Recently I came back from my solo trip from Nepal. This time my intention of going to Nepal was trekking. Ghorepani poon hill trek is considered as beginners trek (For physically fit person) but at the same time in this trekking you can witness 360 degree view of Annapurna range, Fishtail, Tukche, Dhampus, and Nilgiri. In this post I will share my experience about Ghorepani poon hill trekking.
Background:
For every story there is a background. Here is the background story of my Poon hill trek-
Before this trekking, my first trekking was Darwa top (4 230 m) trekking. In 2007 my first company Tata Power Delhi distribution then NDPL arranged the 10 days trekking as a team building exercise for all the Engineers recruited that year. Till then I could never forget that experience. In the last 12 years many things happened in life like marriage, post graduation, having baby, changed 4 locations for jobs but I always had a wish to do a trekking again.
I always believe for trekking, physical fitness is inevitable but mental strength is even more important. So when I was planning to visit Nepal (all time wish), the old bug started moving in my head and I decided to do the trekking.
Nepal:
Nepal is most desirable country for trekking. People from all around the world come here to trek. Everest base camp, Annapurna base camp, Annapurna circuit are the most famous destinations for trekkers. However for all the mentioned trek at least 12-18 days are required. Keeping aside my fitness level, I didn’t have more that 7-8 days for the trekking in my 11 days of Nepal itinerary. So I started searching for a trek of 4-6 days.
Read: How to prepare yourself for solo trip
After reading a lot of blogs, I decided to do Ghorepani Poon hill trek. At the same time I have heard about Muktinath, which seems to be equally beautiful. I checked that for Muktinath 3 days are required and for Ghorepani poon hill trek 5 days, but I had 6 days available in Pokhara (except the day of coming and going back to Kathmandu), so I didn’t book anything from India and decided to first go and then decide.
Poon hill trekking itinerary:
As I have mentioned above that generally Ghorepani Poon hill trekking is for 4-5 days. There are two ways, you can cover the route.
Option 1 :
Day 1: Pokhara to Nayapul by bus/car (3 hours), then trek to Ulleri/ Tikhedhunga .
Day 2: Ulleri/ Tikhedhunga to Ghorepani.
Day 3: Ghorepani to Poon hill and come back to Ghorepani. Leave for Tadapani.
Day 4: Tadapani to Ghandruk
Day 5: Ghandruk to Nayapul and then Pokhara by bus/jeep.
Option 2: The trekking can alsobe started from Ghandruk.
Day 1: Pokhara to Nayapul by bus then trek to Ghandruk.
Day 2: Ghandruk to Tadapani
Day 3: Tadapani to Ghorepani
Day 4: Ghorepani to Poon hill and come back to Ghorepani. Proceed towards Tikhedhunga.
Day 5: Tikhedhunga to Nayapul by trekking and Nayapul to Pokhara by bus/jeep.
In both the above options Minimum 5 days are required which I didn’t have. As mentioned above, I had only 6 days in Pokhara and I wanted to do both Muktinath and Ghorepani poon hill. So after discussing with one local trekking company I came to know that on my way to Muktinath, three is a place called Tatopani from where the trekking can be started. So here is the 3rd option- (not so common)
Read : Perfect Bhutan itinenary for 7 days
Option 3:
Day 1: Tatopani to Ghorepani (20 km, 8-10 hours of walking) which can be alternately done in 2 days if you have time. You can take rest in Sikha village.
Day 2: Ghorepani to Poon hill and come back to Ghorepani.(1 hour 45 minutes) . Leave for Tadapani. (7. 5 hours)
Day 3: Tadapani to Ghandruk (4 hours)
Day 4: Ghandruk to Pokhara by bus/jeep (4.5 hours).
Best time to do this trek:
The peak season for most of the trekking in Nepal is October November. Second best time is April-May. In the month of April May, you can see beautiful Rhododendron tress in and around Ghorepani. The total hills are sometimes seems to be red from far.
However in May, I found the dust is huge. You need to use dust/ pollution mask all the time while availing any bus/cab or sometimes while walking. In addition to that the temperature of Kathmandu and Pokhara was almost 28-30 degree that means it will be difficult to roam around the city in day time. So it’s best to come in October- November.
