Peaceful Pokhara

  Pokhara, Nepal
Wednesday, October 15, 2008

We had decided to cheap out on flights to Pokhara by travelling with Sita Air there and Agni Air on the way back (yep, never heard of them either). Never again. Pay the extra $25 and go with Buddha or Yeti and save yourself the hassle of these cowboy airlines. For our outward journey we arrived at the domestic terminal only to be told  (with a sort of smirk on his face) that the flight wouldn't be going as the pilot had flu, more like we were the only two passengers and it wasn't cost effective to run the flight. After a heated conversation and threats we would miss our $2,000, 7 day trek that started early next morning (all fictional of course) we finally got them to agree to get us to Pokhara that day, just 5 hours later than scheduled and using a different airline.

View of Macchupuchre (Fishtail Mountain)

After such a bad start to the day we were glad to finally arrive at our hotel in Pokhara, sit on the roof terrace and admire the views of Macchupuchre (fishtail mountain) whilst a most attentive member of staff served us mango juices.  He was so friendly though it was very hard to get rid of him, a bit embarrassing really, but I think he wanted to practice his English. After a bit of a snooze and trying to recover from Delhi belly we set out for the evening to find a plain, light meal and make some initial enquiries into a trek for me to Poon Hill, but just not quite yet as my stomach wasn't strong enough to handle any hiking the next day.
 
Feeling a bit better the next morning we headed out to confirm a trek for me, starting the following day. After seeing 4 agents I decided upon going with the agent we had spoken to first the previous night (always the way) as they said I would get an "extraordinary" guide for the same amount of cash as others were charging, plus I could do it in 4 days rather than the recommended 5. Pretty chuffed I had got the trek booked for the next day and securing a good guide and the right timeframe, I spent the rest of the afternoon getting a permit for the conservation area and a TIMS card (basically a record of the dates and where I was going just in case I didn't turn back up), plus a last minute hair chop. Maud spent the afternoon in bed recovering, we were both getting through some toilet rolls. I was told to return at 5pm to meet my guide Jeeban, so we could got through the trek together, I could ask any last minute questions plus he could help me get some trekking gear at a reasonable price. After meeting my guide and buying a new rucksack, some more socks and a walking pole I was pretty happy he was a decent bloke and it would be a good trek. Maud and I grabbed our last meal together for the next 4 days (ahhhhh), plus some trekking rations (incl. bogroll) and headed back to pack me up for the trek starting at 8am the next morning. As we were obviously apart those 4 days I'll be writing about my exploits, whilst Maud will let you know what she got up to while I was trekking in the mountains.
 
Poon Hill Trek Day 1 - 8 am start and 1 ½ hour drive from Pokhara to Nayapul the starting point of the trek at about 1,000 m altitude. After a nice masala chai at Nayapul and registering our entry to the conservation area with our TIMS card we set off at an easy pace to Birethanti. I was warned Day 1 was to be the hardest and although it was hot and I was sweating a bit, the trekking had been okay.

Poon Hill Trek Day 1 - on the way up

That was until after lunch at Birethanti !!! Jeeban mentioned we would be finishing at Ulleri that afternoon and that meant 3,000 steps up between here and the finishing village for the day. It was a real hard slog, but we finished in good time and had late afternoon beers with a French couple and a Bulgarian girl who had been both in front and behind us during the day. Supping a few cold ones at 2,200 m whilst watching the sun set over a cloud covered South Annapurna and Machupuchre made all that hard work worth it and it would be even better the following morning.
 
Back at the Lakeside I had a pretty easy day updating the blog and met up with Silvia from the Delhi trip.  She was also going to be in Pokhara for a few days and was about as enthusiastic about trekking as I was so over dinner we decided to go to the agent Alex had used and sort out a couple of things to do the  next day. 
 
So back to the real mans trekking and the Poon Hill Trek Day 2...which began with a 7 am start and in a brilliant blue sky I could finally see why I was doing this trek. Annapurna South and Machupuchre rose majestically above the valley walls, sparkling white in the early morning sunshine.

Poon Hill Trek Day 2 - Sunrise Annapurna Sth

I came down to breakfast with a huge grin on my face, it truly is an awesome view to wake up to. Day 2 was an easier trek and after a starting 1,000 steps (waking up the legs according to Jeeban) the rest of the morning was a gradual uphill to Ghorepani at 2,800 m. Don't get me wrong, it's no walk in the park, but after having got Day 1 out of the way and having great views for most of the morning during Day 2 it makes things a little bit more bearable. We arrived in Ghorepani in good spirits and after lunch Jeeban and I tried our hand at the local crown and anchor game (with not much luck) before moving on to the local pool house (totally incredible they have both a pool and snooker table at nearly 3,000 m altitude, all brought up here by porters).

