Nepal

After the high recommendations from the in-laws on the amazing beauty and wondrous mountains of this land, it gave us the urge to want to see and explore this intriguing country for ourselves. We were welcomed at the airport by the heart-warming Padam, who had been Chris and Krystyna’s (Naomi’s parents) guide and sherpa through the mighty Himalayas in September on their holiday in Nepal. We checked into the renowned Kathmandu Guest House in the traveller’s district called the Thamel, which we used as a base to explore and get ourselves settled and ready for our exciting week-long trek. To be thrown back into Asia’s fast paced life was so overwhelming that we sought refuge from the loud, noisy Thamel to the quiet and peaceful holy Buddist place of Boudhanath in the Kathmandu valley. We spent our first day there taking it all in and getting a true feeling of how spiritual Nepal really is. Boudhanath is the largest ‘Stuper’ in Nepal and this is a very important holy shrine for the Buddist people. Boudhanath was constructed around 800AD and is on route from Tibet to Nepal.

The next day we were packed and ready to go for our trek through the Himalayan mountain range known as the Annapurnas, and we had what would be the first of many pre-dawn wake ups as we ventured down to the bus station to take our 6 hour long bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara, a small sleepy town set around a grand lake and at the foothills of the mountains.

 ANNAPURNA PANORAMA TREK

DAY 1 
We started in the town of Birethanti with an elevation of 1000m above sea level. We checked into the mountaineers office, showed them our permit and started our short journey for the day to small town of Hile with an elevation of 1455m. The pleasant walk was an easy intro into the Himalayas. The nature was not what I expected of Nepal. We passed through small valleys overgrown with dense jungle and tropical vegetation. The sun was shining and I was asking myself is this really Nepal! We arrived mid afternoon to the sleepy town and spent the evening getting to know the locals and get a real sense of life in the secluded mountains.

DAY 2
Making a head start to the day, we woke early and we got our first feeling of the severe cold up here before the sun had rose to warm us up. After warming up with a cup of hot masala tea we hit the road. Today’s destination was Gorepani. Looking at the map this seemed very doable. Immediately upon leaving Hile I got my first feeling of being high in a Nepalese mountain. As we left the town and crossed the suspension bridge decorated with prayer flags that hung over an impressive waterfall – a sight gave me goosebumps of joy!

The first half of the day was a constant climb of steps as we elevated a few hundred meters and got higher and higher into the mountains. After our daily intake of dahl and rice for lunch we came across our first snow. The tracks were covered and thus started the tedious slow and precarious walking. Arriving slightly later than expected we checked into the chilly town of Gorepani, situated 2800m above sea level. It was so cold, the chill went right through to our bones and the only cure was bed time and lots of cuddles! We did get the room with the view of the mighty Annapurna mountain range so I didn’t feel too guilty as I could see them from the warm burrows of the bed!

DAY 3 
The earliest of all early rises, today we awoke to start the ascent that would culminate at the highest point of the trip – the viewpoint called Poon Hill which has an elevation of 3193m. The aim was to be on top for the spectacular sunrise. We had all fingers and toes crossed that the view would not be obstructed by clouds. How lucky we were! After one hour of walking in the dark, we reached Poon Hill and watched as the sun rose into a clear blue sky. The views of the panoramic mountain scape were unlike anything I had ever experienced. Giddy from the pure thin air and also from the delights of such a beautiful view, we tumbled down the hill back to camp for a hearty breakfast and back on the track we were surprisingly faced with a track caked in snow.

I think Padam was not expecting this, which proved to be a day of careful downhill steps and no sign of an actual track. We trekked through dense forests with no sign of anyone else for hours; it made me think how hard and dangerous this would be if you didn’t have a guide who knew his way around these mountains. As the day grew longer and we were faced with few hours of daylight we decided to call it quits and stay the night in a town closer than expected – Tadapani 2348m.

DAY 4
After breakfast, just as we were about to make a start to the day it started snowing. As beautiful and romantic as this was it set us back a few hours and made it a slippery first half of the day! The scenery changed so much as we got deeper and delved into the white, blanketed misty forest. We walked past frozen icicles and past frozen waterfalls, then we were presented with a total change towards the end of the day when we started our steep descent. Slowly the weather started to get slightly warmer and we said goodbye to the winter wonderland and ventured through mountainous farmland all the way down to the bottom of the mountains into the valley which completed our amazing, fulfilling trek.

I must admit this was not an easy trek and it was such a great feeling to have conquered this and gave us a yearning to do some longer treks at some point too. We were so happy with Padam and his knowledge of the mountain people and the surrounding area and so happy that we decided to take this trip.

Back in Kathmandu we spent the last few days relaxing, pampering and stuffing our faces with delicious Nepalese and Tibetan food. Exploring deeper into the streets, we dodged the tiger balm sellers and marvelled at the sights of Durbar Square, which once housed the remnants of the old kingdom of Nepal.

On our last day in this enchanting, exciting, spiritual country we were invited to spend the last of our time with Padam and his family in their family home on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Their hospitality and warmth was lovely. Padam’s wife fed us an array of tantalising local cuisine and taught us how to make the traditional Nepalese dumplings that we learnt to love. To help digest the full bellies Padam took us on a short walk to the largest Buddhist temple in Kathmandu where we relaxed and bathed in the silence and beauty which made for the most perfect ending to one of the most exhilarating destinations we have travelled to.