Steve and I had been dying to visit Nepal for years, but were initially hesitant to put it on the itinerary for our family sabbatical because our main interest was trekking in the Himalayas and we were worried our 7-year old wouldn’t be able to handle it.  We however were convinced by multiple friends who had been to Nepal that all would be fine, and we also realized that our 7-year old is among the fittest of the family, so he wouldn’t be a weak link.  We are super happy that we squeezed in a 2-week stop in Nepal that included a 7-day trek in the mountains. Such an incredible experience for us all in a beautiful and fascinating country.

Trekking in the Annapurna Region

I’ll start with the trek, as that is the most exciting part of our Nepal stay.  We chose to do our trek with the 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking company with predominantly female guides and assistants as trekking guides/assistants in Nepal are typically all male.  They are an amazing company that also runs an NGO Empowering Women of Nepal where they train local women with the necessary skills for trekking and guiding.  Many of the women they train are low caste women or socially disadvantaged, and who wouldn’t have otherwise had access to any kind of training.  They hire women from the training program and provide amazing employment opportunities, such a rarity for women in Nepal.  Thank you to my friend Angie for the 3 Sisters recommendation!

We were so happy with our guide, Sita, who had been guiding treks for over 20 years along with 3 young women as assistants (Amrita, Sanchita and Mangali) and one young male assistant (Ram).  It felt like such a luxury having such a big team with us on our trek, but it really took all stress away from the trek knowing that we were so well supported.  Planning was a breeze as the 3-Sisters were experts at designing treks suitable for families, also not common in Nepal. 

We flew to Pohkara, where 3 Sisters is based, and started our trek the next day from Nayapul, a 2 hour drive away.  Here’s the route of our trek (perhaps interesting for those who have been to Nepal but I’m writing this mostly for my own purpose so I have a good record of this somewhere!):

• Day 1 – Nayapul (1000m) to Hille (1500m) 
• Day 2 – Hille (1500m) to Banthanti (2300m)
• Day 3 – Banthanti (2300m) to Ghorepani (2900m) with a jaunt up and back to Poon Hill (3200m)
• Day 4 – Ghorepani (2900m) to Dobato (3400m), via a pass at 3600m in a massive rain/hail thunderstorm!
• Day 5 – Dobato (3400m) back up to Mulde (3650m) at the pass we zoomed by the day before because of the storm.  Then back through Dobato down to Tadapani (2700m)
• Day 6 – Tadapani (2700m) to Ghandruk (2200m)
• Day 7 – Gandruk (2200m) to Kliew (1300m) and a 2 hour drive back to Pokhara

Most days, we hiked only for half a day which worked well for our group, especially since the monsoon rains had arrived, and most afternoons had a heavy downpour.  Day 4 was our longest day and we got absolutely drenched in the afternoon rain.  The afternoons where we rested were a luxury with lots of book reading and card playing.

We stayed each night in tea houses, which are small, basic hostel-like guest houses, but very well set up for trekkers with yummy meals served and warm fires.  Each nightly stop was usually just a small cluster of tea houses (as in 2 to 5) without a town or any other amenities nearby, so it was very remote.  It all felt especially tranquil because we were at the tail end of the trekking season, so the tea houses were mostly empty, but with our big group we certainly took up space and made lots of noise to make up for it.  Electrical charging and wifi was at a minimum for most of the trek, so we (the adults at least) enjoyed the disconnectivity. 

Our trekking route had theoretically amazing views of the Annapurna range with many peaks above 8000m (26,000 ft) but unfortunately it was cloudy and/or foggy for most of the trek.  That being said, the majestic mountains would pop out of the clouds fairly often, so we were able to stitch together the panorama in our brains (without AI, amazing) because we did see the whole range, just not at the same time.  We had specifically good views of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machhapuchre, Annapurna Fang, Annapurna 1 – unfathomable to us that most of these had been climbed at some point, they are so so high and inaccessible.

Overall, such a great experience and now that we are back in the city, we are certainly missing the mountains.  Our team was so kind and super fun to be with and they taught us so much about Nepal and the mountains.  They doted on the kids, especially Lucas. I don’t think he’s ever been given so many cookies!!  I would trek again with the 3 Sisters in a heartbeat, so if anyone is thinking of heading to Nepal, check them out.  

We have a zillion photos, but here are a few highlights. So hard to capture the snow covered mountains with the clouds!

Visiting Kathmandu

We had a couple of days in Kathmandu both before and after our trek.  We had scheduled these cushion days because we had heard that weather can cause big delays with interior flights and we also wanted wiggle room for our international flights in case anything went awry.  All went smoothly however and while Kathmandu is a super interesting city, I think we’ve spent so much time in Asian cities so far on this trip, that we’ve stopped appreciating the amazing history and culture that we are seeing.

That being said, I’m glad we had a chance to see Kathmandu.  Now 10 years from its devastating earthquake in 2015, it’s been mostly reconstructed but still feels like a city frozen in time.  The old town where we are staying is much less developed than the other SE Asian cities we have visited and while it caters to tourists, you do get a real sense of Nepali everyday life here as well.  We visited the Durbar squares in both Kathmandu and nearby Patan, with impressive structures and in Kathmandu we caught a glimpse of the Royal Living Goddess (Kumari) (check out her story here, a tradition so foreign to us).  

The old city is full of alleyways and hidden courtyards filled with shrines and temples, which were so fun to explore.  Even on major streets there seems to be a shrine on every block.  The city is certainly a sensory overload with micro businesses selling food and wares in front of every house/building, lots of construction, and so much traffic, but we enjoyed the walkability which was a change from recent countries (no one walked anywhere in Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia – too hot I think!) .  We were also particularly impressed by the Buddist prayer wheels at most shrines.  Spinning such a wheel apparently has the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers – such efficiency!

Visiting Pohkara

We also spent a little time in Pohkara before and after our trek. It’s a half hour flight from Kathmandu and a common gateway city for treks in the Annapurna region. It’s a fairly quiet town, but we enjoyed browsing the shops, going for a paddle on Phewa Lake, squeezing in our first run in ages and of course having a quick game of soccer. Unfortunately we didn’t find any locals to play soccer with, but were joined by two grazing cows in the middle of the game.

Coming up next

I feel like words didn’t properly describe how amazing our trek was, and how much I would recommend doing one…so if you want to hear more, ping me and we’ll chat when I’m back!

We’re just packing up now in Kathmandu heading to Turkey tomorrow. We are slowly getting closer to home which is hard to believe. Still a little over two months of travelling to go however and we are excited about what is coming up.

Thanks for reading!