Trekking in the Annapurna foothills - Ghorepani, Nepal
Ghorepani, Nepal
In comparison to our return journey from Ilam, our journey to Pokhara passed by reasonably uneventfully. Our route again took us out to the west of Kathmandu on the road which has become so familiar, but for the first time since our trip to Lumbini, we sailed straight through the pass without so much as a glimpse of a traffic jam. We made several pleasant refreshment stops at various food and watering holes where Sujan treated us to breakfasts of momos for Dave and egg fried rice for Jenna. Our hours on the bus were whiled away listening to music and reading without anyone banging the back of our seats. The most disconcerting moment came when at one point, scarred by our previous nighttime experiences on Nepali transport, we questioned whether the muddy track complete with small river running over it was in fact the main road to Pokhara, but were reassured by Sujan that yes, indeed it was, and a couple of hours later we arrived safely in the lakeside city. Stepping down from the bus, we were greeted by throngs of touts and taxi drivers attempting to bombard us with 'good price' offers, reminiscent of our experiences in India. It was quite satisfying to be able to say 'no thanks', and watch their faces fall as they realised we were being ably looked after by someone who not only spoke their language, but also knew what a 'good price' actually was... With our taxi driver secured, we all piled in and headed to the Children's Home where we would be spending a month once back in Pokhara. Since the children were at school, we made a quick bag drop before again squeezing into the taxi for an hour's drive to Naya Pul, the start point for our 6 day trek. Nepal is famous for its trekking, with two of the most popular expeditions being to Everest Base Camp and the Annapurna Circuit which take between two and three weeks to complete. We had neither the time, fitness or inclination to do either of these, so instead had opted for an 'easy-medium' rated trek, relying on Sujan to pick a good route. His plan took us from Naya Pul to Phedi through the hillside villages of Birethani, Hille, Tikhedhunga, Ulleri, Ghorepani, Tadapani, Deurali, Banthanti, Ghandruk, Landruk, Tolka, another Deurali, Pothana and Dhampus. The trek also gave us the opportunity to visit Poon Hill at an altitude of 3210m, from where, under clear Himalayan skies, one can see spectacular views of both the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna ranges. As we made our way to Naya Pul, Sujan made tentative enquiries as to whether we had bought waterproof coats with us since, unbeknown to us, the area we were to trek has the highest rainfall in all of Nepal. Dave is not currently in possession of a waterproof coat, and in the interests of lightening her backpack load (and after carrying it through India and not needing it once) Jenna had opted to leave hers at the orphanage. It turned out that Sujan was the only one who had equipped himself appropriately for rain, so upon arrival in Naya Pul, we visited a shop and purchased four bright green plastic sheets to serve as makeshift ponchos should the heavens open on us. We then set off on a short walk to the village of Birethanti, located at an altitude of 1000m. The aforementioned villages on the Annapurna region consist mainly of 'tea houses' - small guesthouses providing basic accommodation, facilities and food for trekkers. Surrounding the tea houses are terraces planted with crops and small gardens in which vegetables are grown for consumption by locals and visitors. Our first tea house stop on our trek was Sujan's favourite, Green View Lodge, and upon arrival it was easy to see why. Located next to a river, the bubbling of the water over the rocks provided us with a soothing soundtrack throughout our stay, and the rooms were immaculate, with foam mattresses, good duvets and comfortable pillows. We had arrived in plenty of time to venture to the local waterfall for a swim before dinner, so after dropping off our day bags we all headed out for a refreshing dip. Our walk to the waterfall gave us our first taste of 'Nepali flat,' a term with which we became quite familiar over the following days. 