Peaceful and Outdoorsy Nepal

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Day 5 start of trek
Pokhara taxi to Nayaipul.

I woke up at 6:30 AM and had a good free breakfast at the hotel and walked out at 730 to meet my guide and the other gal trekking with me. I waited for like 20 minutes and the guide showed up first, then the owner of the agency and then the Australian gal Anna. We left our bags in the office and got ourselves in a taxi and drive up to Nayaipul ( which is the start of a few treks and it is about 1 hour from Pokhara. The ride was through the mountains and countryside and the road was curvy and windy. The tour guide out some Nepalese radio station and it was playing fold Nepalese music which is mostly flute, harp and guitar ( similar to Mongolian or Asian music). We reached the main town of Naiyapul went to the toilet and started the trek at around 9:20 AM. We walked through he town main street which was mostly dirt road with lots of cheap Nepalese restaurants and shops of all kinds. I swear that anyone can show up in Pokhara with no trekking gear and get everything there for cheap or not so expensive prices: from backpacks, boots, shoes and flip flops, tshirts, fleece, jackets, sleeping bags, tents and more to very authentic Nepalese souvenirs. We walked for about 30 minutes and reached a rope bridge very unstable but had to pass through and saw the entrance tourist trekking point. We had to wait a few minutes while our guide gave our permits and gave us the go sign.

Walked from Nayaipul to Hulle lunch at Sumed. After eating lunch we headed up to Hulle. It was aseni steep climb and through rock and stone steps I had to stop to catch my breath a few times but nothing as hard as Russia in the Altay mountains and The Great Wall camping trip. It was a long 2 hours hike to Hulle when we reached the top of the twon our guide Diwash asked us if we wanted to stay there for the night but since it was only. 2 o clock we decided to continue the trek. So the next portion of the trek was bordering the mountains and he path was flat dirt path and it was coolish with a bit of sunshine. After a n hour we reached the steep steps to Ureilli. It seemed really steep and hard the steps were as high as my knees so that made it hard for short people like me (:-( ) It started to rain so we stop at some restaurant wee we met some new zelanders and we stop to put on our rain jackets and continue up. The road was of dirt and cars could go up this way but then we reached get path the steel rock steps. We headed up and stop midway were the new zelanders catch up with us we sat down and rest and talk to each other. I swear I was never alone. People from everywhere where hiking and trekking, young and old and even kids! We so saw some porters carrying too much weigh about more than 30kgs of people 'a stuff. I think this is. Abuse of tourists who think they can simply pay cheap for a porter to carry all their gear and some were even stronger then the porter it was sad!
We reached the town of Ullieri and found our guesthouse a small two floor homestay with the view of the Annapurna South. I was so tired that I simply fell asleep without noticing and with my dirty sweaty clothes. Finally I woke up around 6 and Reid to have a hot shower but it was solar power and no sun at 6:00 so I had an airplane shower changed into warm clean clothes and had dinner and tea. By 7:40 I was sound asleep.

Day 6 second day of trekk

We woke up at 7 to see a beautiful snow peak from our bedroom. We asked the guide later which one it was and he said it was the Annapurna South. It was kind of chilly about 20C but quite comfortable to trek in shorts and tshirts . The night was chilly about 10C and I am glad I had my warm socks, and long leggings and long sleeve as well as a yak hair blanket I bought in Pokhara, so really I wasn't too cold.
We had porridge and fruit and tea for breakfast. Packed our bags refill our water bottles for 70 rupees 1 liter ( normally it costs about 20-30 rupees) so water is a luxury and a necessity. We started heading up more stairs steep climbing and then reached a semi flat area with up and down hills they made it easier to rest and recuperate from the uphills. The scenery became very moist and we saw little creeks and rivers on the side. This made the temperature cool a bit and with the sun shining it was a perfect weather for a trekk. We stopped at some view point and rest for a bit and continued our walk. Lots of hikers with own backpacks or guides and porters were walking along with us. My Guide a young Nepalese was super friendly and was always making sure I was ok and said "slowly slow" cause I am slow, but he sounded nice and caring. Him and Anna the Australian gal trekking with me stop at the end of the hill and had a break, but I did not see them and kept walking with a few others. I realized I could not get lost cause it was a very defined Path and lots of Trekkers along the way. Either they were ahead and waiting ( or would go back to get me ) or were behind. After about 10 minute walk I realized they were not ahead so I stopped and waited for them and they were soon with me. We continued the walk and passed a few bridges and small waterfalls and creeks. We reached a rest area where I bough a very expensive banana for 30 rupees and we headed back up. After that the trail was mostly the same, some rough steep up hills followed by downhills and flat areas. We passed a river and waterfall and I washed my face in it took some shots of he area and back up. We saw some monkeys on trees. We reached. Nagathanti after 1.5 holds from Banthanthi which was about 1 hour from Ullieri.
We ate a delicious lunch dal bhat ( rice, lentil soup, potatoes and some green veggies and papdam( papad in india) we rested for an hour and headed for the final leg of the trek to Gorepani.
The trek trail to Gorepani was a mixed of uphills dirt trails and steps of various sizes which were hard on me considering I am short and have short legs. I took my time and the guide and the Australian gal were ahead Of me and waited if I got too behind. We reached the entrance of Gorepani and took the usual touristy photos and headed up more stairs until we reached our guesthouse. It was cozy very small and had a great view if the Annapurna South and other Himalayan snow-capped peaks. I unpacked and took a warm shower ( low pressure but I cannot complain hot water is a luxury in these villages) and out some clean warm clothes and headed outside. To explore the little cozy town on Gorepani. Took some shots of the Himalayas, bought some postcards, and a little gift for my mom and sisters and headed to my guesthouse to drink tea and warm up as it was really cold. I drank tea, wrote postcards and warm up by the fire while chatting with Anna, our guide and some Chinese. At around 5 when I was warm again I went our to see the sunset. I found a cool spot behind the guesthouse on top of a roof and took several shots while chatting with two Finnish gals. I went back in and had a good dinner with tea and went get batteries for my head torch for the next day sunrise trek to Poon Hill.
I read and wrote my blog and call it a night fairly early.

