Chilled out Pokhara

Returning from Bhaktapur to Kathmandu, getting a bus to Pokhara proved difficult! However, after joining forces with another English couple, getting on one bus only to get off and run after another better looking one (which we missed), and shouting out where we wanted to go a good few times, we finally managed to get on a pretty decent bus, but got shoved onto the back seats with zero suspension once again. The bus journey was fine until halfway through when the bus driver changed and was replaced by someone that we can only assume was on a suicide mission!! Several times we were up in the air off our seats, and the back wheels of the bus were literally skidding around the corners of the mountain roads. Not only did we have to deal with all of that, but we then proceeded to drive past an accident that looked like it had just happened, where a bus had careered off the mountain edge and was stuck halfway down in the trees; this didn't dampen the suicidal spirit of the bus driver unfortunately.

On our miracle arrival in Pokhara we checked into 'The Nepali Cottage Guesthouse'. Unfortunately, that evening Trevor saw cockroaches in the bathroom (a fact he weighed up whether to tell Sophie - as she did freak out as predicted)! Added to this, an awful stench coming from the bathroom (without anyone having used it), the next morning we checked straight out and checked into the 'Yeti Guest House'. There we were welcomed by one of the housekeepers; a lady called Tara, who later invited us to go round her house for dinner one evening. With the chance to experience a real Nepalese evening, and Trevor never being one to turn down a free meal, we gladly accepted!

Poon Hill Trek

Heading to Pokhara, we had decided to undertake the 5 day, 4 night trek to Poon Hill (the highest point of a well-trodden trekking route with a view of the Annapurna Mountain range), although had to delay our start date by a day as Diwali, another Hindu festival, meant everything was shut the day we had planned to begin. On the morning of our trek we got a taxi to Nayapul, a small town about an hour from Pokhara where most treks begin. The trek itself was relatively simple the first day and we managed to complete the walk in about 2.5 hours, rather than the predicted 4-6, which we were pretty proud of! That afternoon we reached Tikhedhunga (1540m) which had some pretty amazing views. It must be a hard life having to live in the mountains, the locals seem to live in a semi-medieval state, and there were a number of small towns on the way to the first stop where everyone was busy going about their daily lives, tending to livestock and crops. On arrival in Tikhedhunga we decided not to stay at the first guesthouse after taking an immediate dislike to the owner. Instead we chose a quiet teahouse towards the back of the village run by a lovely woman who was eager to help us and provide us with a good stay. The village was linked by several rope-style suspension bridges crossing waterfalls and gushing rivers. That evening we bought a pack of playing cards from the local shop and after having huge portions of Dhal Bat for dinner, we played snap and pairs with a couple of the owners children. They were extremely enthusiastic when both losing and winning and it was refreshing to see how much enjoyment a simple pack of cards provided. We were slightly concerned whilst playing, however, as one boy seemed to be repeatedly shouting 'sh**' when losing...we later found out that a very similar sounding word actually meant 'damn' in Nepalese! The room we were staying in, whilst clean, was nothing more than 4 mdf walls - we were glad of the 6 duvets we had stolen from other empty rooms that night.

On the second day of our trek we had to fashion spoons (Sophie forgot to bring the small travel cutlery set that Ben had brought her…but Trevor was happy that he got to use his pocket knife) and bowls out of empty plastic water bottles to eat the muesli we had bought from the local shop to save money - whilst accommodation in the mountain was cheap, the price of food and drink was quite high; not surprising considering the distance everything has to be brought up the mountains! The start of the trek that day consisted of over an hour of continuous uphill steps leading out of the village, which Sophie estimates there must have been about 100000000 of…she wasn't overly impressed this day! The rest of the day was a bit more level and we tried to set a quick pace, skipping meals to reach the next village ahead of others and get the best choice of teahouses. We completed the day in 4.5 hours, again beating the 6-7hour prediction, and reached another village called Ghorepani (2860m - the climb that day equalled the height of Ben Nevis). As some of the first people to reach the village that day, we checked into 'See You Guesthouse', and headed straight for the hot shower. Unfortunately after having washed, we realised that neither of us had brought the towel down to the shower and so, after Sophie having a go at Trevor (whose fault it obviously was) we had to put on our dirty clothes and make a quick run for it past the dining room and upstairs to our room! After settling in beside a large log burner in the dining hall, we enjoyed a yak cheese toasty (one of the infamous snacks you can get from the teahouses around the Annapurna region). We spent the evening playing cards again and eating large amounts of macaroni cheese ready for the early morning climb to Poon Hill the next day.

