Day 1 – HELP! (Nayapol – Ulleri 1960 Metres)
Alarm rings, yawn, stretch, oh crap! As it suddenly dawns on me, today we begin the 5 day trek!. …after our trial run trek up the hill to the peace temple yesterday I wasn’t looking forward to it at all!, after a lot of stop, starting, sweating and grunting we finally made it but I didn’t enjoy a second of it!. And this was a hill!, we were due to climb part way up a mountain! A MOUNTAIN! I think Ive finally found something I hate more than running!. Still fighting off colds (and the cigs not helping at all!) I was worried that I would be slow and hold us back!.
Glenn placated me explaining that it wouldn’t be so steep over the duration, a lot of ups, downs and flats and we would go at our own pace. And, we would see YAKs!. The booking office explained that day 1 was the easiest and enable us to adjust to the trek so in the name of love and all of that, I was committed!.
After breakfast we went back to the hotel to pack up and meet our guide and have our briefing where I wanted to find out more about what was ahead. We had booked a guide and a porter to carry our luggage and once we had packed everything up, I was a little nervous about how much stuff we were taking, we are allowed between 15-20 kilos per porter and I reckon we were close to 20!. My suspicions where validated when the hotel guy asked us if this was the luggage we wanted to leave behind! NOPE!.
Instead of a briefing we were met by our guide, Dinnis who promptly despatched us into what looked like a fiat panda (but smaller) where there was some effort in cramming our huge pack into the boot. We were also greeted by our big smiling porter Kamil, I say smiling but it was soon removed once he saw what he would be carrying for the duration of the trip!. As there was no information forthcoming I asked Dinnis what the agenda was for the day where he mumbled something about a 2hr car journey and a 5hr trek!. As he didn’t appear to want to expand on this I decided to try and make conversation with Kamil which didn’t go very well as he appeared to be sulking over the bag size thing!. So instead we spent the 2hr journey squeezed bumping along very bumpy windy roads between two burley men (Glenn and Kamil) fingers, legs and butt cheeks trying to grip onto the seat for fear of falling into a sulky Kamil and further destroying his mood whilst I contemplated what I could decant from the pack and carry at the other end.
I needn’t have feared, once we arrived and he discovered that the pack had back pack straps Kamil swung it onto his back effortlessly and off he set at great speed. After a brief, “ready?” from Dinnis off we set on our adventure following a river and passing through villages, waterfalls and avoiding bell wearing donkeys and goats. Feeling guilty as all is was carrying was my walking sticks (Glenn had taken all valuable and breakable objects off me as he knows how clumsy I am) we trudged behind. Its probably at this point that we realised how appropriate Kamil’s name was, Not only did he have a great lump on his back but he also snorted and spat like a Camel too!
The day was very hot with lots of ups, hardly any flats and very unnecessary downs…you put all that effort in getting to the top only having to go back down again to do it again! Mother nature can be cruel!. However, we were keeping up and trying to copy what the guide was doing which was basically slowing down on the uphills and winding our way to the top. We were expecting our guide to point out the local flora and fauna but as it turns out, a guide is just that, someone who’s back you follow to guide you along the route. At this point, Dinnis adopted the new Monika of ‘Chattyman!’
After a while of following the stream and stopping for a simple but delicious lunch of veg noodle soup we reached a school which was damaged by the earthquake. We made a donation and was rewarded with a marigold flower each and a Tika (red painted line on the forehead for good luck) and then spent the next 30 minutes (until we were out of view and could wipe them off) being blinded by red paint running down our noses and into our eyes as we sweated our way to the top!.
After taking another planned break chattyman came over and asked if we were feeling okay, I was feeling pretty good and actually starting to enjoy myself, “great” we said. “good, this is what we are climbing next” as he points to a dot, A DOT!; which was our lodge for the night at the top of a 500 meter climb!, a sheer ridiculously steep climb, you can’t see to the top!,no flats, no downs just massive broken steps covered in animal excrement which you end up happily walking through rather than expend additional effort avoiding!. AND THIS WAS THE EASIEST DAY?!. I have no words! Other than somehow we made it!, sweating, sobbing and exhausted, with NOT ONE FECKING YAK IN SIGHT!. We had covered 1000 meters (longer if you count the downs) and THIS WAS THE EASIEST DAY! We tried to console ourselves by thinking that as we had did so well, chattyman had added on part of the following days journey but we were both too scared to ask!)
