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Published: October 23rd 2013
Well we arrived in Kathmandu just over a week ago now, and the first thing that we noticed was how much calmer it is compared to India. Dad prefers the calm whereas I am still longing a little bit for the hustle and bustle. We were advised to stay in the Thamel area in Kathmandu and I am so glad that we did, there is lots going on, plenty of restaurants and shops and loads of travellers and trekkers to meet and speak to.
On our first night we started chatting to a couple from the Netherlands who had just completed the 15day trek around the Annapurna circuit, they said they had organised this all themselves and it was relatively easy to get around without a guide or porter showing you the way. They were really helpful and gave us lots of tips, they did mention that they had done their trek just before peak season so we may need a guide to book tea houses for us (only guides have the contacts to do this I'm advance, tea houses rarely take advance bookings from tourists).
After spending a day looking around kathmandu we had to pay our first visit of the trip to a medical centre.... Unfortunately Delhi gave me a leaving present in the form of an infection on my heel and after trying to get rid of it ourselves, and my foot still swelling up and now going purple, we decided it was best we went and got it checked out. The doctor put me on an IV drip of antibiotics and ideally wanted me to stay in Kathmandu for a few days to have a couple more IVs and to make sure it cleared completely... But I wasn't going to let an infection stop us so we moved on to Pokhura and kept our fingers crossed that the antibiotics would kick in and clear up the infection before our trek was due to start.
The bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhura was amazing!!!!!! We had been wondering whether to take a flight or a taxi but had decided the bus was an experience we couldn't miss and this was the best decision we made yet. The road was of course a little bumpy but nothing compared to the roads in India, and the scenery was breathtaking!! The road was a little dangerous, (there was a 20 minute traffic jam at one point, which we later found out was caused by a fatal accident) the road is very close to the cliff edges, but the tourist bus is fairly safe it doesn't overtake which is probably why it is a 7 hour journey, and the bus stops lots for toilet and food breaks. I almost lost dad at one point though, when we got off for a toilet break and dad started queuing up to get back on a different bus!! We met lots of Trekkers on the bus heading for Pokhura to do a five day trek like us, and it was great getting to know them. We actually ended up seeing one couple we met from Australia a couple of times on our trek, as they stayed at the same tea houses.
As for the trek itself, we did a five day trek... We took a taxi from Pokhura to Nayapul (1070metres) where we started our trek. The first day was only a 2 and a half hour walk slightly uphill at times but nothing to strenuous, however the weather was awful. It poured all day and our guide Podam said that it was worse than Monsoon weather. On the first night we stayed in Ulleri (1960 metres) looking at the insane mountains we had to climb the following day. On day two we had 3767 steps to climb, but the steps don't really end there... They just are then mixed between steps and slope. We climbed the steps in an hour, which our guide said was fast, and then we had another five hours to trek uphill to Gorepani, where we spent the night, this was at 2860 metres!! The following morning we woke up early and climbed the famous poon hill (3193 metres) to see the Annapurna mountains at sunrise. This was incredible, the mountains all went pink and the sunbeams across the himalayas at that time of the morning are really special. I probably took about 200 pictures that morning because every time I looked at the mountains they changed colour. That day was a very tough day because we had to climb down from poon hill and then ascend the hill the opposite side which was the same height, and then climb down all day which was really tough on our knees. We stayed in a place called Tadapani (2630 metres) on the third night. The fourth day was much easier with only a three hour trek all downhill to reach Ghandruk (1940 metres) and on the final day a four hour trek back to Nayapul to reach our taxi.
We have just arrived back at the hotel and I thought before taking a shower I would update my blog... about time. I can safely say that before the trek I thought I was going to hate these five days, and I thought my foot had been a blessing in disguise, but I am so glad that I went on the trek because I have never experienced scenery like it. It was also really odd not hearing a car motor at all for five days... In fact I ended up purchasing a donkey bell from a donkey owner as my Nepal gift to myself because the only noise you hear in the Himalayas is the sound of the donkeys coming up the path. We met some amazing people on this trip too, and there is nothing like a game of cards to bring people together.... Think we have taught everybody we have met how to play trumps now lol. We now have a day in Pokhura to recover, we are thinking about doing the 1.8km long zipline, which has a 600 metre vertical drop and reaches 140+ km/hour instead of recovering though... Got to make the most of these opportunities lol. Then after that we head to chitwan national park for three days... Really hope we see a tiger, but if not then maybe a rhino.... Will let you know. Hope everyone back home is safe and well. We miss you all!!!!!!
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Deb Harris
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Hello from Blighty
Hope the foot is all recovered. Lovely report, made an excellent read on the train to London. Keep blogging. Take care. X