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Sunday,
14th March, 2004
I
was given a shout at 5.25am with the news that I had been hoping
for. The weather was clear, therefore Poon Hill awaited me.
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All
the effort was suddenly worthwhile as the sun rose
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At
5.30am I had grabbed my essential gear, warm clothes and my camera,
and headed up the track.
I was
a little late, but soon had to slow down as I was out of breath
very quickly. My heart and lungs were working overtime to give me
the energy to keep a steady rhythm up the steps.
Although
I left late, I soon caught up with and overtook the tourists, snaking
their way up the route with guides and head torches. I had my night
vision and a desire not to miss the sunrise to keep me going.
I had
climbed the 700 ft in about 40 minutes. I bought a sweet hot tea
from an enterprising Nepali and wandered around the hilltop, looking
for a good spot to watch the show.
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| I
was not alone on Poon Hill. |
The
light was improving by the minute and eventually the sun caught
the top of Dhaulagiri. All the effort was suddenly worthwhile as
the sun rose over the next hour.
As
soon as the sun was up the tourists disappeared, leaving a few of
us to enjoy the peace and quiet of Poon Hill. I reflected that I
was a third of the way up Mount Everest, although about 300km away!
I
needed to get back to the village as we had a long way to go that
day. Our descent to Tatopani was steady but very long. On the way
I had to meet another welfare pensioner, but he too was in the forest
cutting wood. We waited but after two we had to go ourselves.
Later
on I came across a school examination in progress. All the pupils
were sitting in uniformed straight lines outside their classrooms,
bathed in sunlight.
Eventually
we arrived at our next stop. I had descended about 7000 ft in 7
hours and all I could think of was getting into the hot springs
that the small village of Tatopani (in English 'Hot Water') is famous
for.
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| It
was exam time for one group of school children. |
The
hot spring was the size of a small toddler's paddling pool but deeper
and was only being used by western trekkers.
And
the water was very hot! Without swimming shorts I just stripped
down to my boxers and got in.
I was
surrounded by many others in the same boat. Whether male or female,
everyone was sitting in the water or on the side, wearing only underwear.
It was very surreal.
Sorry,
no photo has been supplied!
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