Ride to Kathmandu We woke at 0530 for breakfast at 0630.  Harry had ordered us a taxi for 0700 to take us to Pokhara’s bus station for our 0730 bus back to Kathmandu. At the station, our bus was nowhere to be seen.  Locals are helpful and when they see the colour of our bus […]

Sarangkot Viewpoint Today is our day of rest after the Mardi Himal hike.  We slept in without an alarm and took a late breakfast.  My calves were sorer than yesterday.  [Edit:  They remained discernibly sore until 17 November, ie. a week after the hike!] Harry suggested that we take a trip to the Sarangkot Viewpoint […]

Ride to Pokhara We woke around 0630 after 8h sleep.  I had a little soreness from the long downhill hike in my calf muscles. Today, we have no more hikes but only a ride to Pokhara, because of the long slog that we did yesterday all the way to Sidhing. After breakfast we set off […]

High Camp to Viewpoint We woke at 0330 to prepare for our hike to Mardi Himal Viewpoint, departing at 0400.  Unfortunately, Suzan was running late and we didn’t start our hike till 0420. During the wait outside our accommodation, we were treated to a view of the Annapurna range and Machhapuchre in the clear dark […]

Low Camp to High Camp Today we reap the benefits of our extended hike yesterday by having a shortened hike at higher altitude from Low Camp (2970m) to High Camp (3540m). We commenced at 0820 and walked through forested areas of Rhododendron.  I understand this area is gorgeous when in bloom in spring.  But we […]

Pitam Deurali to Forest Camp We took a look at the mountain behind our accommodation block around 0630.  It was partly obscured by the clouds but we were assured that better views are yet to come. The breakfast at 0700 didn’t turn up till later due to the large number of guests and guide.  We […]

Above:  In my sleeping gear of thermal polypropylene top, longjohns and socks, plus a pair of shorts for dinner. Setting off for our hike Our breakfast of banana pancake and banana and coffee came to USD2 per person, according to the menu.  But it was included in the room price of USD8 which meant that […]

Bus to Pokhara We woke at 0500 and lazed a bit, had a cup of coffee in our room before heading to the bus “station”.  We could have walked there but with our luggage, we took up an offer by a taxi driver. There wasn’t a station per se for the tourist buses to Pokhara.  […]