.
Checking into our basic but pleasant lodgings we had time for a well-deserved beer with a stunning view of snow top mountains until the sun started to set then the temperature dropped like a stone so we rushed off for hot hot hot yay! showers and into our long johns and outer clothes for dinner.
The evenings are spent gathered around the fire, drying wet socks and chatting or playing cards with fellow trekkers, we met some lovely people at this lodge, Carlos from Spain who gave me some great tips!, basically slowly slowly, pace yourself and chose the longer path with the smaller stones/incline to preserve energy, we were to take him at his word and it worked!. We also met a couple of English guys, Glenn can talked more about them in the next installment!
Tomorrow, yaks?
Day 2 – in search for Yakless! Ulleri – Ghorepani 2750 Metres
Firstly I would like to point out that hiking/walking with Shelley is like walking with Bambi on roller skates as soon as day 1 trek started, she panicked and promptly tripped over the first pebble she came across (on the flat!).
Secondly this was a hike to Poon Hill, now maybe to the locals this is ‘a hill’ but officially a mountain is 800 Metres tall and this hill stands at 3200 Metres which is at least 2 ½ times bigger than Ben Nevis – so lets get this clear Poon Hill is not a Hill!!! In fact it is a hill on top of a mountain!
The second day Shelley and I were told to get up at 7am for breakfast and then at 7.30am we hit the trail with some trepidation given the hard core 1st day (still too scared to ask whether a bit was tagged on to yesterday!).
For the first 500 Metres it was up again (not looking good) and then fortunately it started levelling off and we could start to enjoy it again. I say enjoy it but I had to prompt Shelley to stop, avert her eyes from the floor every now and then to point out all the nice views and waterfalls she was missing (as her eyes were transfixed to every footstep she took in order not to trip over!).
We now started to pass or meet-up with people we had met from the previous evening, in addition to Carlos an experienced trekker from Barcelona (nice guy, on his own as now his second wife or daughter wouldn’t accompany him!...see it’s a mountain!) and Danny and Josh from the UK, Danny is a Paraglider and bird of prey man who spends 6 months each year working in Pokhara, Josh, a young 20 something who is over visiting Danny before he goes off to Oz for 6 months.
Chattyman continues to live up to his name but is helpful and friendly and ensures we get the best rooms with dual aspect spectacular views and Camel (who almost passed out after yesterdays 500m climb!) and who we have now dubbed as ‘Luggage’ (For you Pratchett fans out there – Pat & John), as we always seem to lose him along the way but he always makes it to our lodge with our belongings in tow!
The trek turned out to be not as bad as we envisaged and after a number of ups and downs we arrived in Ghorepani just after 1.00pm.
Again we were put in another lodge with stunning view of the snow capped mountains from our windows. We then had a spot of lunch and a few beers looking at the mountains in awe.
We decided as we were running out of clothes and Shelley was complaining about my aroma that we would do some basic washing. Take one bucket of cold water a sachet of Ariel add some stinky clothes, swill round for a bit and squeeze cold water out, then nip out to the washing line at the back of the lodge – job done! Unfortunately at this point we found that Shelley had left her long-johns in the previous lodge and I certainly was not going back to find them!
For the rest of the day we recuperated waiting for our evening meal before heading off for bed around 7.30 – I even turned down a game of poker due to fatigue and a very early 5am start beckoning the next day! This trekking lark is easy!!!!
Still no bloody Yak’s though!
Day 3 – Yaks? Ghorepani – Poon Hill (3200 Metres) – Tadapani (2590 Metres)
5AM start in darkness head torches and long-johns (Glenn not Shelley) we headed out to conquer poon hill, the pinnacle of the trek!. We discovered that at 5AM in thinning air your body and lungs do not work!. We joined a procession of fellow trekkers up more steep steep windy steps in total darkness (a couple of them gave up!) until we reached the top, Poon hill here we are, job done, we did it, cue spectacular sunrise!.
