Nepal: Poon Hill trek

Massive highlight of our trip so a bit TLDR, scroll scroll!

Saturday 1st April – Kilu to Ghandruk

April Fools Day, we are going to climb lots of hills! haha. We took the anticlockwise PH route – so we get to PH on day 4 rather than earlier in the trip. Give the kids something to work towards!

Smiles on our faces, not stinky yet! Krishna definitely doesn’t look happy though, he’s going to be carrying our backpack! (which we did keep light)

Walk to Ghandruk – fairly easy climb, easy steps up to a lovely village with older houses and newer ones too.

We missed the rain by 10 mins which is a theme this trek, we were VERY lucky with the weather! Kids did great, nothing too strenuous, only up to 2000m.
Got there at lunchtime so lots of sitting around getting cold – you can see your breath at all times! Our tea house dining room had a lovely through draft (!). I feel like hot water bottles could be a thing for trekkers. Coming from someone who wears socks from Sept to June! I mean look at these sexy bad boys but I was SO happy to have them.

The nightly Snickers bar allocation and daily football!

I was expecting everything to be really basic and the food terrible because that’s what we’d heard, but all of our tea houses were great! Heat in the dining rooms (the high altitude ones). Clean beds. Two massive duvets for warmth. Whilst not sleeping at the Ritz it was definitely a pleasant surprise. The food was great too, good selection. Daal Bhat a big hit for C – they call it Daal Bhat for 24 hour power, and it really does give you the healthy energy you need. Maybe Indian daals did rub off on Charlotte!

Our guide is called Ram and our porter, Krishna, they were total legends with the kids (and us). We played cards with them all afternoon until it cleared up and we could go to the local museum. Ram grew up in the mountains so it was really interesting to hear about how he trekked for 1 hour to/from school up a big hill. And the traditional tools they use.

Krishna was so strong he could carry both kids with ease, how cute is this!

Watched the Big group from India get stuck into the whisky and a late night while we turned in for bed 7.30pm! They are hardcore!

Sunday 2nd April – Ghandruk to Tadapani

Clouds cleared, lovely sunrise. I’m not sure our family photo quite captures the hotch potch of us wearing ALL THE CLOTHES WE OWN! (and there are those sexy sock sandals again!). In all seriousness, I found it breathtakingly beautiful and really emotional. It is such a special place, nowhere I’ve ever been before (or will go to again!).

A big ‘up’ day to Tadapani. Beautiful forest walks – I was kind of expecting to literally be in the snow, but most of our walking was through the beautiful forests where the rhododendrons were blooming – gorgeous.

We stopped to play some football in a clearing then lots of other trekkers joined. The Poon Hill trek tends to be for oldies and kids (cos it’s easier than the other hikes!) so we met some families there.

Our tea house had HEATING in the dining room which was total luxury. We met a family from Canada on their second gap year! Definitely inspiring us. Lord knows how they afford it!

Not gonna lie, downloaded TV was our friend in the afternoon so T and I could read our kindles. There was lots of down time, which I loved (T hated!).

We also met a Japanese family travelling with their baby and toddler. They’ve been on the road for 2 years. Must be hard work with such young kids. They were sleeping next to us – the joy of travelling with toddlers! H kept yelling at them to shush at 9pm – awks!

Monday 3rd April – Tadepani – Gorepani

Sleep was mediocre – Henry’s covers fell off so he was shivering and I got into bed with him. Sunrise was amazinIg – I woke at 5.45 and had a little peaceful moment in the day. Totally worth it. Did I say I love sunrises???! The kids joke that when I die, they’ll have to scatter my ashes at sunrise or sunset!

Found some streams to play in, and walked up to Gorepani Peak. In the clouds! There was a LOT of up. We met another family from Canada who are on a gap year with girls who are 10 and 12. It was lovely because C got to hang out with their daughter on the hike – it was 6 hours today so a bit longer. They were on the end of a 12 day hike which is inspiring. T and I have definitely eyed up Everest Base Camp when the kids are teenagers or left home!

Tuesday 4th April – Gorepani – Poon Hill. Gorepani – Ulleri

4.30am start to Poon Hill! H did NOT want to get up. Trekked up a zillion stairs for an hour to be greeted with this view. So glad we made it – even the kids gave more than a ‘meh’ (which they like to do to wind me up!). We 100% bribed them with chocolate and chai at the top which was their highlight (not the view!).

Breakkie then trekking for 3 or so hours DOWN to Ulleri which was a joy after a few days of up! Our guest house here is so much lower so it’s much warmer. Again, lots of Kindle reading and playing cards/ dice. We are trying to pick up new games from people we meet to expand our repertoire. T hates all the sitting around, his torture. I love it! I’ve finished two or three books already which I don’t think I managed in all of 2022.

Wednesday 5th April – Ulleri – Hille

Down down down for a couple of hours. Kids had a fight with sticks – whacking each other. DEFINITELY time to leave the mountain! It’s like Big Brother, haha!