Elevation gain: 3,904’ to 6,300’ (+2,400’)
Estimated miles: 8km
Time: 12:30pm-5pm
After our wet and long day yesterday we decided to sleep in a bit, and wait for our clothes and packs to dry. Everything was wet it seemed. And our already heavy packs were now even more heavy. So, we had a nice breakfast, enjoyed the sunshine, and rested until about noon.
We decided to take a side hike to the Poon Hill look out. In this part of the trek, one can decide to hike along the road or take a bus/jeep back to Pokhara, thus ending the true trekking portion, or one can decide to take the hypotenuse to Pokhara and trek off the road for a few more days via Poon Hill. We were not ready to call it quits, and heard the Poon was a great view place, so we took the extra days side trek.
The trail was steep, humid, and nothing but switchbacks it seemed. Before departing the main road, however, it became clear that no Jeeps would be passing by anytime soon, as yesterday’s rain storm had caused several very large landslides, and no one was making any effort to clear them. Unless you were walking, you were not getting out of Tatopani.
On our way we passed a grassy area with white horses, looking so mythical they almost looked like unicorns in their native habitat.
We also came across what had to be the world’s largest slug, a huge wooly caterpillar, and ended our night as the only guests in a beautiful tea house with great views.
