We spent seven days in the Annapurna region completing the Annapurna Base Camp trek and the Poon Hill trek. For some reason, as soon as we started trekking we were on a mission to get as far as we could each day, walking from sun up to sun down (even before sunrise on two of the mornings) and only stopping for vital sustenance along the way.

We discovered along the way that we were well underprepared for our chosen trek. To begin with, we had a map that ranged from slightly incorrect at times to just down right wrong. Accompanying this we had a table of walking durations between towns that was as useful as the map was with locations. This resulted in us taking a wrong turn as the sun was setting and ending up deep in a thick forest full of brambles with no sign of a path whatsoever. With minutes of daylight left, we had to backtrack and then run to the next town. We also didn't have any equipment with us besides moderately warm clothes and our walking shoes. On the first few days we would have a laugh at the huge Korean tour groups that would pass us equipped with porters, guides, crampons, gaiters, knee braces, face masks, down jackets, sleeping bags, walking sticks and more. After slipping and sliding our way across ice covered paths for a few hours while others just strolled past us, we began to second guess our decisions. Luckily, on the day we ascended to Annapurna Base Camp, a guy that we met along the way decided he wouldn't be needing his crampons and his two walking sticks so he kindly let us use his sticks for the worst of it. This made what could have been an impossible task, bearable.

Some of the days were very hard and we have some scratches, bruises, blisters, aches and pains to show for it but we wouldn't take it back for a second. The views were spectacular, the villages were beautiful, the food was surprisingly good and the experience was exciting and rewarding.