Annapurna - Pune Hill Trek (Post Trip Write-up)

Introduction - Nepal

In November of 2015 Jenny and I packed our bags and set off to Nepal for two weeks. Why did we choose Nepal? Well, with Joal's mother living in India we had heard great things about the country and also because we'd heard that trekking in the Annapurna region was meant to be incredible, yet approachable, as hiking is done teahouse style (i.e. a warm room/bed every night).

At first we had apprehensions about going, as in April the country had been hit by a devastating earthquake that killed 9000 people and injured an additional 22,000. A lot of houses we saw in Kathmandu and the surrounding areas had been flattened, and the impact to many historic locations was very visible (some temples flattened, others going through restoration). That said, the decision to go was absolutely the right one. When a natural disaster hits an area that relies so heavily on tourism, it's a double blow when people start cancelling their holidays.

To compound the situation, due to a dispute with neighbouring India, there was a fuel crisis that had affected the entire country. What this meant was that cities which would normally be chock-a-block full of cars were running on a skeleton bus network, with a small number of private cars that had queued at the government petrol stations for hours on end.

What made us fall in love with Nepal were the people. Everywhere we went we'd be thanked for coming to the country despite the difficult situation, and people would go out of their way to make sure we were ok.

A good example of this was when we were trying to get to Patan, a city near the capital of Kathmandu. As all the busses were so busy and operating on diverted routes, it was a challenge to get to where we wanted to be. Not only were we helped onto the right busses, we we constantly offered seats and help on where to get off. We politely refused a seat in the 12 seater minivan which has at least 20 people in it, opting instead for a place on the roof. Another example was when trying to get to the airport for our return flight home. We didn't know that the bus wasn't running, but a very kind businessman walked up to us at the stop, and insisted on us getting a lift with him. Upon arrival he refused to take payment stating 'you visiting Nepal is payment'. It's moments like this that forster a genuine experience.

Getting to the start of Annapurna Mountain Range

To get to the Annapurna Mountain range you need to take a 7 hour bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara, a beautiful city located on the edge of a lake. From here it is a further 1.5 hours to Nayapul, the entrance to the Annapurna National Park. You'll need at least one day in Pokhara if you are organising the trip yourself, as you'll need to go to government permit centre just on the outskirts of the town to get a permit for the trip. This costs about 2000 rupees (£15).

Poon Hill Circuit

As you can see from the map, the national park is vast, with the red route being what is called the Annapurna Circuit. This takes about 20 days and reaches an elevation of 5416 meters (17800 feet). We didn't have enough time for this but it's definitely on our bucket list. Instead we spent 5 days trekking to Poon Hill (lower right hand corner of the map) and then across to Jinhu (not on map), before heading back to Phedi (green route) where we caught a bus back to Pokhara. This is a variation in the classic 4-5 day Poon Hill circuit which goes Nayapul - Poon Hill - Ghandruk - Nayapul.

The trek was simple to navigate, and although it has some serious uphill climbs it is a route that is accessible to anyone in reasonable health. As a result, the route can be quite busy. We definitely noticed this on the second day as we climbed Poon Hill. That said, as with the rest of Nepal at the time, we noticed that teahouses were a lot quieter than their capacity let on.

Many places in Pokhara will try to sell you a tour for anything from £200+. From our experience this isn't necessary. If you are in reasonable shape you won't need a porter and normally you can strike up a deal with your hotel in Pokhara to keep most of the stuff you don't need on your trek. You also don't need a sleeping bag as all the guesthouses we stayed at gave us sheets and blankets. Therefore you can get away with a small pack with some warm layers and a few changes of clothes. A lot of villages on the trail will have places that wash your dirty clothes overnight if you are worried about smelling.

Guesthouses were incredibly cheap whilst on the trail with some costing as little as 250 rupees (£2) provided we ate at their restaurant. Food wasn't too expensive either ranging from the cheapest item, a dahl, costing about £2 with European food costing £5 - £10. The most expensive thing to buy in the mountains was beer but whatever you do don't order the rice wine. We made this mistake and it tasted of petrol. For water, we bought purification tablets and drank from stream and from taps in the villages. A lot of this water is glacier runoff so pretty pure already! All in all, we easily spent less than £20 a day and enjoyed the flexibility and tranquility of not being on a tour.

Days 1 - 2 Nayapul to Ghorepani

After getting dropped off at the start of the route, you cross a bridge to enter the national park. From here you sign in at one of the checkpoints and start your trek. The route is easy for the first day until you hit Tikhedhunga. From here the path starts to climb up some very steep steps. We were often passed by donkeys or porters carrying 30-50kg of weight on their backs.

The second day is quite a steep ascent up large stairs, some of which are at knee height! Fortunately for the biggest stairs there is normally a worn track to the side of them that makes the climb easier. On the way to Ghorepani you start to get a beautiful view of the Annapurna range. We had a room that cost about £3 but had one of the best views I've ever fallen asleep to.

Day 3: Poon Hill - Ghandruk

Day 3 has a very early start as everyone wakes up to watch the sunrise over the mountains. It is a great trek up to the top of Poon Hill, made easier by the fact you can leave your bags at the teahouse. Once at the top the view is stunning. I still find it hard to believe that the picture below was taken on an iPhone 6 completely unedited!

After breakfast we headed off to Tadapani. This was easily my favourite part of the whole trek. You spend the whole day walking along a ridge through forests and past waterfalls. The views were stunning and we spent a lot of time just stopping and taking in the amazing scenery.

By the time we got to Tadapani the fog had come in, which was a shame as we were told the views from here were meant to be amazing. From here we continued to Gandruk, but if we were to do it again we probably would have stopped in Tadapani. This day was tiring due to the constant up and down and we were broken by the time we arrived in Grandruk!

Day 4 - Hotsprings at Jinhu to Landruk

On Day 4 we veered off the beaten track of the standard Poon Hill circuit as we realised we had a day to spare. For this we went up to the hotsprings at Jinhu. This was a good day and helped rest our sore muscles! It was really noticeable how few tourists there were off the main Poon Hill track. In the last two guest houses we stayed at we were the only one of two or three rooms that was occupied.

Day 5 - Landruk to Pothana

Our final day of real walking took us on a fairly flat route to Pothana. This route again was fairly quiet but did start to include a bit of 'road' walking. The scenery was still great and it was nice to see a more authentic side of the Annapurna mountain range where villages were more devoted to farming than just teahouses for tourists.

On Day 6 we had a short walk to the main road at Phedi which took us back to Pokhara. This was an easy couple of hours followed by a local bus back into town.

Conclusion

For us this trip again fostered a deeper love for hiking. Beautiful scenery and lovely people made this an unforgettable experience. We also learnt some good lessons from the trail:

1. Don't carry what you don't need. You'll probably have noticed we took full hiking rucksacks which both weighed over 10kgs.

2. Going down a hill is harder than going up. Day 3 taught us this lesson the hard way.

3. People make the place. Whilst the country was going through a hard time, you wouldn't have known from the people we met. The hospitality and generosity of the locals left us with a warm feeling and restored faith.