The trip to the top was another 400 Metres up and then back down again, however we weren’t best pleased when we started off again after breakfast to discover that it was another 500 Metre’s up to start off with! But is was never as bad as the first day, nothing EVER could be that bad! When we rested at this point we were irritated by another hiker who thought it was cool to play some tinny crap out of her Iphone (ruined the ambiance again) and Shelley announced that ‘there was no need for that’ in a slightly loud voice!
Anyway here we discovered that the downs were in fact worse than the ups as it really jolted your knees (especially after 35 years of previous football punishment). I also had to keep an ear out for Shelley behind me as there were various slip/sliding noises behind me, despite her having four legs to support her (walking sticks and legs). I had horrible images of ‘Luggage’ having to carry her down the mountain along with our rucksack (as I wasn’t about to!)
We were still keeping pace with our new friends, Carlos, Danny and Josh, meeting them at various watering holes along the way. I was still enjoying the views and Shelley was when I pointed something out to her, it was OK when she stopped to look but when she looked whilst moving there was an inevitable stumble (which I would get the blame for).
Another reasonable trek and we found ourselves in Tadapani, here the mountains were shrouded in cloud so we were unsure of what view we would have until the morning – again we had a nice little room with dual window aspects. The only problem we had with this one was the toilet and showers were separate, so we didn’t want to wake in the middle of the night for a pee (Temperature was possible in the negative here).
At this stop we learned we were too low for Yak’s, apparently they live at around 4000 Metres and were a 3 hour hike uphill to find (Which we were not going to do!).
Tadapani was a small village with people tending to their cabbage patches (not sure why it is not on the menu’s) and drying out their raddishs ready to be pickled. Shelley made friends with a local woman even though they could not speak a word to each other!
In the evening we settled in to our lodge which had the best heating in it, we were so close to the fire burner that our faces became very rosey. Whilst we were chatting to our new trekking buddy’s we learned that Cameron was going to bomb Syria (so nice not to have news!).
After dinner around 7.30 we again turned in for an early night – we did not get up for that pee!!
Day 4 – The Descent – Tadapani – Jhinu Danda (1565 Metres)
After waving goodbye to Danny and Josh (Danny had had enough and found a route to short circuit back to civilisation). We headed for our final full day of trekking and looking forwarded to bathing in the hot springs which we were headed for.
A long long complicated descent over jagged rocks heart stopping sheer drops! (Shelley almost had a melt down at one point!) And a few more un-necessary ups passing yet more animals (including a few cows – which I tried to avoid like the plague since my day 1 experience!) we decended slowly into Jhinu Pana our final stop for the trip. Both our legs were now trembling from the steep descents and I thought my knee was going to drop off!
I enquired with Chatty Man how he thought we were doing and after a brief chuckle he said we were doing good! I bet he says that to all his clients!
We then had lunch and a few more beers before donning our bathers and going in search of the hot springs. Unfortunately this meant another 25 minute trek downhill to the river!
When we got there we found three pools alongside a raging river with waterfalls. We were then instructed to take a shower before entering the pools, we really must smell!!
We stripped off and entered what was to be our first hot bath of this trip. It was magical just soaking in hot water whilst watching the waterfalls and surrounding forest, the only problem was we knew when we got out it would be cold and we had to take that trek back up again!
Once again we had a fantastic room with ensuite – although no hot water!
After the usual one our delay we got our evening meal before going for an early night (for a change)
Day 5 – Homeward bound! – Jinhu Danda - Nayapol
Having done 4 days trekking we are now going by the names of Edmund Hillary (Shelley) and Tenzing Norgay (Me (Glenn) – because I have the day sack on my back) and we are now looking forward to the completion of our expedition!
Chattyman spoke!, he told us that it was a 3hr trek to a place where we pick up a jeep which would take us to lunch and then our fiat panda for the journey back home, home being Pokhara. Glenn was pretty done in with his knee so we were both glad it was our last day.
The descent continued with more cliff hangers, jagged rocks and basically knee shattering climbs down. Chatty man decided not be a guide at all and set off at his own pace where we stopped and took pics admired the last spectacular views etc.
We still managed to arrive at the jeep stop within the 3 allotted hours and celebrated with a high 5, we did it, and without breaking a bone!.... Only to be informed by CM that we had missed the bus!, Bus? Thought we were getting a jeep? Nope, no budget for jeep and it’s another 2hr trek to the car. So this is why CM steamed ahead, shame he didn’t tell us sooner!. After some deliberation we decided to hire a jeep ourselves, Glenn’s knees were about to give out and we didn’t want to finish what ended up to be a wonderful experience by crippling ourselves!.
