You know you are back in civilization again when you have had two (hot) showers in three days. This morning, Day 10, the end of my trekking adventures, we arrived back in Pokhara after another entertaining automobile ride. Day 9 was as leisurely as Day 8 and I decided to take the day off from writing, and well, doing just about anything, so I am combining Day 9 and Day 10 in this post.

On the morning of Day 9 we started out early, as usual, even though we only had about four hours to walk to reach our evening’s destination. It is actually rather pleasant to walk in the early morning, the temperature is comfortable, the sun is still trying to inch its way over the neighboring peaks so the lighting is constantly changing, and the paths are not too crowded yet. Our route was fairly straightforward; we were continuing down the valley, actually walking along a road. Recall my descriptions of Nepali roads in previous posts- this was not a concrete thoroughfare, but a gravel, mixed rock, and sometimes dirt, just wide enough swath of tract big enough to let cars and the intrepid motorbike operators travel along. Apparently this particular road was constructed sometime in the last five years. It used to be a pedestrian highway, but had been upgraded to allow autos to reach Landruk. Regardless we saw only one car and one motorbike the whole morning so it is still not to busy, at least with motorized transport. Pedestrian-wise, about mid-morning we passed a huge group of Germans and a bit later an equally huge group of French. We missed a people traffic jam at the tea houses in Landruk by one day.

The feature image is the morning view from the tea house. This is the same view, a bit closer, with the storms I was watching on day 9.

Because I was still not feeling well and we had plenty of time, we stopped a few times at tea houses along the way to get some drinks and rest. I have been drinking lemon-ginger hot water in an attempt to scare away my cold (better than nothing!). Our route led us across a ridge and for the first time in about a week we were no longer in the valley created by the river flowing out of the Annapurna basin. We crossed to an adjacent valley to stage for the short descent the following morning to catch our ride back to Pokhara. The view was still spectacular, at least when the clouds parted to allow me glimpses of the various peaks. There was a strange optical illusion occurring all morning, because the further we got from the mountains, the bigger they appeared!

It was a relaxing morning and that set the tone for the day because, as I mentioned, when we got to our stop with its excellent view, all I pretty much did was sit there at a picnic table and watch the weather, and let my mind wander, for the next four or so hours. The big drama of the afternoon was whether or not the thunderstorm that was developing in the distance was going to come in our direction. In the end, it didn’t. But it was fun to watch. The clouds were moving at various altitudes, the lighting on the hills was changing, and the snow capped mountains would drift in and out of sight. In addition, I could see what had to be torrential rain bands and hear the distant thunder rumbling off the peaks. The clouds headed east and I have no doubt Pokhara, which was in their direct path, got soaked.

I continue to be fascinated by the various construction techniques. For civil engineers and material scientists- here is a new kind of “brick” I passed today.

I went to bed early, slept thoroughly and soundly, thank goodness, woke up refreshed and after an hour’s hike to Kande was sitting in a car being driven to Pokhara. The road we were on also started its life as a pedestrian only path and thus people used to have to hike out from Annapurna Sanctuary trek to Pokhara from Kande. It is about a half a day’s hike and some of the purists still do this. Seeing people walk along the narrow, very busy and extremely dusty road did not inspire me to join them. The traffic is too heavy for the road’s capacity (normal for Nepal) and walking looks really dangerous.

I continue to be entertained and amused by the traffic situation. As we descended into Pokhara around hair-pin curves, occasionally we would have to back up because of oncoming traffic and the narrow road. Sometimes we would pass by cars or trucks, slowly, by a centimeter or two. The flow is really organic as each situation somehow gets worked out spontaneously by the involved drivers. Our rule driven culture of the US would not be tolerant of the more “free for all” approach that exists here. Once again in Pokhara there were cars and motorbikes, especially, going every which way, including random U-turns when desired (we did one, it was hilarious). On two different occasions there were cows sitting in the middle of the street and everyone casually went around them. (Which begs the question, where in a highly densely populated urban area, do you keep cows? Another mystery…)

I am staying at the same hotel I did when we came through here before. It is nice, near the lake and conveniently located to a tourist bus station, which I am going to need on Friday when I head to the village where I am doing my volunteer work. Prem, I think, has decided to adopt me. He called ahead to the principal of the school I am working with, got directions on how to get there, then helped me find the place to buy the bus ticket. I think he feels responsible if I end up getting lost in his country. I’m not too worried as it is hard to stay lost for long and it is not like I have a schedule or anything! Nonetheless I am grateful. We had to wander around into some side streets to find the ticket booth, because for some reason, the ticket booth is not at the bus station. Another mystery.

I also found a place to drop off my laundry right by the hotel. I’m not sure what to expect as she did not take my name or give me a receipt. She simply gave me a price when I told her one day service is OK and told me to come back in 24 hours. We’ll see what happens when I show up tomorrow….Prem was with me and he chatted with her so I feel somewhat comfortable I’ll have some version of clothes waiting for me tomorrow, but heck, clothes are replaceable anyway, right? After that interesting interlude we rewarded ourselves with smoothies by the lake. Tonight he wants to show me what good Tibetan food is and then he heads back to Kathmandu tomorrow. I’m hanging out in Pokhara the rest of the week, until Friday, when I get to have the bus adventure. I’m sure that will be a good story!

Smoothie hang out place at the lake. I’ll likely be back this week.

View of the lake from the smoothie hang out place.