Nayapul to Ulleri, Ghorepani, Tadapani and Jinhudanda
Our guide and porter
Our guide was Devendra Pun, he’s a giant by Nepali standards, so everyone calls him “Big D”. He’s been hiking these trails for decades. Our first impression was way-off, he wore thin gold-rimmed reading glasses as he carefully showed us the route we’d take – when demonstrating all the stops we’d make, we perceived him to be quiet and pensive and cautiously agreed an itinerary. He’s thoughtful, but quiet was dead-wrong.
Big D is an uproarious and hilarious gentle giant; wherever we trekked, whoever we passed, he’d begin a conversation, whether in English, German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Nepalese – whatever he said, he’d leave them in fits of laughter. While being funny, he was also caring, conscientious and knowledgable; “slowly slowly” was a mantra he’d repeat whenever we seemed to struggle. Samantha likened him to Baloo from the Jungle Book. He led us through our 5 day trek, carrying his bright orange backpack, and occasionally Samantha’s too. Big D was a perfect choice, he looked out for us, organised the best rooms in good lodges and we were thankful he was our guide.
Our porter was Harri (“No harri, chicken curry” Big D bellowed when he introduced us). Harri is Big D’s trusted accomplice and half his size. He’s quieter, with only basic English, but he was a loveable gentleman that we liked. Harri, in his waterproofs and Nike trainers, would carry our 16kg backpack without fuss. He tied his tiny bag over ours, strapped our coats to the outside and ported the luggage throughout, often walking behind, he’d always be nearby if we needed something, and we’d always arrive together at the lodges. He had our change of clothes, bird book, toiletries and camera tripod. Our day bags were mostly water, cameras and lenses.
Should we return to Nepal, to do Annapurna circuit or Annapurna base camp (ABC), we’d definitely use them both again. “Come in October”, he told us convincingly – we’d do this, and that, and that, and this route.
Finding our guide
Nepal is a place where delays should be expected. On leaving for Nepal all we’d booked were a couple of nights at a hotel in Kathmandu and a coach to Pokhara. We left our schedule open, so we could book a trek whenever. We always intended to do the 5 day Poon Hill trek. Unsure of our fitness, we didn’t want to be stuck in the mountains exhausted – it is after all meant to be a holiday (as it turned out, we were plenty fit and could have gone further).
When we reached Pokhara we sought to book the trek fairly swiftly, but we didn’t know where to start. So many places offer treks, which ones were good? Which ones would let us meet guides beforehand? You’re spending 5 days with someone, you at least want to like them. What’s a good price? What’s a good route? Do we go for a package deal or pay as we go?
We looked up the top trekking agencies on Trip Advisor, many of them seemed to only do all-inclusive packages, and the price was high. We’d read some blogs too, so enquired with the companies they’d used; responses were mixed and we got confused. When booking tours elsewhere we often ask for guides that are birders; they usually have excellent nature knowledge and give a good tour – we tried it here, but there’s very few birders in this part of Nepal.
Sam was feeling unwell, so we delayed the trek a few days – opting to postpone the stress of organising the thing in favour of some much needed relaxation at a luxury hotel, Pavilions Himalayas. Pavilions is based outside of Pokhara, but they had a concierge, Deependra. As we’ve learnt from past experience – concierges at top-end hotels are excellent at organising things for their guests. Even though booking a trek through a hotel is often regarded as risky, we asked Deependra if he could help. They had a guide they used, they were friends; he’d arrange for us to meet him and we took it from there.
We booked our guide and porter through Pavilions – paying at the end, they arranged transportation, and we would pay for meals and accommodation as we travelled – organised by our guide. We budgeted for 4,000Rs each, per day. We spent about half that – about $20 per person. That covered accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Big D and Harri were excellent and we were thankful that Pavilions had put us in contact with them.
Total trek
44.7 miles (72km) over 36.5 hours
Total climb: 15,829 feet, 4,824m
Total descent: 15,781 feet, 4,810m
Minimum Elevation: 3275 feet, 998m
Maximum Elevation: 10505 feet, 3201m
Trek Day 1 – Nayapul to Ulleri
8 miles over 6h38
Total climb: 3969 feet, 1209m
Total descent: 748 feet, 228m
Minimum Elevation: 3275 feet, 998m
Maximum Elevation: 6632 feet, 2021m
After a fine cooked breakfast we left our hotel, waving goodbye to civilisation. Our driver stopped at ATM after ATM in Pokhara until we found one that worked, we needed enough cash for 5 days – in the hills cards aren’t accepted and there are no cash machines. We picked up Big D and Harri on the outskirts of town and followed the bumpy potholed main road out to Nayapul – which means “New bridge”. The road travelled upstream along the Seti Gandaki river, which was just a trickle in March. It took about 1h30 to climb to our start point, and after trying out Big D’s walking poles and taking a necessary toilet break, we began.
We were fresh faced and ready for the challenge but soon realised our day bags had too much in them. We’d re-organise tomorrow, I probably didn’t need to carry that 1kg bird book. Those that passed us were at the end, red and sweaty, they walked slower, tired but incredibly happy; one exhausted lady asked, “Nayapul? Are we near?”, when Big D replied “2 minutes”, her face was a picture – she marched off with renewed energy.
