[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 9 April 2013. Minor edits have since been made from the original post to update some links and info.]
23 March 2012, Friday
Poon Hill Trek:
Day 3 route: Ghorepani (2,750m) – Poon Hill (3,210m) – Birethanti
Morning Call: 4:35am
We had a good night’s sleep, mainly because of the heavy-duty blankets that Manish brought us the night before, which kept us snug and warm despite the cold outside. At 4:35am, we washed up, got dressed and at 5am, we set off from the guest house. As we were deep in the mountains, it was pitch dark everywhere, save for the sporadic lights from the other guest houses around. There was a blanket of stars in the sky above, but we didn’t have much time to look up because we had to focus our attention on the ground below, using our torch lights to illuminate the path. We were soon joined by fellow trekkers and together we streamed up the path towards Poon Hill.
The trek up was not very steep, gaining an elevation of 500m. However, it was early in the morning and there were many other people sharing the narrow path, and everyone wanted to hurry up in order not to miss the sunrise. So it was a little tiring and we had to pause a few times to catch our breaths. About halfway through, the sky began to lighten, and the stars rapidly disappeared.
After 50 minutes, we finally reached Poon Hill. It was rather bright even though the sun had not risen yet. There were around 150 – 200 people gathered there, so the atmosphere was quite good, without being overcrowded like Adam’s Peak. Once we were there, we understood exactly why Nabin recommended it, because Poon Hill is strategically located where you can see all the peaks of the Annapurna region at the same time.
It was very cold up at Poon Hill, below 10 degrees Celcius, and the occasional gusts of wind made it even colder. Thankfully, we were all wrapped up – I had 3 layers of pants and 4 layers of tops, plus gloves and woollen hat. I shivered every time I had to remove my gloves to take a photo with the iPhone!
As we approached sunrise, we started to see a glow from the back of one of the mountains. It seemed as if someone behind the mountain switched on a massive lamp, and it was just beginning to warm up, with the light getting stronger each minute. We could even see the rays of light shining upwards, like a very powerful beacon.
All the while, the sky lightened gradually and at 6:20am, the sun emerged from behind the mountain. As it rose, it lit up the peaks of the other mountains one by one, like a torch relay. It was splendid and amazing, to witness the birth of yet another new day. It is something we take for granted – that the sun will always rise the next day – yet it always invokes a special feeling in me. I love sunrise.
After fully soaking in the sights and taking photos to our hearts’ content, we headed back to our guest house for breakfast. It is not advisable to linger up at Poon Hill for too long because once the sun is up, it gets hot really quickly. After packing up our stuff, we bade farewell to Ghorepani at 8:20am and made the trek back towards Naya Pul.
Most other people take the return route from Ghorepani to Ghandruk, staying for a night there before heading back to Naya Pul the following day, making it a 4-day, 3-night trek. However, as we only had enough time for a 3-day, 2-night trek, we skipped Ghandruk and returned straight to Naya Pul via the same way we came up, essentially covering two days’ trekking distance in one day, so we always knew it was going to be tough for us. Coupled with XY’s phobia of climbing down stairs, the return journey was much harder physically and mentally.
The initial stretch from Ghorepani was still ok and we made good time. As we approached Ulleri, our pace slowed down considerably, and after Ulleri, it got worse as it was a long stretch of stone steps. We reached Tikhedunga at 1:30pm, much later than I had hoped. We had lunch there and recharged ourselves, but after that, XY’s knees began to hurt and had to move slowly in order not to aggravate it. By that time, the sun was out in full force and it made for a really tough trek.
We finally made it back to Birethanti at almost 5pm. It would have taken us another 45 min to get to Naya Pul at normal pace, but seeing XY’s hurting knees and how tired we were, Manish decided to get us a taxi to send us back to Pokhara directly, instead of continuing the walk back to Naya Pul. In any case, we would have needed to catch a taxi from Naya Pul anyway. Just that we didn’t “complete” the trek, but it’s ok because why should we torture ourselves?
During the ride back, I offered Manish some of my hamster food, and he accepted it gladly. It was only during then that he finally said he was tired. Throughout the whole trek, he did not complain once about being tired, even though he carried our bag and had to accommodate to our pace, when he could have gone much faster. He was a great companion and took care of our needs very well. Along the way, we tried to teach him some Chinese and we were surprised when we found out he recorded our explanations on his mobile phone, so he could play them back at his leisure time to check on the pronunciations and meanings. It’s very humbling to see how hard these guys work and how motivated they are, despite them being less well-off than us.
At 6:30pm, we finally arrived back at North Face Inn in Pokhara. It was good to be back after a long and exhausting day. We were so tired we didn’t have the energy to go to town for dinner, so we just ordered food from the Inn and ate in our rooms. It’s been a tiring but absolutely wonderful day, with the beautiful sunrise forever etched in my memory.