October 28, 2011: Ghandruk to Pokhara
The day dawned overcast for the last day of our ten day trek. Everyone was keen to get going, if a little groggy after all the dancing and partying the night before. The camp was packed up and each of us got our day pack ready for the last time. Warmer temperatures meant that shorts came out and the lower elevation meant that we all had an easier time hiking. Our shortness of breath and challenges making each step uphill at the higher elevations were now a faint memory, even though it was only a few short days previously that we had been suffering.
Cleaning Up After Breakfast
Our Last Breakfast on Trek
Left: Nukhet, Sandie, and Linda
Right: Jim and Others
Jan, Jim, and Karalee Waiting
Linda, Dagmar, and Marian Just About Ready to Start for the Day
Jane, David, and Sandie
Leaving Our Camp Site
Jim, Judy, and Kath
Porters Pack Their Loads
Our Sherpa
The trail meandered among terraced fields with the path carefully laid with stones. As happened every day of the trek we were stopped from time to time by children singing and begging. Razzu of Samsara Journeys, our Kathmandu based guide, asked that we not give to beggars as he believes it spoils both the children and the experience for future trekkers. By 11:20 am we were in Birethanthi for lunch.
Terraced Fields
The Stone Path
Karalee On the Trail
Children Singing by the Trail
Our final lunch was inside a restaurant. All the porters, cooks, and sherpas sat in the clearing next to the restaurant. Shyam, our Sirdar, called each one by name and we applauded each of them as they entered the restaurant. Marian gave each person an appropriate tip, in an envelope with their name on it, as recognition of how well they had looked after us.
Final Lunch on the Trek
Left: Karalee, Jan, Jane, Dick, Unknown, and Nukhet
Right: Linda, Judy, Jim, Dagmar, and Sandie
Shyam and Razzu
Porters Wait to be Called
Marian Greets A Porter
Our Sirdar Shyam
After lunch we walked across our last bridge, through a small town, and boarded a bus headed back to Pokhara. It was a relief to sit down in the bus and realize that we had all made it to Annapurna Base Camp and back on each of our own two feet. The bus followed a switch back road that eventually passed Phedi where we had started our ten day trek.
Karalee Crosses the Final Bridge of the Trek
Our Bus to Pokhara
Once in Pokhara, we all checked into our rooms, had a shower, and most of us had a nap. We all arranged for our laundry to get done, as most of us had few clothes left after almost two weeks in Nepal. David walked to the main street where he found an Indian barber to give him a haircut and a shave. It was felt wonderful to have ten days of beard taken off. Then we headed off in small groups to have dinner at various restaurants. It was the first time in over a week that we had not eaten together as a group. It was a big festival day and after dinner the street was filled with people singing and drumming to celebrate the Brother and Sister Festival.
Our Laundry Place
Drummers in the Street for Brother and Sister Festival
More photos are available in David's Annapurna Sanctuary Photo Set.
Our trip was organized and led by Marian Leighton of Vancouver, BC with local support for our trip provided by Razzu Tuladha of Samsara Journeys based in Kathmandu, Nepal.