Reaching for the Sky: A Trek around Annapurna: Thorong La and Beyond : 1987

 After an arduous climb that started at 3 AM we finally scrambled up to the Thorong La at 17,769 ft, by far the highest point on the 190 mile "Around the Annapurna Circuit". All the breathlessness, the drowsiness, wanting to go on no more and stay put on a snow-ridge, seemed to vanish in minutes, as if by sheer magic. On a photo-shooting spree I looked back to where we came from and was delighted to get a fabulous panoramic picture in two consecutive shots. The golden / orange tent of an unknown trekker in the foreground added a mysterious, magical touch. The two separate but congruous photos were merged and the resultant picture is posted here. Sorry, the photo dates back from October 1987 and with my limited skills I could not produce a better picture and I simply do not know how to get rid of the line of merger.If the climb up to the Thorong Pass was tough, the climb down to Muktinath on the other side of the Pass was no less tougher. We had to literally scamper down steep scree slopes with footholds being rather difficult on the mountain path being made trecherous by loose rocks and boulders that made up the scree slope. Somehow, slipping and sliding we could finally totter down to Muktinath. And a glorious sight of the Muktinath Temple surrounded by trees resplendent in their autumn colours welcomed us. Peace and happiness at last!I plan to, eventually, post more photos from this trek as long as I can get decent scanned images!


















Comments

  1. SudiptoJune 9, 2023 at 7:53 AM

    It's a dream for me to do this circuit. Hopefully in future.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SPLENDOURS OF FALL : USA : PART 2

Image
  We had planned to visit Ferrum in Virginia in the first fortnight of October as my past experience indicated that the Fall Colours would be at their glorious best by around the 10th. Much to our disappointment, however, there was hardly any change in foliage colours  and the trees remained more green than any other even on the 15th. So we chose to extend our stay in Ferrum till the 24th and continue to enjoy the warm hospitality of our gracious hosts – Supriya and Rathin Basu. We would now leave for Chicago on the 25th. Fortunately, the leaves started to change colours faster soon and thereafter we were able to witness some magnificent display of Autumn Colours on trees all around. The weekend of 17/18 October turned out to be a wonderful reward for our patience as the Blue Ridge Parkway, in general, and the Mabry Mill area, in particular, put on a splendid show of a riot of colours, although it was still not at the peak of Colour Spectacle! Many of the photos of the fall co...
Read more

FUN WITH COFFEE

Image
 There's a lovely little coffee shop on the City map nowadays. Pit Stop Cafe on Rajdanga Main Road, in the lane just after Gateway Hotel if one's driving westward from Ruby More,. Excellent Latin Coffee (Brazilian, Colombian, Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, Guatemalan) plus Ethiopian, Tanzanian, Sumatran.and Papua New Guinean coffee  vying for your custom! A quiet place  ideally suited for one to reflect or read or just dream on ! On a major sporting event day just hang around for a giant screen telecast ! The co-owner Saptarshi (Ghosh) is a wonderful host. Pit Stop Cafe has become Sipra and mine regular Saturday afternoon haunt. Loving it !
Read more