Poon Hill Trail [4/4]
27 October ’20
You are awakened by your alarm just before sunrise.
[+30 exhaustion]
[sunrise]
You can:
1. Go back to bed
2. Get up and enjoy the sunrise
We’re not missing two sunrises damnit! Besides, this one doesn’t require an hour long hike, just requires walking out the door.
> sunrise!!!
You struggle out of bed and out onto the balcony to enjoy a spectacular sunrise with everyone else who got up. You all wait with baited breath and hushed words as the sun starts to peak over the mountain range, before finally illuminating the whole scene.
[+50 motivation]
[13 hours until sunset]
You can:
1. Have some breakfast
2. Watch longer
3. Pack up and head out
The world is warming up, let’s have some tea and warm up too.
> leisurely breakfast
You order some tea and Osmanthus orders some toast, eggs, and pancakes. You take your time basking in the knowledge that it's only a half day today.
[-₹600][-30 exhaustion]
[11 hours until sunset]
You can:
1. Rest a while longer
2. Head out
Today is our last day! The closest Jeep stop is in the town of Ghandruk, over 4 miles away, but an almost entirely downhill trek. It’s been fun, but the sooner I can get back to a comfy, soft bed the better. And change my socks!
> let's go
You pack up and head out, Osmanthus taking the lead again on the downhill section.
You snap a couple last pictures when the trees open wide enough to give you a clearer view of the mountains.
You arrive on the outskirts of Ghandruk. From the top you can see a sea of tin rooves cascading down the mountainside, you estimate that several hundred people live here. It is the largest town you've encountered so far during your hike.
[8 hours until sunset]
You can:
1. Get some lunch
2. Head directly to the Jeep station
3. Explore the town
Exploring the town means going down, and then walking back up… Let’s just get some lunch and ask about the Jeeps while we’re at it.
> lunchtime
You make your way in the general direction of the Jeep station while keeping your eye out for a place to eat. There are several options to chose from.
[8 hours until sunset]
You can:
1. Eat at Hill Top Lodge
2. Eat at Ghandruk Guest House and Restaurant
3. Eat at Esika Local Home Stay
4. Eat at Hotel Ashish Aama
It… doesn’t matter at all…
> whichever
You make your way into a random lodge and inquire about the Jeeps. The lady sits you down with a menu and tells you she'll phone the station to see when the next one leaves. She comes back after a short while and tells you it'll be leaving in about forty minutes.
[8 hours until sunset]
You can:
1. Stay and eat something
2. Head to the Jeep station just in case
Forty minutes is plenty of time. Let’s just get something smaller.
> eat a quick meal
You order and share a plate of dumplings, pay, pack up and walk over. But when you get there you see nobody else around. After peeking into a nearby restaurant and finding the driver you are told you missed the most recent Jeep and if you want to leave now you'll have to pay the full price of ₹6,000 ($50).
Damn those dumplings. Most expensive meal this trip…
[7 hours until sunset]
You can:
1. Take the offer
2. Wait for more people to split the cost
3. Try to bargain the driver down
I’d like to wait for a couple more people - $50 is a lot! That’s almost as much as what we’ve spent the entirety of this trip so far! Plus we’re not in a hurry, we could just chill out with a pot of tea…
Osmanthus turns to you and strongly encourages you to consider, for her sake and yours, just paying the full fee to get back to a hot shower as soon as possible.
Uh… well… I guess I’ll try to knock the price down a little bit…
> negotiate...
After some back and forth you fail to get him to come down on the price. But he does promise that for the ₹6,000 he will also have a taxi ready to take us back to Pokhara as soon as we get down to Nayapul. And finally you manage to get him to agree that if he picks up any other passengers on the way down you'll only have to pay ₹5,000.
[7 hours until sunset]
You can:
1. Play hardball and walk away
2. Take the offer
One look at Osmanthus tells me I’m done negotiating for now. I tried my best…
> let's go
With a grin the driver opens up the doors and hops in the front of the Jeep. You two settle into the back with your packs and prepare for the hour long ride down the mountain.
The gravel path that winds its way down the mountain is too rocky to make sleep, or even speech, possible. The only option available to you is to stare out the window down the hundreds of meters of mountainside that you would fall if the Jeep slipped off the edge.
Just when you thought the ride couldn't possibly get more stressful, you encounter a small river flowing right through the road.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JEEP VS SMALL RIVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Jeep enters the river and immediately the flow of the water nudges the Jeep ever so slightly left, reducing the several meter gap between you and the sheer drop down the cliff face. [+10 fear]
Your move [pray/do nothing/get out of the Jeep]
> do nothing
You use [do nothing]! You sit and wait to see just how life threatening the situation can get.
Osmanthus uses [resignation]. She's not the one driving the Jeep anyways!
The driver hits the gas and urges the Jeep over the next set of rocks, the river dragging the Jeep another foot closer to doom during motion. [+40 fear]
Your move [pray/do nothing/get out of the Jeep!!]
> do nothing
You use [do nothing]! You sit and think about how long it would take before your family even knew if you died. [+20 fear]
Osmanthus uses [self-delusion]! It's just like an amusement park ride! [-20 fear]
You've almost made it to the end, but the Jeep gets lodged on a large rock. The driver revs the engine trying to coax the Jeep up and over the rock without exploding out of the river like a cork out a champagne bottle. [+50 fear]
Your move [pray/do nothing/GET OUT OF THE JEEP!!!]:
> do nothing
It'll be fine right? It'll be ok, they've done this before, this guy's done this before, just a little bit more, we're almost there...
Osmanthus takes some action. You're too wrapped up in your own thoughts to notice.
The Jeep surges up and over the last rock, making it onto dry land again with a couple of feet to spare between it and the cliff face. Congratulations!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU DIDN'T DIE! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy Christ, I can breathe again. Next time I’m spending the extra day to walk down.
The rest of the ride down continues uneventfully. You think you see a passenger on the side of the road trying to flag down the Jeep, but the driver either doesn't see him or pretends not to see him and charges forward.
After being tossed around in the back seat for another half hour you finally make it back to Nayapul, where your taxi is already waiting for you.
[-₹6000]
You know, the whole trip wasn’t even that hard! Maybe we should come back and do a longer trek.
…next year.
Loading the trunk up with your packs, you give the driver the address of your hotel. Just before hopping in the taxi you turn around and wave one last time up the Annapurna range.
"Goodbye Poon Hill!"
YOU WIN!
End of Game Statistics
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Days taken: 4
Battles won: 3
Other travelers met: 4
Money spent on lodging: ₹1,500 = $14
Money spent on food: ₹9,600 = $90
Money spent on gear: ₹800 = $7.5
Money spent on transportation: ₹8,000 = $75
Total money spent: ₹19,900 = $186.5
Money spent per person: $93
Money spent per person per day: $23