of place people white-water raft to relax after trekking high passes or tackling some of the most impressive, and highest, mountains in the world.

A long-time staple of the independent traveller, a tentative peace (despite some shaky politics) might just be putting the Himalayan state on the map for those less willing to rough it. Nepal offers a massive variety of activities from cultural tours, jungle trails, rafting and kayaking, everything on any number of wheels, and what we'll be concentrating on: trekking. Heck, I've even seen `Parahawking`; yep, parascending with hawks. None of that pussy waiting on the ground for the bird to come back nonsense, get up there with 'em!

Ground based Hawking is so lame

Nepal was, like India still is in places, very cheap. That's not quite the case these days. Of course it's still relatively cheap (my wife and I survived quite decadently for 5 weeks on about £2,800 last year. That was all in for both of us: flights, hotels, transport, permits, food, beer, everything.), but prices have crept up more than a little. The normal factors apply: if you're happy to live off tea and dal bhat, stay away from the beer, and find somewhere to rest your head and your rucksack outside of the tourist centres (Kathmandu's Thamal and Pokhara's Lakeside, for example) you can still live very cheaply. We all like a beer though, and sometimes the company of other westerners (sometimes we just need the facilities) and the 50p per night rooms don't really exist the way they used to. I should also mention that I'm 35 now, and have done my time roughing it to the extreme. I don't want a 50p per night room! I also don't want a RS1,400 room, but if you want to stay close to a centre (you know, where the buses go from, etc.) it will cost you much more than it used to. At the time of writing RS1,400 is about £12 Stirling.

The point of this I guess is that, yes, prices have gone up, but independent travel to Nepal still gives you options and a chance to tailor a trip to almost any budget that can cover the flights to get you there and back. 

Being Organised

One thing I've always noticed (and this has never changed) is that organised trekking tours charge a massive amount for something that can be done very cheaply. I've nothing against organised treks per sé, unless I'm on the trail. Then I have some real issues with them:

• They are simply too big: this means too many people. It's more efficient for a tour operator to take as many people on a single trip as they can, but this is typically at the cost of everyone else on the path.
• Aside from the irritation of having to edge your way past these snakes of 20 or more trekkers (some playing on their frickin' phones, I kid you not...) the operators send guides ahead to book up lodge rooms for their customers. In peak season, space in the smaller villages can be tough enough, without someone marching ahead the day before and booking up 20+ beds. In some cases entire villages are booked up.
• Lastly, (and I understand this is a generalisation) I've noticed increasingly over the years as trekkers on organised treks outnumber independent trekkers more and more , that attitudes have worsened. We've all paid to be on the path. The various permit fees aside, those people who have paid to be on a tour seem to act like they own the path. My wife got pushed, on less than safe inclines I should add, by ignorant westerners who forgot that it's not a race and they haven't purchased their place above everyone else.

What the guidebooks don't tell you

So I have my complaints about the organised trekking world. The biggest issue by far though is the lack of resources. This is not really anyone's fault, there's just a lot of us on the path. You can't really blame tour operators from making sure their clients are well catered for, it's their living after all, but it is making trekking independently on the busier routes more difficult.

I love independent travel, and I love trekking independently. I've guided in Nepal (in the loosest possible sense - for friends) just to show people how easy it is to trek independently in Nepal. I'm hardly out to destroy the guided trekking market  - I just think independent trekking offers a better experience, at a much cheaper price than an organised tour ever could, with the freedom to alter your pace and itinerary as you see fit. I get the impression that a lot of people, perhaps those who have not had the opportunity to travel independently, or to such places, think it's too difficult with no experience.

That's simply not the case. I won't get into the arguments for and against using porters and guides, that's a personal choice (and if you want them, don't pick them up off the street). Personally, I don't use either. The point of trekking for me, aside from the scenery and culture, is the challenge of getting there under my own steam. The paths are typically easy to follow and all the major routes have an almost exhaustive number of day-by-day guides available.

The real trick for me was finding a method of trekking that allowed me to bypass the issues created by organised trekking; and in doing so I found many other benefits; both to myself and the people running the lodges that support us up there.

