Poonhill

They say Nepal is blessed with beauty; the enchanting natural beauty. Forest, rivers and snow-capped mountains are few of the things Nepal is famous for. With the aim of experiencing those heart touching beauties, we decided to go on a trek, which would help us escape from the monotonous environment of our city life.

We packed up our bags and headed towards the queen of cities, yes Pokhara, along with a team from White Himalaya Treks and Expedition. Poonhill, a famous as trek route in Annapurna Conservation Area, was our destination.

Our journey began on the early morning of 18th Feb 2018 from Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. We left Kathmandu for Pokhara. After 6 hours of ride we reached to Pokhara. We got into our hotel, which was booked, charged our energies, and went to explore the beauties of lakeside.

On 19th Feb 2018 Monday 6 AM, we woke up and booked jeep heading toward Baglung, which dropped us at Nayapul. Nayapul is 45km away from Pokhara and it took about one and half hour to reach there. Passing through the small towns of Nayapul, crossing bridge suspended over the river, our journey began. On the way, we had our breakfast at a local restaurant along the Modikhola. Then we reached at a junction leading two ways; one leading to Ghorepani and other to Ghandruk. Although both routes lead to Poonhill, we followed the route leading to Ghorepani.

Ups and downs through the treacherous trails of Annapurna Conservation Area, the scenery we saw on our way was really pushing us to walk though our body said otherwise. The views were acting as morphine to our pain. After having lunch at Tikhedhunga, we proceed towards Ulleri, which was our destination for the day and where we supposed to stay that night. Upon reaching Ulleri, we arrived at our hotel and started enjoying the traditional foods. A whole day of walking meant a good early sleep.

20th Feb 2018 Tuesday. Only the hot lemon tea canceled out bone chilling cold of the morning air coming from the Himalayas, which was unlike any lemon tea. Breakfast gave us the energy to restart our trek. Further we went, the earth showed us her beautiful creations. Greenery, flowing river lets and whispering birds, it really felt like we were in one of those National Geographic documentaries. Most of us were busy taking photos on the way. Who else wouldn?t want to capture these beautiful moments? Ghorepani welcomed us with her warm hospitality and we halted our journey for the day. At the hotel, warm hot tea and board games made us remember the inner child within us. Tiredness again lead to a good early sleep.

21st Feb 2018 Wednesday 5 AM. We headed uphill in the shivering cold morning, towards Poonhill. Poonhill as the name suggests is a hill and on the top was the flat area with a view tower. We weren?t alone; the area was flowing with around 100 tourists from different countries who had also left their comfortable warm beds on that cold morning to get stunning view of sunrise from Poonhill. Finally, as the sun raised, a beam of new life, new day made us to forget our all those painful journey. The view was priceless in front of our all those so-called painful trek or sadness of leaving our beds early in the morning. Coffee mug in hand and signboard, which said ?Poonhill 3210m? on side, we started our photo shoot. Golden rays were magnifying the beauty of snowcapped mountains; Annapurna South, Annapurna First, Nilgiri and Dhaulagiri. We retraced our steps back to Ghorepani again for breakfast. Then we again began our journey.

Though the morning rays of the Sun melted our heart but gave us courage and strengthen our motivation to reach to Ghandruk later that day. We had our lunch at Deurali, had tea and noodles at Tadapani and finally reached to Ghandruk at dusk. We were again impressed by the hospitality of the people and mouth-watering food of Ghandruk where we spent the night.

The next morning on 22nd Feb 2018 Thursday, we booked a jeep from Ghandruk to Pokhara and then finally a tourist bus back to Kathmandu.

This trip to Poonhill was breathtaking. Five days of trek was refreshing and truly worthy enough of every single penny we spent. Our special thanks goes to White Himalaya Treks and Expedition for all arrangement and guidance without which this journey would have been much harder.
| By White Himalaya