Nepal – The Trek

When Bob and I were speaking to a friend about our trip he said, “You must go to Nepal.”
Chris had been many times and had climbed Mount Everest. What a feat!
In the process he had befriended many Nepalese and so he put us in touch with Mr. Rana.
Mr. Rana arranged everything for us – the plane ticket to Pokhara where the trek started, the guides, hotel reservations and a driver when we were in Nepal.
We left for the airport in Kathmandu for our flight to Pokhara and when there spoke to a young Swedish girl who is doing aid work in the area.
“The safest airlines to fly here are Yeti and Buddha,” she said.
I quickly checked our boarding passes – Buddha Air!!
The first sight of the Himalayas on our flight took my breath away – they are steeper and craggier and of course higher than the Rockies and looked magnificent against the gorgeous blue sky.
We checked into Fishtail Lodge for the evening and our Guide met us to make sure we had all we needed and said he would pick us up at 8am the next day.
Krishna arrived with two of our “porters” and we met the others at the Buddha Hotel (see photo) and off we went about 10am.
This trek is usually done in 5 days, but because of time we did it in 4.
We camped!!! Yes, I know, I hardly ever do that – but we decided to do it because this guide and his crew made sure everything was clean and water boiled. If you choose not to camp there are guest houses.
We were looked after so well. Tea in the morning along with two pans of hot water for washing.
Day one was a lovely climb. Day two was straight up and a real test. Day three was the one!!!
We woke up at 515am to climb up 400 meters to Poon Hill – our highest point – 3300 meters – to see the sunrise. What a sight and very chilly!!
After a hearty breakfast we set out and trekked for 10 ½ hours that day. Needless to say we slept well!
On the trek itself the trails were bumpy, tricky – crossing a stream on a single log, for example!! And along every tricky bit I had a guide or porter right behind me to make sure I didn’t slip – a porter carrying 30kilos. always had his hand out ready to help!!!
For me the heroes besides our guides were the donkeys – the only way to transport goods in this region and they were so nimble as they managed every tricky twist, turn and slope with such grace and carrying at least 60 kilos. – Fedex of Nepal!!
We walked though many towns and past many homes and the people were so friendly – always bowing and saying “Namaste.”
We felt so fortunate to see this lovely and very poor land – every square inch of it used to grow rice, wheat and every vegetable known to man – and the oranges!!
If you have a chance, go!! It will change you.
Enjoy.
Joan xo

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