After my visit to CIWEC Hospital (which can be found here), we went straight to The Boys Home and helped them with the homework we had prepared the previous evening. The boys were so clever and friendly; we played card and sports games with them for an hour before it was time to head back.

That evening we headed out for dinner as our host has Friday nights off. We all went to a restaurant on Lakeside which served a lot of Western food and I opted for a veggie burger and chips as I have been eating rice non stop. I left after dinner to get an early night as 5 of us had to be up at 4am for the Sarangkot Sunrise. I felt the western food sat quite heavy in my stomach as I had avoided grease unintentionally for over 10 days.

At 4am we all woke up and left the home stay at 4.45am to travel up the hill in a van to Sarangkot. The air was a lot cooler up here and we had a very good vantage point for the Macchupucchare and the surrounding Himalayan mountains. Our guide managed to get us seats and we ordered a hot drink to keep us going until 5.50am when the sun was due to rise. Unfortunately it was overcast for the whole morning and we didn’t see a sliver of gold over the landscape. However it was still a beautiful view and we were happy we attempted it.

After returned to the home stay, a couple of us grabbed breakfast at Himalayan Java and then it was time to see if myself and Pooja could go paragliding. Because it was so overcast, we were assuming that they wouldn’t be able to do it and we would have to postpone it. I was really hoping this wouldn’t happen as we had planned to do the Australian Base Camp trek on the Sunday. Luckily when we drove right to the top of Sarangkot, the conditions were okay to fly in and we went paragliding! It cost us 6000 rupees with photos and videos included. The views of Phewa Lake and the surrounding towns were spectacular and the acrobatics the instructors could do were phenomenal. We spent about 25 minutes in the air and it was worth every penny. An early birthday present to myself!

By time we got back I was absolutely shattered and headed to bed for a few hours. When I woke up I felt like I’d been hit over the head ten times, that feeling you get when you have a head cold. Luckily 1 litre of water with a dioralyte in had me feeling much better within half a hour and I was able to go to the Blind Tiger bar which was showing Shawshank Redemption. I had an iced chocolate and a hot ginger honey lemon to try and soothe my head and throat but I can imagine the dairy and ice of the first drink didn’t help. It was really cheap and this was the only place I’ve seen where there was no 10% service charge.

On the way back home I managed to slip whilst crossing a river of water and my phone went straight into it. The sound stopped working for a good hour or so and I was devastated. I managed to get it working and resigned myself to bed after a day of ups and downs.

The Sunday morning rolled around fast and after gearing up for the trek we headed to our starting point which was an hours drive from Pokhara. The views on the way were magnificent, we had a great view of the snow capped Machhapuchhare and of some of the surrounding mountains. We started our hike which consisted of stone steps all the way up. We all had a few breaks on the way as it was more taxing than we had anticipated. We reached the Australian Base Camp within an hour and a half and I had a masala tea at the little cafe there. Unfortunately the view of the Himalayas was obscured by clouds but we all felt a sense of accomplishment for getting to the top.

From here we carried on for another hour to Dhampus Village where we had lunch and relaxed for an hour or so. It was amazing to see that there was a large school here and that so many people lived this high up. The only problem hiking to Dhampus was that there were plenty of leeches to be found and many of us were having problems getting them off. I luckily only had one small leech attach itself to me; it managed to worm its way under my two pairs of socks and secure itself in place.

After lunch we were told it would be another hour and a half to the bottom but as it’s monsoon season, it of course lashed down with rain just as we were about to set off. The rain did let up for at least an hour and many of us were slipping as it was stone steps all the way to the bottoms. Our guides allowed us to take an easier but longer route which was just a stony path that wound around the hill. At one point I slipped on a step and I hit my lower back on the edge of the step behind as well as my forearm. Luckily there was no harm done except a bit of bruising. My hiking boots saved me from many falls and even one of the guides made a good remark about them.

We passed many women working the the fields and as I went to take my phone out of my bag, it slipped and fell on the ground. That is the first time i’ve ever broken a phone screen and was more than annoyed with myself. Just one more thing to fix once I get home; did I mention my normal daypack strap had already broken a few days previously? Thankfully Tom let me borrow his for the trek.

We eventually made it to the bottom at 5pm and we were all leech paranoid for the hour drive home. A hot shower later I was ready for bed but has dinner was daal bhat again, 4 of us headed to a pizzeria to enjoy a veggie pizza and a cocktail. By 9.30pm I was conked out in bed and slept through until 8am on Monday morning.

What a crazy weekend it’s been, I don’t think I could have fit more into it if I tried!

The Australian Base Camp trek is definitely worth doing if you’re ever around Pokhara, but I think the leeches have put me off wanting to do a longer trek anytime soon!

Jovi

* Trip sponsored by RTC Medical Solutions and Bangor University *