Annapurna Sanctuary

Mm.

I trekked in the mountains, went to Annapurna Base Camp, but fell in love with the people and just felt this really deep connection.

So, you know, what, what I thought was my once in a lifetime trip, which I really thought that's what it was because it just seemed impossibly indulgent or something [chuckles] you know, also just extravagant to do that, I just fell in love.

And I came home and I really, I just wanted to go back.

The Annapurna Circuit, a multi-week trek that circumnavigates the entire Massif, is one of the classic long-distance walks.

The Annapurna Base Camp Trek, which penetrates deep into the heart of the Massif through a glacial valley known as the Annapurna Sanctuary, It brings trekkers within a few kilometres of Machapuchari's base.

The mountain is not remote.

It is not hidden.

The people who see it every day, who photograph it, who tell their children its name, who include it in their prayers and their festivals, and their understanding of the sacred landscape, those people know exactly what the mountain is, and what the 50 metres means, and why the gap must hold.

There is a specific experience that trekkers on the Annapurna Base Camp Trail describe, and it is worth mentioning because it captures something essential about Machapucha's power.

The trail enters the Annapurna Sanctuary through a narrow gorge, a gap between towering rock walls where the sky shrinks to a strip of blue above and the sound of a river echoes off the stone.

Then the gorge opens, suddenly, and the trekker is standing in a vast natural amphitheatre ringed by some of the tallest mountains on earth, with Machapuchare directly ahead.

I took my entire family on the Annapurna Trail.

We hiked the entire Annapurna Mountain, went up to Annapurna Base Camp.

I've been slated to go up to Everest Base Camp and try to get up to Camp One for years.

So I love Nepal, and I love going there, whether it's hanging out in Tamil or just trekking the lowlands up in Namche Bazaar.