Off treking in the Himalayas

After a lovely night in the Pavillions Hotel, which itself was located down a very dusty and bumpy dirt track outside of Pokhara (the day before the driver got lost and at one stage we were driving across some fields on a 'road to knowhere'), we set off to Lumle to start our first trek of 3 hours. The next 4 days we will be pretty much incommunicado, with no Wi-Fi. So, like the 'old days', back to just enjoying the time in this wonderful valley and foregeting the dreaded 'B' word (Brexit, of course). The scenery is wonderful, with fabulous views of the Annapura mountain range, that includes the quite wonderful 'Fishtail' mountain, called Machhapuchhre. Our treks on each of the days were lovely and each one so different, sometimes going through little hilltop villages, sometimes through fields, sometimes through the forest. We also saw village life in its most natural form, as the guide was born and bred in the area and seemed to know every person we saw!

We stayed at quite delightful lodges, run by Ker and Downey. All 3 lodges were run on the same lines, but each lodge had its own personal setting and character. And, to our surprise, each lodge had a 'happy hour', so an opportunity to have a beer or two 'on the house'!

For each day, we were up at 6.30am to see the sun rise over the mountain range, then a quick but filling breakfast, before our trek for the day. So, from our first trek crossing the Madi Khola river and gradually going uphill, to our last trek, which involved going downhill to the valley floor at Phedi, we embraced the beautiful weather and stunning views. All the villages we went through were pretty quaint, but amenities were basic; the life of a Nepalese in the countryside is hard, but everyone we saw had a smile for us and on occasion, children loved having their picture taken wit us. Our guide explained that he takes trekkers on paths that only locals use, so for many in the countryside, they rarely see 'foreigners'.

It was with some sadness that our trek ended with our drive back to Pokhara; but we both loved the fresh air, freedom, incredible views of the mountain range, the villages and lovely villagers, the scenery, the goats and kids (both animal and human) and the guide and porter who gave so much colour to our understanding of rural life in Nepal.