Day 7 third day of trekk
I had a rough night fighting a cold, cough and difficulty breathing light symptoms of altitude sickness so I decided ( sadly but wisely) to skip the Sunrise to Poon Hill trek in order for me to be able to trek 7 hours until our second to last destination. With this said I said goodbye to Anna and our guide and went back to sleep. I slept for about 3.5 hours more and inspite of being cold and coughing and congested I felt better by 7. I took some cold medicine and had a delicious fruit and cinnamon oatmeal and tea.
We started trekking at 8:30 and it was really hard at first because it was steep uphill steps and my lung capacity was too weak. I ended up stopping every 10 minutes. We reached a view point with lots of Trekkers ( a lot!) and took some photos and continue for a little by on a descend. We racked the town of D... After about 2 hours and had a warm lemon ginger tea and ate some peanuts and took off for Tadapani where we would eat lunch. This trek was also mostly flat with a small inclination and it was through the woods or temperate rain forest wand we could still see the top mountain snow peaks blending with the trees and wild vegetation. We reached the entrance of Tadapani and too my not so much luck it was a steep ascend for about 40 minutes. I took my time breathing and stepping slow and steady as I could hardly breathe and felt dizzy. Finally reached Tadapani and had a delicious fried vegetarian rice and tea lunch. We charged our phones and rested while making digestion and warming up as it was getting foggy and cool and left for the last leg of the trek at around 1.
The first part of the trek was downhill and stairs and then a pleasant low inclination walk through the woods. We could hear creeks, waterfalls, little hummingbirds and crows and the cicadas announcing the rain. It was super pleasant. We reached he town called buffalo village ( forgot the Nepalese name) in about 45 minutes and then headed downhill through dirt trials and really high stone steps for about 3 hours to Ghandruk for the most part it was a pleasant walk downhill and we were the only ones trekking or every so often we would see one or four Trekkers going the opposite way. After like an hour the trek began to be super tricky and hard on the knees.We stopped to rest at Lonely planet guesthouse and from there it was another 35-45 minutes. We reached our guesthouse called Annapurna Guesthouse at around 4. It was beautiful with a nice flower garden and views of the mountains. Anna and I were exhausted and so we both took a shower and relaxed. Out guide brought us chai tea to or rooms and we ordered dinner for 7.

Day 8 fourth day of the trekk
We woke up at 7 AM,with the pain and soreness of our muscles of the legs, and arms, got ready for breakfast and packed our bags for the last day of trekking back to Nayaipul. The day was sunny with blue skies and a pleasant temperature to hike. We took the last few shots of the Himalayas and took off at about 7 45. The trail was mostly downhill a set of stone built stairs not all the same size of length or width so that made it really hard on the knees. The first hour of the trekk went by fairly quickly and along the way we passed a few villages and homestays. I lost my pink decathlon windbreaker jacket and even though Diwash ( guide) went a long way back to try and find it it was lost. Along the way we passed. A few other Trekkers going to Naiyalpul and Pokhara,but because we had to stop due to me losing the jacket they all passed us by and when we started again we had to wait for donkeys to pass by and other Nepalese local men going up or down with rocks, bricks and food for the

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