Kathmandu to Pokhara- Day 2

We lay awake for hours, our bodies still totally spent from yesterdays travel. We had an alarm  set for 530 AM but that wasn't really needed. The staff here at the Hotel Moonlight in Kathmandu are really friendly and helpful. We explained we were heading out early the night before to the tourist bus and they had a breakfast box prepared for us and organised the transfer to the bus stop. The even went out of their way to exchange some larger denomination notes for small ones, with the limited cash on hand they have these days. A quick splash of coffee to awaken the senses and we were packed into the bus and on our way to the tourist bus park.

I had organised our bus ride online with New Road Travels and Tours, communicating through WhatsApp. We got our seats reserved and all we had to do was pay on the day.Very trusting but the constant communication reassured them we will be travelling. We didn't get the luxury coach we were hoping for but the one we are on seems well appointed for the journey.

While we were waiting to depart, we ate some breakfast and took a look around outside. As one would expect, all the hawkers were here selling fresh mangoes and apples and giving me a blessing. Of course that came at a price and they tried the white note trick again. 100npr seemed fair for that in my opinion.

We were soon underway and navigating our way through the Kathmandu traffic. Ann and I have ridden bikes in Thailand, Kyrgystan and Cambodia and I guess a good comparison is Cambodian traffic. There are road rules but no one uses them and half probably don't know them. It is pretty much a free for all and the bigger you are the more right of way you get. After around an hour, it seemed we were out of the city and working our way along the mountainside roads. Sheer drops of several hundred metres on one side and a massive mountain on  the other. This is combined with potholed roads from the wet season, land slips, and major road works. Two hours in and we stop for a toilet break. As in most Asian countries, the toilets are squats, and the ripe stench of …well ..... I will let your imagination do the rest!

Four hours in and we stop for a break. The stop was in a beautiful picturesque location alongside a river and the food was amazing. We were told this is a breakfast stop but as it was around 1100 AM we think he meant lunch. After the break we set off again and made our way through the potholed road towards Pokhara. One hour in from lunch and we are in a parking lot. Traffic has ground to a halt and all the small busses are playing argey bargey trying to get the advantage on the big coaches like ours. We were warned there was some major roadworks and our normal 6 hour bus trip could end up being more like 10 hours. All this for 200 kms!

We finally started moving again and after another few hours we stopped again for a break This time the driver said lunch break! It appears the earlier stop was breakfast. Once again the food was laid on and a full meal cost 400 Nepalese Rupee (Npr) That is about $4.50 AUD. Twenty minutes later we were back on the bus for the final leg and on our way to Pokhara. The road isn't getting any better and a few observations we made so far on our trip.

1. There are no traffic lights in Kathmandu or Pokhara (that we have seen) and probably just as well. No one would follow them anyway.

2. There seems to be the occasional smell of burning plastic and rubber. They pretty much burn all their rubbish, with the exception of what is piled up on the side of the road or littering the waterway. Dont get me wrong, this is a beautiful country, but as in all countries, there are some down sides.

After a few more hours of bouncing and bumping along the road we finally made Pokhara, feeling like the bus ran over us. About 10% of the trip was on a sealed road, the rest was an unsealed road with construction work for the majority. We found a taxi to take us to the Heritage Hotel and Suites, which is our lodgings for the next few days. This is a beautiful old world Nepalese hotel. It has its positives and negatives but after that bus ride anything is welcome.

Just about to get into the shower and my phone rings. Its Peter, one of our trekking companions, calling me on WhatsApp to see where we are. It turns out we are in the room opposite him. We had our showers and then headed out for dinner. to a place called Utopia. Somehow I managed to fit another meal in but Ann struggled. One thing the Nepalese people do well is meals. After sharing the evening meal with Peter we made our way back to the room to try and catch up on lost sleep.

Day 3 - Touring around Pokhara