Day 69 - Booking Our Trek & Exploring Pokhara

Booking Our Trek & Exploring Pokhara,

We awake early today, we have some planning to do and a trek to book. We decided early on that we wanted to trek within the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepals largest protected area of National park in the Annapurna range of the Himalaya's. We received a few quotes while in Kathmandu, all of which required us to take a trip to Pokhara as day 1 of our trek. We already wanted to see Pokhara, it seemed silly to include it as a day of trekking when we could get there ourselves for cheaper. With this in mind we decided to get new quotes and book a trek while in Pokhara then make the 70km trip to the start of the conservation area as day 1 of a trek.

Our hotel manager is extremely helpful and is very keen to help us make bookings for anything we may need including a trek. He tells us he knows of a guide who has 10 years of experience and has done many treks.
We look up some other recommendations on trip advisor based on price, previous experience and environmentally friendly ratings. We spend the morning talking with these companies, asking for their opinions on treks, guides and pricing. With this information we decide what trek we want to do and then head back to our hotel to talk to the manager. He agrees with the trek we want to do and the duration, he is very competitive with prices and beats the other places offering us a cheaper price for a package that includes, permits, guide, transport, 3 meals and accommodation. We have to supply our own alcohol, water & insurance.
He sets up a meeting later that afternoon for us to meet our guide.

We walk around the lake admiring the brightly painted wooden boats, flowering trees,  restaurants, street dogs, cats & the cows that wander around freely through the town. Its another hot & humid day, I am envious of the local Nepali people who are swimming in the lake, unaffected by the bacteria in the water. We cool down with a beer as we wander around.

After lunch down by the lakeside (veggie burgers) we meet our guide who's name is Run, pronounced like Rom. He sets a large map down on the desk and we begin to plan our trek. Starting with how many days and nights we want to be away, what we want to see and how high we want to go. We decide on 5 days & 4 nights away & we want an easy - moderate trek. I have a previous knee injury that given the chance will play up & put us in difficulty. For this reason as well we decided on a fairly touristy trek route with phone signal and wifi signal if the need emerges. We want to be high enough to see the Annapurna ranges with their snow coverings and feel the thin, clean air, but neither of us have done any altitude training and are reluctant to be sick for another second while in Nepal.

Everything happens so easily and quickly! The trek is booked and paid for, we leave the day after next. Run gets 2 passport photos from us to organise our Permit into the Annapurna's and our TIMS (Trekkers Information System Management) which is a system to prevent illegal trekking operations and to help keep trekkers safe.

We celebrate that night with a fancy dinner out in a restaurant! Trekking in Nepal is a Bucket list item for most people, including us. It feels good to know we have it locked in!

Sleep that night was hard, despite the wine, I was so excited lying in bed imaging the mountains!

- Alli