Days 32-35 - Beautiful Ghandruk

Sinuwa - Chhomrong - Jhinu - Gandhruk - Pokhara

It's sunny and beautiful again in the morning and I enjoy my breakfast with Machhapuchhre in view. People are running up and down the trail while I sip my tea and read. The red, yellow and orange flowers are more vivid after the rain. The sky is blue and there are lots of butterflies around again. I like this place.

We only get going after 10am. The next stop is the bakery Chhomrong where I promised Pipi a coffee and some cake. After the first flat section we reach again the stairways. Lots and lots of people are coming up. Many look tired ior even exhausted from climbing the many hundreds of steps.
I can't help but stop quite often to admire the views, the beautiful terraces and houses of Chhomrong. Nonetheless, I reach the bakery before Pipi and order coffee and chocolate danishes. There's a table in the sun on the patio overlooking the valley and Machhapuchhre rising above it. It's all perfect.

We spend here more than 1 hour. People pass either way. Some porters are carrying their baskets full of rocks to be used in construction. Can you imagine the weight of those baskets. In turn trekkers with no pack are breathing heavily and look totally distressed on the stairway.
Our next target is the restaurant farther up the hill where we stopped on the way in. I loved those momos and thought of them so often. The place is only 10 minutes away. The lodge owner is pleased to see us again. His wife is worried " But I have no tomatoes". "Please", I assuyre her, "I'm sure I'll be happy even without tomatoes in the momos".
Waiting for lunch I read and take more flower pictures.

After lunch, however, I get to witness something very interesting.

A man, the vegetable provider, arrives with his produce in 2 large baskets connected by a fairly long and sturdy bamboo pole. The pole is resting on his neck and shoulders while the baskets balance sideways.
As he arrives he puts down his load and the woman comes to do her shopping. After some bargaining she gets a few kilograms of tomatoes, a little bag of ginger and another of chillies. Altogether 240 Rs.


The man repacks his produce, puts the burden back on his back and continues up the hill towards the other guesthouses.
I was an ignored witness to this and could take a couple of pictures. Now I keep thinking about the hardships and injustices in life. For all the stuff the woman bought for 240Rs the man has worked hard to bring up, others have worked to cultivate and harvest. My daalbhat costs 240Rs or more and probably the ingredients in it cost only some 30Rs. How money goes; how people work hard for survival!


We leave Chhomrong eventually at 2:30pm. The final destination for the day is Jhinu a little hamlet at the bottom of the valley, about 1 hr away. It's all descent to get there, and steep. In Jhinu there are hotsprings and people are excited about those. There's nothing else other than a few guesthouses. Ity is also too deep down in the valley to provide any mountain views. But you can still see the terraced slopes of the opposite valley.

I am welcoming the hot springs for one reason only: laundry. So I do the 30 minutes hike to the springs and wash all I can. I aslo get to wash myself under the warm jet. Then I dip into the hot pools for maybe 10 minutes and then I'm ready to go. For me this place is boring. A group of Russians are taking most of the pool and they're drinking alcohol. They seem to be having a great time. I conclude that hot springs are soemthing for a group. It's a very social spot, someplace where you can hang around with friends or maybe make new friends.

On the way up I meet a lot of people. It's like a pilgrimage down to the hot springs. However there's a short time interval when I don't meet anybody. I'm walking thinking about the fact that I did not see any langurs all these days. Then suddenly something moves almost under my feet and I get scared: a snake! Oops. I have to be careful where I step.
Now that I'm looking carefully where I step at some point I hear branches breaking. Naturally, I look up again.And here they are: 3 langurs chasing each other high up in the trees. I can see them jumping from branch to branch, then they disappear.
I'm left smiling and soon grinning. I finally saw these monkeys!

The rest of the way up and the day is uneventful. I read and write and sit and eat. Today was a very short day but after yesterday's performance, it feels good.

The next day starts sunny again and I take my time. The laundry is still wet or damp but, eventually, I have no choice but to pack it in like this.
The destination today is Ghandruk, a village in the Annapurna Sanctuary said to be among the most beautiful if not the most beautiful Gurung village. We can't see it from here, but I know it's located on the slopes of a valley beyond the one we see. There will be some ups and downs involved.


The trail leads us first steeply down to a bridge over a Modi Khola tributary, then back uphill in a more gentler way.A lot of people are coming up from New Bridge going up to ABC. However, at the traiul junctyion we take the trail to Chhomrong and that's where the human encounters almost come to an end. We're off the beaten path and I love that. At most we meet locals. The trail is lovely skirting the slope and offering great views of the valley and Lhandruk, the sister village os Ghandruk.
For a long stretch the trail is nothing more than the narrow faint path at the edge of a millet terrace. You can't stop or sit down, there's simply no room. And the distance between 2 terrace levels is surprisingly high. I am delighted and take lots of pictures again. This is walking through the millet fields at its best.
Ghandruk is still some ways ahead, we need to go down a gully and then up a long steep slope. It is getting hot and I'm getting very hungry. For whatever reasons today I forgot to take any biscuits or Snickers, like I normally do.
I ewven run out of water and feel quite tired when we finally reach Ghandruk.
It surely is a big village with nice houses and lanes. There are lots of guesthouses, some quite disgustingly big.
We stop at Gurung Cottage, a lovely guesthouse overlooking the valley and with lots and lots of floers in its garden and hanging baskets as well. There are even small tables and rattan chairs under the roof in front of the rooms where you can sit and read or sleep sheltered from the rain.
This is luxury! The room I get has 2 large beds and an attached bathroom. Furthermore there's a table and a chair and a desk and a chair in the room. The only thing missing is a computer, really.
From the patio you have great mountain views provided there are no clouds. As usual in the afternoon it is getting cloudy again. We only have time to enjoy lunch outside in the sun - and I order 2 dishes, this is how hungry I am ! - and then the rain starts.
But I don't mind the rain. I manage to go on an exploratory tour later and visit the small Gurung Museum showcasing most of the objects and tools used traditionally by the locals. The English labels are sometimes funny: "It is used to guard the babies of sheeps" or "It is used to keep the milk safe from cats and other pests" :-)

