In case you're in a hurry, the TLDR is I walked up and down quite a lot of
Himalayan hills and stayed in some surprisingly nice places over 4 days and 3
nights.
And in case you're my aunt and don't know what TLDR means, it stands for "Too
Long, Didn't Read".
I was advised it was a bit late in the season to do the Everest base camp
hike, and plus I didn't think I could survive 12 days without a hot shower, a
warm bed, or a cold beer, so I opted for the slightly more pedestrian four day
hike near the Annapurna mountains.
I also didn't want to do the trek on my own (well, apart from the guide, which
is mandatory), but luckily I met the 941st and 942nd Germans of this trip in
my hostel (seriously, nearly everyone I meet travelling is German. Germany
must be empty.), and they were happy enough for me to tag along. We also got a tour guide
who was friendly enough, although I was never quite sure what he was saying
(and I guess he had no idea what I was saying either).
Day 1: Cheating in a Jeep -> Bhuktangle -> Gorepani
The start of Day 1 consisted of driving up some steep hills in a taxi, and
then driving up some steeper hills in a jeep. The roads weren't quite as
perilous as those in
Bolivia
and
Chile, but what they lacked in danger, they made up for by being incredibly bumpy
and having no seat-belts.
It turns out that we were only walking about 10km on day 1 and the terrain
wasn't that arduous. As expected, we saw some beautiful scenery on the way,
although it was quite a bit more jungle-y than I anticipated.
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Jungle. And the first of many prayer flags
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A rather spooky abandoned building I didn't get to explore
(mainly
because there were people living in it, which I guess means it wasn't
abandoned)
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In the Enchanted Forest with my fellow trekkers, Alex and Anna
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Arriving in Gorepani. So off the beaten trek it had a German bakers and
a snooker club. |
A couple of friends who had done treks in the past told me that the accommodation
(known as teahouses) were very basic, and I had visions of sleeping on a bed of
hay with a yak for a duvet. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover I
had my own room with private bathroom, and there was electricity, wifi, a varied food
menu, and a log burner to huddle round when it got a bit parky.
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| Reminds me of home |
As it transpired, the wifi was about as useful as sundial at midnight (It
worked for a grand total of 10 minutes), but it's the thought that counts. We didn't really need it anyway, as it was early nights all round anyway, because ...
Day 2: Gorepani -> Poon Hill -> Tadapani
... we had to get up with the sparrows (4:15am) to climb Poon Hill aided
only by the light from my phone (and the torch light of my better-prepared
walking companions). At the top we were treated to spectacular views of
several 8,000+ metre high mountains in the Annapurna mountain range,
several of which have never been climbed.
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| This is what 5:30am looks like |
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Two rays of sunshine
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Poon Hill is named after Tek Bahadur Pun, who turned the hill into a tourist attraction to improve the lives of the locals. There was a plaque commemorating him, with a cryptic reference to his mysterious death (a cursory search of the internet hasn't revealed what that is, and it doesn't help that he's often confused with
Tul Bahadur Pun, a gurkha who was awarded the Victoria Cross and yet denied a visa to live in the UK).
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| Bloody tourists |
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| Alex, Anna, Barath - our guide (or Barack as I was calling him for the first two days), and me |
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They love a prayer flag in Nepal. Each colour represents a different "element".
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Once the light show was over, it was back down the hill, a spot of
breakfast, then another 10km or so walk up and down some more spectacular
jungles and hills.
Our accommodation for the next night wasn't quite as salubrious as the first
night's. I didn't have a private bathroom and had to charge my phone in the
dining area rather than my room. Slumming it doesn't begin to describe it.
Still, at least the wi-fi worked (when there wasn't a power cut that is).
This could well have been caused by a massive rain / hail-storm which seemed
to start at the same time every day (thankfully after the day's walk).
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| The aftermath |
Day 3: Gorepani -> Poon Hill -> Tadapani -> Jhinu Danda
We got a lie in the next day (or we would have done if the cockerels hadn't
decided 3am was the time to get up), There were more
spectacular views to be had (I'm talking about the Scottish flag that was
inexplicably flapping away in the morning breeze).
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That's not the Ochil Hills!
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Then it was off down another steep hill (like the
Mount Hallasan, much of this route has been made into stairs).
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It's a pain in the arse (and knees) going all the way down just to
have to come all the way back up
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The view halfway down the hill
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We then encountered the first of several rope bridges that were built by
Gurkhas. Actually, rope bridge does it quite the disservice, as I saw lots
of metal bolts and they all seemed pretty sturdy (although Day 4's swayed somewhat disconcertingly).
Then it was up another huge uphill, a trek through several villages (and peoples' gardens) until we reached Jhinu Danda.
There was quite a fancy new hotel in the village, but apparently we couldn't stay
there because our guide didn't get any commission for taking trekkers there
(at least he was honest I guess). The hotel/teahouse he took us to wasn't
bad, and was actually teeming with wildlife - just a shame the wildlife was
hundreds of flies. There was also a hot springs nearby, although "nearby"
turned out to be about half an hour's trek down some very wet slippery
stairs. It was pleasant enough, although it was basically sitting in a warm
bath with some strangers.
Sadly, I didn't catch a glimpse of a yeti, or even a yak. However, I
managed to capture footage of an even more exotic creature - a large talking bush that wanders round the hills.
Day 4: Jhinu Danda and walking over a big bridge to a jeep
The final day couldn't really be counted as a full day's trek. In fact,
the day's walking was over by about 9am. Thinking about it, we could have
easily finished after the hot springs yesterday, but our guide fancied
stretching it out over four days - can't think why!
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The mountains are often obscured by clouds but not today
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The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the massive Jhinu Danda
suspension bridge, which is 278 metres long and 140 metres high.
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Jhinu Danda suspension. All 278 metres of it
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Then it was into another rickety old jeep for the three hour journey back to
Pokhara. Actually, it turned out to be two rickety old jeeps as this
landslide was blocking the road half-day down.
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| I reckon a jeep could have made it over this. Not that I would have sit in it while they tried. |
It was on this road that I saw the only wildlife of the entire 4 days. A couple of monkeys sitting in a tree and pointedly not "monkeying around".
And we were back in Pokhara at lunchtime, where we all dined on the
traditional Nepalese dish of pizza.
All in all, an enjoyable three and a half days, although I think the
Salkantay one was the tougher and more enjoyable experience. After a
couple of days of doing very little in Pokhara, I was off "on safari" to
Chitwan National Park.
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