The Turtle reaches Annapurna base camp

OK, so I was a little apprehensive when I started my 15 day trek of the Annapurna circuit and base camp because lets be honest, I haven't had too much trekking experience let alone trekking the Himalaya Mountains on my todd but I wanted to tick this one challenge off the things-I-have-to-do-in-my-life list. And guess what, every single physical and mental agony, ache and pain was worth what was probably the most adventuress two weeks of my little life.

There were days when I wished the trekking would end (I was trekking between 6 to 9 hours a day) and I won't lie, on one day when I ascended 2000 metres, I threw a tantrum and shouted out loud 'Sod the flipping scenery, I can't take this endless climbing no more' and was close to throwing my backpack over the mountain edge. And yes, after I saw the sunrise at Annapurna base camp, I did bomb it down the mountain as fast as my little legs would carry me because I knew that if I stayed up in the freezing cold any longer, I might just keel over and die. And there were nights when I may as well have been sleeping in a freezer (-20 at base camp) so put on every single piece of clothing I had including my down jacket and would then spend 30 minutes psyching myself up to jump into my ice cold sleeping bag and then another hour warming it up, not forgetting waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air as I my body demanded more oxygen (oh those nights were hellish). On this trek, I learnt that when the sun set, the evenings would freeze over and I would be shivering away waiting for the sun to come up again the next day.

Even when the wind God struck during the afternoons and nearly swept me off my feet and sandblasted me across the face over and over again, I never once doubted if the trek was worth the agony. And when I found myself lost as I was nearing base camp and the clouds started to come in and the trees started to look all scary as I heard the sound of a nearby avalanche crashing down and I said my first prayer to God, I still persisted with my turtle-paced ascent. Because you see, over the last 15 days, I trekked through what is probably the worlds most stunning natural scenery with just my common sense (yes, I have heaps of it!), a map, and my 10kg backpack and got to meet some incredible people and locals. I'll also admit that it was pretty damn satisfying to see the admiration (or shock) on the faces of other experienced trekkers with their entourage of porters and guides as I told them that it was just little old me (the Turtle), no guide or porter carrying my own sodding gear all the way up the mountain, including mascara, eyelash curlers and all. I've joined the league of brave and courageous lone female bad ass trekkers! Hell yeah, I'm hardcore!! So hardcore that I was probably the only person to take a bucket shower at base camp. But be warned, my challenge was not without some strange and compromising situations.

So my beloved backpack and I would rock up at the next village for dinner and a good nights sleep and some days we would arrive at a ghost town with not a tourist in sight. The Tibetan villages were both mysterious and beautiful as the prayer flags flapped in the wind and I was often woken up by the sound of Tibetan monks praying. During the day, I passed through mountains and their even bigger snowed capped neighbours in the distance knowing that closer to the end of my journey; I would soon be working my way towards base camp. I watched the landscape change from barren valleys to alpine forests, fields of apple and orange trees to a forest right out of the Lord of the Rings to trekking knee deep or sliding on my butt in snow. I also got pretty good at finding trails in the denser areas (yes you just follow the foot prints or ask the villagers). Once when I was lost and panicked, a porter miraculously appeared like an angel and I told him that he would have to make sure that I got to the next place safely so he created the trail in the snow and patiently waited for my slow ass.

And in the end, Mr B (the man who inspired me to do this) was right, I met some incredible people who I would spend days trekking and the evenings chilling with so really had company a lot of the way including one hardcore German girl who trekked Everest base camp on her own. Truly bad ass! I also had the privilege of eating like a horse as I was burning so many calories so picked up a daily snickers bar and can of coke a habit.

So my Nepalese adventure has ended for now but without a shadow of a doubt, I'll be back. I'm off to meet my cousin to travel South China and Vietnam in 2 days, bring on some pampering and the beef pho!