The plan was to rise early, and like other days, I was the first one up. Even the hotel owner hadn’t woken yet—so, I had to open the door myself.
And there it was! The beautiful Phoksundo, showing off its deep charcoal blue color this morning. Let me remind you: The magic of Phoksundo Lake is in its color, which changes constantly due to different light reflections.
The sun hadn’t risen over the far west yet. As I stepped outside, Didi joined me. I let her handle her morning chores, while I headed upstairs to grab my ‘travel pouch‘.
It contained all my essentials like brush, facewash, and, luckily, a handwash too—because the owner didn’t bother with soap!
I ran into Dhakal ji soon after, checked on her headache, and apologized again. Good news—she wasn’t mad at all; in fact, she laughed it off.
Eventually, everybody woke up, got fresh, had our usual morning tea, and we were all set to hike up to check out Phoksundo’s ‘Y’ shape.
Phoksundo got its name from ‘Phokso‘ (lungs) because of this shape, but you need to get to the so-called third viewpoint to see it.
As usual, Didi, Nisha, Anup, and Sandesh led the way, followed by me and Prashosan. Sahil and Samundra joined us shortly, while Ram was still lingering in the hotel.
This trail was even steeper than before. Anup sir was the first to reach the top.
Prashosan and I stuck together all the way up, keeping hydrated and marking a rock with “Bhishu’s Viewpoint” along the way. Hope it’s still there—on the path to the first viewpoint.
Turns out, the Phoksundo viewpoints weren’t officially marked, so we just started naming them ourselves. The first viewpoint has a proper seating with a big rock and a tree.
The second one? Not entirely sure where that was.
The third was tough to reach—exactly what we were aiming for. But as we went on, we realized the big rock we were looking for was on another route entirely!
We’d come too far to turn back, so we claimed our own viewpoint here, snapped pictures and videos, and called it the fourth spot.
Me, Prashosan, Nisha, Samundra, Sahil, and Sandesh were here. Anup sir joined us and decided to go further, while Didi arrived a bit later and Ram only reached halfway.
We decided to return and climb the third viewpoint instead. Ram and Didi waited for us, but with how steep and tricky it was, the group advised against it.
Nisha and I went anyway. Even though we didn’t reach the very top, we declared it our fifth viewpoint. We could see the whole lake from here—a breathtaking view, indeed!
Maybe a bit higher would’ve been even better, but we were more than satisfied with the current view.
After soaking in the vibrant blue Phoksundo, we decided to head back. By now, the wind was picking up, and after all those dips in the lake (and changing clothes in the chilly air), I was already feeling a headache coming on.
Heading down, Nisha mentioned her knee issues, which made descending harder.
We missed taking photos at the first viewpoint, so we made a quick stop there. I managed to lie down on top of the tree branch for some photo poses.
Nisha stacked rocks to make a cairn for another wish…
We walked slowly, chatting all the way down, and ran into Sahil and Sandesh along the way. Anup sir was still off exploring the lake’s other side, while everyone else had already returned to the hotel.
Once we reached the hotel, we were all set to have our lunch before heading off, but this buda hadn’t prepped anything. So, we quickly packed up and waited for Anup.
Once he arrived, we decided to hike down to Jharana Hotel for lunch. It was already afternoon though, so we weren’t sure if we’d find lunch there.
We lingered, taking in our final moments with Phoksundo, and remembered to book our bus tickets to Kathmandu in case we lost network later. Our chow chow was going to be the only lunch today.
I sped down ahead of the group and waited for them at one of the rest areas. I was already feeling sick and worried about running a fever, so I kept a quick pace while trying to confirm our bus tickets.
Most of the group had work waiting for them, and they’d need a good rest before heading back to reality. But for me, I wasn’t quite ready to move on—this Phoksundo trek had been exactly the break I needed.
Soon, Prashosan joined me, and we were almost at Jharana Hotel when Anup sir called, asking us to slow down since others were struggling.
So we took a break, ordered black tea, and finally confirmed our bus back to Kathmandu.
The team arrived within half an hour, and everyone was thrilled—the toughest downhill stretch was over. After a round of tea and laughter, we were all set to keep moving.
Nisha and Didi asked me to walk with them, so I fired up my speaker, and we set off together, jamming to the music.
Our next stop was Shey Karnali Hotel to pick up clothes we’d left behind.
Everyone else went ahead while I took my time, listening to music and soaking in nature. Samundra and I snapped tons of videos, and when it started drizzling, we quickly put on our raincoats.
As soon as the rain stopped, Samundra and I took ours off, while Nisha kept hers on—earning her the nickname ‘Yeti’ from Ram.
Didi, Nisha, and Ram had their own laughs while I had to backtrack a bit to retrieve my trekking stick, which I’d left behind when taking off my raincoat.
As we walked, Samundra, Sahil, and Ram picked up their pace too. Didi and Nisha stuck together, and I was alone, pausing at different spots to take in the views I had missed on the way up. The music was my hiking buddy by now.
We kept a slower pace but focused on keeping everyone safe. Team A took the lead to book the hotel and Team C waited for Team B at different stops.
Confused about teams? Read it here.
We finally reached Renchi, where we probably had the best stay of the trip. I was feeling worse by now and hoped for a good night’s sleep.
So, we went for our own luxury rooms this day. Sandesh and Anup shared a room, while the rest of us were happy to each have a single bed—a huge step up from last night!
After freshening up, Samundra, Ram, and I asked for hot water and washed our heads, feeling instantly refreshed.
Then, we sat down for a hearty dal bhat with Chyangra’s meat. It wasn’t perfectly cooked, but its unique flavor and the bhang ko achar made up for it.
After filling our stomachs, there was another discussion on local politics, but I wasn’t all that interested.
Later, Nisha, Ram, Prashosan, Samundra, and I played cards, laughing the night away. Sahil, Sandesh, and Anup were up to something (you know…), and Sandesh went to bed early.
A little later, some Dolpa locals joined us. Didi had already gone to bed by now, and Nisha soon followed.
I helped her out of the kitchen hall and said goodnight. Anup and Sahil also headed upstairs, thinking they might be disturbing the locals. Samundra and I played a few more rounds and then decided to call it a night.
Prashosan and Sandesh were already asleep, while Anup, Sahil, Samundra, and I set up for Callbreak.
We were all a bit tipsy, so the laughter was constant. Poor Ram, already half-asleep, had to keep score for us, which had us cracking up even more. After a while, we finally decided to go to sleep.
Tomorrow would be the last day of our trek—the final night in Dolpa. We had to reach Dunai to catch our bus, but it was sure to be another memorable night in our travel diaries.
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