Poon Hill Trek Day 2

After a few brews I had got my eye in on the pool table and was becoming somewhat of a local celebrity as no-one had beaten me in about 6 games and the skills were impressing. The French couple and Bulgarian girl turned up and after beating their guide Ram more than once it was time for dinner and bed, ready for a 4:30 start the next morning. Note - I did look for Dave and Suzi (from the India Intrepid trip) on reaching Ghorepani, little did I know that they had got ill on Day 1 of their trek and so were actually in Pokhara eating dinner with Helen and Silvia. Well at least I tried and thanks for the toast in my absence, it may have helped my pool performance. 
 
In Pokhara Silvia & I booked paragliding for the Tuesday once Alex had returned and we also decided to head up to the World Peace Pagoda for sunset.  In the Lonely Planet there was mention that women were susceptible to muggings on the walk up there so we booked a guide to take us (which also meant we got up there by car).  This turned out to be a bit of a white knuckle ride as our driver lurched up a steep & very rough gravel track that I would haven't attempted unless I was in a good 4wd - not that this seemed to have crossed his mind as we flew along in his Hyundai Getz...

Macchupuchre

Our guide was a local guy called Deepak who had just returned from a 14 day Annapurna Base Camp Trek.  Having taken our snaps he suggested that we "wander along" to the next viewpoint for sunset.  This turned out to be a steep sweaty climb but credit where credit is due he picked a great spot for sunset on top of his friends roof with an amazing panorama from  Dhaulagiri (8,167m - 26,794 ft and 7th highest mountain in the world), Annapurna South (7,129m),Annapurna I (8,091m 10th highest), Himchuli (6,441m) Macchapuchre (6,993m), Annapurna III (7,555m) Annapurna IV (7,525m), Annapurna II (7,937m 16th highest) and Lamjung Himal - what amazing views.

World Peace Pagoda

 
 
We had also booked Deepak to take us for sunrise the next day and after his sunset views when he said he knew somewhere good for sunrise we knew he'd be spot on.  For dinner we met up with Suzi and Dave as they were back in town having had to defer their trek and take Dave to hospital with a serious bout of spewing and bad guts.  Armed with an assortment of coloured pills he was looking well, though still sensibly sticking to plain spaghetti.  Alex had thought he would meet up with them in Ghorepani so we had a little toast to the man in the mountains and hoped that he was getting on ok.
 
Poon Hill Trek Day 3 and a 4:30am start to get to the viewpoint at Poon Hill by sunrise for a view over the Annapurna range, in effect the whole purpose of this 4 day trek. Armed with head torch and climbing pole it took us about 45 minutes to ascend the 400 metres in altitude to the top of Poon Hill at 3,210m.

Poon Hill Trek Day 3 - Annapurna Range

It was a great feeling to be so close to the main mountains of the Himalayas (we were about 15km away), even at this range they looked massive and inconceivable why anyone would want to summit them, nutters. The next hour was spent snapping the mountains as the sun rose up over from Pokhara, the views were obviously spectacular, but somewhat spoiled by the ever increasing crowd of about 300 people in the end. After sunrise we didn't hang about, knowing that we had a long day ahead, so pretty much ran down Poon Hill to get breakfast before the masses and set of to Ghandruk as soon as we could at about 8am.

Poon Hill Trek Day 3

 
According to Jeeban this was going to be a long days walking and it began with another steep climb about the equivalent of Poon Hill that morning to another viewpoint on top of the pass we would be taking to Tadapani. To be honest the views from here were probably even better than Poon Hill, mostly due to the lack of people and also the Buddhist prayer flags fluttering in the wind, it all seemed a bit more authentic. We  stopped to catch our breath and take in the views before setting off again through pine forests and woodland along the ridge of the valley, before a long descent to the bottom of a valley and then obviously the ascent back up it.

Poon Hill Trek Day 3 - Macchapuchre

Sometimes I don't understand trekking you climb all the way up somewhere only to descend it and then climb back up it again, I think I was starting to feel it at this point and the legs were beginning to hurt from constantly pounding the steps, hence the moaning. After about 4 hours trekking we finally made it to Tadapani for an early lunch of noodle soup, where bizzarely I got chatting to a bloke from Wrexham who was doing the same route but in the opposite direction. After a nice rest it was onwards again to Ghandruk, this section was all descent through rhododendron forests and villages next to the many streams and waterfalls melting of the mountain glaciers. It took about 3 hours to get to Ghandruk at about 1,800 m the second largest village in the Himalayas with a population of about 5,000 people.