The car we managed to negotiate was even smaller than the fiat panda thing that we arrived in. On top of this, for the 45 min journey we were treated to a rendition of the longest, worse Napali song in the world! It lasted the entire journey!. Even Luggage fell asleep to block out the sound!.
A quick (coldish) lunch of Nepali set () we were delighted when our ride arrived to take us back to Pokhara, a cortina, leg room!. (Minus Shelley’s tobacco rolling factory which she left behind)
Arriving back at Pokhara we showered, dropped off our sleeping bags, had dinner and headed for yet another early night in readiness for our 6;30 AM start and 7hr bus journey back to Kathmandu!
So to recount Shelley has now lost (to Date):
1 x Swiss Army Knife (In her hand luggage confiscated at Heathrow Airport – Silly Cow!)
1 x Pair of Long-John’s (In some lodge in the mountains)
1 x Tobbaco Factory (Some restaurant at bottom of mountains)
A few things struck me as we travelled back to Pokhara:
1. I was very proud of Shelley as she didn’t actually trip and injure herself in 5 days of trekking (which I wanted to do).
2. My initial plan to do the Three Pass Trek at 5000-6000 Metres for 21 days was completely insane (well done to Shelley for being the voice of reason)
3. After 3 journeys along dodgy roads and banging my head constantly off of door frames, door handle grabs and roofs of very small Nepalese vehicles I note that I fecking love Tarmac!!!!!!
4. On the journey home I noticed that all the bridges had names and the length noted down – from 10 Metres up to a whopping 50 Metres – I’m guessing that Norris McGuirter will not be visiting Nepal anytime soon!!
5. We are now fully fledged trekkers, and have the new found skills when we ascend the volcanos in the Philippines and Machu Pitchu
Alarm rings, yawn, stretch, oh crap! As it suddenly dawns on me, today we begin the 5 day trek!. …after our trial run trek up the hill to the peace temple yesterday I wasn’t looking forward to it at all!, after a lot of stop, starting, sweating and grunting we finally made it but I didn’t enjoy a second of it!. And this was a hill!, we were due to climb part way up a mountain! A MOUNTAIN! I think Ive finally found something I hate more than running!. Still fighting off colds (and the cigs not helping at all!) I was worried that I would be slow and hold us back!.
Glenn placated me explaining that it wouldn’t be so steep over the duration, a lot of ups, downs and flats and we would go at our own pace. And, we would see YAKs!. The booking office explained that day 1 was the easiest and enable us to adjust to the trek so in the name of love and all of that, I was committed!.
After breakfast we went back to the hotel to pack up and meet our guide and have our briefing where I wanted to find out more about what was ahead. We had booked a guide and a porter to carry our luggage and once we had packed everything up, I was a little nervous about how much stuff we were taking, we are allowed between 15-20 kilos per porter and I reckon we were close to 20!. My suspicions where validated when the hotel guy asked us if this was the luggage we wanted to leave behind! NOPE!.
Instead of a briefing we were met by our guide, Dinnis who promptly despatched us into what looked like a fiat panda (but smaller) where there was some effort in cramming our huge pack into the boot. We were also greeted by our big smiling porter Kamil, I say smiling but it was soon removed once he saw what he would be carrying for the duration of the trip!. As there was no information forthcoming I asked Dinnis what the agenda was for the day where he mumbled something about a 2hr car journey and a 5hr trek!. As he didn’t appear to want to expand on this I decided to try and make conversation with Kamil which didn’t go very well as he appeared to be sulking over the bag size thing!. So instead we spent the 2hr journey squeezed bumping along very bumpy windy roads between two burley men (Glenn and Kamil) fingers, legs and butt cheeks trying to grip onto the seat for fear of falling into a sulky Kamil and further destroying his mood whilst I contemplated what I could decant from the pack and carry at the other end.
