Poon Hill Trek

The Poon Hill trek is a classic route in the foothills of the Nepali Himalayas with some spectacular views of the peaks of the Annapurna Range. During high season the trail is very busy with parties of trekkers but we were here during monsoon season with a group of students from Shropshire and whilst we did have some fairly challenging weather we barely saw any other trekkers on our walk. The trail is mostly in pretty good condition although we did come across some landslide areas, and the main challenge lies in the seemingly unending steps that link the different villages and teahouse accommodations.
We started our Poon Hill trek by the roadside at Nayapul at an elevation of 1070 metres. After being introduced to our guides and porters we set off through the village to Birenthani where we handed in our trekking permits before climbing in hot and humid conditions to Hile where we stopped for lunch. It was tough with the heat but we followed a river valley with views of funerary platforms and rice paddies and enjoyed some great food to energise us for the afternoon! After crossing our first suspension bridges of the hike it was time to take on the notorious 3500 steps to Ulleri. As we climbed the rain started to fall but with plentiful stops to enjoy the incredible views the team continued doggedly until we reached the pretty village where we would spend the night. Whilst the more energetic members of the group headed off to play basketball most of us settled down with our mugs of chai and drank in the views from the rooftop terrace.
The view the next morning was even more spectacular with Annapurna South peaking through the clouds, a stunning start to the day. After a breakfast of delicious Tibetan bread and eggs we climbed out of the village and into the rhododendron forest. We had been warned about leeches during the monsoon season and in this forested section we came across them for the first time. It was another sunny morning and we passed trays of beans, chillis and corn drying to prolong their useful life. Another hearty lunch, this time we had deep fried Momos, the ubiquitous dumpling, and then we continued to the larger village of Ghorepani where we were staying ahead of our 3.30am wake up to attempt the Poon Hill summit for sunrise.
Unfortunately at 3.30am the rain was torrential and accompanied by peals of thunder and flashes of lightning which meant we had to make the difficult decision that it was too risky to climb to the summit. A few hours later when we headed off the rain was still falling very heavily and this set the tone for a challenging third day. The leeches were out in force as we climbed up to Thapla Danda at 3165m, the views from here are, apparently, spectacular but we were wreathed in cloud as we stopped for a group picture at our highest point of the trek. We had a long descent, made tricky by the deluge, through a real “Lost Earth” type valley with huge waterfalls tumbling over sheer precipices, even in these conditions it was spectacular. The teahouse where we stopped for lunch stoked up the boiler and we dried out a little bit before continuing to Tadapani where I realised the accommodation was the same one I had stayed in many years before on my Annapurna Base Camp hike! We had a convivial evening playing cards, drying kit on the boiler and consuming huge portions of food to replenish our energy after a tough day.
The rain had stopped for day four which was a short, downhill hike to the settlement of Ghandruk, a Gurung people village cut into a steep hillside. We saw a few Langur Monkeys in the forest as we descended and came across a few Water Buffalo grazing on the outskirts of the village. Ghandruk is a spectacular place and we spent the afternoon exploring it visiting the Annapurna Conversation office, a small Buddhist temple and the local museum. The views across the rice fields were amazing and again the boys managed to find some games of basketball and football to get stuck into.
Our last day on our Poon Hill trek provided probably the best views of the whole walk, certainly my photos from day five are my favourite. The trail was a long, at times steep, descent through lots of farms, small villages and rice fields all hacked out of the steep sided vally. The skies were blue and the views across the valley to waterfalls and distant settlements were truly spectacular. We passed goats, naked kids bathing in rice fields, haystacks, stray dogs and brightly coloured buses bumping along horrendous roads. After another chai stop we followed the final stretch of road across a couple of fast flowing streams to reach Birenthani where we finished our trek with delicious bottles of ice cold water and a huge plate of Dal Bhat, the quintessential Nepali trekking food beloved of trekkers and porters across the whole country.
Even without summitting Poon Hill and even with the weather on day three this was a brilliant trek. The landscape is varied and interesting and the distant views of the big mountains, although fleeting, were wonderful. The Gurung villages make no concession to tourism but the teahouses are welcoming and comfortable. The team did a great job and everybody agreed the hike was one of the highlights of our trip. I have always found trekking in Nepal is never anything less than spectacular and these five days have done little to dispel that view.