Fears of road construction ruining our #8 trek in the world have been somewhat exaggerated.
Hikers are concerned when they see articles like this:
… Late last year, the Australian tour operator Peregrine Adventures, which has organised trips to Nepal for more than 30 years, abandoned the “classic” Annapurna Circuit, which stretches for 300 kilometres and reaches altitudes of more than 5000 metres.
“We’ve dropped that trip altogether because of the road,” operations director Tietse Stelma says. “Ten years ago it was such a beautiful trek going up into the mountains with the Annapurnas in front of you. Now you have more and more traffic on the road and building activity – when you go on a trek, you don’t want to hear that.” …
Rocky road for trekkers – The Age
Annapurna is still a wonderful adventure. But you might want to skip the Jomson Trek, the section where a new roadway is under construction.
Here’s a terrific documentary titled Paving Shangri La which paints the worst case scenario:
Click PLAY or watch it (Part 2) on YouTube. (7.29min)
Part 1 = watch it on YouTube. (7.42min)
The narrator is Andrew Stevenson, author of A Nepalese Journey: The Essence of the Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Circuit – Himalayan Journey.
I have friends trekking Annapurna in October. I’ll report back on just how much the road construction “ruined” the experience.
Not much, I expect.
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