(Finally catching up on our blog posts!)
After a few days in Kathmandu and a weekend in Nagarkot, we packed everything up to head to Pokhara. The bus station was right down the street, but with all of our stuff (plus the 40lbs of school supplies we brought as a donation to a local Pokhara school) we opted for a taxi. However – the taxi driver didn’t seem to know where he was going, so we drove in a bunch of unnecessary circles until we finally found it. We were both nervous we were going to miss the bus, but we made it with a few minutes to spare. And true to Nepali time, the bus ended up leaving about 30 minutes late anyway. On the way out, we hit some traffic due to construction and road closures. This turned our 6-hour trip into a 9-hour trip. Awesome.
Anyway, we get there and luckily our ride to our hotel AND our trekking coordinator (Mr. Happy) are happily waiting for us. Not so luckily – Brandon left his phone on the bus. After a few phone calls and chasing down the bus, we managed to get the phone back before finally heading to our hotel – Hidden Paradise Guest House. After a very long day, this was a very relaxing view.
Day 1: Ulleri
The next day, we began our trek! We made our way to Happy Treks Nepal (thanks to Trip Advisor recommendations) where we met our guide (Tulasi) and our porter (Dharma) over tea. After an hour-ish ride to the starting point, we took another tea break. (Cab rides really take it out of you. But these cuties were very entertaining while we recovered.)
After that, we finally got started. I know what you are thinking, but don’t worry – we had the chance for more tea at lunch.
After a few hours of walking, we hit the stairs. We had heard about these never-ending stairs from other trekkers, but did not know quite what we were in for. At the bottom of the steps, Tulasi told us: 3,200+ vertical stairs! (Devon became suddenly all the more grateful that we had a porter. Also, Dharma is a beast.) Brandon actually counted as we went up, and we took 3,247 stairs to get to our first hotel of the trek where we of course had more tea. (We kid here, but seriously Nepali tea is amazing and truly warms your soul on a cold night.) While warming up, we could hear some local guys playing basketball – so of course Brandon went to join them. At first they seemed to be having a pretty serious game, but when it ended they started goofing on the court, and Brandon joined in to a game on 2-on-2. In his cargo pants and Tevas, plus with Devon all bundled up, we looked laughably American and I think they got a kick out of it. After that, we had dinner with a few people we met on the trail including Rosie from Australia, and Oscar and Asger from Denmark.
Day 2: Ghorepani and Poon Hill
We were not as sore and tired as we expected when we woke up the next day, which was a relief. As we prepared to leave we heard about a sick traveler at our hotel. He had already been there 2 days and they were trying to figure out how to get him back down to Pokhara. (He was a big guy – more than 6ft tall.) Horses could not handle the stairs. A helicopter was $2000 up front. So their solution? Weave a basket large enough for him to sit in and two porters would take turns carrying him down strapped to their heads. We could not believe it and wish we could have seen it in action, but we had to get moving. (Hope that guy is feeling better – wherever he is.) It was our longest day or the trek and it started with more stairs to get out of the village.
Along the walk, we kept tagging up with other trekkers and chatting. Devon got lots of funny looks for all her loud burps. (As we got higher, they got louder.) Tulasi officially named them “lion barks” which gave us a kick and we of course called them that for the rest of the trip.
Most travelers visit the viewpoint Poon Hill for sunrise, but Tulasi told us it would be warmer, less crowded, and prettier at sunset so we quickly opted for that. We had already walked 5 or 6 hours though, so the final climb up (and down) were a bit shaky. But the sunset was gorgeous! Brandon could not get enough of it and we were the last ones to leave.
On the way down, Tulasi entertained us with a Nepali folk song. It was really pretty. We asked what it was about. The answer: chicken love. (What?!?) He told us that there are different kinds of love and that is what the song was about. Pigeon love is fleeting and not real. Chicken love is deeper, stronger and sincerer. But duck love is the jackpot. You want to strive for duck love – which is a love so strong one partner cannot exist without the other. We have no idea how true any of this actually is, but we had a great time talking and laughing about it.
Day 3: Tadapani
Day 3 was a little rough. Brandon was not feeling great. We stopped often for tea – this time ginger lemon honey tea. But there was less uphill climbing now which made it a little bit easier. Tulasi also showed us local trees, flowers, birds and butterflies. He also taught us a little about Nepal during the trek. (In fact, we had a Nepal lesson after dinner a few nights.) We learned about the land, the language, the different cultures, religions and more. This day was filled with beautiful greenery and running waters.
At one point, we came across an area where little piles of rocks were scatter all around. We learned that it is customary in Buddhism and Hinduism to recognize peaceful places in this life so that you can more easily find similar places in the next life. Though they were meant to be for the person building it, we built one in memory of Devon’s exchange sister Leoni. She was sadly lost with one of her friends during the Nepal earthquakes last year and this felt like a good way to honor her memory. We hope it helps her soul find peace. 
The rest of the day was filled with beautiful views, and that evening was filled with laughter. This was the first (and only) hotel we stayed in on the trek where the showers and toilets were outside of the rooms. Plus it was cold! Some of the guides – including ours – got a good laugh at our novice attempts to get clean, stay covered and not freeze. As we waited on dinner, we played a Nepali version of Spades with Tulasi and Dharma. It was really fun to see more of their personalities when they were not in trek mode. Dharma was pretty sassy! When dinner came, we got another good laugh. Devon ordered a dish called “chicken chili boneless” off the menu. Turned out that the regular chef was away, and the interim chef (his dad) did not know how to make this. So he made something up and sent it out! It wasn’t great, but Devon happily ate it not wanting to cause a problem. But he must have gone back down and googled the recipe, because a little while later a small dish of the chicken chili boneless was set on the table. We were full, but made a point to eat it since he went through the effort.
Day 4: Ghandruk, a Gurung Village
We were both pretty exhausted, so we planned for a late start and slept in a bit. This was a pretty short day but filled with lots of greenery. We walked through a huge rhododendron (the national flower of Nepal) forest and even though they were not in bloom it was beautiful! When we got to the village, Tulasi took us on a quick tour. It was a pretty little village with great views of the countryside. Part of the tour included visiting a small museum about the Gurung tribes. There was a couple there (I think from China) that was having a lot of fun trying on the traditional clothing and taking pictures. When Brandon and I came out of the museum, they grabbed us both to take pictures with them. (We were still in our trekking clothes – not costumes.) We were baffled by it but obliged. 
Turns out the couple was staying in our hotel, on the same floor, in the room next door. We thought it was hilarious, but they were definitely a little embarrassed. Otherwise it was an early night. Brandon was still sick and Devon was wiped out.
Day 5: Back to Pokhara
Brandon was pretty sick at this point, we when we finished our trek we decided to skip the homestay we had planned and stay in town. The students we were going to volunteer with during the homestay were in the middle of exams anyway – so we would have been more of a disruption than anything and we didn’t want that. Mr. Happy took the school supplies to the school for us which helped make our load a bit lighter.
All-in-all we had an amazing trek. This one was only 5 days, but Brandon is ready to go back for a longer one.
Brandon & Devon (BaD) Journey 