The alarm went off at 4:30 am. We got up feeling groggy and tired, every muscle in our bodies aching for more rest. We had some hot tea and felt a little soothed. By 5:00 am we were ready to move. The early hour saw a bunch of travelers trudging slowly along in a single file through the snow filled trails with a dark sky overhead.

Every time we thought we had reached a mountain top and we would finally get to see that lake, we ended up being wrong and there was always another one to trek over. Every once in a while we felt like giving up but we persevered and finally reached Ice Lake.

It had only been a few weeks since I got back from the Mardi Base Camp trail. The phone rang and a voice on the other side said, “Bhai, Annapurna round circuit gardim na ta daju bhai.” When one travel enthusiast says to another, “Let’s hit the Annapurna Round Circuit trail,” you just don’t say no. With the buzzing of world’s highest crossable pass “Thorong la”, Tilicho lake, and the whole of the Annapurna Range to walk through, my soul craved for adventure and my heart was already up there in the mountains.