Up about 6 updated the blog until about 7 and down to breakfast. Just a little yoghurt, cereal and toast. Back to the room to finish packing, then dropped the large red case off at the concierge ready to to pick up on Saturday. The breakfast bar was very good - a selection of everything including bacon and you could order an omelette if you wanted. The staff are all very friendly being efficient without the Indian officious. Met the driver Sonam at 9 am, the local rep was there to give me my hotel vouchers for the next 4 nights.
Then we started the 199 km journey to Pokhara. You are very quickly into pretty countryside, rolling green sided hills. After 30 minutes we had to stop for half an hour as a land slip had closed the road. If people get frustrated I did not see any sign. They just get on with it. Sonam lives in a village that is only just getting electricity and it takes him two days to get home from Kathmandu. There are no roads to his village. One of his friends who is also a Sherpa has climbed Everest 5 times but died 10 years ago because he fell down a hole in the village after a drinking session and he was not found till the next day as there was no lighting.
Half the road to Pokhara was built by Indian engineers the other
part by Chinese. The first part of the Chinese road was good but the last part into Pokhara was dreadful. We surprisingly only passed one accident, an over-turned lorry. The horn and use of the indicators are very confusing. When the driver in front knows you are behind, he indicates right to say you can overtake. The horn is just a signal to say "i am here".
The driving has to be seen to be believed. No one with a weak nerve or constitution would survive. The buses are rammed full with eyes peering out. Every other bus has passengers on top. The rice crop is just being harvested (by hand). The country is a succession of villages. Sonam says one's friends are limited to no more than 10 as the other villages would be too far to walk to. They have to live on fresh food as that is all there is. A very fertile landscape with lots of different greens of the rice crop. Women cut the rice and beat the grains of rice off on to a large mat in the field. Stacks of rice hay are used to save for the monsoon season to boil the kettle. The rivers we do pass are below their peak as the monsoon finished in August and was particularly wet this year. Hence the good rice crop. The driver is in his late 50's and speaks very good English. I have to stop myself talking about more than one topic at a time as he does not follow. Spots of rain as we near Pokhara then very heavy rain and a litte thunder. The guide says with great confidence that the dawn tour I have booked will be fine because that is what is forcast. We shall see at 5:15 tomorrow. The hotel is ok, the room not quite as good as last night. Had the buffet, very good but the cabbage tastes of the water it was cooked in. All the staff here were born with a smile on their faces and speak very good English, One word namaste is a universal greeting at any time of the day (for we tourists anyway). You also put your hands together and bow your head slightly. A beautiful way to pause for a moment as you greet people. Watch out when I next greet you.
No comments:
Post a Comment