Monday 17 April 2017

#17 Pokhara part 2 - Part of the plan!

On the last day in Pokhara I was very glad to meet our guides and friends Sanju, Razu, two of Sanju's volunteers from Holland and a German photographer/artist I will refer to for the purposes of this blog as Chic German Artist Girl or CGAG for short.

We would be spending the next five days together trekking up to Poon Hill to watch the sunrise over the Himalayas.

The first day of the trek included a van ride to Nayapul where we set off on our adventure. It was a beautiful little village and looked very similar to my original idealistic image of Nepal.

The first day we walked for around six hours and up the infamous 3000 stairs. It was hard work but we made it and the scenery made it completely worthwhile.

It's amazing what happens to your body when you push your limits. After food, water and a rest we were different people and even had the energy to climb a little further in the village to explore.

I had read that it's best to order dal bhat when trekking as you get free refills of rice and lentil soup and that's the only way you will ever get properly full. This was very sound advice. Even if dal bhat is the last thing you feel like eating it's the only thing that will really fill you up.

We spent the evening playing a card game Sanju and Razu taught us called Shithead. It was good fun. A lot like Last Card but slightly more complex.

The next day we woke up to stunning views of snowy peaks and we couldn't wait to get started. We were so lucky that as a group of strangers we all got on really well and were a similar fitness level.

The villages we passed through were always so serene and the places we stayed were comfortable and served delicious food. They usually had WiFi and hot water although sometimes neither of these actually worked in practise.

The food was nourishing and the chiya tea (chai) was served sweet, milky and hot. Life became simply about exerting energy and regaining it by eating and sleeping with plenty of laughs and games of Shithead in between.

The morning we climbed Poon Hill happened to be my 25th birthday. I told the others the day before because I didn't want to be one of those people who keep it a secret and then someone finds out later by accident and feels really bad.

The group was so sweet. They made a birthday hat and carried a candle and a slice of Apple pie up to the top of the mountain and sang happy birthday as the sun peeked over the ranges. Then the whole mountain top of other trekkers joined in as well. Standing on top of Poon Hill with the Himalayas in the background having a group of strangers plus my new friends singing happy birthday is an experience I'll never ever forget. Magical. I'll never forget the Apple pie either. Best I've ever tasted.

The rest of the day we trekked on to the next village and spent the afternoon exploring and looking for monkeys for CGAG who hadn't seen many before in the wild.

The day ended with a feast of dal bhat and an impromptu party at our lodge after all the guides and sherpas brought out some traditional musical instruments and had a few glasses of the local rice wine. It was the perfect end to a perfect birthday.

The next day we set off on our last day of walking. Sanju had warned us it was going to be long and downhill the whole way. He was right. There were a lot of steps and one of the Dutch girls wasn't feeling confident about it right from the start. Not long after we set off she strained her ankle on the most inncocent looking stones. It's always the least expected ones that get you.

As CGAG was fond of saying, "this is not part of the plan."

So she limped and hobbled her way down the rest of the steps for a good four hours like a total champion and refused to take the bus early.

After some time wandering through beautiful lush farm land along the river bank we finally returned to Nayapul triumphant. We made it!

As Sanju and the determined Dutch girl kept saying; "In Nepal everything is possible!"



One of the villages we stayed in on the way back from Poon Hill



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