The version of the trek I took involved 12 days of hiking, and I only went as far as Machhapuchhare Base Camp. I stayed in teahouses; no tents on this trek. I went with a guide and one porter which were arranged through Journeys. I enjoyed the trek, but I had problems with my guide. I would not recommend him for a woman traveling alone (i.e., he’d never get an A in an American sexual harrassment class) or an older person who typically hikes 2 miles/hour (or less on steep sections) on the AT, needs to watch their sugar levels, and likes to keep well hydrated. The need to keep drinking (both water and gatorade) and to eat something like trail mix or an energy bar regularly between meals just didn’t compute with him. He had his schedule with his favorite places to stop, and it didn’t seemed to be at all flexible or adaptable to my needs. Neither my guide or porter carried any water or snacks!
Enough said. On to the trek. The elevations in my narrative should be considered approximate. None of the elevations given in the guidebooks seem to match those on the National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map. And if you can’t cope with meters, multiple by 3.
My route different somewhat from this one
We left Pokhara at 7:30a for the drive up to Khande (1450m), which is labeled Khare (1770m) on the NG map. On the above map, its west of Nagdanda and Phedi, which is the usual starting point for treks to ABC at an altitude of 1130m. Whether my start was at 1450 or 1770m, it was definitely much higher than 1130m. I had a much easier first day than the other trekkers who arrived to spend the night where I stayed.
Our starting point was this small guesthouse.
Thakali Hotel, Khande
Thakali Hotel Store
Thakali Hotel Kitchen
Note the women bending down washing vegetables with water coming from the hose attached to one of the spigots. She is boiling water in the pan on the left.
Her little girl seemed to be more appropriately dressed for a ballet class than playing in the dirt around the hotel. But she did have her crocs on.
We started walking a little before 9, heading through the small settlement where one farmer was plowing his field and several other men were slaughtering a buffalo.
Path through Khande
Farmer using oxen to plow field
Slaughtering a Buffalo
As we climbed gradually up the trail we met kids walking to school. I’m not sure where they were headed, but it wasn’t close by.
Kids on way to school
This child was obviously too young to go.
After gradually climbing for about an hour, we reached a point with a view back to the road.
The fairly open forest we passed through was studded with red rhododendrons.
Del beneath a red rhododendron
Then we started down a rocky path. Since this was not the usual trekking route, there were no stone steps.
As in Bhutan, most cows and buffalo are free to roam.
About 1 1/2 hrs after starting we reached the Hotel Gurans & Devkota Camping Place where I bought water to replace the liter I had already consumed. There were several guesthouses here, but I’m not sure where “here” was. Clearly they all used the same sign painter or English spelling source.
Gurans means "rhododendron"
Unlike Bhutan where dogs ran lose all over the place, most dogs in Nepal seemed to be family pets.
A playful puppy
I found this flower along the way.
About 2 1/2 hours after leaving Khande we arrived in Pothana (1990m), just in time for lunch. Yet for some reason Pothana turned out to be our destination for the day. (It would have been nice if Del had told me that’s all the further we were going for the day and why. Maybe he thought I needed an easy start.)
Pothana
Trekker's Check Post in Pothana
We stayed at the Fish Tail Hotel.
Fish Tail Hotel, Pothana
For lunch I had the vegetable curry which tasted more like sweet and sour to me.
Diners at the Fish Tail talking to my guide
All the lodges had snacks and a few basic supplies for sale. Those at lower elevations like this one had more variety than those further from the supply source. Note the bag of TP. I ended up having to buy some towards the end of my trek even though I brought along several rolls.
Across the flagstone paved path there was one of several other guest houses in the village. But this one had what looked to be a fantastic view from its lawn.
I couldn’t figure out what the diamond-shaped object was in the trees. If you look hard you can see a man in a white shirt standing in it, and there’s another man standing right behind the pole in the center of the picture.
Many porters used a basket to carry supplies to the lodges or trekking gear for groups, but since I was a party of one, my guide just carried my duffel in a similar manner with rope and a fabric strip for the head.
My porter
After lunch we walked up into a park-like area to go birding. Without a knowledgeable birding guide, I didn’t identify many of the birds, but I did capture a couple of crude, long-distance shots.
Grey Wagtail
Grey Bushchat