'Nepali flat' is very different to 'British flat.' While British flat actually means flat (I'm imagining walking from Bournemouth to Sandbanks along the prom), this type of walking doesn't really exist in Nepal, so Nepali flat actually means undulating ups and downs, giving you a feeling of not getting anywhere very quickly. Feeling warm after our first taste of Nepali flat we were happy to jump into the water and spent a while splashing around, attempting to swim against the current and negotiate the slippery rocks. Returning to the Lodge and taking a blog worthy shower (piping-hot water and amazing pressure - neither of which we'd experienced for a long time!) we sat down to dinner with our fellow trekkers. Our order had been pretty straightforward - five dal bhats - and we therefore enjoyed high quality food coupled with Nepalese hospitality, whereby our plates were filled as many times as we wished. This was to be our cheapest meal for a while as food on trekking routes are standardised, calculated on the basis of the distance that food has to be carried by either man or beast. With our plan taking us further from modern infrastructure, we were aware that later dal bhats might cost double or even triple the price we paid in Birethanti. After dinner, Sujan and Dipendra introduced us to Jyaps, a card game which was to become our most played over the following days. The aim of the game is to 'show' a hand with the lowest value before any of your fellow players, at which point, the value of the cards in their hands is accumulated in a running individual total. There is an obvious element of risk, however, since choosing to 'show' when another player possesses a lower scoring hand results in penalty points. After a couple of rounds of this, we headed to our comfortable beds to enjoy a good night's sleep. The following morning involved an early start. Sujan had planned a three hour trek over Nepali flat before lunch at Tikhedhunga (1540m), followed by a two to three hour ascent up 3300 stone steps to take us to our overnight destination of Ulleri (2080m). This was to be our big ascent day with us climbing a total of 1080m (just 50m short of the height of Snowdon) so we tucked into a good breakfast of eggs, bread and porridge, and set off along the trail. The network of trails over and around the Himalayas has been trodden by porters, traders, pilgrims, mountaineers and locals for centuries, and tea houses can be found along the whole route, with patrons eager to serve weary walkers. The trail at the beginning of the first morning was the most well served stretch we were to walk - the track was wide enough and of good enough quality to be considered a road, and we couldn't walk further than a few hundred meters without stumbling through another tea house. After a while, the trail changed from road to track, and we found ourselves walking along much quieter rough stone surfaces, surrounded by forest. Our understanding of the definition of Nepali flat was improving, although at points, we were both concerned that if what we were currently walking on epitomised 'Nepali flat' we would be required to find rope lines and picks to enable us to conquer 'Nepali ascent.' Note that even our three hour walk on Nepali flat still involved an ascent of 540m... We were also unsure as to how our walking pace might fare alongside Sujan's estimates, since his '20 minute walk' to Deepak's from Phikkal turned out to take us over twice as long. We were therefore concerned that Sujan's 6 hour day might turn out to be considerably longer if taken at DaveandJenna speed. We therefore set out at a good pace, but were pleasantly surprised to find that we'd walked fast by trekking standards, and we reached Tikhedhunga (our lunch spot) after an hour and a half of walking at around half-past nine. After a refreshment stop at Indra Guest House and a round of Jyaps we decided we'd tackle the 3300 steps (listed as a highlight on Sujan's itinerary) before lunch. As we approached the stone steps, it became clear what the term 'Nepali ascent' actually means. The steps are arranged in flights, with the occasional tea house dotted in between, and from the bottom, present a rather formidable sight, made worse by the fact that you cannot see the top. As we began our climb, Sujan urged us to go 'biscale' meaning slowly, but there was never any question of us being able to climb fast in the heat of the sun, apart from Dipendra, who ran sure-footedly ahead and could frequently be found sat on the steps ahead of us, berating us for being so slow. We took several breaks to drink water and snack, and to find Francesca a stick, a task to which Dipendra took with such great gusto that he unfortunately stung himself on nettles in the process. By the time we were close to Ulleri, we were sharing the trekking poles which had been kindly lent to us by Pramilla, and Dave was convinced he'd never sweated so much in his life. Despite the heat, mountains Himchuli and Annapurna South remained illusive, hidden behind the haze. We finally arrived at Haven View Guest House and Restaurant just after 12pm, threw ourselves and our clothes into the shower and then settled down for an afternoon and evening of rest. Despite how hot we'd