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Pokhara to Nayapul Drive, hike to Hile
Trekking Summary
| Start |
Nayapul (1050 m) |
| End |
Hile (1490 m) |
| Distance |
~8 km |
| Elevation |
Max: 1490m (Hile) Gain: ~450m, Loss: ~10m |
| Trekking Time |
3 - 4 hrs |
After spending 3 days in Pokhara -- waiting out snow storm, resting after Annapurna Circuit trek, and exploring the city -- it was time to begin second part of Annapurna trek: iconic Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). First order of business was to get to Nayapul; small town in Nepal interior, usual starting/ending point. It was a short day: relatively quick ride (~1.5 hrs) in Nepal public bus I was already familiar with, followed by 3-4 hours of undemanding walk on village roads and good way to ease myself into the daily routine for following 8 days that were considerably longer and more demanding.
Short walk from Bus stop in Nayapul and I arrived to Birethanti. This is where TIMS checkpoint is, and where I had to stamp my Permit. It is essential to do so, because there are checkpoints higher up and you’d be turned away without it. Exiting Birethanti you cross the bridge and come to junction. Going right would lead to Ghandruk and short version of ABC trek; this would be my exit route on Day 9. Left is longer version via Ghorepani and Poon Hill. Incidentally this is also last part Annapurna Circuit (assuming one goes clockwise as most people do, and decides to hike entire circuit). Day was beautiful, sunny and warm and I quite enjoyed gently rising road road walk, passing several small villages along the way. Some 10-15 minutes before Hile, my intended overnight stop, route leaves the road. One could also easily drive up to here, then maybe overnight in Ulleri higher up on Day 1, but I wanted to walk as much as possible so this was ok. Soon after I arrived to Hile and picked the lodge, still basking in afternoon sunshine.
ABC is considerably busier than Annapurna Circuit even in off-season, and later on I met nice Argentinian girl during dinner. Trekking all by herself, she spent several weeks in India prior to coming to Nepal and had quite a few interesting stories to share. This is one of interesting aspects of Nepal trekking: You have a chance to meet all kinds of interesting people from all over the world with different background and stories. Temperature dropped significantly as soon as the night arrived, and I went to bed early as usual.
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Pokhara Bus Station. Mt. Macchapuchre (Fish Tail) rising magnificently above
