From Muktinath back to Pokhara (days 11-16)

So...the final 5 days of the trek remain, and I will whizz through them in pretty much the same wy that we seemed to! In Muktinath, after nearly 11 hours of walking I had my first REALLY hot shower since starting this trip. It was fantastic. For moments it was actually scolding hot! For a comparison, at one of the places we stayed I was parceled off with a bucket of hot water and a scoop to a small wooden hut on stilts, everywhere else there have just been very cold showers.
Later in the evening we also visited the Muktinath temple, a place of pilgrimage for many Hindus. It is significant because there they found a natural gas from the ground, hot stones and water, which unites air, water and fire in one place.

From Muktinath we carried on the steep descent to Marpha. We passed through the Nepali desert, which is in the rain shadow of the mountains and stays dry even in the rainy season. The rivalley was cut away dramatically with cliffs on either side giving it the same dramatic look as the Grand Canyon, carved out of red rock. It was tough going along the valley bottom because the steep cliffs acted as a wind funnel an we blown backwards by air and dust. The trail was also a rudimentary jeep track and sometimes jeeps would pass flicking stones out as they went. When we reached Marpha it was like an oasis in the desert. The town was built on a patch of flat land to one side of the river and the wind shadow of anothermountain. It was surrounded by the most green we had seen all day and is the "apple capital of nepal", famed above all for its apple brandy, which of course we were obliged to try.

A couple of days further down we reached the town of Tatopani, which translates literally as Hot Water. The town is famous for its hot springs, although the locals pump the wter into two stone pools to make more space. We spent a relaxing couple of hours resting our aching legs and feet in the pools, in preparation for our final big climb the next day.

The final big climb took us up about 1800m to Ghoripani, it was then just another hours climb up to Poon hill (a 3200m hill) which is famed for its stunning views of the mountains at sunrise. It was another early start, and at 5am of our last day we started the climb up to see the sunrise, along with a trail of so many people the glints of head torches seemed to form a path all the way back down the hill. I really need to put a panorama together to show you, because the top of the hill commanded a 270 degree view across both the Annapurna range and the Dhulagiri ranges, but here is a botch job that my camera has done (don't look to closely, but it gives youthe idea) of the Annapurna range.

We returned to the guest house fpr breakfast and then made a 7 hour hike down hill to Nayapul where our trek ended and we got a taxi back to Pokhara. The final day was spent passing through terraced farmland that looked like it was straight out one of those aerial picture books and waterfalls that looked like they were straight out of Timon and Pumba's paradise in the Lion King. It was both happy and sad to have finished the trek, we were more than happy with some clean clothes, warm showers and a lie in, but it was sad to leave behind such incredible, stunning mountain scenery as we have had the chance to explore.