I spent a couple of days resting up and familiarising myself with Pokhara, Nepal's second city, and a haven for travellers about to embark upon their trek, or just recovering from it. Dominated by a picture-perfect lake, Phewa Tal, it felt like a tourist playground after spending time in the jungle. So much less traffic congestion than Kathmandu, and the air quality was considerably better.
I'd decided to go on another trek, having been thwarted by AMS at Manang some days before, and I spent a bit of time talking to different trekking agencies before deciding on one based at the guesthouse I spent a night at, mainly due to the really positive reviews in my guide book. There is something about the mountains that draws you to them. I've never really been that interested in climbing, but being close to them is a special feeling that's hard to describe.
So I met with the guide, Babu, who had been provided by the agency, and talked about possible routes to Poon Hill and potential treks from there, including one that led to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). We decided to start off from the town of Nayapul, about an hour's journey from Pokhara, and then trek to Ulleri and a few other towns before reaching a village called Chomrong, and making an assessment of how I was feeling at that point before deciding how the route might pan out from there. Another consideration was the cost: Babu had a daily rate of charge, and then I needed to factor in the cost of the Trekkers Information Management System (TIMS) card, which is required for trekking in the Annapurna Conservation Area, as well as food and accommodation in the tea houses, in addition to hiring sleeping bags and rainproof footwear (which wasn't necessary in the end).
I'd explained to Babu what had happened during the earlier trek, and we looked at the altitudes of the places we would be trekking through. He was really considerate, and talking to him gave me a real sense of control over the trek in sharp contrast to going on the Annapurna trek. The guesthouse offered to store the belongings I didn't need for the trek free of charge as I'd booked it through them, which I thought was pretty decent of them.
So we set off for Nayapul, passing through the old town of Pokhara which tourists probably see infrequently, with its temples and bustling market. From Nayapul we started our trek, steadily ascending, and the views were really good. It was a warm day, and it felt great to be outdoors again, in a totally different environment to the national park. Some stunning views of rivers, tiered farmland and, of course, the mountains. During the course of the day, I came to appreciate how fortunate I was to be trekking at this time of year when the rhododendron trees (Nepal's national flower) are in full bloom, as they provide such a colourful backdrop to the mountains, and by early May they have largely gone. They are mainly red, yet there are many varieties of them. There were also some gorgeous orchids, although far fewer of those.
After lunch at Birethati we reached Tikhedunga, and this was where the real climbing started, as we negotiated about 3,500 steps, and that was pretty tough, but made for a nice sense of achievement when we got to Ulleri, where we stayed for the night. During the day since leaving Nayapul we had climbed around 1, 800 metres. During the evening, we met with a couple of Chinese architecture students at the tea house who showed us their video footage of Tibet, which looked amazing. Over the course of the whole trek, there was immense value in taking plenty of short breaks for ten minutes or so just to catch your breath. I felt it made a real difference in offsetting tiredness, and Babu was really attentive in that respect.
The next morning from the bedroom at the tea house, I had a fantastic view of Annapurna South. The plan for the day was to walk to Ghorepani, spend the night there and then make an early morning start to watch the sunrise at Poon Hill, which on a clear day gives great views of the Annapurna range.
The terrain on this walk was very different in that we passed through largely forested areas, whereas during the walk from Nayapul, we were less immersed in the forests and more at their periphery. I preferred being in the forests, it was much cooler there with the tree cover and the glimpses of the mountains through the foliage was wonderful. Its hard to imagine a better environment in which to trek. Everywhere you looked, there were magical things to see, wonderful shapes and colours.
We stopped for lunch, and I had an interesting chat with the owner of the tea house. She had been running the place for over 30 years and lamented the changing nature of tourists, and tourism, over that time. In previous years, she felt trekkers were as interested in spending time in the mountains and finding out more about the culture of the local communities, and just appreciating the beauty of their surroundings. More recently, however, she felt trekkers were more keen to cover the terrain more quickly, which affected her business, and were more demanding of tea houses in terms of what they provided. I could appreciate her point of view, in that trekking should be about the experience rather than a race to a designated point, but perhaps people have less time to indulge themselves than they may have had before, with work responsibilities, and getting to the mountainous areas of Nepal is not an easy destination for many people. So maybe there's a natural urgency to see what you can in a short time frame.
We reached Ghorepani at around 3.30pm and it had been an exquisite walk. The tea house there was the nicest i'd stayed in with rooms that didn't resemble metal sheeting fixed together and functioning flush toilets (and hot water!). After going for a stroll round the village, I washed some clothes and dried them on the roof of the building. It had turned surprisingly cold very quickly.
