Annapurna Circuit Trek: Food and lodges

Although the route passes through the most extraordinary scenery I've ever scene and despite the fact that at times it feels like you're the only person on the path, the ACT is not a wilderness trek. There are villages all along the route with guesthouses offering weary trekkers delicious slap-up meals and a comfortable night's sleep. I've written before on this blog about dal bhat. I ate plenty of it when living in Kathmandu and appreciated it in as much as it is the national dish of Nepal. When trekking, however, dal bhat takes on a whole new meaning. However exhausted you may be after a morning of trekking, after a good dal bhat lunch you'll be raring to go for the afternoon. That meal sorts you out. It's on every menu and it always tastes different, depending both on what ingredients are available locally (and, high in the mountains, that's not many) and also on the whim of the cook. You can order it at lunch and dinner in the same lodge and it could be different both times. It's the one menu item that you know will be well made. I grew pretty much addicted to it over the course of the trek. I'd be looking forward to my dal bhat lunch almost as soon as breakfast was over, always wondering what would be served up next time. I may even have referred to a particularly good dal bhat as 'magic'.

Eating well was central to doing well on the trek and a great deal of thought went into it. I ate pretty much the same thing every day and enjoyed the routine of that. This routine was aided by the fact that every lodge has an almost identical menu. The day always started when we were woken by Dil, carrying 'bed tea' - a great way to begin the morning. Breakfast was usually an apple pancake, though on a couple of occasions I ate a 'light' set breakfast, 'light' being two eggs, hash browns, toast and tea. Lunch was a substantial dal bhat and then I'd go for a lighter dinner. On the side of the trail leading up to the pass, I'd have a garlic soup, as the locals deem that to be good at helping with acclimatisation. On the way back down, momos or pasta (made from scratch) were the orders of the day.

A particularly lovely lodge dining room:

As well as meal times, snacking was essential. I brought with me from Kathmandu 2.5kg of nuts and dried fruits, nearly a kilogram of dried buff meat and 32 granola bars. With a little help from my friends, the entire lot was consumed. Maria also had a fair stock of Alpen bars which earned us the nickname (devised by Henry and Vivek) of the 'Granola Girls' or GGs. Vivek and Henry also had a nickname for themselves - the H boys ('H' standing for Hash).

As well as providing generally good food, the lodges were also extremely comfortable places to crash for the night. Rooms were basic, the standard being two beds with foam matresses and a bare lightbulb. If we were lucky there might also be a small table. If we were really lucky, there'd also be bedding. The rooms were tiny but generally cosy. The first four nights Henry, Maria and I shared triple rooms. On the fifth night the lodge only had doubles available and from thereonin I lodged just with Maria. This is one of the nicest rooms we had: