Day 10/11/12 Pokhara and Kathmandu

<script data-ad-client="ca-pub-7996443132864226" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

It was another long journey to Pokhara, 31/2 hours in the heat along bumpy roads that clung to the steep mountain sides, dodging those same brightly decorated trucks and buses, with passengers hanging out of doors and trucks carrying anything and everything, including buffalo penned in half a truck with their tails tied up to the roof rails to stop them thrashing around and causing grief to their very close neighbours. From the fertile flood plains sectioned into small agricultural parcels of rice and wheat fields, the scenery opened up into a world of terraced hillsides that must have taken a hundred years to complete, some being worked hard by Oxen and plough providing essential food for survival of the local people. We stop at a long suspension bridge, crossing the river, to walk across it, but have to share it with a group of labourers (much prettier than we usually see in England as they are all women!) they carry large baskets of bricks strapped around their foreheads over to a construction site on the other side of the river, all for 1 Rupee per brick, and boy did they look heavy. I was tempted to have a go, but each basket must have been filled with about 30 bricks and that would have been my back finished off for the rest of the trip!!

yes!!!! that truck is on our side of the road!!

Fortunately we decided NOT to take the local bus!!

This photo sums up Kathmandu!

We stayed in a comfortable but basic hotel by the lake in Pokhara which is vibrant, full of shops, hotels and restaurants catering for all nationalities and small shops selling local craft goods and generally the food in the restauraunts was very good, the children starting to get used to different flavours! .............. mainly spicy!
We get up at 4.30 am to drive to Sarangkok, half an hour away, to walk to the very top of this well known spot to watch the sunrise over Kathmandu with a stunning backdrop of the Annapurna Mountain range .............. quite a steep walk before breakfast!! However, today the fog got the better of us and the Annapurna range had disappeared in the mist, with the eventual sunrise barely visable itself! .......... Still the morning hike was worth the limited panoramic view form the top and we felt sure there would be plenty more sunrises on our trip.
It is then back to Kathmandu - a 6 hour drive along the same route - at least Sundip keeps us amused. The last part sees us climb out of the valley with bend after bend, it is hairy to say the least and I think Sundip is keen to get back as he races along almost touching the lorry in front which inevitably slows him down before overtaking with little idea of what is coming the other way. As we reach Kathmandu itself, it still amuses us to see main streets chaotically full of traffic and people and yet sauntering up the middle will be a cow or two!

Back to The Blue Horizon for our last night and our aimiable manager had upgraded our room to something a little more comfortable and in exchange for a couple of photos for his hotel marketing brochure and a discussion as to how we thought he could improve his service, he treated us to dinner and a nice bottle of French wine!. After we headed for bed and ready for our early morning flight from Kathmandu to the Kingdom of Bhutan, where we would be visiting the largest annual Bhuddist festival at Paro, followed by a 6 day trek through the mountains, trying to reach the base camp of Bhutans secong highest mountain, 'Jomolhari (it was their third highest but the Chinese recently stole their highest peak!!), 'complete with guide, tents, porter, cook, waiter, horseman, mules and ponies ........... Courtesy of the Bhutanese Government entrance fee!! Bhutan is a Country which basis its success on Gross National Happiness rather than Gross National Product and only a population of 700,000 people.