At 4am the next day, it was time to start the 1 hour ascent to the top of Poon Hill (3120m). Again consisting of more steps, we reached the top for sunrise and some of the most unrivalled views of the Annapurna Range at a lower height. We saw several of the world's tallest, most dangerous mountains, including Dhaulagiri (8167m), Annapurna (8097m), Machapuchare (6993m - Fishtail Peak). While the view itself really was spectacular, with snow-capped mountains illuminated by the rising sun on a sheer scale, it was extremely cold at the top, below zero degrees and after warming ourselves up with cups of tea to prevent certain frostbite, getting lots of photos and staying at the top for about an hour we made the descent back down to Ghorepani and rewarded ourselves with yet another yak cheese sandwich. While most people then spend the day relaxing in Ghorepani, we decided to push on with the trek to do it in one day less, and get back to Pokhara where we could actually afford to eat three meals a day! We had a 6 hour descent down to Ghandruk (which again started with an hour of upwards steps much to Sophie's frustration), involved what must have been thousands of steps downwards, which proved equally painful for our legs. Trevor's knee, having had ACL reconstruction 4 months ago, seemed to hold up ok for its first proper hike, much to our relief. After hours of walking in the rain and through forest without seeing anyone, we finally arrived at Ghandruk (1070m), our final teahouse village for the night. Here we stayed at 'Heaven View Guesthouse', and after enjoying vegetable momos, noodle soup and tibetan bread (which Trevor thought he had struck gold with, as it was extremely similar to a flatter version of yorkshire pudding, although not as good as his mums apparently), we were in bed by 6:30pm - just a casual sleep of 14 hours that night! Our final day trekking consisted of 3.5 hours of downhill steps, with very painful sore legs from the day before (we were walking like John Wayne). A number of village children were asking us for chocolate on the way down - unfortunately we didn't have any with us, and decided even if we had we would have eaten it all ourselves by that point! We did however manage to muster up a biro pen for one of the children on request. After getting back to Nayapul (1070m) we got a taxi back down to Pokhara and checked into the Yeti Guesthouse once again.

That evening Tara invited us round for dinner at her house, and at 7pm she met us at the guesthouse and led us the 5 minute walk to hers. On the walk we begun to go down some back alleys that we had never even known were there...slightly worried where we were going to end up we reached her home, consisting of only one room split into separate areas for cooking and sleeping, with two beds for the whole family of 4. Tara's house was simple but very clean and tidy, with great Nepalese character, particularly in the kitchen where numerous pots and pans hung on the wall amongst jars of spices and tea blends. 2 of her children were at home at the time - a 9 year old boy and a 13 year old girl who spoke good English, particularly the latter. Whilst at Tara's we enjoyed the best Dhal Bat we have had and a yummy Nepalese tea to follow. As a Christian Tara proudly showed Trevor her bible (not that he is religious) written in Nepalese; unfortunately due to the letters looking more like symbols, although Trevor showed a good interest he did in fact hold it upside down for a while, which seemed to amuse the children a fair bit! Having taken round a pack of playing cards (seems to be a common theme in Nepal) we again played snap and pairs, which the young boy enjoyed immensely and continued to beat us! As a thank you for having us round we had taken Tara a cashmere scarf and the children some chocolate, all of which they seemed pleased with.

The evening was a great experience and we had a lovely time communicating and playing cards with the family, giving us a real insight into their lives and their kind hospitality. The night also left us feeling very humble, particularly after the children showed us their Christmas gift shelf which consisted of a dozen plastic ornaments that they had exchanged over Christmases; simple items that they were so proud to call their own.

Hiking completed and struggling to get up and down stairs, we were ready to be thrown around in a raft for our next adventure!