become during climbing, Ulleri itself was quite cold, and we enjoyed a few hot drinks throughout the course of the afternoon, as well as some good soup and Dave's favourite dish of momos. We spent our time chatting with fellow trekkers from Ireland, writing, playing cards and napping. Afternoon turned into evening marked only by the arrival of a large group of rather demanding Chinese tourists. Since this is the 'off' season, the guide for the group hadn't booked ahead (admittedly perhaps somewhat unwise given the size of the group), and therefore the staff at Haven View were forced to scrabble around to find beds. Sujan, Dipendra and other guides were asked to move rooms to the lower floor of the house, accessed via a trap door in the floor of the restaurant, and the group huffed and puffed while arrangements were made. Later, after waiting a whole hour for their dinner (outrageous!) the group made a rather optimistic list of requirements for their next guesthouse, including wi-fi. Smiling slightly, we were content to play Jyaps and eat our dal bhat when it arrived, much to the relief of the owners who had apparently also had grief from the Chinese group. The following morning, Dave had a rather rude awakening, whereby upon retrieving his trousers from the washing line, he was stung by two napping bees. Although at the time, they didn't seem too significant, Nepali bees are clearly more venomous than British ones, and they proved to be more problematic as the week went on. At 7am we headed downstairs for breakfast to fuel ourselves for the walk to Ghorepani with more porridge and boiled egg. When we were presented with the bill, we were surprised to find no charge for our room. Whether this was because Sujan had negotiated some kind of deal due to his and Dipendra's relegation to the basement we weren't sure, but upon enquiry we were told to be quiet. At Green View Lodge the previous evening we'd also been given a heavily discounted room, charged only Rs 200 for a room priced at Rs 600. These freebies and reductions proved to be standard for the rest of our trek; the following four evenings we found ourselves again given free accommodation and on the final night were awarded another significant reduction. Overall, our total accommodation bill for the 6 nights came to a grand total of Rs 300 or £2.11 between us. Thanks Sujan! After posing for a group photo, we set off on our 4 hour ascent. Our walk for the day was to take us up 790m through the largest rhododendron forest in the world to Ghorepani, where we would spend the night at an altitude of 2870m. The trail wound through the forest, up stone steps and past stunning waterfalls. These were invariably decorated with buddhist prayer flags and stacks of rocks balanced precariously on the ledge. These are traditionally made by people who want to make wishes which are supposedly fulfilled if the stack remains upright, but not if it falls. We made several stops along the way to pose for photos, refill water bottles from fresh mountain stream supplies and tuck into Bombay mix (provided by Pramilla) and cereal bars. On the trail we played cat and mouse with the Irish trekkers we'd met the previous evening who had made an earlier departure from Ulleri, but were taking things at a slightly slower pace. After passing them for the second time we remained in front and arrived in Ghorepani just after 12pm. After surveying the tea houses, Sujan took us to Nice View Lodge which, we were reassured, was appropriately named if you were lucky enough to arrive in good weather conditions. Theoretically our corner room, with windows on two sides, should have given us views of both the Dhalulgiri and Annapurna ranges, but on arrival we could just about make out the tops of the hills; the mountains were blanketed in cloud which seemed to roll up the valley sporadically. Although a beautiful site in itself, we were keen to catch our first glimpse of the Himalayas and as we sat on the viewing platform it was as though we were being teased by some of the largest peaks on earth. As Jenna made the most of another fantastic shower, the Irish trekking party walked past Nice View on their way to Poon Hill, and invited our party to join theirs. Dave took them up on their offer, and while Jenna had a nap, he made the 45 minute hike to Poon Hill at an elevation of 3210m. Irish Jim, in his late 50s certainly gave Dave's fitness a run for its money, only slowing pace once they'd caught up with Stan and quiet Connel and even then still going at a fair rate. Unfortunately, cloud cover at the top of the hill put paid to any good views, although on the way back down, Dave was rewarded for his efforts by his first glimpse of a mountain; Tukuche had finally managed