Sanjay Raman Bhowandas visits Nepal's mountains, jungles and deserts

I had no plans in Nepal except to get to Kathmandu en-route to India, but the two Spanish brothers I had met in China and accompanied through Tibet and into Nepal told me they planned to trek the Annapurna Circuit. I joined them.

We made our reservations, got our passes and took a bus to Pokara.

We trekked the horse-shoe shaped Annapurna Circuit and up to ABC (Annapurna Base Camp) within the circuit.

The terrain took us from a height of 790m at Khudi to 5416m at Thorong-La Pass, the highest point, and through hillside plantations to sub-tropical jungles and forests to semi-arid deserts.

Along the way we met many friendly locals. The hike was the best I have done in my life thus far.

The photograph was taken at Thorong Pedi, just before the ascent to Thorong-La Pass. Land and mudslides are common, but I would recommend keen hikers tackle this exciting trek.