What to Know Before Annapurna Base Camp
Altitude, tea houses, and the three mistakes almost every first-time trekker makes.
The walk to Annapurna Base Camp is not technically difficult. It is, however, eleven days long, and the thing that ends most attempts early is not the terrain — it is going up too fast.
Sleep low, even when you feel fine
The most common mistake is treating a good day as permission to gain 900 metres. Gain 400, sleep, and gain 400 again. The people who are still smiling at Machhapuchhre Base Camp are the ones who did this.
You cannot negotiate with altitude. You can only descend.
Down is the treatment. If you are nauseous, if your headache does not respond to water and paracetamol, you go down — tonight, not tomorrow. Every guide in the valley will tell you the same thing, and they are right.
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