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Nepal is broadly known for its mountains, views, and trekking spots. Some of these places even rank top in the world. Out of these, though not ranked at the top, is Panchpokhari. It is a trekking destination popular due to its view at the top with five ponds, as the name suggests. From the viewpoint, we can see about four mountains including Machhapuchhre.

Instead of a three-person trek with my mom and dad, we went with a women’s marathon group, in which my mom was also a participant. It was a five-day trek, where we’d spend 3 days going to the top and getting a look at the viewpoint, then the marathon would be on the fourth day, where the participants would get down to the finish line a bit farther from where they had started. But it would be easy as they wouldn't need to carry a bag, which would be carried by the porters.

The journey started after the drive to Chhimti, from where we walked about 4 hours to Tupidada. When we got there, the electricity was gone, so we had to rely on our phones and flashlights to get around. However, we arrived there at 7 pm when it got dark, so we didn't need to make a hassle anywhere. On the second day, our destination was supposed to be Noshyampati, which was said to be 12 kilometres away, though that's just the distance if you go in a straight line, I think the total distance was around 15 kilometres.

When we got there, it was about 3 pm, and we were supposed to stay there for the night and wake up to get to the base camp the next day which was 3 hours away. However, that would mean we’d miss the golden hour for the viewpoint, which is an hour away from the base camp. So, out of the marathoning group, a majority of us decided to reach there a day early. Most of us were tired from walking since the morning, but we gathered up the will and courage and got there by evening. There, we spent some time admiring the lakes and planned to get to the viewpoint the next day.

The other day, early in the morning at 4, we woke up and got ready for the hardest part of the trek. We headed out at five and started the path, which was a bit confusing as there were many ways leading to the viewpoint. The others found a safe but long path there, however, I got lost in the middle of the path. But I could slightly see the mountain peak and found out that's where I needed to reach. But there was no path, it was a slanted slope covered with massive rocks. Normally, I wouldn’t be as reckless as to go myself on a bit dangerous off-road way, though the adrenaline got to me back then.

Since the rocks were bigger than me, and there were hundreds of them, I had to grip onto those rocks and basically mountain climb my way up there, and so I did. The whole time I was sore from all the walking yesterday, but I just kept one goal in mind ‘Get to the viewpoint fast or you’ll miss the point of the trip’. Solely with that purpose, I was filled with even more energy and climbed my way scampering through those rocks. And my motivation hit at the best time because I got there just in time for the golden minute.

It was such a captivating view there that I almost forgot about my struggles, and the view was just like the ones people had posted online, which I thought were only from the camera's perspective. But I saw for myself the beauty of the mountains. After staying there for a while, clicking photos and admiring the view, my parents got up too and we all went to a tea shop at the edge of the viewpoint. There we drank yak milk and also bought some chhurpi. After a while of staying there, we got back down to the base camp and rested there until lunch. Then, we occasionally went on walks every few minutes and found out from one of the people that we could bathe in the small pond near the temple.

We hadn’t bathed for the duration of the trip and decided that we would go bath. It was so cold up there because we were about 3700 metres high just at the base camp. And when I first tried to get in the pond, my body was so shocked by the cold that I stopped feeling my leg. I panicked for a second then quickly got out of the water. However, I realised that it was fun, and went in for the second time, now able to submerge myself completely for a second or two. Then, for the third and last time, I quickly got in, washed my hair, and got out of the water. It felt so cold in the water that I wanted to get out as soon as possible, but after a few minutes I wanted to try again, but I was worried that I would catch a cold, so I didn’t. After that, I spent the rest of the evening resting.

The other day, it was the day of the women’s marathon. The participants had their hopes high and were all aiming for the top until a national runner by the name of Nirmala Rai arrived. They all felt like they got here for nothing. As expected, the national runner completed the race within 2 hours and 50 minutes, setting a record for both the men’s and women’s marathon. While the marathon was going on, the men had nothing to do so we just started walking a bit later.

After a long day of walking, we finally reached back to Chhimti, the place where we had started. We were supposed to stay there for the night, but there was already a jeep waiting for us, so our group decided to call other jeeps and all head back the same day, completing the trip a day earlier, which we did. Overall, it was a great journey, and my hardest but most worthy trek till date.

(images from the view point)