I needn’t have feared, once we arrived and he discovered that the pack had back pack straps Kamil swung it onto his back effortlessly and off he set at great speed. After a brief, “ready?” from Dinnis off we set on our adventure following a river and passing through villages, waterfalls and avoiding bell wearing donkeys and goats. Feeling guilty as all is was carrying was my walking sticks (Glenn had taken all valuable and breakable objects off me as he knows how clumsy I am) we trudged behind. Its probably at this point that we realised how appropriate Kamil’s name was, Not only did he have a great lump on his back but he also snorted and spat like a Camel too!
The day was very hot with lots of ups, hardly any flats and very unnecessary downs…you put all that effort in getting to the top only having to go back down again to do it again! Mother nature can be cruel!. However, we were keeping up and trying to copy what the guide was doing which was basically slowing down on the uphills and winding our way to the top. We were expecting our guide to point out the local flora and fauna but as it turns out, a guide is just that, someone who’s back you follow to guide you along the route. At this point, Dinnis adopted the new Monika of ‘Chattyman!’
After a while of following the stream and stopping for a simple but delicious lunch of veg noodle soup we reached a school which was damaged by the earthquake. We made a donation and was rewarded with a marigold flower each and a Tika (red painted line on the forehead for good luck) and then spent the next 30 minutes (until we were out of view and could wipe them off) being blinded by red paint running down our noses and into our eyes as we sweated our way to the top!.
After taking another planned break chattyman came over and asked if we were feeling okay, I was feeling pretty good and actually starting to enjoy myself, “great” we said. “good, this is what we are climbing next” as he points to a dot, A DOT!; which was our lodge for the night at the top of a 500 meter climb!, a sheer ridiculously steep climb, you can’t see to the top!,no flats, no downs just massive broken steps covered in animal excrement which you end up happily walking through rather than expend additional effort avoiding!. AND THIS WAS THE EASIEST DAY?!. I have no words! Other than somehow we made it!, sweating, sobbing and exhausted, with NOT ONE FECKING YAK IN SIGHT!. We had covered 1000 meters (longer if you count the downs) and THIS WAS THE EASIEST DAY! We tried to console ourselves by thinking that as we had did so well, chattyman had added on part of the following days journey but we were both too scared to ask!)
.
Checking into our basic but pleasant lodgings we had time for a well-deserved beer with a stunning view of snow top mountains until the sun started to set then the temperature dropped like a stone so we rushed off for hot hot hot yay! showers and into our long johns and outer clothes for dinner.
The evenings are spent gathered around the fire, drying wet socks and chatting or playing cards with fellow trekkers, we met some lovely people at this lodge, Carlos from Spain who gave me some great tips!, basically slowly slowly, pace yourself and chose the longer path with the smaller stones/incline to preserve energy, we were to take him at his word and it worked!. We also met a couple of English guys, Glenn can talked more about them in the next installment!
Tomorrow, yaks?
Day 2 – in search for Yakless! Ulleri – Ghorepani 2750 Metres
Firstly I would like to point out that hiking/walking with Shelley is like walking with Bambi on roller skates as soon as day 1 trek started, she panicked and promptly tripped over the first pebble she came across (on the flat!).
Secondly this was a hike to Poon Hill, now maybe to the locals this is ‘a hill’ but officially a mountain is 800 Metres tall and this hill stands at 3200 Metres which is at least 2 ½ times bigger than Ben Nevis – so lets get this clear Poon Hill is not a Hill!!! In fact it is a hill on top of a mountain!
The second day Shelley and I were told to get up at 7am for breakfast and then at 7.30am we hit the trail with some trepidation given the hard core 1st day (still too scared to ask whether a bit was tagged on to yesterday!).
For the first 500 Metres it was up again (not looking good) and then fortunately it started levelling off and we could start to enjoy it again. I say enjoy it but I had to prompt Shelley to stop, avert her eyes from the floor every now and then to point out all the nice views and waterfalls she was missing (as her eyes were transfixed to every footstep she took in order not to trip over!).
We now started to pass or meet-up with people we had met from the previous evening, in addition to Carlos an experienced trekker from Barcelona (nice guy, on his own as now his second wife or daughter wouldn’t accompany him!...see it’s a mountain!) and Danny and Josh from the UK, Danny is a Paraglider and bird of prey man who spends 6 months each year working in Pokhara, Josh, a young 20 something who is over visiting Danny before he goes off to Oz for 6 months.
