Poon Hill Trek

With time to kill until the boys get Back from EBC, I took off to Pokhara where the Poon Hill Trek begins just over an hours drive from town. This trek takes place over 51km of mountainous terrain and is usually completed within 5 days. Many of the 36 trekkers in my group (split in to 3 sub groups) had purchased the trek online through a daily deal site and were quite surprised by the difficulty, given the beginner / intermediate rating online.

Our guide was very proud that this was one of the top 10 treks in the world, covering part of the Annapurna Circuit, it attracts around 100,000 people each year. Majority of the time is spent venturing through misty rainforest's with spectacular snow capped mountains towering above the tree tops.



As with the EBC trek, accommodation was in Teahouses at the small mountain villages, providing a degree of luxury with basic hot showers and plenty of meals to choose from. I opted for the vegetarian option containing fresh locally grown produce, rather than the meat which is carried up from Pokhara in less than sanitary conditions. After the infection which ruined my last trek, it just wasn't worth the risk.

Altitude sickness was not of much concern on this trek as we only climb to a maximum altitude of 3,200m. Although the previous evacuation was at 2,800m I have now completed the antibiotic course for my throat infection and will be starting this trek at a much lower altitude. Day 2 provided the most hectic climb of approximately 1,400m and gave the legs a decent workout on the never ending stairs wound up the side of the mountain.

Day 3 showed us some beautiful scenery amongst the Rhododendron Trees, which bloom the national  flower of Nepal. As we begun the descent through the jungle, our passage was littered with the pink flowers creating a scene that could be straight out of a fairytale.


Winding down in the evenings was accompanied by a big mug of hot chocolate Khukri rum, which is a local Nepalese brew. The final night was the most rewarding as we arrived in the village moments ahead of a thunderstorm and gave the legs some much needed recovery in the natural hot springs along side the roaring river.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the trek even though

most picked up some form of minor health discomfort. Upon reaching the end we were bundled up to 10 people per clapped out 4WD, which was fitted out with racing slicks and suspension that was most likely purchased second hand back in the eighties. Nothing like a 45 minute white knuckle drive on a single lane dirt track which drops off  to a sheer cliff face to keep to old heart rate maxed out.