Wandering in the mountains- Ghorepani Poonhill Trek.

As the new holiday season of Christmas and New Year approaches, I miss my journey in the last Christmas. Back then, I was only celebrating My 19th birthday, and I was looking for something adventurous and yet safe. My plan was to travel to the southernmost country of Asia, Nepal, which is known as the land of non-change. As a child, I was always fascinated by the mountains and sought adventure. Meet me, pack a bag, and head to this unknown land.

lI had my college start in less than two weeks, and I only have something short before I get back to college. That is when I picked the shortest and yet the most exciting trekking route in Nepal, the Ghorepani Poonhill Trek. Ghorepani Poonhill Trek was just a day's walk from Pokhara, which is also the city I love very much. The most beautiful part was the trail between Ghorepani and Ghandruk, which was especially beautiful, where the streams, forests, and waterfalls. The journey only involved a total height of about 16 hours, and I was assured that each minute was equally exciting. Since it was my first ever trip to the mountain, I felt like it was a perfect start to the journey. For my next holiday, I am planning for the famous Everest base camp trek, and I am considering the Manaslu circuit trek as well. This short adventure in Nepal has been an ideal starting point for the great adventure I seek around.

So, let's start with the details of the journey. On 20 December 2022, I flew to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, which has the biggest international airport in Nepal. Although I have heard that Pokhara also has an international airport, I couldn't find a flight directly to Pokhara. However, it was a great thing that I landed in Kathmandu because, for the next two days, I wandered around the capital city, visiting not just one or two but six world heritage sites around the city. Each of these heritage sites has uniquely crafted Wood and metal art that I found very interesting. I didn't have any guide for this visit, so I just booked a cab locally and then asked the driver to take me around the city. I've got a driver and a guide at the price of one.

After that, I headed to Pokhara on a flight. Since I took a morning flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara, I had enough time in the day for sightseeing. Same as in Kathmandu, I booked a cab for a whole day, and it took me to the old heritage sites around Pokhara that included many caves, temples and waterfalls. I enjoyed boating in the evening to Tal Barahi, which was the perfect evening for such an exciting holiday. On the next day, I was accompanied by the guide. Since the Nepal government made it compulsory to hire a guide for all mountain trekking in Nepal, I got my guide for three full days.

From Pokhara, we headed to the rather remote village of Ulleri on a shared Jeep. From Ulleri, we started the actual trek. The pass was uphill and mostly passed by the forest. We reached Ghorepani by the evening at around 6:54 PM. After a wonderful dinner, it was time to get some rest. We started the trip quite early in the morning. At around 5 AM, we hiked for around 45 minutes to get to the top of Poonhill. OH MY GOD. Poonhill displayed the most amazing panorama of the entire Annapurna Himalaya range, including More than a dozen mountain peaks. And with sunshine blessing all those Mountains, it was a very beautiful view.