The road to Hile
On the outskirts of Nayapul a large sign welcomed us to the Annapurna Conservation Area. It asked us to trek gently, to not disturb wildlife, to carry out what we carry in, and to avoid using pollutants – like detergent. We crossed a couple of steel bridges and reached Birethanti, and our first TIMS (Trekkers’ Information Management System) checkpoint. Big D had our little booklets with our passport photos, and he handled all the paperwork. Here the road forks, to the right – the shortest route to Annapurna Base Camp, and the Poon Hill circuit anti-clockwise. We’d go left – a quicker route to Poon Hill, doing the route clockwise and taking on the dreaded steps of Ulleri.
From Birethanti we followed the gravel road up and around, through the villages of Matathanti and Lamdawali. The day was hot, and our views were limited by the grey haze. Lazy dogs slept on the hot stone walls. The heat left us coated in sweat. We hiked in just shorts and shirts, our bags hung heavy, our bodies clammy. We’d packed heavy jumpers and coats; right now it didn’t feel like we’d need them.
For a while we followed the road, an occasional 4x4 passed us – carrying trekkers home. All along the route there were lodges, restaurants and toilets. A man scrambled in the bushes below us, picking wild asparagus for tonight’s dinner. In the dry Bhurungdi riverbed they prepped a new bridge, it must be finished before the monsoon season in June.
We stopped for lunch at “Mountain Lodge & Restaurant”. A little terrace overlooked the river where a Thai trekking group were sharing tea. We sat in the gardens – mustard seeds were spread out on metal trays to dry in the sun, a butterfly flitted by – its outer wings perfectly camouflaged like a dead leaf. Wild cannabis grew in the corner, like a weed. Time for our first meal, we weren’t sure what to expect. Big D was our waiter – he brought menus, took orders and brought food; a staple veg fried rice and dal bhat washed down with a sprite was just right, about 800Rs in total. We were also pleasantly surprised to find a western toilet – perhaps we wouldn’t have to master squatting with tired thighs.
Refuelled with rice we pressed on, following the road as far as it would take us. Near Hile the jeeps sit and wait for their exhausted trekkers; the path splits off from the road, and we’re now hiking along stone paths, beneath trees, “the real trekking begins”, Big D says. Big D strikes up a conversation with every Nepali we pass, in Hile he left groups of them in tears of laughter; he leaves joy in his wake. Harri, our porter, always just behind.
Dreaded steps of Ulleri
After a juice stop in Tikhedhungga, and with Samantha already looking weary – we found ourselves at the foot of a giant hill. The end of day 1 lay at the top, in Ulleri. 3,500 stone steps, a 500m climb, stood in the way of bed and food. At least we wouldn’t be destroying our knees coming down, we told ourselves. “Slowly, slowly”, Big D reminded us. We began the ascent.
Locals hopped by in flip-flops, porters with heavy bags passed us with ease; downhill groups came carefully – using walking sticks to protect their legs; a procession of donkeys came by too – their bells clambering as they negotiated the zig-zagged path. A good excuse to rest as we let them pass. Big D struck up a conversation with some Koreans, they were clearly delighted to find someone who spoke Korean.
My tactic was to climb quickly, to limit the time I’d carry the bag on my back, and to take longer rests inbetween. Samantha, red faced, travelled slowly but surely, gradually offloading her bag and weight to our guide and porter as she began to struggle.
At times this trek felt like hiking the fantasy world of Hyrule in Legend of Zelda. Stone buildings, beautiful hills, old farms, ancient villages. I couldn’t help but wonder whether a flock of angry white chickens would attack me if I so much as prodded the chicken in front.
When the path zig-zags back there’s an occasional shop; exhausted, tired and feeling like we were almost there – we stopped at one to rest. “Half way”, Big D tells us. We couldn’t comprehend another 1,700 steps. We bought water and recouped, Sam looked like she might keel over – we dug into our rations, a good time for a Snickers bar. From hereon she’d climb without a bag. And onwards again.
I feel like I could describe the climb in a similar way to the arduous journey Frodo takes in The Two Towers; but that could be an exaggeration. We didn’t find any giant spiders after all. Slowly, slowly, we climbed. The large Thai group we met at lunch walked with us, we’d pass them, they’d pass us; a friendly leapfrog at every rest point. Looking down the hill we could see the progress we’d made, now dizzyingly high above the river. At long last, a sign: “Welcome to Ulleri”. We were here. We’d made it. This stretch of stone steps was the hardest part of the 5 days, not least because our bags were too heavy.
Time to rest
Big D checked us into “Majestic Guest House & Restaurant”, room 19. A little wooden room looking out over the hill, we had our own European bathroom and sit-down toilet. We collapsed onto our beds; the mattress was comfy, the duvets warm. We didn’t bring sleeping bags – Big D said we could always ask for more sheets, he was right.
Around a log burner fire we ate dinner; veg fried noodles, hash brown potatoes and chicken fried rice; we devoured the carbs and I celebrated with an “Everest” beer, which I let Harri finish (1710Rs in total, 500Rs for the beer). An Argentine couple joined us, and Big D named all his favourite Argentinian footballers – Ronaldo and Pelé, he jested.
As our heads touched the pillow we saw a flash, some tourists taking a photo I thought as I drifted to sleep. Overnight we missed the most epic hailstorm. So tired, we slept right through.