The next morning we left the tea house at around 5.30am to get to Poon Hill. From Ghorepani its a climb of about 300 metres, and i'd not trekked in complete darkness before, so it felt strange to have a torch fixed to your head as I followed Babu to the start of the pathway. Perhaps it was due to trekking at that time of morning, but it was physically demanding, even though getting to Poon Hill only took around an hour to reach. Fortunately there was little overhead cloud, so the views were really good. We got there just as the sun was rising, and as it rose Annapurna South, Macchhupuchre, Hiunchili and the rest of the range were spectacularly revealed, although perhaps Nilgiri looked the clearest. We were so lucky to have such a clear view!
We stayed for a while, although it got pretty cold and made our way back to Snow Hill tea house for breakfast, and then set off a couple of hours later for Tatopani. This was as majestic a woodland walk as the previous day, and Babu described it as "Nepali flat", meaning there were long sections of flat walking interspersed with fairly short ascents and descents. Abundant wild flowers everywhere, as well as the glorious rhododendrons. A fantastic day's trekking, with surprisingly few other trekkers on the route.
At Tatopani, I fet really tired, more due to the early morning start than anything else. So after the hottest shower i'd ever had - there must have been a fault with the water system, it was scalding! - I slept.
The next morning we had to decide what to do next. There are hot springs at a place called Jhinu Danda, and I really fancied getting there, as well as the trek to Chomrong. However, getting to Chomrong would have meant climbing another 1,000 metres or so, and from there to get further north meant further ascents. Having got to Poon Hill, and thinking about time for resting and organising the trip to Myanmar, as well as wanting to spend a bit more time in Pokhara, I decided to continue to Ghandruk instead, spending the night there and then catching the bus back to Pokhara. Before leaving Tatopani, there were spectacular views of the Annapurna South range of mountains.
We left at around 9.30am for Ghandruk, quite a short trek, through more gorgeous woodland. After spending the night there, in the morning we were greeted with more spectacular views of Annapurna South. We then set off to catch the bus back to Pokhara.
I'd decided to go on another trek, having been thwarted by AMS at Manang some days before, and I spent a bit of time talking to different trekking agencies before deciding on one based at the guesthouse I spent a night at, mainly due to the really positive reviews in my guide book. There is something about the mountains that draws you to them. I've never really been that interested in climbing, but being close to them is a special feeling that's hard to describe.
So I met with the guide, Babu, who had been provided by the agency, and talked about possible routes to Poon Hill and potential treks from there, including one that led to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). We decided to start off from the town of Nayapul, about an hour's journey from Pokhara, and then trek to Ulleri and a few other towns before reaching a village called Chomrong, and making an assessment of how I was feeling at that point before deciding how the route might pan out from there. Another consideration was the cost: Babu had a daily rate of charge, and then I needed to factor in the cost of the Trekkers Information Management System (TIMS) card, which is required for trekking in the Annapurna Conservation Area, as well as food and accommodation in the tea houses, in addition to hiring sleeping bags and rainproof footwear (which wasn't necessary in the end).
I'd explained to Babu what had happened during the earlier trek, and we looked at the altitudes of the places we would be trekking through. He was really considerate, and talking to him gave me a real sense of control over the trek in sharp contrast to going on the Annapurna trek. The guesthouse offered to store the belongings I didn't need for the trek free of charge as I'd booked it through them, which I thought was pretty decent of them.
So we set off for Nayapul, passing through the old town of Pokhara which tourists probably see infrequently, with its temples and bustling market. From Nayapul we started our trek, steadily ascending, and the views were really good. It was a warm day, and it felt great to be outdoors again, in a totally different environment to the national park. Some stunning views of rivers, tiered farmland and, of course, the mountains. During the course of the day, I came to appreciate how fortunate I was to be trekking at this time of year when the rhododendron trees (Nepal's national flower) are in full bloom, as they provide such a colourful backdrop to the mountains, and by early May they have largely gone. They are mainly red, yet there are many varieties of them. There were also some gorgeous orchids, although far fewer of those.
After lunch at Birethati we reached Tikhedunga, and this was where the real climbing started, as we negotiated about 3,500 steps, and that was pretty tough, but made for a nice sense of achievement when we got to Ulleri, where we stayed for the night. During the day since leaving Nayapul we had climbed around 1, 800 metres. During the evening, we met with a couple of Chinese architecture students at the tea house who showed us their video footage of Tibet, which looked amazing. Over the course of the whole trek, there was immense value in taking plenty of short breaks for ten minutes or so just to catch your breath. I felt it made a real difference in offsetting tiredness, and Babu was really attentive in that respect.
The next morning from the bedroom at the tea house, I had a fantastic view of Annapurna South. The plan for the day was to walk to Ghorepani, spend the night there and then make an early morning start to watch the sunrise at Poon Hill, which on a clear day gives great views of the Annapurna range.
