Traveling from Kathmandu to Pokhara in the monsoon is an experience, per se. Our journey began early in the morning, on a 6:00 am tourist bus. The sky was gray, and the roads were wet from the rain the night before.
The drive was fine at first, but after Galchhi and Nagdhunga, the road turned muddy with rough sections. Fortunately, there were no landslides or any major blockages, just slow movement on slippery patches.
By the time we reached, it was 3:00 PM. And as we arrived, the rain started, sweeping away all the dust from the streets. Pokhara was clean and fresh. We decided to stay in Pokhara for the night and continue our journey the next day.
The following day, we took a jeep from Pokhara to Kande, covering the distance of 27 kilometers. The road was completely paved and smooth. Travelers can either take local buses, taxis, or hire shared jeeps. Local buses depart from Baglung Bus Park and Zero Kilometer (a place in Pokhara), which usually takes time. So, we decided to hire a Scorpio and drive for about 1.5 hours to get to Kande.
The trek started from the village of Kande. The trail to the Australian Base Camp was short but steep. The trail seemed well-maintained, and the stone steps continued without end, which made it a little tiring. It took us about 2.5 hours of trekking to reach Australian Camp, where we had lunch. From here, we got our first clear view of the Annapurna mountain range, and in my head, I thought about how long it would take to get to the Mardi Base Camp and what the trail would look like.
After lunch, we resumed our trek towards Pitam Deurali. This part of the trail featured a gentle incline into the forest. We later discovered that we could take a jeep directly to Pitam Deurali in about 2 hours. We, however, decided to hike for about 4 hours and spent the night at the Nice View Lodge in Pitam Deurali.
After a quick breakfast at Pitam Deurali, we began our walk to Forest Camp. The name describes it; it is a camp surrounded by deep forest.
It rained heavily overnight, and thick fog covered the whole Forest Camp. You could see Annapurna and Machhapuchhre from here on a clear day, but unfortunately, our view was blocked. Walking into the clouds still felt refreshing and magical.
The rain had made the mud and stone path slippery, and there were leeches everywhere. Some even fell from the tree branches, one of the drawbacks of trekking in the monsoon. I slipped once, not in the mud but on the wet stone steps. Quick Tip: Don’t turn around to chat unless you love surprise hugs from the ground. The initial portion of the trail was quite gentle, and passed through a rhododendron forest and sections of temperate jungle with oak, maple, and magnolia trees. From Pitam Deurali, it took us roughly 6 hours to reach the forest camp.
The following morning, we began the trek to High Camp. It was the monsoon season, so parts of the trail were extremely waterlogged and very slippery, which made the hike just a little more difficult. The entire hike took around six hours. After another three hours of walking, we stopped for lunch at Badal Danda. At this point, it felt like we were walking above the clouds, with the rain from earlier clearing and giving us spectacular views of Machhapuchhre Fishtail Mountain, Annapurna South, Mardi Himal, and Hiunchuli. Badal Danda is a good viewpoint and at 3,210 meters, so far the best views that I have seen in the Annapurna region.
After enjoying the magnificent scenery for almost an hour, we continued towards High Camp. The trail ascended steeply, and since we were above 3000 meters, the air was thin, which made it harder to catch my breath. After another three hours of climbing, we reached High Camp. As expected at this altitude, the rooms at High Camp are pricey, ranging between 1500-2500 NPR per person, and meals we expected would be approximately 1,000 NPR each. Still, being surrounded by all these amazing mountains made it all worth it.
The following day was one of the most anticipated events of our trek. All of us were stressed that we were going to miss the views of the mountains, and that feeling of overwhelmingness kept us awake the night before. The weather report indicated that rain was not in the forecast, so we got up early at 4 am, excited to begin our hike to the viewpoint. The trail was steep and took us about two hours to get to Mardii Himal Viewpoint. The morning fog made us a little nervous as we were unsure if the mountains would even show themselves at this point. But gradually, as we got closer, the fog began to lift, and then, all of a sudden, the clouds parted and revealed the most amazing scene.
The breathtaking mountains opened up to us like a dream. After a few days of heavy rain and fog, the view appeared remarkably clear as if nature was saying thank you for sticking it out. At that time, we felt we were unbelievably close to Machhapuchhre and Annapurna South; we could almost reach out and touch them. We were filled with awe and gratitude, and it certainly became a moment we would never forget.
Sadly, we only had clear views for roughly 30 minutes before the clouds rolled in again. That is how mountain weather works! We were grateful for the moment, took a number of pictures, and descended. Many trekkers continue to Mardi Base Camp, which will take about 3 more hours, but we decided to head back.
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