For almost a year and a half, our daily life was marred by despair and terror. I had to stay inside the house. It was difficult to enjoy the outside world.
But now the situation has changed. As corona infections have decreased, so has activity. Like other sectors, there is a glimmer of hope in the field of domestic tourism.
To make the tenth of this month meaningful and to make good use of the holiday, our family decided to hike Mardi Himal. I am very happy that I have not been able to go on such a journey for a long time.
After 10 minutes of discussion, I decided to go hiking with my husband and two sons.
The plan was made at 10 pm on Fulpati. That night we packed the essentials for the trip. On the eighth day, at 9 o’clock in the morning, we left the house by private car. There was no traffic jam on the road. We reached Pokhara at 5 pm.
We spent the first night at the Lakeside Resort, observing from outside the Pokhara International Airport. The next morning at 8:30 am we parked our car at the hotel and took a taxi to Dhumpus.
We reached Dhampus in about two hours looking at the beautiful scenery from left to right. Capturing the view of the open Annapurna and Machhapuchhre mountains in our minds and cameras, we set out on a trek.
Around 12:30 pm, we arrived at a hotel in Pothana to eat and relax. The hospitality of the hotel manager and the sweet dishes filled our minds with positive energy.
Even though it was late, I was happy to see the hotel business starting to get a bit tense.
The night was blinking. We stayed that day at a hotel in Forest Camp. Even there, we forgot the sadness of not being able to celebrate the tenth day when we were able to eat various dishes.
Welcoming the second day of the trip, after a short cup of tea, we proceeded through the deserted and dense forest. Many domestic tourists were returning and some foreign tourists were also descending with their porters and guides.
We had conversations with a number of hikers from Kokkatta and some of them were finishing the Annapurna hike and moving on again.
The footpath was clean and clear. The white and blue colors painted on the trees kept guiding us. After lunch at Badaldanda, we relaxed a bit.
At about 3 o’clock we reached the high camp and were captivated by the beautiful view of the beautiful mountains and the beauty of the sunset.
The number of hotels has increased compared to the past. Businessmen said that the customer pressure in the hotel has also increased in recent days. All goods have to be transported by mule and porter.
After dinner at that place, we quickly went to our bed. Because the next morning I would reach the view point and see the rays of sunrise falling on the mountain. I was curious to see how tempting that scene would be.
At 4 o’clock in the morning, in the light of the mobile torch, we climbed the stairs and started climbing. We reached the view point in about 2 1/2 hours. It is difficult to describe in words the beautiful view of the sunrise and the rays of sunrise falling on the mountains. After capturing the scene with our eyes and camera, we returned to Pokhara. From there, it is possible to reach the base camp by walking for another two hours. But we had to return to Pokhara.
After breakfast we left. We chose the Siding route out of greed to take the short route through the previous route to Low Camp. The road was badly damaged by rain water. After a five-hour walk, we reached Siding.
The downhill journey to Siding was extremely arduous, from which we also learned some lessons – not to choose a difficult path in a hurry. This hike would have been more enjoyable than I had imagined if I had just returned from Goreto. Overall, our journey, which was suddenly decided, was very exciting.
