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Annapurna Circuit: Himalayan Journey

Andrew Stevenson

Why we're reading this: Lots of detail about the villages and people encountered on the Annapurna Circuit
[close] Lots of detail about the villages and people encountered on the Annapurna Circuit

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Nov 29, 2015 Andrea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, around-the-world-2016, travel

This started off a bit shaky for me; I was uncomfortable with the author's use of present tense and some of the dialogue was really stilted at first. But either the writing improved or I got over it - not sure which. Because the thing is, Stevenson took me there on his 2.5 month trek through the Annapurnas of the 1990s. When he was struck by acute mountain sickness at Manang, I was feeling bilious with him, and when he was singing Edith Piaf at the top of his lungs in the rhododendron forest out This started off a bit shaky for me; I was uncomfortable with the author's use of present tense and some of the dialogue was really stilted at first. But either the writing improved or I got over it - not sure which. Because the thing is, Stevenson took me there on his 2.5 month trek through the Annapurnas of the 1990s. When he was struck by acute mountain sickness at Manang, I was feeling bilious with him, and when he was singing Edith Piaf at the top of his lungs in the rhododendron forest outside Ghorepani, I was there too. He made it possible for me to imagine something I haven't experienced.

We follow behind a grey-haired porter who plods methodically up the trail, carrying a stack of five wooden crates full of Coca Cola on his back. Each crate holds twenty-four full bottles. Dominating his tiny, fragile-looking ankles and knobbly knees, his calf muscles swell like inflated balloons, pulsating veins criss-crossing the bulging calves with each step ascended.

Although this book recounted a return-visit to the region for Stevenson, he was still respectfully awestruck by the natural beauty surrounding him. The immensity of the mountains is humbling. There are no man-made machines or structures to give a sense of self-importance. We are merely ants, crawling on the surface and wrinkles and folds of this earth, itself only a tiny fragment of the universe.

It's not just the natural environment, but also the characters Stevenson meets along the way, that make his journey so special. Here is one of my favourite scenes ('Easy' is the name of a fellow-trekker):

He motions to ask Easy if he can look through the binoculars. Easy hands them to him and the old man peers through the lens, then lurches violently backwards as he recoils at the apparent nearness of the mountains.

Without removing the binoculars from his eyes, he corrects his stance and leans forward, balancing himself just before he falls on his face, then lurches just as far backwards, totally out of equilibrium. He pulls the glasses from his eyes to regain his sense of balance, laughs self-consciously, single stained tooth protruding, and sits down cross-legged, before looking through the binoculars again in relative safety, lurching backwards and forwards with less alarming effect.

Shay watches in amusement then concludes, ‘This is one of those moments in life that you remember years later, and would give anything to be able to relive.’

But it's not all rosy. Stevenson is always quick to remind us that this is one of the poorest countries in the world, and that just outside the photogenic trekking corridors, poverty lurks. The scenic appeal of simple lives in picturesque villages is contradicted by the appalling poverty lying beneath the surface, and just out of sight.

As for Stevenson himself - well, he's a bit of a mystery. He tells us he's there to 'take a break'. He's clearly wrestling with a problem throughout the entire trek and he frequently makes the same wish, without telling us what it is. As he relaxes into his day-to-day existence on the trail, his mood lightens and I guess this explains why I began to warm to him.

There are many everyday sunshines of my life. They make me happy and I find I am smiling a lot, as I walk, or even at night as I drift off to sleep. The physical act of smiling, not only changes my countenance, but the way I feel inside.

The author biography at the end of the book indicates that he is married to a different woman, so presumably that was a big part of it.

Recommended for armchair travellers, young and old. I can imagine re-reading this one day. ...more

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