Pokhara

I am currently in Pokhara, about 200 km west of Kathmandu. It's absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. I literally gasped when I saw the lake that the city is named for. Just amazing...

The day after I got in, I left for a four day trek to Poon Hill. It had been recommended by several people and I was super excited for it. Ram, my fearless guide, and I took the bus to Naya Pul and began our trek from there. We hiked for about three hours to a tea house and settled there for the night.

The next day was absolute hell. We had to climb about 2,000 (give or take) stone stairs up to Ghorepani. I got sick about 30 minutes in and puked up everything I had eaten for breakfast, but we pressed on. About that time, it started raining and throughout the entire day, it was a steady drizzle of rain and we were soaked pretty early on. We stopped for some delicious potato soup and black tea (and to dry out our raincoats) and at about 3 pm we finally hit Ghorepani and sat in front of the fire, trying to get feeling back in our toes.

This guesthouse was pretty funny, all the rooms had the names of famous athletes on the doors and the owner was very loud and accommodating. I had the most delicious Tibetan bread with jam there. I cannot tell you how lovely the hot bread was, along with a cup of tea, after changing into dry clothes and sitting in front of the fire. It was one of the purest moments of pleasure I've ever had.

The next day, we were supposed to get up at 4 and see the sun rise over the Himalayas but there was a fucking rain storm and no one could see anything. I am trying to be very zen about it but it was a pretty bitter disappointment. Even more so was the fact that we had to start on our way down in this rain storm. Ram made me buy a huge plastic bag, which he then cut head and arm holes into, and I had to wear that the whole way down. Tres chic.

At the same spot I got sick at the day before, I got sick again but this time much worse. I began violently throwing up and my head hurt so bad I thought it was going to burst. I was running a fever and felt all kinds of dizzy but I managed to trek back to our first guest house and made it to the bed there. It was awful but Ram was really nice and he got me Sprite to settle my stomach. He told the owner of the guest house what happened and the owner thought I was haunted by the spirits of the people who died in a landslide at that spot 3 years ago. Huh.

I felt much better the next day and we made an early start back to Pokhara. We were home by about 3 and I spent the rest of the day returning to normal...shower, hair wash, massage, etc. My calves are in so much freaking pain, I can barely walk but it was worth it for the amazing trek. The limited views I saw were still pretty incredible and just doing the trek made me feel like I accomplished something. It was my first ever and wow, was it a mental challenge.

Today is a down day in Pokhara and tomorrow I take the bus back to Kathmandu. I leave the day after for India! Very excited...