Looking for a 3-day hiking route from Pokhara.
As we approached to the end of 2018, we realized that we hadn’t planned our Christmas holiday travel, so we decided to embark on a hike for Pokhara, Nepal. It was a quick decision. But the real challenge was that we had only 3 days for hike, while many of the routes in guidebooks are either 1 day or 4+ days. We asked several agencies for advice, and one agency suggested a 3-day plan that looked pretty good, covering a good part of a typical 4-5 day hiking route. So we decided to go with it. In fact, the route was really great. Here I’d like to share the route we walked.
Starting the 1st day
On the 1st day, our 4WD left Pokhara at 8:00am. The weather in Pokhara that morning was sunny and clear. It was a 3-hour drive to Kimche (1700m), which was the starting point of the hike. The road was very rough for the final hour and I guess that trekkers would walk the section if they were doing a 4-5 day hike.
Our walk began at Kimche (1700m) at 11:30am. In the beginning, we passed through valley forests. The route is relatively flat and there is a river running alongside it.
We passed by several villages, which are Gurung community settlements. We had lunch at one of the villages with a great view of Fishtail, Annapurna South, and Hiunchuli.
Entering forests on the ascent to Thadapani
After lunch, we continued along the route in sunny conditions. The slope was still moderate and it was a very pleasant walk. There are small tea houses in places and we stopped a short break at one of them.
The latter part of the afternoon hike was in subtropical forests. We were able to glimpse the beautiful views of Fishtail and Annapurna South between the trees from time to time.
The end of the 1st-day’s hike at Thadapani
After a total of 5-hours’s walking, we arrived at Thadapani (2630m) at 3:45pm. We had a full view of Fishtail from the open space in front of the lodge area – the view is just great! We spent time enjoying it until sunset, when the whole mountain range took on a pinkish-orange glow.
The night at Thadapani was bitterly cold – minus 5 degrees. Everybody in the lodge gathered round the heat source in the dining space. It was strange taking a shower in that cold environment, but I couldn’t stop. While the water, thankfully, was hot as it came out of the showerhead, it had quickly become freezing by the time it reached the toes. After the freezing shower, we warmed our bodies with the signature Nepali rum, Khukri XXX Rum. Up until that night, I had always enjoyed Khukri XXX Rum with Coke, but I learnt also learnt it goes very well with hot water.
The 3-day hiking route that we walked
Day 1 (5 hours’ walking): 3-hour drive from Pokhara to Kimche (1700m). Trek from Kimche → Ghandruk (1950m) → Tadapani (2720m). Overnight at Tadapani.
Day 2 (6.5 hours’ walking): Tadapani → Deurali (3100m) → Ghorepani (2860m) → A short round trek to Poon Hill (3200m) for the sunset → overnight at Ghorepani.
Day 3 (5.5 hour’ walking): An early morning round trek to Poon Hill again to catch the sunrise. After breakfast at Ghorepani → Hille (1520m). 3-hour drive to Pokhara.