Chattyman continues to live up to his name but is helpful and friendly and ensures we get the best rooms with dual aspect spectacular views and Camel (who almost passed out after yesterdays 500m climb!) and who we have now dubbed as ‘Luggage’ (For you Pratchett fans out there – Pat & John), as we always seem to lose him along the way but he always makes it to our lodge with our belongings in tow!
The trek turned out to be not as bad as we envisaged and after a number of ups and downs we arrived in Ghorepani just after 1.00pm.
Again we were put in another lodge with stunning view of the snow capped mountains from our windows. We then had a spot of lunch and a few beers looking at the mountains in awe.
We decided as we were running out of clothes and Shelley was complaining about my aroma that we would do some basic washing. Take one bucket of cold water a sachet of Ariel add some stinky clothes, swill round for a bit and squeeze cold water out, then nip out to the washing line at the back of the lodge – job done! Unfortunately at this point we found that Shelley had left her long-johns in the previous lodge and I certainly was not going back to find them!
For the rest of the day we recuperated waiting for our evening meal before heading off for bed around 7.30 – I even turned down a game of poker due to fatigue and a very early 5am start beckoning the next day! This trekking lark is easy!!!!
Still no bloody Yak’s though!
Day 3 – Yaks? Ghorepani – Poon Hill (3200 Metres) – Tadapani (2590 Metres)
5AM start in darkness head torches and long-johns (Glenn not Shelley) we headed out to conquer poon hill, the pinnacle of the trek!. We discovered that at 5AM in thinning air your body and lungs do not work!. We joined a procession of fellow trekkers up more steep steep windy steps in total darkness (a couple of them gave up!) until we reached the top, Poon hill here we are, job done, we did it, cue spectacular sunrise!.
The trip to the top was another 400 Metres up and then back down again, however we weren’t best pleased when we started off again after breakfast to discover that it was another 500 Metre’s up to start off with! But is was never as bad as the first day, nothing EVER could be that bad! When we rested at this point we were irritated by another hiker who thought it was cool to play some tinny crap out of her Iphone (ruined the ambiance again) and Shelley announced that ‘there was no need for that’ in a slightly loud voice!
Anyway here we discovered that the downs were in fact worse than the ups as it really jolted your knees (especially after 35 years of previous football punishment). I also had to keep an ear out for Shelley behind me as there were various slip/sliding noises behind me, despite her having four legs to support her (walking sticks and legs). I had horrible images of ‘Luggage’ having to carry her down the mountain along with our rucksack (as I wasn’t about to!)
We were still keeping pace with our new friends, Carlos, Danny and Josh, meeting them at various watering holes along the way. I was still enjoying the views and Shelley was when I pointed something out to her, it was OK when she stopped to look but when she looked whilst moving there was an inevitable stumble (which I would get the blame for).
Another reasonable trek and we found ourselves in Tadapani, here the mountains were shrouded in cloud so we were unsure of what view we would have until the morning – again we had a nice little room with dual window aspects. The only problem we had with this one was the toilet and showers were separate, so we didn’t want to wake in the middle of the night for a pee (Temperature was possible in the negative here).
At this stop we learned we were too low for Yak’s, apparently they live at around 4000 Metres and were a 3 hour hike uphill to find (Which we were not going to do!).
Tadapani was a small village with people tending to their cabbage patches (not sure why it is not on the menu’s) and drying out their raddishs ready to be pickled. Shelley made friends with a local woman even though they could not speak a word to each other!
In the evening we settled in to our lodge which had the best heating in it, we were so close to the fire burner that our faces became very rosey. Whilst we were chatting to our new trekking buddy’s we learned that Cameron was going to bomb Syria (so nice not to have news!).
After dinner around 7.30 we again turned in for an early night – we did not get up for that pee!!
Day 4 – The Descent – Tadapani – Jhinu Danda (1565 Metres)
After waving goodbye to Danny and Josh (Danny had had enough and found a route to short circuit back to civilisation). We headed for our final full day of trekking and looking forwarded to bathing in the hot springs which we were headed for.
A long long complicated descent over jagged rocks heart stopping sheer drops! (Shelley almost had a melt down at one point!) And a few more un-necessary ups passing yet more animals (including a few cows – which I tried to avoid like the plague since my day 1 experience!) we decended slowly into Jhinu Pana our final stop for the trip. Both our legs were now trembling from the steep descents and I thought my knee was going to drop off!
