Day 27 - Poon Hill

Ghorepani to Tadapani

It is still dark when I wake up. I thought I heard voices but when I listen carefully it is quiet again. Th bivvy is all wet on the outside: condensation. I get dressed and ready and move the bivvy in a more sheltered spot before gong to the hilltop. The grass is very wet and slippery.
When I get to the hilltop there are probably 2 dozen people there already. Dark, faceless silhouettes. Some are silent watching the rigdes still dark against the lighter becoming sky; others are chatting; some are going up and down the tower making the whole structure shake and vibrate noisily; a few others are busy setting up their tripods or finding a spot for their tripod.
I quickly give up the spot I have picked last night. I realize I would be in many people's pictures. So I pick a spot at the far end of the platform in a corner. From here it is all downhill to the right so I'm thinking that it would be a good spot.
Gunhild and Johannes arrive, but also do a lot of other people. People keep coming ad I wonder where from. Maybe some 200 people. Were all these people in Ghorepani ? Th group of Chinese is extremely noisy. They seem to be everywhere on this hill. They have conquered the hill.

As the sun rises and the top of Dhaulagiri gets glowing there sems to be a mass movement towards the mountain. More and more people move forward. The Chinese are everywhere but mostly in the front line. This place is like a zoo and I remember Pi's statement that the worst animal in the zoo is man.
The tripod becomes useless. The whole ridge turns orange then golden and more and more impressive. The only pictures you can take right now are "Dhaulagiri and Chinese", "Dhaulagir and Chinese couple", "Dhaulagiri and Confused Chinese". Eventually it becomes "Dhaulagiri and Chinese Group". All 30 or so Chnese are having thir group photos done while they laugh, giggle, shout, scream, shriek. It seems like everybody else went silent. They won.

The views are breathtaking and overwhelming: the peaks unfold from the left: Putali (Butterfly), Dhaulagiri, Tukuche, Dhampus, then Nilgiri, Tilicho, Annapurna Fang, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre to the right.Below the gree lush valley. What a feast for the eye!

Towards 6:30-6:45am the crowds are starting to go back down to Ghorepani. I need to go pack my bivvy and stuff before going down.
When I return to the hilltop with all my stuff packed - except for the bivvy sack which still needs to dry on the outside - there are only few people left. I had Pepe with me all the time but with all the people and annoyances I forgot about him. Now here's the opportunity to take some pictures of him with Annapurna South and Dhaulagiri.
By the time I'm done with the pictures everybody has disappeared and it is so quiet again and the panorama so unbelievably beautiful. It is past 7am when I head down just in time to get to say once more good-bye to Gunhild and Johannes. Pipi is outside the lodge with a few other guides and porters and is smiling. How was my night? Excellent!

I take my time with breakfast and repacking everything. We only get to leave towards Tadapani after 10 am.
Basically we have completed the Annapurna Round - it would be just this one day to get down the mountain and to Pokhara. But I didn't get enough and I have decided to go to the Annapurna Base Camp. Pipi has never been there before and so I am playing the role of the leader again. And I have reached the state where I do not have any expectation from him. Therefore, I am ok to have him along carry my pack if only to allow me to run around and chase butterflies. And there are lots of butterflies around.

After saying good-bye to the blue village on the col and a few "last pictures" I follow Pipi into the jungle. At first it is an easy walk through rhododendron forest, then it starts getting steeper and later we get into open pastures. Cows and buffalos are grazing and the views - lost while in the forest - are back again. We get up a hill almost symmetrical to Poon Hill. Its name is Gurung Hill. Here, instead of the ugly metal structure there's a traditional resting platform built of rocks and slabs towered by a pole and numerous Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind. Lovely and simple, traditional and colourful. And the views as stunning as from Poon Hill.
I take more pictures, of course.

The trail now follows the ridge for a while before it enters again the rhododendron forest. You can always get a glimpse of Annapurna South through the branches. I would like to see these places again in spring with all rhododendrons in full blossom. It must be mindblowing.

After several ups and downs we reach Deurali a kind of rest area with some souvenir stalls and a few garden restaurants in the middle of the jungle. Lots of people are stopped here but we only take a very short break. From here the trail descends steeply at first then continues with gentle ups and downs crossing a few creeks, and passing another similar rest area.

We stop in Banthanti where Pipi has lunch and I only get a tea. I had some cheese and a snickers on the way (same as Pipi) and don't feel hungry at all. We are also close to our destination. Tadapani lies on the col on the other side of the valley. From Banthanti the trail descends steeply for some 200 vertical meters, crosses the stream over the new bridge and then goes up steeply on the other side to the top of the col where Tadapani sits surrounded by jungle.

Tadapani is a cluster of some half a dozen guesthouses with nice patios and good views of Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre. As usual, at this time in the day the thick clouds have taken care of the views and people are looking for spots to sit in the sun.

After an almost cold shower I take my book and finish reading it. Since there's no electricity in the rooms but there is a bulb on the floor balconies I end up sitting outside late. I pull a wooden bedframe that was almost in front of my room and move it to a convenient spot, right under the bulb. I can read here and write and wait for a picture opportunity.

I have to not miss the views at sunrise when the clouds will be gone.