Nepal, the country of Himalayan sunrises, trekking, and terrible roads!

We left Sri Lanka excited to continue our adventure in a new country, Nepal!!! We arrived in Kathmandu’s tiny international airport in the early evening where we were greeted by our Nepalese friend, Ranjit Lama, with warm hugs and bright orange flower garlands.

We know Ranjit through our good friend Jason, who used to work in Nepal running outdoor adventure programs. Ranjit was his lifeline during his time in Nepal, the man he trusted to keep him and his participants safe and experiencing the best of the Himalayas. Ranjit was born and raised in the mountains with a view of the Himalayan mountain ranges. He’s been a trekking and outdoor adventure guide in Nepal and Tibet for more than 20 years, and he knows the country like the back of his hand. He is also one of the most honest, kind and generous souls we have met on our many travels. (At the end of this blog we will include his contact details, or you can send us a message directly, we’d be happy to help put you in contact with him)

He brought us from the airport to Discovery Inn, a lovely little hotel in Thamel, Kathmandu. They have a gorgeous little courtyard with a restaurant and some of the best food we had while in Nepal! There we were able to relax and settle in before starting to plan our itinerary for the coming weeks. In the morning Ranjit came to meet us and we began mapping out our route through Nepal. We had big plans about doing the Everest Base Camp trek or the Annapurna Circuit trek, but because the weather turns quite cold in December, we decided to stick to lower altitudes with the Annapurna Panorama Trek to Ghorepani/Poon Hill. We decided to do it at a nice leisurely pace taking 4 nights 5 days to enjoy the incredible views.

That night we were invited to have dinner with Ranjit and his family at his home in the city. Him and his wife cooked us a beautiful meal of chicken curry and a kidney bean dahl with rice. We’ll say this often, but it was another one of our favorite meals in Nepal!! Good food and good company, what more could we want!? While they cooked we got to play games with their young son and daughter, two of the most charming little kids ever!! Their hospitality was so endearing, it was hard to tear ourselves away when it was time to go home to bed.

Early the next morning Ranjit picked us up from our hotel and off we went, ready for our first true adventure in Nepal. We took a local bus, en route to Pokhara. It’s about a 200 km journey, but with Nepalese roads it took us 8 whole hours!!

We spent a cozy night in a local hotel opposite the bus stand in Pokhara. In the morning we had a beautiful curry breakfast and we hopped on another bus to the starting point of our trek. Ranjit, the Rockstar that he is, had sorted out all of our permits in Kathmandu, so all we needed was the stamp and we were good to go.

For the next few days we’d cover about 12 to 16km a day. With our backpacks on, we started to walk on a dirt road passing flowing rivers, waterfalls, little villages, and lots of cows and buffalos. After a couple hours of walking on the road, we stopped in a small restaurant for the most amazing chicken curry lunch before the true climbing began.

We had no idea what the afternoon had in store for us, the hard part was coming!! After lunch we left the road behind and for the rest of the day we walked up stairs upon stairs upon MORE STAIRS, they were never-ending!!! They were stone stairs built into the hillside connecting all of the different villages of the area. They’re quite uneven, some higher some smaller, and quite steep at times. We took our time though, found our pace (slow af LOL) and we enjoyed getting our sweat on for the first time in a while!!

Our destination for the evening was Ghandruk, a pretty little town at the top of yet another MASSIVE staircase, with a cute little monastery and a lovely view of the snow-capped mountains all around. The first day is always the hardest, adjusting to the altitude, the backpacks and the exertion, but it’s all worth it when you look around and the scenery literally takes your breath away.

The next morning we set off, heading higher and higher as the temperatures started to drop with each minute that passed.. even though you sweat from the exertion, you have to wear a scarf and long shirt to prevent the chill from creeping up your back and neck. Every tea break brought the chill back in and it took some time hiking before you feel warm again.. A sort of torture for people who’ve just come from spending almost a full month on a beach!!

Early that afternoon we reached Tadapani, a seriously tiny village in the Himalayas. Our guesthouse was made of stone and ply-wood, without insulation. There’s one fire place in the main dining room where everyone gathers in the afternoons and evenings to keep warm and enjoy each other’s company. Honestly, THANK GOD for the fire!! It’s such a welcome respite from the cold that seems to seep in from every crack in the walls and draft in the windows. It’s a very simple life here and it’s awesome that they are willing to share it with those of us just passing through.

Through the afternoon we played cards with our friend Ranjit, never far from the fire, we even got to sample some wild grown Nepalese herb. After that we were hungry af, so we sampled our first momos. They’re a treat that every Nepalese person loves; basically steamed dumplings stuffed with veggies, chicken or buffalo.. buffalo is our favorite. Naturally we had to sample many to decide between them all!! Usually they’re served 10 momos to a plate with a spicy peanut sauce. By 9pm we were so sleepy, we curled up in our beds under as many blankets as we could find and slept away the coldest part of the night.