I enquired with Chatty Man how he thought we were doing and after a brief chuckle he said we were doing good! I bet he says that to all his clients!
We then had lunch and a few more beers before donning our bathers and going in search of the hot springs. Unfortunately this meant another 25 minute trek downhill to the river!
When we got there we found three pools alongside a raging river with waterfalls. We were then instructed to take a shower before entering the pools, we really must smell!!
We stripped off and entered what was to be our first hot bath of this trip. It was magical just soaking in hot water whilst watching the waterfalls and surrounding forest, the only problem was we knew when we got out it would be cold and we had to take that trek back up again!
Once again we had a fantastic room with ensuite – although no hot water!
After the usual one our delay we got our evening meal before going for an early night (for a change)
Day 5 – Homeward bound! – Jinhu Danda - Nayapol
Having done 4 days trekking we are now going by the names of Edmund Hillary (Shelley) and Tenzing Norgay (Me (Glenn) – because I have the day sack on my back) and we are now looking forward to the completion of our expedition!
Chattyman spoke!, he told us that it was a 3hr trek to a place where we pick up a jeep which would take us to lunch and then our fiat panda for the journey back home, home being Pokhara. Glenn was pretty done in with his knee so we were both glad it was our last day.
The descent continued with more cliff hangers, jagged rocks and basically knee shattering climbs down. Chatty man decided not be a guide at all and set off at his own pace where we stopped and took pics admired the last spectacular views etc.
We still managed to arrive at the jeep stop within the 3 allotted hours and celebrated with a high 5, we did it, and without breaking a bone!.... Only to be informed by CM that we had missed the bus!, Bus? Thought we were getting a jeep? Nope, no budget for jeep and it’s another 2hr trek to the car. So this is why CM steamed ahead, shame he didn’t tell us sooner!. After some deliberation we decided to hire a jeep ourselves, Glenn’s knees were about to give out and we didn’t want to finish what ended up to be a wonderful experience by crippling ourselves!.
The car we managed to negotiate was even smaller than the fiat panda thing that we arrived in. On top of this, for the 45 min journey we were treated to a rendition of the longest, worse Napali song in the world! It lasted the entire journey!. Even Luggage fell asleep to block out the sound!.
A quick (coldish) lunch of Nepali set () we were delighted when our ride arrived to take us back to Pokhara, a cortina, leg room!. (Minus Shelley’s tobacco rolling factory which she left behind)
Arriving back at Pokhara we showered, dropped off our sleeping bags, had dinner and headed for yet another early night in readiness for our 6;30 AM start and 7hr bus journey back to Kathmandu!
So to recount Shelley has now lost (to Date):
1 x Swiss Army Knife (In her hand luggage confiscated at Heathrow Airport – Silly Cow!)
1 x Pair of Long-John’s (In some lodge in the mountains)
1 x Tobbaco Factory (Some restaurant at bottom of mountains)
A few things struck me as we travelled back to Pokhara:
1. I was very proud of Shelley as she didn’t actually trip and injure herself in 5 days of trekking (which I wanted to do).
2. My initial plan to do the Three Pass Trek at 5000-6000 Metres for 21 days was completely insane (well done to Shelley for being the voice of reason)
3. After 3 journeys along dodgy roads and banging my head constantly off of door frames, door handle grabs and roofs of very small Nepalese vehicles I note that I fecking love Tarmac!!!!!!
4. On the journey home I noticed that all the bridges had names and the length noted down – from 10 Metres up to a whopping 50 Metres – I’m guessing that Norris McGuirter will not be visiting Nepal anytime soon!!
5. We are now fully fledged trekkers, and have the new found skills when we ascend the volcanos in the Philippines and Machu Pitchu
I have been trying to add this comment for the last couple of days, so hopefully this one is successful. Love the blogs, I tend to look up where you are on the net when I read them so I can sort of see where you are, though didn't bother with Delhi, I was with you there Glenn, but must say, getting seen off 3 times while you were there, well done (snigger). Food sounds very interesting, bet you will find the food pretty bland when you get back, though no worries there for the next 11 months. Thinking of you and carry on keeping us all updated
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