We set off at 7 am on the 4th of October towards Pokhara, a sizable town of two hundred thousand people located in the middle of Nepal. It was supposed to be a 6-hours drive but as expected that could vary a lot. We were already stuck for almost one hour in a traffic jam just as when we were climbing out of the Kathmandu valley. The roads coming out of Kathmandu to other towns are few but heavily used. Travelling along these roads is of course part of the real package of our journey, to see the country and experience the daily challenges face by the people here.
From Kathmandu we drove along the Trishali River downstream to a town called Mogling. The river is holy to the Hindus. The winding road was full of trucks carrying materials and supplies to Kathmandu mainly from India. At Mogling we crossed a bridge that only allowed a vehicle to cross one at a time. This caused a huge traffic jam in both directions.
From Mogling, we drove upstream along another river towards Pokhara. We eventually reached Pokhara 8 hours after starting the trip.
Pokhara is a real amazing place, with the most beautiful backdrop of the Annapurna Mountains behind. These mountains, with peaks of over 8000 metres, are separated from the other main mountains of the Himalayas by deep and amazing valleys, the prime spot of some of the best trekking routes known to mankind. Pokhara is the ideal starting place for these superb trekking routes. The best one is probably the 21-day trekking called the Annapurna circuit trek which involves trekking along one of the main valley to an elevation of more than 5000m. We are not doing that though. Our trekking route is one of the easiest and shortest but is probably the most popular among casual trekkers. We will be trekking for 7 continuous days with an average of 5 to 6 hours walk each day. Each day will bring us to even higher elevations and different views of the Annapurna Mountains. Time will tell how we will cope with that.
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