Here, finally, is what the guidebooks don't necessarily tell you:

• Start Walking Early - by early I mean up at 6am and on the path by 6:30am.
• Why?
• The lowlands can be hot. Think high twenties to mid thirties Celsius. Walk before you start sweating out of your elbows.
• It's quiet. You'll be up and away perhaps an hour or more before the groups (and many other trekkers) are on the path. Part of being there is the clear air and peace. Relish it. You'll also see a lot more wildlife. I can testify to the latter - Those electric green and blue birds will be gone once it gets busy.

First light leaving Bagarchhap on the Annapurna Circuit

• Finish Trekking Early - I normally aim to stop walking between 2 - 3pm most days. That's still 7 hours trekking with an hours lunch. Some days longer walks can't be helped, but you'll find most trail schedules allow for this kind of stopping time.
• Why?
• It's enough. It's not a race, and don't get tempted to move on to the next village because 'it's only just past lunch'. You were up at 6.
• Stopping early gives you a better chance against the groups to find a lodge room when it's busy.
• Stopping early gives you a better chance of getting a lodge room you want.
• You'll have the best of the solar shower. That hot water won't last long.
• The sun will go down quickly in the evening. Getting in early will allow you to get warm after a shower and dry clothes and equipment; especially of the weather is bad.
• Walk To Breakfast - I appreciate this will not suit everyone. Breakfast is important. Exercise without it would not be recommended by your doctor. My wife, for example, needs breakfast...
• Why?
• Lodges typically have a couple of kerosene burners to cook for everyone in the lodge. It can take a long time in the morning to get things going. You should normally order your breakfast the night before, but it still takes a while (understandably!) to get served (see point one).
• Hanging around for breakfast means you all leave at roughly the same time on to a potentially clogged path.
• I find walking an hour or two down the path, in the cool morning air, works up a good appetite. You get to the next village and everyone else has just left, but the burners are still hot. No waiting, and you're not disadvantaging the next lodge in any way. You're sharing the wealth. You get a good seat, the lodge owners attention, and can be on your way when you please with a good gap still between you and the groups.
• This is only a small benefit, but higher up, you don't want to be waiting in the cold for breakfast.
• It might just be me, but especially early in the morning, I don't want a lot to eat. I find it nicer to start on the path in the morning a bit lighter...
• Your doctor would also not recommend eating breakfast and immediately walking at high altitude for a few hours. My other half would order a couple of boiled eggs with dinner, and keep them for breakfast the next morning. Worked well.

The wife at an especially nice lodge an hour or so in to the mornings walk waiting for breakfast

• If You're Doing Something That's Not Walking Stop Walking - Sounds simple right? If you want to look at the view, take a picture, or adjust your rucksack, STOP WALKING. 
• Why?
• Really? This is asking for a twisted ankle at best.
• Stop and Organise Yourself - As soon as you stop, get yourself organised. Sort out your sleeping bag, get everything you might need in the night (head torch, loo roll, etc.) in arms reach and sort out your clothes.
• Why?
• I know, I know. It's not an expedition, but do this religiously and you'll have a better time. As I've said, the sun goes down quickly. It's better you do these things in the light. It's easy to settle down with a beer and then be stumbling around in the dark trying to find where you stashed your hat.
• Pick the Right Room - Not a fan of sleep deprivation? Get to a lodge in time to pick the right room. A good deal of lodges are made of nothing more than plywood. Sound travels.
• How?
• After a long day walking you'll not want to be dragging your sore thighs and calves up those concrete  steps to the first floor of the lodge. Aside from a warm down not hurting anyone, not having people walking over your head is well worth the effort. 
• Go to the end of the row of rooms. Rule of thumb: fewer walls = less noise. find yourself a corner room on the end. It may be a longer walk to the toilet, but better than than listening to the 10 other people trundling past your room in the night.

