Kathmandu-Pokhara
First trip to India, January 2015
We left the hotel at around 6:30 in the morning; the buses departed not far from Thamel, a 15-minute walk away. When we reached the designated spot, we saw a whole line of tourist buses. After tossing our things into the luggage compartment, we took our seats, which the conductor showed us. There were still about 20 minutes before departure. I walked back and forth and bought some bad tea, but at least it was warm.
The distance from Kathmandu to Pokhara is 260 km; it doesn’t seem that far, but in Nepal such distances take 8 hours to cover. It took us only an hour to get out of Kathmandu. Several times we stopped and picked up some Nepalese along the way.
Once we left the city, the real winding mountain roads began. Roads in Nepal are very narrow and badly damaged. The bus often slowed down to give way to trucks coming toward us.
Outside the window, colorful patches of vegetable gardens drifted by, bright green cabbage grew on the terraces, and little houses were scattered across the hillsides. After an hour and a half, the bus made a 10-minute stop so that anyone who wanted could go to the toilet. Another hour and a half later, the bus stopped again, this time for 20 minutes, so that anyone who wanted could eat.
All the tourist buses, like ours, stopped at the same places. The cafeteria was packed with people. We didn’t feel like eating momo and vermicelli. We ate some cookies. Soon the mountains seemed to part, and the road became straighter. We started driving faster. About 50 km an hour.
After some time, the bus stopped again for lunch. We bought vermicelli and ate on a terrace overlooking someone’s little garden. In the garden, Muslims were praying on a mat — it was a big surprise for me to see Muslims in Nepal.
At around three in the afternoon, we arrived in Pokhara; we were dropped off at the bus stop 2.5 kilometers from the hotel. With us was our constant companion — another backpack, which held our mountain gear, so we had no desire to walk to the hotel. We took a taxi to the lake center, but the driver refused to go any farther. We had to trudge another kilometer to the hotel.
The hotel pleasantly surprised us with very hot water and good internet.
But we were thinking of looking for another hotel, so after checking in we went wandering around the city and looking at accommodation. A couple of hotels caught our eye, but they were all occupied, so we couldn’t really see the rooms.
We ate at an unsuccessful café, where they brought us a small portion of not very tasty palak paneer. So when we got back home, we drank tea with cookies.
At the hotel, we found a good mountain guidebook — we studied it.