The terrain on this walk was very different in that we passed through largely forested areas, whereas during the walk from Nayapul, we were less immersed in the forests and more at their periphery. I preferred being in the forests, it was much cooler there with the tree cover and the glimpses of the mountains through the foliage was wonderful. Its hard to imagine a better environment in which to trek. Everywhere you looked, there were magical things to see, wonderful shapes and colours.
We stopped for lunch, and I had an interesting chat with the owner of the tea house. She had been running the place for over 30 years and lamented the changing nature of tourists, and tourism, over that time. In previous years, she felt trekkers were as interested in spending time in the mountains and finding out more about the culture of the local communities, and just appreciating the beauty of their surroundings. More recently, however, she felt trekkers were more keen to cover the terrain more quickly, which affected her business, and were more demanding of tea houses in terms of what they provided. I could appreciate her point of view, in that trekking should be about the experience rather than a race to a designated point, but perhaps people have less time to indulge themselves than they may have had before, with work responsibilities, and getting to the mountainous areas of Nepal is not an easy destination for many people. So maybe there's a natural urgency to see what you can in a short time frame.
We reached Ghorepani at around 3.30pm and it had been an exquisite walk. The tea house there was the nicest i'd stayed in with rooms that didn't resemble metal sheeting fixed together and functioning flush toilets (and hot water!). After going for a stroll round the village, I washed some clothes and dried them on the roof of the building. It had turned surprisingly cold very quickly.
The next morning we left the tea house at around 5.30am to get to Poon Hill. From Ghorepani its a climb of about 300 metres, and i'd not trekked in complete darkness before, so it felt strange to have a torch fixed to your head as I followed Babu to the start of the pathway. Perhaps it was due to trekking at that time of morning, but it was physically demanding, even though getting to Poon Hill only took around an hour to reach. Fortunately there was little overhead cloud, so the views were really good. We got there just as the sun was rising, and as it rose Annapurna South, Macchhupuchre, Hiunchili and the rest of the range were spectacularly revealed, although perhaps Nilgiri looked the clearest. We were so lucky to have such a clear view!
We stayed for a while, although it got pretty cold and made our way back to Snow Hill tea house for breakfast, and then set off a couple of hours later for Tatopani. This was as majestic a woodland walk as the previous day, and Babu described it as "Nepali flat", meaning there were long sections of flat walking interspersed with fairly short ascents and descents. Abundant wild flowers everywhere, as well as the glorious rhododendrons. A fantastic day's trekking, with surprisingly few other trekkers on the route.
At Tatopani, I fet really tired, more due to the early morning start than anything else. So after the hottest shower i'd ever had - there must have been a fault with the water system, it was scalding! - I slept.
The next morning we had to decide what to do next. There are hot springs at a place called Jhinu Danda, and I really fancied getting there, as well as the trek to Chomrong. However, getting to Chomrong would have meant climbing another 1,000 metres or so, and from there to get further north meant further ascents. Having got to Poon Hill, and thinking about time for resting and organising the trip to Myanmar, as well as wanting to spend a bit more time in Pokhara, I decided to continue to Ghandruk instead, spending the night there and then catching the bus back to Pokhara. Before leaving Tatopani, there were spectacular views of the Annapurna South range of mountains.
We left at around 9.30am for Ghandruk, quite a short trek, through more gorgeous woodland. After spending the night there, in the morning we were greeted with more spectacular views of Annapurna South. We then set off to catch the bus back to Pokhara.
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| With Babu at start of trek in Nayapul |
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| Wild flowers |
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| Tiered farmland |
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| Waterfall |
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| Rhododendron |
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| On the road to Ghorepani |
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| In the forest |
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| Orchids |
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| Mountain scene |
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| At Ghorepani |
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| View from teahouse bedroom |
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| Daybreak at Poon Hill |
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| Reaching Poon Hill |
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| Babu and me at Poon Hill |
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| At Poon Hill |
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| Views at Poon Hill |
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| Views at Poon Hill |
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| Poon Hill |
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| Dhaulagiri from Poon Hill |
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| Hiunchuli from Poon Hill |
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| Annapurna South from Poon Hill |
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| Tukuche Peak from Poon Hill |
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| View on the way to Tatopani |
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| View on the way to Tatopani |
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| View on the way to Tatopani |
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| View on the way to Tatopani |
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| View downstream |
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| Forest view |
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| Forest view |
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| Wild flowers |
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| Rhododendron and mountains |
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| Mountain views from Tatopani |
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| Tatopani teahouse view |
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| Tatopani teahouse view |
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| Macchhupuchre (fish tail mountain) from Tatopani |
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| From the tea house at Tatopani |
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| Mountain views from Ghandruk |
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| Mountain view at Ghandruk |
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| Mountain view at Ghandruk |
Brilliant blog Arvin, I've really enjoyed reading about your travels, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteNeed a map to keep up though - I cant picture where all these places are!
PS. Deborah says in the photos it looks like you're standing up straight at last - whatever you're doing its working!