Poon Hill Trek

Bhaktapur - Patan - POON HILL - Kathmandu - Thailand (Bangkok)

(The green line was our trekking tour)

👉Watch this video for more details:

https://youtu.be/EW9HE6NlHZA 👈

WE ARE STILL ALIVE!

We drove back to Pokhara full of energy to start the Poon Hill trek in five days. But instead of starting on April 20th, we had to wait until April 22nd because Finn had another stomach problem.

On Sunday, our first trekking day, we took a bus from Pokhara to Nayapul, which was about an hour ride. This was the starting point of our trek. Since this route is very popular and we were two people, we decided not to hire a guide.

At the beginning, we had to ask around the town until we found the right path. The children on the way were the most helpful. But before we could enter the National Park, we had to check in, so that the park authorities know how many people are on the trail and they can track them down in case someone gets lost. We had already obtained the permits for about €20 each. But there was another important document that no one told us about at the public office. This document usually costs €20 per person, but since we didn't have it, we had to pay €40 each. We didn't want to go back to Pokhara to buy it, so we just paid the money. You can imagine how quickly our mood soured, especially Emely's, a mixture of anger and sadness.

After a few meters on the right path, in the middle of nature, our mood improved. At the beginning, the route was parallel to a road and passed through some small and cute Nepalese villages. It was tempting to take the more picturesque routes, but they were wrong, so the farmers in the fields signaled us. 😄

We walked along a river the whole time, passing by water buffaloes and leading us to a small green paradise.

It was just amazing and made our hearts beat faster, just like the following stairs. Stairs that made our butts as hard as steel and made Finn "die" uphill under the midday sun.

We reached the village of Ulleri (1960m) after what felt like 4 hours (actually 1.5-2 hours) of climbing stairs uphill.

In the first lodge, we met everyone again. The people who started a day earlier from our hostel in Pokhara, as well as two Swiss girls we had encountered several times in India and Nepal.

The best thing the lodges offered on the mountain was that if you ordered two meals per person, the accommodation was free. Don't ask us why they offered such a bad deal, because you have to eat anyway. All the lodges except our last one offered this.

The second day of trekking was planned for a 5.5-hour walk. The day started again with climbing stairs, but luckily not for long. The path slowly transformed into a jungle with waterfalls after passing through several mountain villages. The only downside was that there were so many people on this route. But the trail was so enjoyable to walk that time flew by and we had a proper lunch at a hut because we were making good progress.

We arrived in Ghorepani (2874m) and searched for a shared accommodation with the people from our hostel. After a hot shower (which felt incredibly good because it was already quite cold and windy outside), we had dinner together with the others. We ate Dahl Bath, just like every evening on our trekking tour.

Dahl Bath is a mix of various sauces with lentils, potatoes, and rice. The good thing is that locals eat it too, so it's pretty safe in terms of hygiene. Because everything up here has to be grown outside or carried up by mules and porters.

We had a great time chatting by the warm stove with the group, which was a colorful mix of people who had only come together for the trek. It consisted of a Danish girl (Line), two Dutch people (Julia and Jahn), and an Australian girl (Bridget).

Above: Jahn, Line, Bridget; Below: Julia, Emely, Finn

On the third day, our trek started at 4:30 am in the morning to walk for an hour in the dark to Poon Hill (3210m) and enjoy the sunrise over the peaks of the 8000-meter mountains. However, only Line and Emely really enjoyed it (with what felt like a hundred other people). Finn got altitude sickness and struggled to reach the top. The others in the group couldn't make it to the top either. They felt so bad that they enjoyed the view from the mountain.

After the descent, we had breakfast together (for those who felt up to it). Then we all lied down again because the planned hike was only supposed to take 3.5 hours.

We joined the group and walked with them for the remaining days. The good thing was that since we started late, there were very few people on the mountain. Our plan was to hike to Tadapani, but luckily we didn't make it. Some still didn't feel well, and Finn and others had knee problems. Because most of the time it was downhill. But once again, this route was simply amazing. Waterfalls, mountain canyons, and jungle with monkeys.

We decided to stay in a very small mountain village, which was just so beautiful and cozy. We all sat together in a small common room with a great warm stove while it was raining outside. We played cards and simply enjoyed the pleasant warmth of the fire.

The fourth day was also downhill, but fortunately not just stairs. It turned out that Tadapani was not that great, which made us even happier that we had stopped earlier. The further down we went, the more jungle-like it became. Just amazing.

Today, everyone felt a little better again. 😅 We were so young, and everyone had a different ailment 🙈 (except Line and Emely 😜). 

Arriving in Ghandruk, which was quite a large village, none of the lodges offered the usual deal. There was a wide selection of accommodations this time. But we found a nice one. We spent another great evening together with wonderful conversations.

The fifth and final day lasted only four hours, and that was exactly it. At the beginning, the route was still very nice, as we walked between the mountain fields and had great views. 

Later, we walked alongside a road again, but we completed the entire loop. We were accompanied by a cute dog the whole time.

It was important to check out and get a stamp showing that we had left the National Park.

Done 💪

We returned to Pokhara again by a local bus (which was an adventure for others and normality for us). We all stayed in the same hostel.

We had another fun evening together.

That's the tough part of traveling; you always meet such amazing people with whom you have such a intense time, and then you know that everyone will soon go their separate ways 😔 and you just hope to see them again someday. 🤗

All in all, the trek was a really great experience and a beautiful route. We are both glad that we chose this trek and a circular route.

If you ever travel to Nepal, we highly recommend it, but you need to know that there are an abnormal number of stairs!