Food on the Annapurna Circuit Trek
Nepal
POSTCARDS | OCT 20Thought it’d be fun to show you the food that fueled me during the Annapurna Circuit Trek - get ready for 21 days of food pics!
I was mostly powered by noodles, despite the local lore that “dal bhat 24 hour power” was the way to go; Dal bhat is a traditional Nepali dish that features rice with multiple side dishes and is favored among locals and trekkers because it has unlimited refills.
The higher up I hiked, the more expensive the meals because of the labor required to get the ingredients up to that specific altitude. You won’t see many photos of breakfast because 1) breakfast options were a bit boring and 2) for early morning hikes I’d order chapati (similar to a tortilla) the night before and smother it in peanut butter for breakfast the next day.
The menu in each village was largely the same, offering fried noodles (chow mein), fried rice, soups, or dal bhat for dinner. Sometimes vegetable curries and giant fried spring rolls were available as well. A fun fact I learned is that the Annapurna Circuit is sometimes nicknamed the “Apple Pie Trail” because of the prevalence of apple orchards in the Manang region (where parts of the hike take place). The apple pie was not up to my personal baking standards (I do set a high bar if I say so my self), but it was still lovely to have dessert once in a while!
Fried rice with egg and veg
Chapati and pancake, which was more crepe-like.
Chilies laying out to dry
The food on the trail wasn't as spicy as I thought it'd be so often times I'd ask for chili sauce to spice things up.
Fried noodles with egg and veg. My friend ordered fried potatoes with veg.
Apple pancake with a disappointing number of apples.
Lunch staple
Dal bhat is chickpea curry (dal), rice (bhat), with many vegetable side dishes that can be refilled. It usually also includes spicy pickled vegetables and a thin crispy rice bread (papadum). This dish is similar to Indian thali.
Tibetan tsampa porridge with shredded apples for breakfast. The porridge is made from barley and is quite delicious, but not filling enough for me on the hike.
Noodles and Tibetan fried bread.
Another version of dal bhat.
Noodles, again!
Breakfast time: pancake (mine), apple pancake and Tibetan bread, often eaten with honey.
A sample food menu.
A famous apple pie shop along the trail that also offered apple cake donuts.
Apple pies on the trail usually resemble hand pies rather than traditional pie
The filling of the apple pie is usually a mix of sugar and cinnamon.
I was very hungry on this day of the hike, so lunch consisted of garlic soup (said to prevent altitude sickness), fried potatoes with vegetables, and chapati (flatbread)
No explanation required here.
Garlic onion noodle soup, made with instant noodles, and fried veg spring rolls. The spring rolls were GIANT! The wrapper was made out of a flour dough rather than a thin rice paper wrapper.
A bakery along the trail. It was very exciting to see but not as exciting to eat. Not surprising given my high standards!
Apple streusel. Very doughy.
I had fried noodles where my friends had the veg burger and the yak burger. Yak burger received rave reviews
Inspired by others' yak burgers, I opted for a veg burger for dinner one night. I went vegetarian for the hike to minimize the risk of food poisoning. As you go higher in elevation, more and more of the food is transported from lower elevation, including the meat.
Seabuckthorn juice, said to be rich in vitamin c.
I love noodles so much that I replaced the traditional side of fries with noodles.
An opportunity to try dessert (ok). Apple pie and chocolate cake.
Pancake and chapati for breakfast while doing morning journaling.
Dal bhat
"Chocolate" pancake for breakfast, likely made with chocolate powder.
Sometimes the egg was added as an omelette rather than mixed in with the noodles
My famous creation - the Snickers pie where Snickers were mixed with honey, sugar, and cinnamon and wrapped in pie dough.
The dining area of one guesthouse along the trail - one of the nicer ones.
Apple pie
Garlic onion soup with (instant) noodles)
A treat at Thorung La Pass. Chocolate doesn't taste as good at high altitude
I was intrigued by Yak Donalds and visited
Did not get the Happy Meal
But the noodles were delicious, especially with yak cheese sprinkled on top. Unlike McDonalds, Yak Donalds was quite pricey.
Yak curry and rice, served at the Buddhist Mask Festival I attended in Thini
Sel roti, a fried rice flour "donut" that reminded me a bit of Chinese sweet rice cakes.
Dal bhat - a more varied version
Apple crumble pie
Momos (Tibetan dumplings) and noodles
Corn drying on the balcony in the village
A mushroom burger in Pokhara, the town where I ended the trek
Celebrating 21 days of trekking with GBBO and cake - a May classic!