It was quite difficult to write about the beautiful memories we have about Nepal. It was not even two months ago that we were finding ourselves dancing on the streets of Kathmandu together with Nepali people celebrating their national holiday, while now Kathmandu is completely devastated and so many people have lost their lives because of the earthquake. First of all, it was a “slap-in-the-face”-reality check about the risks you take when traveling the world. Further, it was very painful to see how this beautiful country was devastated with its people in pain and agony. We hope Nepal will quickly rise up out of this tragic incidence and that many other tourists visit Nepal soon again to help build up its economy while exploring a true gem in the world. If you’re interested into helping those in need in Nepal, continue reading.
It was a dream to hike in the Himalayas. We had heard and read so much about Nepal as the ultimate hiking paradise and couldn’t wait to catch our flight to Kathmandu. Our arrival was hectic; Kathmandu Airport is one of the smallest, most crowded and chaotic airport we’ve been to so far. We decided to explore Kathmandu for a few days before leaving for Pokhara; the gateway to the Annapurna region where we would do our long awaited hike. After traveling for three months in India, Kathmandu felt so much cleaner and more organised in general. But that was not the case for the polluted air unfortunately. The narrow streets, the crowdness and chaotic traffic once again made us feel suffocated and longing for that fresh air in the mountains we would be rewarded with soon. The Durbar Square, Kathmandu’s historic centre, however was spectacular and felt like a rustic, heavenly place to find peace which was missing in the rest of Kathmandu. By luck we arrived during Maha Shivaratri, a national holiday in Nepal, when many people gather in Kathmandu’s centre dancing on the streets on Nepali music. Before we knew it, we were invited by youngsters to dance along in a big circle. Love this sort of welcomes!
Nepali people were so nice and friendly and we really needed to be around people who were honest and respectful, especially after India where we’d actually lost trust in humanity. The funny thing is that you will see and hear Bollywood all around you with everyone understanding/speaking Hindi, using Indian buses for transportation, Indian shops and restaurants with similar food, etc., but the locals always made sure you know that they don’t like Indians. No way! They even created a weird 15 minutes difference in time zone to make clear that they are different from India.
When arriving in Pokhara, it was actually the first time after a very long time we could blow our noses without finding black dirt (too much info, but necessary to know)! Pokhara is blessed with pristine air, serene lakes and a spectacular backdrop of snowy peaks of the Annapurna range. We didn’t have appropriate hiking gear with us and decided to rent all the stuff needed in Pokhara itself. We found good hiking shoes, warm jackets and sleeping bags for a very reasonable price after some bargaining. Make sure you purchase hiking- or bamboo sticks; those things helped us from falling many times and it just makes climbing those million stairs slightly easier. We also bought some snacks (chocolate bars, nut/sugar bars, cookies and chips) to provide us energy when needed. Of course you can buy them in the mountain villages as well, but there they would be more expensive. It’s best to leave your entire luggage in a hotel in Pokhara and take only the necessary things with you. We took one backpack and one daypack to fit all our necessities and got on the bus towards Nayapool, which was the starting point of our trek. We’d planned to do the Poon Hill trek combined with the Annapurna Base Camp trek. The first days were the heaviest; being short of breath the whole time and having muscle aches (especially Mursal) made it extremely difficult walking up and down the stairs. The crazy part is that the Poon Hill trek is supposed to be one of the easier tracks, even appropriate for children. We did see some children, but mostly carried on their parents’ or porters’ backs. Every day we walked 4-6 hours to reach the next village before 6 pm, because it could be dangerous once it got dark. The villages provide the most important necessities, yet are very basic. Heating in the room or a hot shower are luxuries, so make sure you don’t go up there in the cold season. Jackets, blankets and our sleeping bag were the only things that could keep us warm at night. Sleeping is very cheap (500 Nepali rupees=5€), but food is expensive which makes totally sense since it’s so hard to get all the food up there in the mountains (mostly done by porters again). The trails are really developed and well maintained so easy doable without a guide. It was heartbreaking to see how many people had porters with them to carry their entire luggage or their children. You would see small built Nepalese guys carrying 50 kilos of luggage. I understand it’s a way of living for them, but I found it very cruel of people who had the heart to see them suffer like that. There should at least be a limit to the amount of kilos to carry for them, but guess nobody cares.
All in all, it was definitely worth the cold and pain once we reached the famous viewpoint of Poon Hill. We were up there, more than 3000 meters high, above the clouds and the feeling was just indescribable. The sunrise combined with the beautiful clouds and mountain peaks delivered spectacular views. That combined with that one cuppa of hot Nepalese Chai at 6.30 in the morning made it one unforgettable experience! It was right that day I started to feel ill which sucked because we still had so many trekking days ahead of us. Hoping I would get better, we continued our hike. We had reached one of the tougher parts of the trial since the trial was extremely muddy and icy. Many times we managed to stay on our feet, but one time it went wrong and I fell really hard. Once reaching a rest point, we discovered many people had fallen over there with some even breaking arms so we realized I was lucky getting away with some small wounds on my hands only! The next day my sickness got worse (I had caught a cold, sore throat, headache, body ache) and also Farhang suddenly got the fever. It was becoming tougher and tougher to climb up so we decided that it was better not to go up the ABC-camp. When we look back, it was the right decision because it only got worse with me ending up with severe headaches due sinusitis and an ear infection afterwards. We hiked downwards via Ghandruk to Pheti and took the bus back to Pokhara. Ghandruk is one of the bigger villages and we loved walking around there, photographing its people and surroundings, playing football with the kids and talking to other travelers to share experiences so far. The busride to Pokhara was bumpy and one of the most uncomfortable rides. People who live in the mountains cannot cope with riding the bus. So there we were, surrounded by three people vomiting the whole time. And I can tell you that’s no fun haha. There was also this guy who thought it was fashionable to carry a snake around his neck as a shawl and he probably thought it was funny to sit right behind me aaaaargh. I was terrified the whole ride, still there were many other things that caught my attention. While driving through rural areas we saw locals doing their dishes, washing their clothes and brushing their teeth in public, women breastfeeding and even some women taking a shower with nude upper body. Culturally and socially acceptable or just a coincidence?
Once back in Pokhara, we took several days to rest. The weather was terrible in Kathmandu and Pokhara before the trek, so we had decided to go paragliding once we were back. I was looking so forward to that! Though we didn’t take into account that it would be Paragliding Worldcup 2015 for the next six days and that would mean no paragliding for us. Seriously, what were the odds? We were having so much bad luck, it really sucked! We had to accept it eventually and decide we had to save the paragliding for another country ☹
Despite of all the bad luck and mental & physical challenges, we are still proud and happy to have done the Poon Hill trek and we have definitely promised ourselves to go back to Nepal once again to do the ABC Camp after all or even better climb the Mount Everest Basecamp!
So if you have enjoyed our story and photos of Nepal, please do consider about donating some money for those in need in Nepal. We have done the same. If you live in Holland we recommend www.giro555.nl . Thank you for considering it 🙂
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