A four day trek lay ahead of me. Although the booking agency claimed it to be 'easy' I was still slightly worried as it was now approaching week two of no exercise and in addition, I knew that heading higher into the mountains meant a drop in temperature, for which I did not think I was fully prepared for either.

Day one took me and the rest of my group to a village, a few hours drive away from Pokhara, called Nayapul - this was the starting point (1,100m) it was also the trekking check point and the last opportunity to use a toilet - a squat toilet; I knew that heading to this part of the world would require me to have to use one of these at some stage but I really wasn't up for the challenge now, but when you have to go, you have to go. And go I did and it wasn't just a wee - I was so proud of myself! From the squat toilets we walked to the next village, Tirkhadunga, which was four hours away. We stopped here for the night in accomodation known as tea houses - thank god for my sleeping bag because the rooms were just sheets of plywood nailed together with some 2x4; it was so cold I had to wear my thermals to bed.

Day two consisted of a total of seven hours walking where we acheived a 1000m ascent. The number of steps we climbed was countless and extremely hard work; you'd think you were doing well and then two young school girls would come up behind and over take you. But before long, the snowcapped peaks of the Himalayas began to emerge from behind the green hills and suddenly I remembered why I was doing this trek. Eventually, we reached our final destination for the day; Ghorapani (2,850m).

Ghorapani lay at the base of Poon Hill (the purpose of the trek) and so, day three took us here. An early rise set us on our journey uphill - another 2 hour walk - to catch the sunrise over the Himalayas; it was worth it; the scenery was spectacular. After our descent from Poon Hill we had breakfast and embarked on the rest of our walk for that day - it took us uphill and downhill and across steep paths of ice and mud but six hours later we arrived at Gurung; our third nights rest. After a plateful of mo:mos (a nepalise delicacy of potato filled pastry parcels) a comfy bed was fully deserved before our final day of walking.

Day four and I have been wearing the same clothes day and night - I craved clean! The possibilty of this keep my spirits high for the four hour walk ahead and when we arrived back at Nayapul I felt a sense of accomplishment, relief and happiness. My legs were hurting a lot; although not as much as my fellow trekkers' and to my surprise, the muscle ache only began this morning. The next few days were the worst though when I struggled to move efficiently up and down the stairs.

Needless to say, an amazing four days were had and it was all worthwhile.