Nepal - All change in Pokhara.

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All change !! - June 2006

Sylvia and I had planned to leave ourselves the same day from Kathmandu as John but one way or another we decided to stay another. The net result of this decision was the purchase of an Ipod to replace the photo-storing capabilities of Johns laptop, and a new zoom lens to save having to carry and keep changing other lenses at what sometimes had been critical moments.

With the knowledge of Johns departure Sylvia and I had been discussing our next steps, and we’d decided to fulfil a long held ambition of mine to climb/trek up to the Everest Base camp. Before this though we wanted to relax for a week and so decided to return to Pokhara. We sorted out enough clothes and bits and pieces to keep us happy and put the rest of our gear in storage in our Hotel. The following morning we got up to be greeted with some light rain which was the type to get you soaked very quickly so we decided to defer our exit for a while to see if it would stop. Fortunately it did about 90 mins later so we got kitted up and left. Our exit from Kathmandu was awful. Another strike (of many) was announced for the Monday and so it seemed everyone and their Uncle wanted to get out of town. There were trucks/buses/cars everywhere and the resultant traffic jams were a real pain. I tried to drive as much as I could on the hard/(soft muddy shoulder) with the other bikes but the load on the Dakar made it too much of a handful at times and so sometimes we just had to sit it out. Finally we managed to get through it all…a further 90mins later and got onto some clear roads.

Not long after this we saw the first, of what was to be seven separate serious road accidents involving either trucks or buses. The first was a truck laying on its side at a corner. We couldn’t imagine what had happened to get it to this position but we knew the Nepalise were as inventive(and as dangerous) as the Indians when it came to driving. We also saw a truck in a ravine, some 50ft below the road-the truck had literally gone off the side through the non-existent crash barrier and crashed down beside the river !!!

We were making good progress when we first saw a very black looking cloud waiting to greet us. Being the optimists we are(the optimism being wilfully born out of the desire to avoid the thought of putting on/struggling on our one piece wet-suits), we continued for a while until the rain drops were starting to resemble small stones. We wrestled our suits on and got underway. The rain was so hard and intense that I struggled to see where I was driving through a clear pair of glasses and a half opened visor ! ( Welcome to riding in monsoon rain !!) We chugged on at around 30mph until we finally got to Pochara. We’d wanted to stay in one of the more secluded hotels around the lake but after a few inquires which informed us of only cold water showers or no vacancies, and the combination of being soaking wet, we decided to return to our old Hotel where we’d stayed with John, The Tropicana. They were pleased to see us and Sylvia and I, and were soon located in our room which was quieter and larger than the one we’d had before.

We were glad to be able to be dry again, and soon after the rain stopped !!!!

The week was spent discussing what we were going to do in the longer term after Everest, getting a trekking map and guide book for Everest(as we hoped not to use a guide), relaxing, boating, feeding stray dogs(specifically a small black mongrel we’d named Lucky, which turned out to not be the stray we thought he was), cutting my hand badly on a tin of ham we’d bought for Lucky, and me trying to buy another bike for our planned return to the UK. Somewhere in the middle of all our thoughts I first conciously realised the abscence of John as I was no longer 'confined' to our original route and that was confusing for a while as I wasn't sure wether to go forward or go home and I'd obvioulsy got used to our way of deciding what we woudl do next..

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Sylvia relaxing on our boat on Lake Pokhara whilst.....

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.....I tried to make it look as if I was enjoying myself...ahem....

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A rare picture of me looking a bit more serious !?!

Whilst in Pokhara we’d also planned our trek schedule for Everest so that our arrival at the base camp and my Birthday both con-incided. With this in mind we’d also booked our light aircraft flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, the airport at the beginning of the trek.

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A local family who did some baggage repairs for me in happier times. Their home has been recently demolished by a landslide.

The week soon disappeared and we were on our way back to Kathmandu.

We were greeted by the Hotel staff as if we were almost family when we returned. We’d allowed ourselves 2 clear days to get all the equipment we needed to buy or hire, set about getting it all together and arranging the transit Visas we required to cross Pakistan & Iran. We were really pushed for time in leaving Iran as my Carnet for the bike was due to expire on 8th August and that was getting very close. We initiated the Visa process for Pakistan but the Pakistan embassy required a ’letter of introduction’ from our own Embassies with the application. We managed to get that process started too but we didn’t have enough time before our flight to complete it. After a brief discussion we decided to approach Prakash, the young Manager at our Hotel. He generally wasn’t that busy, was very responsible and we thought he might appreciate some extra money we’d pay him. He happily accepted the job and we offered him the equivalent of about $20 US, two normal weeks wages for him and very worth it for us. It took us a while to convey what he had to do.(as there were quite a few steps and his English and our non-existent Nepalise didn’t make for the easiest of communication.). None-the-less we were confident of his trustworthiness and we both thought he’d do all within his powers to see it through the best he could.

Hire prices for rucksacks and walking poles varied significantly between the hire-shops. Nobody seemed that keen on getting our business as some of the prices were plainly set to make it ‘worth-their-while’ ! …but not ours. Eventually I was offered a cheap second-hand 60l rucksack for about $US10 and Sylvia returned to one of the more sensibly prices Hire-shops we’d seen before for her rucksack and our walking poles. We also both decided to buy some decent waterproof jackets for the trek as we understood it could be quite wet on the lower ascents. I bought Sylvia a highly praised Nepalise brand(will we ever learn ?!?) for her Birthday and me an official North Face jacket from the one and only official North Face supplier in Kathmandu. (as opposed to the many many copies on sale from various outlets.)

We thought we’d planned enough time to get ready but we were still up packing at 1am on the morning we were due to fly out on a 6:30am flight(and needed to get up around 4:00 !…eek!).

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Still packing !!

We’d bought a bottle of Port and a cigar to celebrate my Birthday (up on the Base-camp area) and decanted half the bottle into a plastic Coke bottle for transportation. We were both very tired and a little stressed so I suggested we had a night cap of a glass of Port each………we must have been more stressed than I thought as we finished the bottle off !!! And went to bed….the time ? Ahem, 2 am.

Mike.
 


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