It is so beautiful and peaceful here that I simply can't leave the next day. Pokhara, the city is only one day away from here and I don't feel like returning to the city. Pipi seems to be ok with one more day of not doing much.
The next day starts with a failry cloudy sunrise and continues with a lot of rain. I am lazing around like never before. I don't even leave the cottage garden. I take in the views and I read. I talk to the hosts and help with some vegetable cleaning tasks.

The following day, however, I cannot postpone the departure any longer. After yet another breakfast in the sun with views I pack my stuff. Before leaving I take a few pictures of the family and promise to help them with their youngest daughter's education.

From Ghandruk the trail descends more or less gently to the bottom of the valley over several hours. It's a walk on mostly slab steps again amid millet and rice fields, past many guest houses and garden restaurants, past houses and little shops. We stop and eat some oranges on the way, then some yak cheese and finally apples.
In one spot we need to cross a stream an discover that a landslide caused by the recent rains has destroyed the bridge. Two twisted logs across the stream provide the necessary support.
When we finally reach the valley bottom and Syauli Bazar the scenery looks so much different. The village is ugly and dirty. Lack of hygiene is obvious and I am a bit disappointed. The tidyness I got used to has vanished here. I don't feel like stopping here, Pipi. Let's continue to Birethanti for lunch.

The trail continues fairly flat to Birethanti whcih we reach around 1pm. Here we need to cross a bridge to the left bank of Modi Khola and then we stop to eat in a small restaurant where most trekkers seem to have stopped.
From hewre there's only about 20 minutes walk along a very dirty and dusty road lined up with stalls selling everything imaginable. Then we reach the main road and the bus stop. A lot of people are returning from town. You can figure that out based on the clothes they're wearing - not the daily work clothes - and the bags and stuff they're carrying. They went shopping in town.

I am stubborn. I don't want to pay the fare Pipi negotiates wityh a taxi driver: over 1000Rs. No, we're taking the bus. And so we do.
Hot, dusty and crammed, this is an experience you don't want to miss in Nepal.
The bus ride takes about 1.5 hours over narrow winding roads. But the views are wonderful of these valleys and slopes with their terrace patterns.
In Pokhara apparently we still need to take a cab ride to get us to the guest house. Pipi says we can't walk it's too far. Oh, well. Anyway in total the whole trip costs us less than 200Rs.

The guesthouse Pipi takes me to is on a side street and so it's nice and quiet. The room is very nice and not pricey: 400Rs. It has an attached bathroom and hotwater. What else can you wish for. There's just one minor detail here to solve: Pipi says there's no place for him to sleep and he will share the room with me tonight. Oh, no! No! pipi, you go get a room just like this, I'm paying for it, but I want my privacy.
And so he does.
Then we convene to meet in a little and go for dinner together. I promised to take himn out for dinner and beer tonight, but first we both need a shower.


Pipi has been many times to Pokhara but cannot recall/recommend any place to eat. I am left to decide and hence pick a restaurant with a patio. It is very warm outside, feels like summer.
We both enjoy the dinner; I can see that Pipi is very happy with his steak and beer. After 5 weeks of daalbhat, no wonder.
After dinner we go for a walk along the main street. He needs to get his bus ticket for tomorrow morning, I would like to get him a proper trekking T-shirt. I kept telling him that he should stop wearing cotton T-shirts/shirts while trekking. The local gear stores have lots of cheap (and fake) "The North Face" equipment among which proper T-shirts.
But Pipi wants to also get a haircut now that I gave him the money that I owe his agency for the extra 2 weeks of trekking. So we'll see each other again later at the guest house to say good-bye.

I am back to my room for a while now when Pipi comes by. He has a nice haircut and wears a new yellow T-shirt under his black vest. He looks cool (he likes looking cool, by the way). I've never seen any man spending so much time arranging his hair every day :-) Between the two of us I think Pipi spent ten or more times more in front of a mirror than I did over these 5 weeks. Most of it arranging his hair.


Pipi has a surprise for me - a good-bye present. It is a little black shawl with lots of colourful knots on it. I am touched. And he is a bit emotional. Our good-bye tends to become emotional and so I rush him out of the room with my best wishes and a hug before we both start crying here.
In the morning he's leaving early to catch his bus to Kathmandu. I am going to stay a few days in Pokhara. The trek is over.