Welcome to Trailblazer author Jamie McGuinness' current trekkers updates.

Bryn Thomas and others wrote the book, Jamie McGuinness provided these updates.

The current book is the fifth edition.

Dodgy Annapurna guides

Current: The reason many women hire a guide from a trekking company is they are worried about sexual harassment. Ironically, many of the guides do hit on female members and in a surprisingly large number of cases ruin your trek because many turn sour when you won't hop into bed with them.

+ insist on meeting the guide

+ go with your instincts

+ sound out the company and guide and be direct, "I have a boyfriend", or even better simply say "I am not going to sleep with you", and quite often the company director won't be your personal guide after all!

+ guides from the Sherpa ethnic group are more reliable

+ Kathmandu companies are more reliable than small Pokhara ones

Dodgy advice

Current: Half the time your hotel staff are very interested in your trekking plan and if you mention that you are thinking of going alone, the stories come out. "Oh, too dangerous", "oh, oh, you will lose the way", and come and see my friend (who has a trekking company), basically are all bullshit. Trekking alone is easy and basically safe, and especially with our guide books, there is little chance of getting lost.

Besi Sahar road improvements

The once notorious Dumre to Besi Sahar track has been black-topped and the travel torture and travel time has been much reduced. Some buses still stop in the district headquarters, Besi Sahar, others continue to Bhulebhule. From there on the road is jeepable as far as Syangje.

The road is being pushed as far as Manang and there is full scale construction everywhere in between, with blasting and a mess everywhere. This is the death of this section of the Annapurna Circuit as we knew it but the road will provide immense other benefits for the local communities.

Jomsom road

There is now a road to Jomsom, and in fact as far as Muktinath. Buses run to/from Ghasa and then it is jeeps to get to/from Jomsom or Muktinath. Given the roughness of the road, which is also washed out during the monsoon, flying from Jomsom to Pokhara is still makes sense.

Fees for Annapurna (ACAP) entry permits

The ACAP entry permit fee is Rs2000 (US$29). One photo is required. Trekkers must now pay their entry fee either in Kathmandu at the Tourism Service Center, Bhrikuti Mandap or in Pokhara (opposite the Standard & Chartered Bank). Their hours are 9am-4pm Mondays-Fridays and 9am-3pm on Sundays. They are closed on Saturdays and public holidays. Entry permits issued from ACAP checkposts cost DOUBLE the normal fee.

Tilicho route

Current: It always pays to seek local advice on conditions and facilities for this trek.

jdesign -- all rights reserved --  2011