Namaste Nepal “Interested about real Nepal? Then, go for a trekking.” This suggestion from a friend sat us out for our Poonhill trekking at Annapurna Range of Himalaya, Nepal. A two hours bus ride from Pokhara through a serpentine road amidst green terraced farmlands and lush highlands took us to our starting point Noyapul. Reporting at Birethanti with our TIMS and ACAP cards, finally we started. The unforgettable escapade began with greetings from silvery white Modikhali river. Keeping her at our left, we walked through a few ethnic villages. Bamboo forest took us further deep into the heart of the alpine woods. We had our lunch at a road-side hut with traditional “Nepali Thali”- a local dish of rice, lentil, mustard/radish leaves, cabbages, potatoes, pickles, and curd. All the items of this dish were from their own farming! By evening we reached Tikhedunga. The teahouse at Tikhedunga was at such a place where three expansive waterfalls met together and gave birth to Modikhali – the river that we walked beside most of the day! The breath-taking beauty here would leave you dumb! The mighty sound of the waterfalls would make you deaf! Only a few blessed people on earth can be in a place like this to be deaf and dumb and be euphoric at the same time. The cheap lodge ($3/4 per night) promises a good night’s sleep with the priceless running lullaby of the waterfalls. Day two started with a steep climbing of some 3200 plus something roughly arranged stone stairs. Only! The motivation of climbing was to be baffled by the ongoing hide-n-seek between the bluish green cliffs and thin cirrus clouds. Secluded settlements and also some tiny stalls were there with supplies of cookies, chocolates, mineral water, apples and other fruits. Hundreds of brooklets crossed our path, letting us cool down our steamy cheeks. Other trekker and porter groups bade “namaste” when they met us. “Namaste” means “the God in me is honouring the God in you”. Alluring scene altered at noon as we entered thick woodlands. Villages are sparse in this part. The narrow trail was rather surrounded by gigantic prehistoric oak and pine trees, and their mossy branches. Suddenly one might feel like being an intruder in Jurassic park movie set or in the mysterious world of Harry Potter. Get ready to be captured at any moment by the hungry goblins hiding behind the extra-large ferns - asking for a part of your liver as an appetizer! Don’t get scared! You’ve got the superpower of the mighty waterfalls. Hundreds of waterfalls, streams, creeks – in whatever names you call them – were there - continually chanting their mystic songs to make you feel safe, feel unified with them. We hiked over myriads of rivulets on our way. At one point of the trail, a huge cold stone was so near that it almost touched our heads. And ice-cold water dropped from that stone to reach the nearby stream. Iron or wooden overpasses were built on comparatively large flows. With one hour lunch break, it took us almost ten hours to reach our lodge at upper Ghorepani (2874 metres). The long day’s marvelous chronicle was completed when we looked through the window to grasp the reflection of the setting sun on the snowcapped mountain tops. And, clouds floated under (!) that window of heaven! Day three started at four in the morning by climbing 2458 steps to reach the highest point of this adventure – Poonhill, at 3210 metres, to bid good morrow to the sun. We’re lucky to climb just on time to be a part of one of the most heavenly beauties on earth. One by one all the ivory mountain peaks of Annapurna range, Daulagiri, Nilgiri, Annapurna South, Annapurna (I,II,III,IV), Gangapurna, and the famous Fishtail (Machhapuchhre), from West to North-West to North to East were turning golden orange to reddish saffron! “Majestic” Himalaya indeed! The five coloured prayer flags; meadows blooming with blue, purple, and yellow flowers; murmuring wind; songs of crickets and unseen wild birds; melodious streams, and panoramic tall pinnacles tell the tale of a different aesthetic world where everyone is upholding the honour of the God in the heart of the other! Namaste!