Permission required for the trekking:
Yes you need to take ACAP permission. If you don’t want to do all the hustle, you can just pay to any travel agencies of Pokhara/ Kathmandu, they will be happy to help it but it will come with premium charges. If you don’t want to spend unnecessary like me, you can make the pass directly visiting the ACAP Office in Pokhara. For SAARC countries the Pass is 1000 NPR and for other foreign countries it is 2500 NPR* (the conversion between NPR & USD is mentioned below). Addionally you need to issue one TIMS card.
If you are doing trekking /travelling by yourself then TIMS card charge is 600 NPR. However if you want to do the trekking with the help of guide/ porter then the TIMS card to be issued by the travel agency. You need to pay the fees directly to the travel agency.
Note: For travelling alone, you need to mention the travel insurance/ health insecure details while issuing the TIMS card. So better to carry all the related details.
Additionally you should carry at least 6-8 passport side photos as for the ACAP pass and TIMS card you need to give 3 copy photos.
Details & My experience about the Poon Hill trekking:
Day 1:
As I have mentioned above my first day was from Tatopani to Ghorepani. I and my porter cum guide Shaila started at 6 am. We crossed 3 beautiful villages Ghara, Sikha, Chitre and then after long walking of almost 20 km for 10 hours (that was the achievement !!!) we reached at Ghorepani.
Being a below average fit person, it was quite challenging for me. But I wanted to do this trek, so finally we reached at 4 pm. We took a short lunch break at Sikha. Slowly but steadily when we reached Ghorepani, my legs have declared non cooperative movement against me. Anyway after taking hot shower and dinner I went to bed early as next day I have to start very early morning for Poon hill sunrise trek.
Spending for the day 1:
Hotel: 300 NPR Food 1000 NPR .Food are really costly as the villagers have to carry the food items only by pony from the Ghandruk (nearest bus stop), as there is no car/bus connectivity to these place.
Day 2:
Poon hill is almost 3230 meters of height and it is almost 1 km from Ghorepani. To see sunrise from the beautiful Annapurna and Fishtail, you need to start early. I woke up at 4 am and by 4.30 am I and Shaila (my guide) have started the Poon hill journey along with many other trekkers. You need to climb many stairs ( 550 meters) to reach the Poon hill.
By the time I reached half of Poon hill, the sun light started coming. We reached the top, spend some time with the mesmerizing view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Fishtail, Dhampas, Nilgiri.
At the Poon hill, I felt it much crowded, as all the people who reached Ghorepani accumulated same place same time.
After the sun rise view, we came back to the hotel and had my breakfast. After breakfast started for Tadapani at around 7.30 am.
After crossing many ups and downs, rhododendron forest, 2-3 hill tops from where we got clear view of all the Annapurna, Fishtail view, 2 villages Deorali and Banthanti, we reached Tadapani at 2.30 pm. In between we took lunch break in the beautiful small village Banthanti.
In Tadapani I stayed in Tree house same as in Ghorepani. Those houses are made of wood. From Tadapani also you will get beautiful view of Annapurna and Fishtail. Though I didn’t get clear view on that day, but next day morning during sun rise, the view was clear for some time.
Spending for the day 2:
Hotel: 300 NPR, Food: 1200 NPR; Poon hill ticket 100 NPR.
Day 3:
Day 3 begins with beautiful sunrise at Tadapani, then after breakfast and fresh up we proceed for Ghandruk at 7.30 am. From Tadapani to Ghandruk the road was easy compare to the last two days but my knees were already paining a lot so we proceed slowly and reached Ghandruk by 11 am.
In Ghandruk I took the day rest and next day after walking 20 minutes I reached the bus stop from where I took the bus for Pokhara.
Spending for the day 3:
Room rent- 500 NPR, Food – 1200 NPR, bus fare: 400 NPR.
For the Guide/porter I paid 7000 NPR for 3 days including his travel and my TIMS card.
So the total amount I spend for the Ghorepani Poon hill was- 13000 NPR (Food, Hotel, Pass, Guide)
(1 INR= 1.6 NPR and 1 USD= 110 NPR) approximately as on May 2019.
After a day long descend we reach our starting point and our taxi was waiting for us to take back to Pokhara town. We had to travel to Kathmandu next morning so we wanted to reach our hotel as early as possible to get some good sleep. As we were staying for less time, the hotel manager upgraded our room. God bless him :). Well this is the story of Ghorepani Pool Hill Trek. Did you like it ?
ha ha nice one! Hope you have enjoyed the Trek.