Trek: Day 10 of 11

Hike start: Jhinu Danda (1.780 m)
Hike end: Pothana (2,000 m)
Length: 14.8 km
Ascent: 840 m
Descent: 600 m

This happened to be my birthday for which I did intentionally plan this trip. Wanted to celebrate my 50th doing something unusual, thrilling and challenging. Spending with this lovely bunch of people was just such a big bonus. Sadly this was also a day three of our fellow hikers left the group as they had to get to Pokhara a bit sooner. There was a road nearby and a 4x4 was able to pick them up and drive them to Pokhara 2.5h away.

We parted ways just after crossing the biggest hanging bridge I have ever seen in real life. Called the Kadoorie Bridge. Compared to many other shorter ones we crossed, this one was very stable. Most of the bridges we crossed we able to swing quite a bit. Us monkeying about them had absolutely nothing to do with that ;) This one as you can see from the photos is quite well laterally secured. The rest of us continued southwards through some of the most breathtaking scenery we have seen on this trek. Some of the terrain was quite challenging and the paths in areas not paved as elsewhere. We also passed what would be in my opinion the most picturesque waterfall I have ever seen. It looked like it was animated for a Disney movie. And it was actually located next to a cow pasture. I must say those cows had the most idyllic homes.

Not that long after we started to see more signs of civilization. Our first vehicle and road. Well, it was a gravel track, but it was still a road cars could drive on. This is where the path became a bit more boring as we were basically on the road. This continued up to our lunch location at Namaste Guesthouse in Tolka.

We had two options after that. Either continue on the road and take a loner route or go over the hill and cut the hike short about 30 minutes. It somehow came down to me as the birthday boy. Ha ha, no pressure if I got it wrong. Anyway, the guides seem more keen on doing the off road option which we ended up doing. Loosing the last few ounces of energy we climbed up the hill and we actually seem in good spirits. That was the point a couple of the hikers mentioned they felt a but feverish and with a sore throat. I was fine at that time. This changed by the time we came to Pothana, where we stayed in an originally called Hotel Vacation Home And Restaurant Pothana. Had my first beer since Pokhara. Really had to given the occasion. As a birthday bonus I got to shower first yaaay. Unfortunately only a few of us were able to use the shower as it broke soon after.