Most of the tourists that come to Nepal, come for mountains. You are there, on the roof of the world, how could you not take advantage of that? Himalayas are so high that one cannot realize. You have to see them. Flying with plane close to Everest was extraordinary. I wrote about that here.
The start point for a lighter trekking, for untrained people, like us, is Pokhara, in Annapurna area. To reach it you have to take a 7 hours tourist bus or fly. Because of our small budget we took the bus. Those 7 hours where something to remember! The bus was so dirty, lots of locals, lunch break in not so clean places , lots of hours, terrible. But we made it.
Annapurna is a protected area therefor you’ll need a permit and a guide for trekking In Pokhara (photos bellow) are many agencies where you can contract all of these. Pass is around 40$/ person but you’ll need an ID photo (I don’t think you are ready to see “the studio”). Our guide use to misspell words like all the Nepal people. Their accent is very different for an european. It was funny but also hard to understand. During our 3 days we spent together we’ve learned a lot about their culture and it was very interesting making an opinion exchange on politics, religion, thinking, concepts, family and nature.
The trek is easy, only one part more difficult, but we missed that because we took a jeep to reach a higher start point. The road was so broken, we thought we will never pass it. Street was narrow like a forest road flooded by big rocks. We also drove through the water!
Our walk in the jungle with backpacks, the stops on different tea-houses, the monkeys in the trees and and the snow at high altitude, all these made our journey very pleasant. Because it was off season and not so crowded, the guide could make great reservation for us. We got accommodation with nice views above peaks and wonderful sunrises. But don’t imagine that we slept in a five star hotel! The rooms were very basic, 2 beds with thick layers and a poor bathroom but with hot showers. One could have also food, tea, or hot water (something common for Nepal) , wi-fi, but everything was charged on your bill at the end.
The main destination was Poon Hill, at 3200 m where you could see the sunrise at 6 am We woke up, didn’t got dressed because we slept with our clothes on and we went up on the dark path. But I didn’t make it. I got altitude sickness when I had 80 m left. The guide remained by my side and Attila, the tough one made it to the top where he took these great photos. At guest house the guide fed me garlic soup, and 2 hours later I was hiking another peak, same altitude of 3200 m. So the garlic is the medicine! 🙂
The descend to Pokhara was very nice. We had fun on ice and then we took a local bus to town. Next day we were already on tourist bus, on our way to Kathmandu. Once, when we stopped for lunch, I went to toilet. I found myself with a little baby in my arms. His mom made me an instant babysitter, just smiling to me. In this way she could use the toilet, too. Like I said, people are wonderful. And the mountains, too.
If you want to get a glimpse at Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, please feel free to read my post here.
