Annapurna Sanctuary by Rob

Day 16 was a day I had been looking forward to because we were going to be up in the Annapurna Sanctuary. We got up really early so that we could pass the avalanches before the sun hit them. In the morning the snow is very icy so that if you slipped you could fall into the river. Some of the bridges over the river were unstable. After two hours of hiking on icy snow covered trails, we finally got to Machupuchare Base Camp (MBC) at 3700m.

We arrived at MBC and were into the Annapurna Sanctuary, it was spectacular! We were half way up Annapurna, an 8000m peak, with another 4000 m of snow, rock and ice reflecting the sun making it the brightest time in my life. As the sun hit everything it started to melt. Normally, at this time of year there is no snow so it is much easier and you hike in the bottom of the valley, but because there was lots of snow we had to hike on the top of the ridge so any avalanche would not hit us. For fun and to figure out the principle of avalanches, my sister and I made snowballs and rolled them down the hill. They broke and we made new ones, but we never started an avalanche.

It took us two hours more to get to Annnapuna Base Camp at 4030m, where we had the best vegetables in our noodle soup and a delicious pizza. With our tummies full, we headed back down to MBC. Going down was so much fun! First, we saw some guys tubing and asked them if we could have a try. Kathleen and I went for two runs and thanked them very much. Then we walked back up onto the ridge and continued down the trail. The sun was strong, which melted the snow and it was much easier to slide down the hill. We were almost skiing in out two boots. I liked it so much that I didn’t care that my boots were getting soaking wet! It took us one hour to get back to MBC safely. My socks were so wet I had to wring them out.

I was so proud of myself because I had been to the Annapurna Base Camp, which I had always wanted to do. At supper time a man from TV5 in France came over to interview us because he was so surprised that children our age had been to the Annapurna Base Camp!