Poon Hill Trek

Day 1: Pokhara - Nayapul - Tikhedhungga

Sometimes trying to travel like a local is rewarding and exciting, other times it adds even longer to your trip than expected and can become frustrating! On the morning we were to begin our Poon Hill trek it was all these things. We ignored the advice of some to take a taxi to the bus stop and instead found ourselves on a local bus that not only stopped for every person that waived it down (as expected) but stopped for a good 20 minutes to pay a fine or bribe to the police when there were too many people on-board. Since Rob was last in Nepal they have apparently cracked down on overloading buses, especially people hanging off the roof of vehicles. We exasperated things by missing our stop. Luckily a kind Nepali took us by foot to our next bus stop and we, as often happens when you allow yourself to get lost, saw some lovely scenes along the way. 

Found: a soccer field with a view

After roughly 3 hours on the second bus, our first day of hiking began in Nayapul (which means 'New Bridge', but it doesn’t look that new). We began the route through some small villages with three Chinese guys, the only other trekkers we saw until the second day. It was warm, the air was fresh (I remember telling Rob that I would take the smell of donkey poo over city pollution any day!) and following the river was beautiful. We trod along, trusted a less than official sign and ended up stranded on the wrong side of the river. After scrambling up a steep cliff we righted ourselves only to make the same mistake less than an hour later. This was meant to be a short day but we certainly took the scenic route. The constant litter in otherwise beautiful surrounds began to get to me and I collected rubbish on the trail for some time.

Lost in the river

Waterfalls on the way

Whilst in Nepal, and as with past trips to other countries, we have reflected a lot on our privileged education. This has included thinking about how we learnt about how to look after the environment and minimalise pollution (as well as how lucky we are to have regular waste collection). The impact of two of my primary school teachers in particular have constantly come to mind. I distinctly remember the day my grade four teacher drew a river on the blackboard. She added stick figures and explained the problems of one person defecating upstream to someone having a bath, washing their clothes or drinking. I have no idea what context she drew this in but the image certainly stuck with me. What do you do if this is the environment you find yourself in?

My grade five teacher was committed to introducing environmental programs into schools and saw our school begin a chicken pen, a compost and raise money for environmental organisations. We have wondered how many generations it takes before pro-environmental messages begin to take affect. From our time here we know that there are programs where children are now being taught these messages but I imagine that it takes a long time for it to become the norm. It also requires systems to support such behaviour; there is some evidence of these. However, at this stage I suppose things are represented by a site we saw in one town: a road junction with a big sign showing instructions on separating different types of rubbish, surrounded by a large mountain of mixed rubbish.

Goat chaos near Tikedhunga

Back on track (!), we eventually made it past every obstacle (including a herd of goats) to Tikhedhunga. We had planned to go further on our first day and it turned out we were the only guests in a small teahouse for the night. It was quite cold but nothing compared to the freezing temperatures we would later experience in Muktinath. The teahouse was comfortable yet we were very glad to have our warm sleeping bags with us. Rob was excited to be back in a teahouse having milk tea with coconut crunchies and, of course, dahl baht.

Day 2: Tikhedhungga - Ghorepani 

Warmed up and overjoyed at the first proper tea stop

The next morning we had a nice chat with a man who did not give us his first name but asked to be called Mr. Gurung. (This is kind of like introducing yourself as Mr. Smith in Australia!) He had served almost 30 years as a Ghurka in the British Army and been to many counties across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. It was interesting hearing his thoughts on politics and development in Nepal; the filling of the sandwich between the up-and-coming megapower breads of China and India.

After a Tibetan bread breakfast and a bit of a late start, we headed off. It wasn’t long before we reached a part of the track where the sun reached and our thermals came off. I think I will remember the first part of this trek by its contrast of cold mornings to later shining sun with views of white peaks circled all around. It really was a lot to get used to after the humidity of Malaysia.

Initial down hill morning trekking

On the way to Ghorepani, our resting place for the night, the route was mainly up hill and we started to see some ice on the track. For the last hour or so we walked with Mandy from Hong Kong and her over-friendly guide. Upon reaching Ghorepani we realised he was very keen for us to stay at a particular teahouse where he appeared to get some sort of deal for bringing us as customers. After some friction and Rob pointing out our independence to the owner, it was soon worked out. It turned out to be the best teahouse we stayed at with a fantastic dining and sitting area, a cosy fire the centrepiece of the room. We were also spoilt with a hot water shower that on the balance of things, given how freezing it was trying to get dressed after, was perhaps just worth the effort!

Getting colder: a puppy on ice

That night we enjoyed talking and playing cards with a Nepali guy (Ram) who quickly became known to Rob and I as: ‘Shhh I work in the army’ dude. We had been talking more than half an hour and about to settle down to a game of UNO when it was suddenly vital that he tell us this information in hushed tones before the cards were dealt. Becoming a Ghurka is not just a symbol of national pride but also representative of “making it”, with the opportunity of British citizenship and leaving Nepal if that is your choice.  It was comical how secretive he was about the issue, originally pretending to work in the UK “in IT” then saying he was doing the hike to become a guide, but at the same time it is obvious why he did not want everyone in the teahouse to know his position. He was a friendly guy and we caught up with him the next morning at sunrise.

