Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Day 18 (Ghorepani to Ghandruk)
![The moon setting over the mountains.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-01-300x188.jpg)
![Dhauligiri, seen from Poon Hill.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-02-300x144.jpg)
![Annapurna I, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, and Machhapuchhre (from left to right, the four obvious peaks).](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-03-300x110.jpg)
![Looking toward Dhauligiri.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-04-300x173.jpg)
![Looking toward Annapurna I and Annapurna South.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-05-300x200.jpg)
![The prayer flags and Dhauligiri in the distance.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-06-300x188.jpg)
![All the early morning spectators on Poon Hill.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-07-300x145.jpg)
![The prayer flags on Poon Hill.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-08-300x180.jpg)
![Another photograph of the prayer flags.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-09-300x203.jpg)
![Yet another, with Dhauligiri more clearly visible in the morning sun.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-10-300x196.jpg)
![Closeup of the web of prayer flags.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-11-300x186.jpg)
![Another view of Dhauligiri.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-12-300x185.jpg)
![Nilgiri, Annapurna I, Annapurna South, and Hiunchuli peaks (left to right).](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-13-300x200.jpg)
![Another view of Annapurna I and Annapurna South, plus accompanying mountain peaks.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-14-300x195.jpg)
![View of the mountains, returning from the top of Poon Hill.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-15-300x183.jpg)
I woke up at 04:00 toady, got dressed, drank some water, grabbed my camera and headlamp, and walked out in to the night. I walked up the trail to Poon Hill, paid the entrance fee at the gate, and walked up to the top of the hill; I got there after climbing the stone steps for a half hour, at 04:50. I then admired the starscape in the cold night, watched the moon set, and then the sun rise. It was a relatively clear morning (there were some clouds under Dhaulagiri, but they did not obscure the fantastic view) and the mountains looked spectacular in the sun’s early glow; there were also many prayer flags strung up in the bushes and trees; I even watched one man string up his own prayer flags. After spending over two hours on top of the hill trying to take as many photos as my camera’s memory card could hold, I walked back down the hill and back to my hotel. I had a healthy breakfast of Sprite and a Snickers bar; then I packed my bag and set out for the day shortly after 08:00.
![The trail from Ghorepani to Deurali Pass.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-16-200x300.jpg)
![Poon Hill in the distance, with the viewing tower on top.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-17-300x184.jpg)
![The mountains seen from the trail.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-18-300x189.jpg)
![Annapurna South seen through the woods.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-19-300x187.jpg)
![An idyllic, fairy tale, part of the trail.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-20-300x200.jpg)
![Beautiful cliff face with trees balanced where ever they're able to grow.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-21-300x205.jpg)
![The trail through the woods.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-22-300x200.jpg)
![Stream flowing alongside the trail, surrounded by lush vegetation.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-23-200x300.jpg)
![Continuing down the trail to Tadapani.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-24-300x195.jpg)
![Walking through the rhododendron forest.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-25-300x200.jpg)
![View of forested hillsides seen from the trail.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-26-300x193.jpg)
![Deciduous trees standing out among the evergreens.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-27-222x300.jpg)
![Pack mules wearing bells, marching up the stone steps toward Ghorepani.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-28-300x200.jpg)
![Beautiful woods surrounding the trail.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-29-300x200.jpg)
![A split in the stone steps, just west of Tadapani.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-30-300x203.jpg)
![The town of Tadapani.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-31-300x200.jpg)
![The trail from Tadapani to Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-32-300x196.jpg)
![The green forests along the trail.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-33-300x194.jpg)
![Stream cascading down near the trail.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-34-200x300.jpg)
![Moss covered trees, dominating the trail view.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-35-300x200.jpg)
![A beautiful stream passing by the trail.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-36-300x200.jpg)
![Stone steps through the rain forest.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-37-200x300.jpg)
![Trail passing through the lush green vegetation.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-38-300x200.jpg)
!["Everything's so green!"](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-39-300x200.jpg)
![Hanging flowers found at the guesthouse I stayed at in Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-40-207x300.jpg)
![View of Old Ghandruk from the guesthouse I stayed at.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-41-300x200.jpg)
![Gurung bread.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-42-300x227.jpg)
![Vegetable momos.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-43-300x227.jpg)
![Old Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-44-300x197.jpg)
![Courtyard in Old Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-45-300x200.jpg)
![House in Old Ghandruk, drying out the harvested grain on the porch roof.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-46-300x193.jpg)
![Millet crop in Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-47-300x191.jpg)
![Stone hut slowly turning completely green.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-48-300x200.jpg)
![Stone steps leading to a shrine outside of Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-49-188x300.jpg)
![Home in Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-50-300x190.jpg)
![Small flowers like puffballs found on a wall in Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-51-170x300.jpg)
![The town of Ghandruk - in the foreground, a woman is collecting and piling up manure.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-52-300x192.jpg)
![Stone home in Ghandruk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-53-300x204.jpg)
![Terraced fields in Ghandruk being harvested.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-54-300x194.jpg)
![Firelight emanating from a home in Old Ghandruk during dusk.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-55-300x199.jpg)
![Fried potatoes.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-56-300x201.jpg)
![A local variety of dal bhat.](http://www.wolffchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/20141106-57-300x249.jpg)
At the beginning of today’s hike, I walked up more stone steps (ugh, I wouldn’t be surprised if the muscles in my leg just broke away from the bones from all this exercise; on the plus side, I should have a well-toned haunch at the end of this hike), heading up to Deurali Pass; there were a couple quiet spots on the way up where I had just as good a view of the mountains as at Poon Hill, the only difference being that Poon Hill had the photogenic prayer flags and the large crowd of eager people who don’t mind getting in the way of your camera. After Deurali, the trail ascended to the small town of Ban Thanti, passing through some lovely woods marred by an electric line and large sewage pipe that followed the trail (most people would have these utilities going straight up and down the ridge side; it really says something about the locals’ laziness to just follow a trekking trail). After Ban Thanti, the trail steeply descended, following a stream, through some very picturesque woods with sheer cliff faces and moss dangling from the trees – it looked like a painting created during the Romantic era, a fairy tale setting. The trail then reached another stream and climbed back up on some more steep stone steps (ugh!); it finally reached another high point at the town of Tadapani (the break away point for many doing the Annapurna Base Camp Trek); I continued on, descending through the woods rather steeply again. The trail then began to even out more as it passed through moss covered forests, looking like a rain forest (it sort of reminded me of the Milford Trek in New Zealand); finally, shortly after 14:00, I was in the town of Ghandruk; I had missed the turn off in to the old part of town (due to certain markings no longer being present), so I walked through the new part of Ghandruk until I found a trail descending to the one of the village centers of Old Ghandruk; I was then dismayed to see so much construction occurring in this part of Old Ghandruk and none of the didis at any of the lodges seemed all that welcoming; so I walked further westward (the direction I had come) to the other village center of Old Ghandruk; this appeared to be the better part, with some minor construction going on and an overall more peaceful atmosphere; I checked in to the Shangri-La Guesthouse where both the husband and wife had great and welcoming smiles, dropped my bags in my room, and then had my afternoon meal – Gurung bread (basically the same as Tibetan bread), vegetable momos, and a Sprite. After lunch, I walked around Old Ghandruk to see the lovely historic homes and farmland. I then returned to my hotel and had dinner (an interesting dal bhat, fried potatoes, and a Sprite – since beer is too expensive here, I find myself drinking more soda). After dinner, I prepared my camel-back and backpack for tomorrow’s hike; I then went to sleep.