Nepal Day 3 Kathmandu to Pokhara

Tuesday April 26th

We met in the lobby this morning at 9:00 and loaded up in our newly banged up minivan. Apparently the driver went to get gas last night, and slid in the station smashing the rear of the van into a pole which dented the side panel and smashed the rear side window. So, now we have a blue plastic covered window. Looks sporty.

The first half hour of the drive was through Kathmandu to the exit of the valley. There is only one highway connecting Kathmandu to the rest of the country and it's two lanes, poorly paved and narrow and winding as it exits the valley and follows the river through the mountains. These mountains are not snow covered, they are the foothills for the Himalayas.

The ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara took about seven hours and we stopped a couple of times for rests, including lunch. The air quality cleared noticeably after we left the city. On the way we passed terraced fields of rice! I was surprised to see rice growing here. We saw a man and his sons ploughing a field with a pair of oxen. There were frequently trucks broken down on the road. Most of the time there isn't much of a shoulder, so traffic has to find its way around the disabled vehicle. The scenery was beautiful and the weather today was perfect.

We arrived at Pokhara by 5:00. This is a very touristy town as there are many treks and trails that originate from here. After we checked into our hotel I went for a walk the short distance to the lake. I sat there and watched people rowing wooden boats to an island to visit a temple. There are a number of mountains on the other side, but they were obscured by haze.