Poon Hill Trek Day 3 - Annapurna South

I was greeted with a nice cup of masala chai and a room with en-suite, practically luxury up here and well deserved I'd say after 10 hours hiking.After a rest and then dinner it was early to bed again for a 6am start the next morning, as we wanted to miss the midday sun the following day that would make the going a bit tougher.
 
Well the next morning similarly (but less energetically than intrepid hiker) Silvia & I were on the road at 4.45am and by 5.45 had driven up the valley and climbed the last 400m to the summit above the village of Naudanda by torchlight.  As first light came we could see the Annapurna range appear from the darkness.

First light over Annapurna Sth & Annapurna I

It was weird that at one point you would think there was nothing out there and then minutes later some of the world's highest peaks were in front of you.  Again Deepak was right on with his location and then announced that we'd be taking a short stroll (about 3 hours) along the ridge to Sarangkot the peak above the lake where the paragliders take off from.

Sunrise over the Pokhara Valley

Well 5½ hours later after several climbs we arrived at Sarangkot.   We took more photos and then had breakfast at one of the tea shops on top of the hill.  After a rest we took the footpath back down to the town.  This was the way we had originally planned to get to the summit of Sarangkot and we were now glad we had followed Deepak.

View from the top of Sarangkot

It was just steps steps and more steps.  Some were pretty steep where a landslide had occurred earlier in the year when monsoon rains caused a big section of the hillside to wash away taking a few houses and a couple of peoples' lives with it.  We arrived back in Pokhara 7 hours after we had left but had had a great morning and thanks to Deepak we could now claim to have trekked in the Himalayas !  We found out later that the trek we did was supposed to take 6 - 7 hours so felt a bit better about our slow performance !  Rest of the day was spent relaxing and wished my hotel room had a bath to soak my sore legs in...I know I know - what a feeble case when the big guy is doing that for 4 full days and I did one morning....
 
 
After a well earned early night it was another early start for me and my treat for the trip - a microlighting flight.   (At this point my dad will be in shock- but yes I was up before 5am 2 days in a row !) It wasn't until I was getting into the microlight that I realized quite how flimsy they were but by then it was too late.  Having been wrapped in several layers of fleece and goretex we were off.

Microlighting

The take off was pretty steep but you got a real sense of flying with no sides and the wind in your face.  The whole experience was absolutely amazing - one of the best things I have done.  At our highest we were above the snowline at abut 12,500ft - hopefully the photos do it justice as it's one of the things I'll never forget. 

Microlighting

 
 
Poon Hill Trek Day 4 and a 6am wake up call for a quick chai and we were back on the road again. It helps when the views in the morning are so spectacular, something worth getting up for.  It took a while to get going that morning as the legs were feeling pretty stiff from all the trekking the previous day, but we soon got into the stride of things and descended about 500 metres in an hour and a half to Sauli Bazar for breakfast and chai.

Poon Hill Trek Day 4 - sunrise at Ghandruk

Although we were walking well I was aware that every time I was stopping to rest now the muscles were seizing up, it was going to be a painful few days following the end of the trek, a good massage would definitely be needed back in Pokhara. So no time to waste we set off through the now paddy terraces and small villages (it's amazing how quickly the landscape changes) towards where we had begun 4 days ago Nayapul. 

Poon Hill Trek Day 4

This part of the trek was really nice and flat, passing the children on their way to school and the locals starting their day in the fields, until finally we swung around the corner and we were back where we had started, easy as that. It didn't seem like it was 4 days ago that the same woman had served me the first masala chai of the trek and I was watching the donkeys and hikers go over the suspension bridge, it had all gone a bit too quickly now I was back, but the sense of achievement was still there.
 
It was a great circuit to do and very similar in difficulty as the Inca Trail we did in January, apart from it was at slightly lower altitudes. I don't think Helen will ever consider trekking again, but I think I'd definitely like to come back and do a base camp trek here, something to do with the lure of the mountains and being away from it all for a few days can't be beaten. "I'll just take a helicopter and meet you at the end" says Maud.
 

Paragliding

On the last day in Pokhara we went paragliding - which was another awesome experience- and as we've rambled on so much now we'll let the pictures of that do the talking ! 

Paragliding

 
Nepal has made it to one of our favourite places and we'll definitely plan to come back to see more one day...but for now it's back to Kathmandu then off to China...