In the morning for breakfast, we got to try our very first Tibetan bread. It’s bread dough that they deep fry and it’s usually served with a veggie curry, or with honey and jam. Ours that morning was served with fried eggs, a nice protein and carb boost before a morning of climbing. Next it was backpacks on and we were off riding the staircases again. The landscape and scenery of the Himalayas on our third day of trekking was so beautiful. We still had sporadic stone staircases and scattered little villages, but much of the hiking was through beautiful forest.. at times the forest was quite thick, noisy with wildlife and damp from the mist. Other times the forest would open into small valleys and clear views of the snow-capped mountains. We passed by singing rivers and magnificent waterfalls.

We kept climbing up and up, taking small breaks in tea houses to enjoy some masala milk tea. It’s a delicious, sweet milk tea with spices, so flavorful and SO addictive.. comparable to the chai in India.

We pushed on pretty hard, getting most of the climbing for the day done before our lunch break. For lunch we got to sample our first Nepalese take on Western food.. while we sat and rested our feet we snacked on macaroni with yak cheese (yak cheese is pretty delicious, slightly similar to swiss cheeses like gruyere or comte).

The afternoon was really beautiful hiking, we walked on the very top ridge of the mountain for a while, there was thick fog floating up the mountainside, making for a super dramatic view. Next it was down hill all the way to the village of Ghorepani. This was the largest of the villages we had seen yet with plenty of guest houses and incredible views of the Annapurna range. We checked into our guesthouse and we were delighted to find that the large window in our room faced right out to the mountains. We were so grateful to find the fire lit in the dining room and we enjoyed some good conversation, sitting as close to the fire as we could handle!

Our night in Ghorepani was a short one because we had to get up the next day at 4am, to make the climb to Poon Hill for sunrise. We hiked up in the dark and froze our balls off at the top, waiting for the sun to warm us as it rose. In the predawn light we could see mountains in every direction around us, the entire Annapurna range. As the sun started to brighten the sky, the snow on the tops of the mountains turned a rosy orange color and the clouds started to roll in through the valleys below us.

The view was incredibly dramatic, you could ALMOST forget how cold you are for a minute!!! Absolutely breathtaking, and worth the early wakeup call!

We enjoyed the view of the sunrise, but pretty soon we felt the need to get moving, to help get some warmth and feeling back into our icy fingers and toes. After our climb down we had a hearty pancake breakfast, strapped on the backpacks and set out on arguably the most beautiful day of our trek.

This day was pretty much all down hill.. what a sense of accomplishment we felt knowing we’d gotten through all of the uphill battle!! The downhill at times though it just as challenging as the ups!! It’s not as hard on the lungs, but it gets painful on the calves, and toe-jam is a real bitch!!! It leaves much more of your attention free to enjoy amazing views of the valleys, rice terraces, caves, waterfalls and the MANY buffalo, goats, mules and dogs along the way. As we climbed our way down, we noticed the temperatures climbing too, it was so nice to feel the chill of the higher altitudes starting to ease.

That afternoon we arrived in Tikhedhunga, a realy cute little town right next to a couple of raging waterfalls. We enjoyed our first hot shower in days and relaxed enjoying the sound of the falls from our guest house. We passed the rest of the afternoon and evening playing more cards with Ranjit, the competition was on! We celebrated our accomplishment and our new friendship with some Roxy, a local Nepalese drink made of rice or millet, similar to Sake.

That night we slept like babies and woke up in the morning refreshed and ready for the last few hours of hiking. We followed a beautiful, rushing river all the way back to town where we were able to catch a bus back to Pokhara.

We rode back into civilization, and the hustle and bustle of Pokhara was a bit of a shock after days in the villages and pristine nature. When the shock wore off though, we realized how excited we were for a hot shower and a chance to clean our trekking clothes. We said our goodbyes to Ranjit, and went off in search of Fewa Lake for a few days of relaxing, eating, drinking and enjoying the beauty of the lakeside life.

Next time we’ll tell you all about Fewa Lake, the perfect spot to chill and enjoy the best that Pokhara has to offer!!

**** For anyone who wants a true amazing experience in Nepal, Ranjit is the man!!! He knows everything about Nepal and the Himalayas including Tibet and he can plan a stunning itinerary for ANY budget!!! His expertise is not limited to just trekking either, he can facilitate village stays, white water rafting and visits to Chitwan National Park among many other wonderous activities!! If you’d like to get in touch with Ranjit, you can find him on Facebook as Ranjit Lama. Otherwise you can shoot us a message and we would be happy to put you in touch with him directly. You won’t be disappointed, just knowing this man is a pleasure!!!