2 APRIL 2023 SUNDAY - POKHARA TO KIMCHE & TREK TO GHANDRUK

Altitude Gain: 2,760 ft to 5,440 ft (by bus)
Trek Distance: 3.7 km | Trek Duration: 2 hours | Altitude Gain: 5,440 ft to 6,561 ft

Yesterday (i.e. on Saturday) evening during the Team Meet & Greet session, the trek lead Vivek had given the following clear instructions to the members. The left luggage & offloading trek bags duly packed to reach the reception by 8 AM. Breakfast would be served by 8 AM. Bus would leave by 930 AM.

Accordingly we set alarm & got up by 6 AM. Visited a local shop for morning tea. Had a nice bath (not sure when we would get our next shower!) & reached in time for breakfast. At the breakfast area we met another group of trekkers from TTH who were covering a different trek, ABC - Annapurna Base Camp. As the trekkers were having their breakfast, Vivek announced that rains were predicted later in the day & the earlier we leave & start the trek, lesser our chances of getting caught in the rain.

By 9 AM - breakfast completed, the group members were ready for the first part of the day's schedule, a 55-60 km drive by bus to Kimche, that may last approximately 1.5/2 hours. After a group foto, and a hearty "Ganpati Bappa Morya" the group members boarded the bus. 90 minutes drive later the bus reached the point from where our trek would begin.

 

 The Khopra Ridge Eleven : L to R : Avinash Rao, Shubra, Yogesh, Dr Suhas, Yours truly, Dr Swamy, Sumathi, Bany, Ashwin, Shridhar & Aditya


 


Vivek assembled the group members & gave last minute instructions. Bhim kaka would be the lead; Shure, Choten & Vivek would be among the trekkers ensuring that in case anyone gets delayed, one amongst these 3 would always be available. The 4 porters would be on their own. Our destination was about 2 hours away. By now dark clouds had started gathering in the sky.

With a loud shout of "Har Har Mahadev" the group started the trek. The weather was chilly. 30 minutes into our walk it started raining. As I have mentioned earlier, the temperature fell sharply when it started to rain. The ponchos / raincoats came out. Out of the two hours trekking we did today, almost an hour &  a half was in the rains wearing ponchos / raincoats.

 

 

We reached the camping area by 145/200 PM. Post room allotment, group members settled down to a nice hot lunch. Most of us opted for a meal plate with dal, rice and vegetables. Swamy, Sridhar & myself had brought along some spicy powders which could be added to plain rice and convert it to tamarind rice or curry powder rice or lemon rice. We opened a packet of puliyodharai ready mix powder. When mixed with plain rice this gives tasty tamarind rice. The trek leaders had instructed us not to doze off after lunch. Someone peeped out of the window & gave a cry of surprise. The sun was shining brightly and it was also raining mildly. Benny assured that when the rain & sun are together, a rainbow was sure to be seen.


Immediately after lunch the tea time was announced at 530 PM. When the group members assembled for tea & cookies Vivek took out a sheet and started noting the oxymeter reading for all the group members. This was to become a routine task for the rest of the trek as long as we were ascending.

Since it had rained and the altitude too was higher than the earlier day I did not wish to risk not wearing my thermal suit. 730 PM was dinner time. I repeated dal rice with puliyodharai mix. Immediately after dinner Choten borrowed a guitar from the tea house owner & started singing some songs. Soon others joined and it turned out to be a gala time. I enjoyed the music for sometime. Reclining in a cozy bed I took my e reader & spent an hour with Agatha Christie's Nemesis (a Jane Marple murder mystery).

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