5 Day Trek days 1-3

5 Day trek to Poon Hill: Days 1-3 . After arriving in Pokhara we set about getting a trek sorted, by chance we met a lady in our guest house who was trying to do the same so we shared our resources and hired a porter between us. The trek was to be the 5 day Poon Hill trek.
Day 1 starting at Naya Pal we followed the river upstream, not the picturesque starting point but soon we were out of the melee of tacky shops and heading into the hills. Ahead was to be a 5 hour uphill trudge to the small village of Tikhedhunga, our porter had recommended a lodge to stay but we chose a better one with an additional outside shower ! At just 1 pound 43p for a double room we thought this was good value, hot shower and electricity !! wahooo ! A marked improvement on the lodges in India. On the way to Tikhedunga we passed a few pretty waterfalls.

Day 2 Tikhedhunga to Ghorepani. Now for the hard part of the trek, 6 hours of quite steep uphill walking. We passed several nice small villages on the route and soon encountered the famous rhododendron forest, we were about 10 days too late to get the full Wow of the flowers but as we climbed higher the blooms were still out in full ! As there was a lot of low cloud we didn’t get the good mountain views on the way up. At around 4pm we arrived in Ghorepani and another Lodge this time the double room rate had soared to 1 pound 90p a night ! At 9380 ft above sea level we were pleasantly surprised that we were not feeling any effects of the altitude.

Day 3 Ghorepani to Poon Hill starting at 04:45 . Why the early start ? To see the sunrise of course. A steep climb of about 45 minutes to the top of Poon Hill ( 9630ft ) we waited for the sun to do its stuff, with relatively clear skies we were treated to something a bit special. The views were stunning , the changing light making each minute different, After about an hour after sun up we descended back down to Ghorepani for break fast. The next stage of our trek continues on the next blog ( Too many pictures for a single blog ! )

The first of many Bridges, Naya Pal.

Following the river upstream.

More Bridges.

No More Bridges !!

Stepping stones to the rescue. Notice the confident gait as Linda virtually floats over them..

Waterfalls accompany us on the walk upwards.

More waterfalls.

Hillside scenery on the way to Tikhedhunga.

At last Tikhedhunga, two beers please ! The perfect cure for aching legs.

That's our room with the Pink towel outside ! pretty good for just one pound 42 pence a night ( that is for both of us of course ! )

Village life on the way to Ghorepani.

More streams and waterfalls and Linda of course ! Nice hat eh ?

Odd plant life.

The paths go into the Rhododendron forest.

Impressive eh?

Poon Hill at Dawn, Looking towards Fishtail Mountain.

The Annapurna Range.

The sun about to break on the Annapurna's.

Fishtail Mountain from Poon Hill.

Linda with an Annapurna backdrop.

Suns up ! Annapurna II in all its glory, great stuff !!

More of the same.

A little bit of "in camera" trickery here .

Annapurna II

Odette, our travel companion on this trek. ( with my fleece ! )

Big isn't it ?

Fishtail Mountain.

Annapurna II between prayer flags, Poon Hill Nepal.

A bit out of sequence this one..

Prayer flags and the Annapurna's.

On the way back to Ghorepani for breakfast..

Part two of this blogs continues the trek.