Annapurna Circuit round trip

Inspiration to travel

One day in June 1994, I was working for a computer systems development company, programming general purpose machines. However, I think it was around the time that I began to realise that this was not in my nature.
The moment I saw the bright blue sky beyond the window in front of my desk at work, I felt the urge to run across that sky and wrote my resignation that night.

I immediately left the company and on my way to visit my friend from university, Mr M, who lives in Hachioji.

‘I’d like to go for a bike ride somewhere abroad, is there anywhere good?’

The friend thought for a while and then opened his mouth.

‘In the Himalayas, there is an 8,000 m mountain called Annapurna… There is a circular route that extends around that mountain. It might be possible to go there by mountain bike. I heard it takes two or three weeks to walk the whole way round, though. It seems that a lot of Western trekkers go trekking there.’

‘Could I cycle there?’

‘I think I can go, but I won’t know until I try…’

‘I’ll do some digging.’

Go mountain biking every weekend with friends

The friend was a colleague from my university cycling club and had been a member of the mountain club in high school, so he knew the joys and rigours of the mountains. He was like that, but after he entered university, he was totally addicted to cycling.

After graduating from university and getting a job, on weekends he and I would carry our bicycles up to the top of the mountains of Okutama, Tanzawa, Okuchichibu and the Japanese Alps together. And we enjoyed our fleeting downhills. Mr M rode his favourite Path Hunter and I climbed on my familiar Randner.

Back then, I didn’t feel alive unless I went out to the mountains at the weekend. I think it was because I was interested in programming and joined a system development company, but it wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be.

At that time, the internet had just started and information on the Annapurna Circuit was still almost impossible to find. To get information on overseas travel, I often went to the library and read travel books or consulted “Globe-Trotter” and “Lonely Planet”. The other best way is to ask people who have actually been there, but I never had a chance to meet such people.

After doing a lot of research on Annapurna myself, I visited a friend’s house in Hachioji again.

First up is the downhill from Mt.Fuji

‘The Annapurna circuit route is quite high. The highest point seems to be 5,416m. Will I get altitude sickness? I’ve only climbed mountains in the 2,000m range before…’

‘It’s hard to say whether you get altitude sickness or not, because it depends on you and your physical condition. When we climb high mountains, we often do a training exercise called Altitude circulation. Before you climb the Himalayas, would you try climbing Mt Fuji? Once you climb Mt Fuji, you’ll see if you’re more or less resistant to altitude sickness.’

‘Is there somewhere I can ride my bike?’

‘Mt Fuji, there is a bulldozer trail, separate from the mountain trail, that carries supplies such as huts, and you can cycle down it.’

‘Then let’s go there next time we’re in August!’

While looking at the map book with thoughts of the faraway, yet-to-be-seen Himalayas in mind, I found a section marked “Tibet” in the northern part of the Himalayas.

At the time the “Dalai Lama” was fleeing Chinese oppression and going into exile in Nepal, not that I was particularly interested in that. However, information did not come in as easily as it does now, and we never knew for sure if we could ride our bicycles freely through Tibet. We knew then that China was not a free country to ride a bicycle.

Beginning of the Journey

Through a junior member of my university club, I asked a travel agent in Yokohama who focuses on selling airplane tickets to China. To my surprise, they were able to arrange a one-way ticket to Tibet.

Besides, this junior O also wanted to cycle through Tibet during his last summer holiday at university.

• 3 Aug Climbing Mt Fuji & downhill
• Mid-August Traversing Tibet
• September Annapurna Circuit round trip

The schedule was set when there were no more days left in June.