Day 4 started at a leisurely 7am with the usual Tibetan bread and porridge before we got our bags and headed out. The mornings get noticeably cooler at this altitude and we started the trek in fleece jackets, but still in shorts. It didn’t take long until we had warmed up though and were back to shorts and T-shirts.
The path on day 4 becomes noticeably less trafficked, but there are still a few vehicles coming past. We followed the road for the first part, before turning off into a woodland track. The path goes quite steeply uphill, crossing a road before finally emerging on the road again. I can’t deny that it was a great relief to not be following the road with all the traffic and the dust it kicked up.
At around lunch time we passed a local apple orchard, with a farm that made various apple based products including apple juice, cider(!), apple pies, cakes and doughnuts. It made a great place for a break in the sunshine.
The road ascends gently for a few kilometres before finally reaching Lower Pisang. From there the trail to Upper Pisang was just a few minutes but rose steeply upwards towards our home for the night.
Our teahouse was an amazing place with incredible views towards the Annapurna mountain range and a wonderful dining area with a wood fired burner in the middle of the room. Outside was a viewing platform with benches to maximise the view.
After ordering dinner we were taken up the hill to the local Buddhist monastery, where we were invited to meditate for a few minutes before soaking in the view of the Annapurna mountains. This monastery was the home of the Dalai Lama himself for 2 years after he fled Tibet following the invasion by the Chinese forces.
After dinner we played our new favourite group game, bananagrams, before retiring, ready for an early morning dash to the monastery to watch the sunrise.
No responses yet