Upon first agreeing on the trek to Dhampus, I had no idea what to expect. I figured that Dhampus was some sort of hill. Of course, that’s not true. Dhampus is a small village. Now you’ll ask well, what’s so special about a village? Nepal is full of villages. Well, Dhampus is famed for its sunrises. The position of this remote village, beyond Sarangkot when looking from Pokhara, gives you a closer look at the Annapurnas.

An important detail about Dhampus is that Ncell coverage doesn’t reach there, which is important in case you want to use your email or whatever. I say this because I had been extremely surprised when Ncell coverage was still on even as far as Pothana, with 3g and all.

When I last left off this in this series, I had reached Pothana and that last point one could trek too without a permit.

To head to Dhampus, I had to turn back and head down the mountains.

On the way, it was more of the same of the incredible scenery that this region is so generous about providing. The only difference was that now I was much closer to the himalayas. How I wished that I could just start walking towards Fishtail; that sacred mountain really beckons you and draws you in an almost hypnotic way. I’m positive that I’ve taken over three hundred pictures of it and all the while it was still as fresh as the first time that I saw it.

An important details is that Dhampus isn’t as high as Sarangkot. It’s at around 1600 meters high. However, the nights there are damn cold as it’s close to the mountains.

Honestly, the view from Dhampus is better than Pothana but I preferred the latter for some reason. Maybe it was because I got to Dhampus close to sunset that the place was a bit melancholy but that’s how I felt.

The first thing that I noticed upon walking into the hotel was the smell of burning wood. Close to the hotel, a woman was preparing Nepali Wine. She offered that we try it with dinner which we did. Nepali wine is to be drunk hot and is extremely strong; I don’t believe that its alcoholic content is higher than other drinks but the fact that it’s hot makes it go right to the head.

In the meantime, the sun was setting outside.

The night fell and I retreated into my cold room. I dreamt that I could stay in this place. The life is calm, the view is nice and the food is ok. What else can a man ask for?