to poke her peak of 6920m above the clouds. Upon Dave's return to Nice View we made our way downstairs to sit by the fire. Fires in tea houses generally consist of an oil drum in which the fire is made, with a large pipe over head, and a kettle perched on top. The fire serves to provide heat to the water system and, as far as we can make out, the kettle is perched on top so as not to waste any heat. We tucked into a good lunch of dal bhat and macaroni (rustled up by a slightly reluctant cook who really just wanted to sit by the fire). We then commenced the famous guess- the-person game, which actually lasted for a long time considering the limitations of picking people known to Nepalese, German and English participants... The game opened with a rather spectacular guess from Dipendra. The conversation went like this: Dave: "Ok I've got someone." Dipendra: "Is it a woman?" Dave: "Yes." Dipendra: "Queen Elizabeth." Dave: (slightly amazed and highly amused) "Yes!" As we then retreated upstairs for a lie down and for Dave to attempt to remove some of the knots which had formed in Jenna's back, the clouds finally decided to move away from the mountains. We had glimpses of Dhaulagri, which, at 8167m is the highest snow-capped mountain in the world and number 6 overall, Nilgiri (6940m), Annapurna South (7219m) and Tukuche, with their peaks raised just above the clouds until another blanket came rolling up the valley and engulfed both the view and us in a swirl of mist. After a hot soup and a few rounds of Jyaps we headed to bed. Unfortunately a good night's sleep was not on the agenda in Ghorepani and we both had a fitful night. The following morning, Jenna woke at 4.15 to make the 45 minute hike to Poon Hill for sunrise with the rest of our trekking party. Since the views didn't look too promising, Dave decided to stay in bed, having already made the trek with Irish Jim the day before and craving an extra couple of hours sleep. The morning hike also made good time, climbing the 340m in about 35 minutes to join the hoards of people at the top of the hill. These consisted mainly of a Chinese group who were taking it in turns to pose with the same man at the Poon Hill post. We later found out that the cause of this gentleman's celebrity status was that he had summited Everest 4 times. Standing at a height of only 3210m must feel quite inconsequential to a man who has climbed to the top of the world, but he seemed happy to pose nonetheless. Francesca and Jenna also had their own dose of attention, being quickly pounced on by some Chinese tourists who, bored of waiting for Mr. Everest decided they'd like to put their arms around them and have a photo. As the sun rose, the sky began to change colour to the East. After taking some obligatory photos at the sign (read, fighting with the Chinese to take our turn) we stood waiting and hoping that the clouds would clear, feeling grateful for our hoodies. Eventually, we heard a collective gasp from the Chinese group, and spotted the peak of Dhaulagiri to the South. The clouds cleared even further and we were rewarded for our early morning walk with a decent view of Nilgiri, Tukuche and Annapurna 1, which, at 8091m is the tenth highest mountain in the world. We made our way down the slope quickly, with Dipendra bounding ahead like a mountain goat. Fortunately the clouds continued to clear, so upon arriving back in Ghorepani, Jenna was able to wake a slumbering Dave, and we all enjoyed the views over breakfast. Dave's hand had unfortunately swollen to new levels overnight, and had to be treated by Jenna before we left Ghorepani. The details are probably too gory for this blog; needless to say it wasn't pretty. At 7.45am we were fed and ready to leave. We made our way out of the other side of Ghorepani to commence our hour and 15 minute ascent to the highest point of our trek (around 3250m). Feeling the small effects of altitude and suffering from a lack of sleep the previous evening, this was certainly a more challenging section of our trek and we were relieved when Sujan finally announced we'd made it to the pass. Our route from then on took us down, through more of the Rhododendron forest. We paused at points to take photos next to a big rock face and negotiated the slippery steps down to the babbling river. Here, Dipendra made a stack of rocks, and shortly afterwards we spotted an incredible number of caterpillars, nose to tail making their way across the forest floor. After a couple of hours of Nepali flat, we were happy to pause at the Hungry Eye Lodge in Banthani (2660m) where we tucked into a delicious dal bhat in the sunshine and played a few more round of cards surrounded by the aroma of spinach drying on mats on the floor. The villagers