All posts tagged: Trekking

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek 3 (Tadapani, Grandruk; Nepal Travel Review Series)

Day 4: Tadapani to Grandruk Panorama Hotel Teahouse at Tadapani awoke us to the most amazing view after Poonhill – a different side of the Annapurna ranges including Machapuchare (Fishtail) Mountain. It was an experience of a lifetime eating Shin Ramen breakfast facing these amazing Himalayan mountains. More photos of the amazing view: After breakfast, it was a relatively easy descent in the forests, and we stopped by Lonely Planet Restaurant for my favourite Chicken Dal Bhat this trip. It was my favourite, because shortly after we ordered our lunch, the lady boss walked downhill to her backyard, plucked fresh leaves and broccoli, brought them back to her kitchen to watch and cook for us! Nothing gets fresher than this! We arrived at Grandruk after a leisurely 3-4 hour walk for the day. I found Grandruk extremely scenic, with fields of wheat growing, nice cascading fields and donkeys on nice cobbled stairs. Our teahouse for the night, Manisha Hotel was also the most “advanced” hotel we had the entire trek, with attached bathroom n one …

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek 2 (Ghorepani, Poon Hill; Nepal Travel Review Series)

Day 2: Thikedunga to Ghorepani Right after breakfast, we embarked on our “3000 steps” morning on cobbled rocks and loose stones, occasionally giving way to donkeys coming downhill with chickens and suppliers for the locals. I think I climbed 300 steps (which is already 15 floors if you think in city terms) and I asked my guide if we are near…he laughed and said we have at least another 1.5hours to go. It was then I realized how bad my judgment on distances and height was :P. It was heartening to have many trekkers with us, encouraging one another. It was humbling to see older porters carrying 40kg on their backs or local old men carrying heavy logs passing us! Our guide also told us that his grandfather, who is an ex-gurkha, who is in his 70s but still able to walk with 30kg load today. All these sights and stories only remind me of the mental barriers I have created for myself. If so many other older people can do it, I can definitely too, with God’s …

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek 1 (Tikhedhunga; Nepal Travel Review Series)

This is the blog entry I am most excited to write about Nepal, because the trek has been a life changing experience for me: 1)     All through my life, when things get difficult, I sometimes give myself excuses to stop going. But on this trek, no excuses are allowed and I cannot give up because if I stop, I will have no tea-house to stay at for the night and I will be stranded in the mountains, so the only option is to keep going no matter how exhausted I was or how much my leg muscles were crying. Despite having mild food poisoning and a cold at some point on the trek, God helped me to keep going, one step at the time, to complete the step. 2)     I tend to limit myself in my thinking especially in relation to physical fitness, for example, I can never do a marathon or a vertical marathon (~climb 90 stories in Singapore Raffles City). But without realizing it, on day 2 of the trek, we had to …

Phraya Nakhon Caves @ Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park

The Phraya Nakhon Caves were an unexpected find on this trip. We had initially planned to do absolutely nothing in Hua Hin; just rest and sleep. I was just surfing on the national park nearby and came across a very familiar picture of a temple glowing in a cave, then I remember seeing this picture in “Places to See before You Die” (on Facebook) before. It turned out where we were at Aleenta Resort and Spa is only 40 minutes drive to Laem Sala Beach, which is how to get to see this unique Kuha Karuhas Pavillon built in 1890 for the King in the Phraya Nakhon Caves. The National Park website said it was a 30 minutes walk so we decided to check it out after breakfast. Firstly, DO NOT be fooled. The entire journey back and forth took 3 hours in the end! We are not the fittest people but I am pretty sure no one can reach the caves and back in 30 minutes because it would be dangerous to be running on …

Khaoyai National Park

Khaoyai National Park is the third largest in Thailand, covering an area of 2,168 square kilometers. On July 14, 2005, Khaoyai National Park, together with the Dong Phaya Yen mountains further north was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   This national park is not as well maintained as the ones in the US or Australia, and the driving signages are not very clear, but it has a unique rustic feel. We drove in to visit 2 waterfalls – Haew Narok and Haew Suwat. Tip: If you are googling for locations of these waterfalls to drive to, type “Heo”, “Haew”, “Haeo”. Many different platforms spell it differently. Haew Narok Waterfall (น้ำตกเหวนรก) is the largest and highest waterfall in the park. While the signboars says this is only 1 kilometre walk from the main road to the viewpoint, my endomondo said I burnt 580kcal because it is a steep flight of stairs in the last 300metres, which also means quite a climb when you are coming back up! But worth the exercise, the waterfall has considerable strength. Haew Suwat Waterfall (น้ำตกเหวสุวัต) is a famous waterfall (I believe …