Pokhara is 200Km west of Kathmandu and the connecting road is highway grade as according to local standard. Bus ride would normally take 7-8 hours and therefore a popular choice of transport. Along the way, river runs by the side of the road with mountains at the backdrop and such natural landscape helps to alleviate the travel boredom. 2:30pm the bus arrives at its station in Pokhara which is still some distance away from our hotel near the Lake. After check-in, the team decide to have his own free time before dinner. We choose to go for a boat ride in Fewa Lake especially after the long bus ride. Way back, the sunset and its reflection in the lake proves a right choice. Dinner is in a Chinese restaurant and the chef is from mainland China. The chef seems to understand our hard times ahead and his recommendations not only fill up our stomach but also divert our foresight of poor feed.

7:00am the whole team is waiting at the airport for departure to Jomsom, also known as Valley of the Wind. Flying to Jomsom is usually in the early morning before the strong wind gathers. 7:30am we are given green light to board the craft which is a propeller driven mountain flight and licenced to carry 18 passengers including the pilots. The plane flies a low course passing between mountains and the snowy peaks are close. 17 minutes later, we land at Jomsom. Without delay all baggages are unloaded from the plane. The next 10 minutes our porters are carrying each 30Kg+ of baggages on their back with a rope hinged to a band on the forehead. Before we start our trekking, we are required to register with the ACAP office. After paying a fee of Rs2000 each, we step out on the Annapurna Circuit to meet our challenges in the coming 2 weeks.

Annapurna Circuit is amongst one of the beautiful treks in Nepal. The entire circuit including the Annapurna Sanctuary measures up to 300Km+ of distance with an altitude varying from 900m to 5000m. Jomsom situates in the west of Annapurna and is in the mid-way of the Annapurna Circuit. Our plan is to start from Jomsom heading east towards Muktinath to visit the ancient Temple. Then we turn 180 back to Jomsom and then follow the Circuit to trek the Sanctuary. After leaving our foot prints in ABC we will then hike to Phedi and finish our mission.

The distance from Jomsom to Kagbeni is about 10Km with an ascent of 100m and the trekking time is expected to be 2-1/2 hours. We hit the road to Kagbeni at around 10:00am. During the next 8Km, we walk mostly on the dried river bed as there is hardly a complete road due to the weathering destruction caused by defrosting if not heavy rain. The landscape is beautiful with heaps of rocky mountains and snow peaks, even though there is not any trees or flowers. Air pollution is hardly a vocabulary here and the highland blue sky with mists of white cloud are sources of beautiful photo. Occasionally, there are still some running rivers in this dry season. On the road, there is a continuous flow of trekkers in either direction and "Namaste" is usually greeted when passing each other. Mule trains are the main transportation in the area mostly for carrying goods and scarcely for visitors with sore feet. Occasionally, there are local vehicles shuffling in the area. Wind is getting strong close to noon, and masks are required to screen off soil dusts. Sun protection and cool glasses are also essential due to strong ultraviolet content because of the high altitude.

11:30am we arrive at Eklebatti which is 2Km from Kagbeni. We decide to take our lunch here and leave dinner to Kagbeni. Our trekking fees also include food and beverages. All items in the menu except meats and steaks are covered. Food choices are simple -, fried rice、noodles、, pizzas and spaghetti、vegetables and fruits and momo（a kind of local dumplings） are typical for meals. As for breakfasts, it is usually Tibetan bread, soup noodles, pan cakes and eggs. Beverages are water, tea and coffee. Beer is a luxury by local standard and costs around US$2 a bottle. However, one still have a cheaper choice of local alcohol as replacement.

3:00pm we finish our first day exercise and check in the guest house in Kagbeni. Like all other villages in the Annapurna Circuit, Kagbeni depends primarily on farming and tourism comes second. Kagbeni is a gateway to Upper Mustang and it requires another class of permit for entry into the conservation area. The permit is very expensive and starts from US$700 per person. For that reason, a control point is set up to check the permit of the visitor. Panning from the gateway point, the Upper Mustang bears no significant differences from the Kagbeni surroundings - rocky and snowy mountain all round. Perhaps one have to get inside to feel the differences otherwise it won't cost that huge difference.