Day 3: Ghorepani - Tadapani

Chocolate saves the day!

Our third day began nice and early with a 30-minute hike up to Poon Hill. (In Nepal, mountains have to be above 7000 metres before being considered actual mountains, otherwise they are ranges or hills!) We got up the top of the 3219 metre “hill” early enough before sunrise to lose feeling in most of our extremities. A pre-purchased chocolate bar reward and the most expensive tea in Nepal lifted our spirits as we waited for the spectacular view of the Annapurna ranges. It was a truly amazing sight every which way. Not realising that we would continue to be spoilt with beautiful views for the rest of the day, I did not want to leave Poon Hill. It was one of those moments where you knew you were somewhere special but could not quite believe the scene in front of you was real.

Enjoying a tea with the himals

I came out on top

Enjoying the view 

Stunning

Taking it in

As we descended the hill and across the pass towards our next destination, Tadapani, the mountains followed us! 

Treacherous icy paths

This was easily the most scenic day of our short trek. It was also the most challenging. After the pass, the track was pure ice. My method was to crouch and skate down using my shoes as a sled and snow gloves to aid. Rob took a more upright approach. Though both mostly successful, we each spent some time on our bums. 



We tried to help a terrified fellow trekker in converse sand shoes, Fang-La from South Korea, down the worst hill. She carried a hiking pole that was about as useful as a cricket bat and, for some reason, kept offering it to us. Despite our best efforts at aiding her, we soon watched in horror as she slipped and proceeded to slide and tumble, out-of-control down the hill for at least 30 metres. She nearly broke her neck but simply laughed, glad to be down the hill. We were glad (and amazed) when she reached the bottom in one piece.

Mountains following me

The view from our Tadapani teahouse was beautiful but due to the cloud we wouldn’t really see it properly until sunrise. Instead we tried to get warm near the fire. Unfortunately another trekker decided to continually stir up the fire creating an uncomfortably smokey room and smelled up our drying clothes. That night we again played UNO special rules, this time with a fun Spanish couple. They told us of there upcoming plans to visit Australia and we were interested to find out Adelaide was the key focus of their trip. They chose Adelaide as they wanted to swim with a shark or two there.

Day 4: Tadapani - Deurali

Good morning mountains

Huddling near the fire

This was our longest day. My held-up-fairly-well-but-kind-of-angry-knee was not exactly thrilled with the large amount of down hill. Poor Rob had to put up with my snail pace on the descent. However, in Rob’s words I “charged up hills like a mountain goat.” 

Slowly, slowly!

At lunch we were starving and outlandishly ordered some chips in addition to our more local food.  Nearby we saw some children with a multitude of rice terraces as their backyard. Imagine that being the norm! Mountain kids must think flat cities are terribly strange.

Lunch time!

What a backyard!

An Irish couple were the only trekkers we ran into on Day 4. We chatted for a bit and they gave us an Australian Open update (except that the climax was that they turned it off before finding out who won). Our walk continued to be scenic as we walked on to Deurali, arriving there just before dark as clouds settled in. This was our last night at a teahouse in Annapurna and it was spent in a very friendly family atmosphere, clustered around the fire learning from two guides about the new trail they were blazing to a place called Mardi.

Day 5: Deurali - Phedi - Pokhara

We left Deurali ready for a short few hours walk to Kande. Somewhere along the way we took a wrong turn and ended up walking further to Phedi. This should have meant a shorter bus ride however our bus was of the stop-every-10-metres variety. Usually none of this would bother us much but were very eager to get back to Pokhara because our Upper Mustang trek was due to start early the next morning and we originally had tried to plan a rest day so we wouldn’t be walking 20 days straight! It turned out to be a relaxing rest-afternoon in Pokhara instead. That evening we met Krishna, our guide for the Upper Mustang trek, and excitedly packed our bags, ready for another adventure.

Useful information if you want to do the Poon Hill trek:

Trek length: can be done in 4-6 days depending on pace. Don’t under-estimate how many large steps there are around Ghandruk. 6 days is probably best for a comfortable trek with ample time for tea breaks.

Our Poon Hill Trek (Blue line= trekking route, green line= bus route)

Guided tour or independently? May be good to have a guide to learn about different areas but definitely possible independently. We were told that soon guides will become a requirement.

Cost (all for two people):

TIMS permit: 3955 R

Annapurna permit: 4000 R

Transport to Nayapul: 290 R

Accommodation, breakfast & dinner average/day: 1790 R

(accom usually 300 R per night)

Lunch: 671 R

(NB You could easily double your costs if your purchased alcohol on the trek-we bought our own.)

Equipment: cold weather gear (gloves, beanies, scarves, warm clothes), trekking poles if you like them and shoe clamps would be useful but only for a small part of the trek.

How to pick a teahouse: This can be hard as there are so many in some villages. If you value hot water and a fireplace ask first. In my experience the teahouses were all quite comfortable.