Typical lodge in  Tal, Manang Valley. Yes, we picked a room up the stairs

• Wash Your Socks - This is the most important piece of kit you'll have with you after your boots. Bad socks will destroy your feet and your trek. For a five week trek I took 4 pairs of socks and as many liners, and washed them on a cycle. Wash them in the same way as the rest of your clothes:
• How?
• Most lodges have a laundry service. If not you'll likely find one in the village you're in. If they can guarantee they have your clothes back in time and you've got the budget, use it. 
• If not? I tend to wash  my clothes in the shower. The lodges don't like it, and for good reason; not least because there is limited water for everyone to use. In the UK Lush do a range of soap in a little round tin. I know a number of travel alternatives are available online. I never carry specific soap for washing clothes, and while I'm washing myself I'm soaping and stamping on the clothes. We all rinse at the same time.
• See point 2: stopping early will give you the best chance of drying clothes. The higher you get the slower things dry. Tops and trousers will dry nicely under your sleeping bag over night.
• Order Dinner Early - It's not much advertised, but if you stay in a lodge your room price is considered to be subsidised by the fact you're having dinner there. In larger villages you may be tempted to eat out, but this would be considered rude. Your lodge staff may have a lot of people to cook for of an evening in peak season, and it's prudent to put your dinner order in early with the time you'd like to eat.
• Why?
• Politeness for one. The lodge staff need to have an idea of what needs to be done when if they have tens of people to cook for. You can't complain of dinner being late if you let don't them know what you want until half an hour before you want it. Remember they've got limited resources.
• Order early and you'll have dinner at the time you specify. This also gives you the evening to yourself. 
• You'll also be in a good spot in the dining room. Arriving late will undoubtedly leave you with the coldest spot in the room - next to the outside door. Get in early for the warmest spots - far away from the door or maybe nearest the kitchen.
• Order the Same Food in a Group - Remember: they typically only have a couple of burners. If you're in a group, or even in a couple, try and order at least something similar.
• Why?
• You'll save your hosts a bunch hassle and at the very least get served dinner at the same time.
• You Might Have to Pay For Heating - In higher places lodges may heat the dining room with kerosene burners or trays of hot coals from the fire under the table. Payment for this is extra and obligatory. If you don't want to pay for it (typically RS50 to RS150) make it clear early; and you'll probably have to eat early and retire to your room.
• There are extra dangers here. Watch your feet under the table, and if you start feeling light headed leave the room and get some fresh air - that's be the carbon monoxide...
• Haggle - Lodge and associated service (dinner, breakfast) prices are supposedly carteled by the government, with prices for everything increasing the further you get from a road-head to offset the cost of getting it there. Within a village all lodges are supposedly bound by these prices to give everyone an equal chance. The reality is quite different. The number of trekkers has increased many-fold, but new lodges are continuously being built. The season is also short. Lodge owners are in business. Help them and they'll help you. Most people I've spoken to over the last couple of trips to the Annapurna region claim to have saved 30% - 40% on their daily budget by haggling. From personal experience I can also attest that lodge owners, in this region at least, are pretty much making up prices as they go along.

Exceptions

• 6am!? Every day!? - mostly yes. If you know you're getting to a very big village that day (lets say somewhere like Manang or Pisang on the Annapurna Circuit) there's not necessarily a need. If you know there will be a huge choice of rooms play it by ear. The ultimate rule is don't let it get dark while you're still on the trail.

Obviously this method will not suit everyone; and independent trekking will not be to everyone's taste, but please consider it. The reason I trek this way is not to turn it into a military exercise, but to limit annoyances (lack of rooms, crowded paths) and mitigate problems (recovering from bad weather and giving yourself the best chance of rest) while trying to be sympathetic to the lodge owners and other locals providing services along the way. It's nice to have everything organised for you, but trekking independently isn't difficult, with or without guides and porters.

Some generic travel tips... These are some of my favourite and most used:

• It's been a long time since I've stayed at a hotel that didn't have a card of some kind. Take one. If you get lost and need a taxi back hand it to the driver upside down. If he doesn't turn it the right way up take it back and find another cab. The driver can't read.
• Lost in a new city? Flag down a cab and ask for the biggest hotel you can think of: Intercontinental, Marriott, Hilton, it doesn't matter - whether they read or not the most drivers will know these places. They all have staff who speak impeccable English, have clean toilets on the ground floor, and levels of customer service which compel the reception staff to sort you a taxi, guide, whatever you need.
• The most versitle item you can take anywhere? Dental floss - can be used as string, shoe laces,  washing line or belt (doubled up enough), is strong enough to sew with (I've held rucksack straps together with it in an emergency), fishing line, is compact...and if you're really scraping the barrel of usefulness you can even floss your teeth with it.