are currently compiling their stocks of dried spinach ready for the winter months, and the sight and smell of drying spinach became a familiar one on our trek. After lunch we were given our first taste of 'Nepali descent' which, unsurprisingly constitutes walking down steep, sometimes slippery track and steps for a rather sustained period of time. We very much differ in our walking preferences; Jenna finds descending incredibly challenging whereas Dave finds descent infinitely preferable. Our descent for the day totalled 710m, and we were all pleased when we finally arrived in Tadapani. Here, we checked into Grand View Lodge, braved a quick splash in the cold shower and had a nap for a couple of hours, making up for our lack of sleep the previous evening. We spent a nice evening reading and diary writing next to the fire, sipping hot milk (Jenna's drink of choice for the trip) and then headed to bed. The following morning, a chance early wake up and peak outside by Jenna meant we were up to watch the sunrise over the beautiful Annapurna range. Crystal clear Himalayan skies afforded us simply spectacular views of the peaks towering above us, with mountains Annapurna South, Annapurna III, Himchuli and Fishtail all changing colour as the sun rose. Although all beautiful, Fishtail (also known as Machepuchre in Nepali, meaning 'fish' and 'tail') was particularly stunning, and holds a certain allure in being the only virgin mountain in this range, unclimbed due to the fact it is sacred. We spent a good hour and a half watching the mountains, amazed at the sheer size of them and captivated by their beauty. Tearing ourselves away, we headed downstairs for breakfast, with Dave enjoying his first taste of Tibetan bread along with hash browns and fried egg. After breakfast, we made our way slowly to Ghandruk at 1990m, mainly delayed by our own desire to take more photos of the mountains from different angles. Our slightly more leisurely walk took us through more of the forest, and involved a significant amount of descent, but was made very pleasant by the sunshine and spectacular views from the trail. We arrived into Ghandruk around 11.15 am, and after making a tour of the second largest Gurung settlement to find somewhere to eat, settled in at Hotel Manisha. From here we had a good perspective on one aspect of life in remote villages; every so often, the jingle jangle of bells would alert us to the presence of between 10 and 15 mules carrying packages down the steep stone steps, down the track to the next village, controlled only by one or two men shouting and carrying sticks. This wasn't the only place we saw them, but it was certainly the place where we saw the biggest herds. We spent a couple of hours in Hotel Manisha enjoying our dal bhat and a few rounds of Jyaps, before deciding that rather than staying in Ghandruk, we'd make our way down to the river, and back up to Landruk, a further 3 hours away. Our descent down to the river involved traversing the side of the hill on countless flights of steps, and in the heat of the afternoon sun, was hard work (for Jenna). We finally reached the river at an altitude of 1500m and after a rest, crossed the bridge ready to ascend again. Our 'Nepali ascent' was also hard going for all members of our party, apart from Dipendra, who, regardless of a leech bite he had sustained in the morning, continued to take the steps very rapidly, two at a time. We eventually arrived in Landruk at around 3.30pm, and after walking through the village, found beds for the night at Hotel Sherpa. Although clean and reasonably comfortable, despite assurances from the host that hot water would be provided, it was not, which was slightly frustrating after a long day. We freshened up as best we could and then spent a while on the terrace watching the clouds fill the valley. Before dinner arrived, the rain came in, so we ate hoiled up inside, enjoying a pizza and an egg curry before heading to our room. Here, sheltering from the rain was a monstrous spider, the biggest we've seen yet. Although Dave tried to capture it in a cup, he only succeeded in knocking it from the wall onto the floor. Too tired to bother doing anything more about it, we both fell asleep and the spider stayed dry. The rain continued all night and the following morning we woke to a very wet Landruk. After breakfast, it was still raining, so we all donned our plastic sheets (or mac if you were Sujan) and headed off along the 'Nepali flat' trail. The weather had brought out one of the areas vices in the form of leeches. These persistent little animals pounced onto our shoes and socks as we made our way up and down steps, and subsequently attempted to manoeuvre themselves into a position where