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For someone who lives in a tropical country all his life, who doesn’t have fascination with snow and white mountains? I, for one, have this intense dream of seeing, feeling and experiencing the snow and white mountains, the Himalayan mountains most specially.

So I went to the village of Nagarkot in Kathmandu Valley in 2012 to get a closer glimpse of the Everest and trekked to Poon Hill in Ghandruk Village in 2013 to get near to Annapurna. Dreaming and hoping that one day, I will be able to step my feet even only in the base camps of these two iconic mountains.

December last year, I finally crossed one dream off my bucket list when I ventured once more to Nepal. It was the height of winter in this Himalayan nation, an avalanche just happened in Annapurna a week before I arrived. Alone and unguided, I braved the solitude and endured the cold winter to fulfill a dream. I trekked for six days and five nights to 4,130-meter elevation base camp with no room for misadventure, mistake or injury.

With its challenging terrain and very cold weather, the trek proved to be not for the faint and weak. I may have survived the altitude sickness but my knees suffered the brunt of the trails. There were also sleepless nights due to extreme cold but despite all the odds, I was able to reach the snow covered base camp exactly on December 25, for my first ever white Christmas.

Here’s a slideshow of the day-to-day diary of my trek to Annapurna Base Camp.