Day 2: Bus Journey via Kathmandu to Pokhara
Day 3: In and Around Pokhara, Nepal
The early morning breezed in some nice aromas of Nepalese Breakfast once I opened the journey windows of the hotel room. But with no time on hand, we dressed and rushed to the hotel entrance to catch a bus to Pokhara City and arrived there within 10 minutes. A huge crowd of locals, students and tourists evaded the sidewalks and rows of buses to different cities lined the busy mid-street. We handed our bags to the hotel attendant who had willfully agreed to drop us to the bus stand. Once our bags were loaded onto the bus and bus tickets checked, we hurried to the near restaurant and treated ourselves to some warm boiled eggs, butter, black curried peas, toast and Nepalese tea. A few minutes later, it was time to board the bus and start our onwards to Pokhara.
The bus travel was honestly bumpy enough but held us in awe as sceneries of paddies, plantations and small villages passed before our eyes. Many beautiful hills, lush green mountains, snow-capped Himalayas and natural lakes amazed us for the next 21/2 hours after which the bus stopped at a small restaurant for breakfast. Since we had had ours, we opted to stretch our muscles instead and roamed the small village area taking in the some fresh air and watched the locals selling merchandise and vegetables on their wheel carts.
We finally managed to reach Pokhara after another lunch stop and a total of 6 hours drive and didn’t realize how tired we were until reaching our next stay at the Karki Guest House. The accommodation was splendor in itself. Welcoming staff, immacutely clean surroundings, marble flooring, serene atmosphere, a television set, air-conditioned rooms, decent bath-tub, breath-taking scenarios from the windows and a balcony overlooking the snowy Himalayas had us feeling like kings. We drank the welcoming Nepalese tea and almost immediately fell asleep because of the arduous journey and awoke only after 5 hours when the sun had set.
We dressed and strolled outside the hotel for a walk, spanning the surroundings all along. Since the population of Pokhara isn’t much, we didn’t find crowds of people on the streets. Evening lights of open and terraced bars lined the side-walks. We didn’t find many shops selling local merchandise here either, except for a few scantily lit shops selling precious stones and miniature handicrafts. We looked at some stones and were delighted when a Hindu priest suggested what stones to wear, based upon our natal charts. Our discussions with him lasted well over an hour and when we came out of the shop, it was quiet, gloomy and very dark. Pokhara doesn’t have much of a night life, shops close by 10:30pm and locals retire to bed soon after.
We hurried back through the narrow alley to our guest room and ordered some dinner. After a filling biryani meal, we played some cards while letting the television blare in the background. It was going to be an early start to see the sunrise the next day. With much to look forward to, we wrapped ourselves snugly in the queen sized blankets and tried hard to catch some sleep.
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