A man living in Brecon has shared his delight at hiking to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal, kicking off his trek from Talybont.

Alan Ward was born in York, and at one year old he moved to Hong Kong with his family. His father was posted to Dering Lines with the army. It wasn’t until he was fourteen that he moved to Brecon. “I finished school in Brecon before joining the BP Tanker Company as a young navigating officer and worked on oil tankers for five or six years before getting married to a Brecon girl. Before long we moved to Dubai and worked in the offshore oil industry for ten years, resident in Dubai, Singapore and Indonesia. During school, I became a Scout with the 1st Brecon Group and eventually became a Queen's Scout and this was when my love of the mountains began.”

In November, Alan trekked to the Annapurna Base Camp, a high glacial basin lying 40 km north of Pokhara. The idea came to him to explore his options from Talybont. “I was aware of the Nepal Village UK in Talybont so arranged a briefing there with the group, which was very informative. Through this meeting, we decided to meet with the twinning Chairman in Damphus, Nepal, where we started our trek.”

The itinerary was a 10-day trek. Sitting at an altitude of over 4000m, it is surrounded by a ring of mountains, the Annapurna range with most peaks being over 7000m. Alan’s trek used the only entrance into the Annapurna Sanctuary, through the narrow valley which lies between the high peaks of Hiunchuli and Machapuchare, where run-off from glaciers drains into the Modi Khola River.

The mountain range is home to many myths and legends, and the sanctuary was a sacred place for the Gurung people, one of the many natives to live in the area. It has long been believed that the area is the home of several deities, one of whom being Shiva, with legend saying that the daily plumes of snow were thought to be the smoke of his divine incense.

On November 6th, Alan departed with Qatar Airways from London Heathrow. He set out with his friends but faced some challenges along the way. “Having previously trekked to Annapurna Base Camp I thought it would be a good trek for a group of my friends to enjoy. Some challenges were long-haul overnight air travel via Doha, long trekking days, fairly basic tea house lodges and different diets. Up at 3200m, I developed gastroenteritis as a result of food poisoning.”

This almost derailed his experience, and he had to take rehydration sachets to ease his pain. At one point, concerns were raised that Alan might need to be evacuated down to the Pokhara Civic Hospital, but thankfully that wasn’t needed.

As a mountain leader, Alan tackled the trek with experience. “I've led over 20 Himalayan Treks and Expeditions including many to Nepal. The trek was classed as moderate to strenuous and apart from getting ill was very enjoyable. My main achievement was sharing my high altitude experiences in Nepa with a group of my friends.”

He was joined by Helen Menhinick, a Powys-based outdoor professional. He aims to travel with her to the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. “Helen and I will travel into the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in January, to the Kasbah du Toubkal to deliver a ten-day training programme to a group of Berber Mountain Guides through our CSR policies where we give our time freely but the Kasbah du Toubkal pay our travelling expenses.”