they could ingest a tasty meal. Frequent leech removal stops were necessary and as we arrived in Tolka, we paused to administer some of Sujan's magic anti-leech potion. Sujan also bought some salt, which he tied in a material pouch and wrapped around the end of a stick. As we continued down the trail we looked like actors in a scene from Harry Potter with Sujan, dressed in his long plastic mac and carrying the stick, looking like a wand bearing Professor and the rest of us scurrying along behind in our bright green plastic capes. Throughout the rest of the morning, the rain continued to fall persistently, and we continued to alternate between being too hot to wear our plastic sheets and being too cold, since we were now on 'Nepali ascent' up to Deurali at 2150m. The anti-leech stick was used countless times. Tea-house owners were keen to help us avoid the leeches, collecting them in buckets of ash whenever we paused to remove them from our shoes. It was in one of the tea houses when we all removed our boots to check for the evil creatures that Dave found two leech bites - two had managed to make their way, un-noticed into his sock and gorge themselves. As we walked through the forest we found that the threat from leeches wasn't just to our feet; they also dropped out of trees. Fortunately, our capes shielded us from too many body bites, although Jenna did have a small one on her hand. As we climbed the final steps to Deurali, the rain was falling heavily and we decided to rest at the next tea house to warm up with a cup of tea. As we commenced our first round of Jyaps in The Trekker Inn, it was 11am. 5 hours, several cups of tea, an unplanned lunch and approximately 14 rounds of Jyaps later, we were still there. The rain hadn't stopped, much to the delight of the tea house owner, who took great interest in our card game and even more in our spending. Although at 4pm she finally tried to light the fire in a last ditch attempt to tempt us to stay the night, we decided that although the rain had yet to cease we should make the estimated one hour trek to Pothana at 1900m. We walked quickly, anxious to get ourselves under a dry roof and into a warm room. The walk was miserable, improved only by the fact that it was so wet, even the leeches were sheltering. 40 minutes later we arrived in Pothana and although soaked, we felt distinctly warmer than we had done for the last few hours and wondered why we hadn't left before. After checking the hot water was indeed hot, we checked into Gurung Guest House, a tea house with a beautiful wrap around balcony. Here we both showered and retired to our room to relax. After a short while, our quiet time was interrupted by a shriek from Francesca, who had found a leech on her arm! Thankfully a quick rescue by Dave saw the leech pulled off before it had managed to bite. Later, we all made our way to the restaurant, located in separate building in the garden, where we were warmed by the fire and good food. As we headed to bed the rain was still pounding the roof, and we questioned the likelihood of us trekking the following day. Fortunately however, the rain wore itself out and we woke up to a misty, but dry morning. After our final trekkers' breakfast we departed Pothana, bound for our final stop, Phedi. Had it not been so misty, our walk to Dhampus, the next village, would have been quite pretty, taking us thorough forest and parkland. Thankfully, the leeches weren't quite as bad as they had been on the previous day although we still required the occasional stop to remove them from our shoes. Our arrival in Dhampus marked the end of the trekking trail through the forest - here our permits were stamped and the trail took us through farmland and along roads. After several days in remote locations with only the sound of mule bells on the paths, it was disappointing to be able to hear the sound of horns once again. The final section of our trek involved descent down several thousand stone steps to Phedi, after which we were all pleased to be able to sit down and rest! Sujan had promised to take us to his favourite restaurant in Pokhara if we made it back in time for lunch, so we hopped on a local bus, squeezed again into a taxi and arrived at Pokhara Thakali Restaurant at 12pm. Here, Dave enjoyed his first non-veg meal in a while - a special non-veg thali containing not one but two meat curries while Jenna tucked into the veg version. All too soon however lunch was finished and we made our way back through town, waved goodbye to Dipendra and jumped in a taxi with Francesa and Sujan. After 6 days of trekking with good food, amazing views and great company, we were on the way to our next adventure, a month's stay in Pokhara working at a children's home.