Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
clearly visible, but it was deeply scoured by rock fall and runnels of water running
down the lower half.
'It is far too early in the season for the face,' René said. He was standing looking
up as the evening light left the face. Even now as the temperature dipped towards
zero, there was still the occasional zing-zip of falling rocks and the swoosh of wet
snow cascading down the couloir like a demented dragon.
'It's still September. We've plenty of time,' I said. Above us to the right, as we
looked down the glacier, the icy block of Annapurna South hung frozen in the sky.
The spiky twin peaks of Machapuchare speared the sky to the left. And rising
above the now tiny meadow where our base camp sat, Hiunchuli rose from a series
of serrated ridges.
'That looks interesting and it's close to home.'
René agreed. 'We'll go down early, repack and head for Hiunchuli.'
1. Pan Am launched its round the world flights in 1947. Flight 001 went west from San Francisco, and Flight 002 east from New York. In 1982, al-
though the airline was within six years of Lockerbie, and a decade from going bankrupt, the service was still a continuous journey, albeit with dif-
ferent stopovers, and anyone wishing to do so could stay on the same plane all the way around the world.
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2. This was the Captain's Lodge. As far as I can remember, it was the only accommodation in the whole of the Kali Gandaki that was purposely set
up and run as a climbers' and trekkers' location. I confirmed this in 2012 when I returned to Annapurna, except this time, every two to three
hours' walk, there were whole villages of hotels and lodges, each accommodating many hundreds of tourists at the same time. I'd left my mobile
phone behind in Kathmandu expecting there would be no connectivity. Not only was there mobile phone connection all the way to base camp,
there was Wi-Fi most of the way too. I did the right thing leaving my mobile, however, as there is no reception for mobile phones where I live in
Caldbeck. The Nepalis didn't believe me.
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3. This location now comprises around six lodges capable of sleeping several hundred people. Due to global warming, it is now extremely difficult
to access the glacier from there. On the large chorten just above the complex, I placed the new memorial for Alex.
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