Pokhara, not quite the end of the monsoon!

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Namaste everyone
Well the bus journey took quite a bit longer than anticipated, mainly due to breakdowns on the narrow, twisty and hilly road! (At one point we could see the vehicles queuing in the opposite side of the valley, 20 km away). We arrived in Pokhara at 5.30pm instead of 1.30pm and it was a wet and miserable evening, the monsoon obviously hadn't quite finished! A very comfortable hotel called Fishtail Villa after the large mountain that over looks the lake, only we didn't get to see it because of the weather. It's only a short stay as we're due to fly out at 6 am tomorrow, but we finish our trek here so perhaps we'll get to see Fishtail then!
Unfortunately the weather isn’t any better next morning and after waiting at the airport until 11am, to see if the flight will leave, Om makes the managerial decision to start the trek from here!! The forecast is rain & mist for the next 3 days and as the plane flies low up the valley, visibility is a necessity.
So Om, Naryan, Arnie and I climb in to a taxi to travel the 50km to Nayapul, this cuts off a at least one a days trekking over boring countryside!!
Now we are straight in to trek, down through the flagstone streets of Nayapul where donkeys are being loaded to carry goods up the valleys, they will over take us later on!
It's still mist and rain in the air, but at least we not getting soaked yet! The donkeys do overtake us causing a what I call a Nepalese traffic jam!! As the donkeys pass us, we are met by a heard of goats on their way to Pokhara to provide meat for the coming festival, these become a common sight in the next 3 days! Also as well as us walking there's a local family, so it's trekkers, locals and donkeys meeting a herd of 150 goats on a narrow stone track, chaos results, goats go everywhere, up and down the banks. I really feel for the goat herders, they have walked from Jomson, (4 days walking), have at least another 2 and only have flip-flops on!! There we are in our big waterproof trekking boots!
We also have to pay 14,00nr to the Moaists for 7 days trekking, (we've been told not to tell them how long we are trekking!) just to keep them supplied with arms?
We stop for tea about 2 km before we finish walking for the day and all so close to the end, it's still good to have a short rest. Today we've walked for 3 hours, covered 8km, and climbed 500m. The countryside towards Tikhudunga, our stop for the night is similar to the lake district, but there isn't any rice paddies there!
Our bed for the night is very comfortable, but we could have slept anywhere!!! There's a shower downstairs, but no hot water as there's isn't any sunshine!
To our surprise, there's an extensive menu offered and it's all cooked on log fired stoves. Guests eat first, guides and porters afterwards. All our food, tea and accomdation is included in our package and the fried noodles are very good. As soon as our heads hit the pillows, we're asleep, warm and cosy in our sleeping bags.
Breakfast is at 7am, porridge with apple followed by a boiled egg each sets us up for the 3650 steps we have to go up today!! we're starting the steps by going down hill at 8.30am.
Namaste Mags & Arnie

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Photos

Prayer Flags
These prayer flags are a common sight in Nepal, these are by Swayambhunath Temple, also known as the Monkey temple, it has wonderful views out over Kathmandu.

How we should have travelled
This is how we should have travelled to Johmson, via a small aircraft flying low in the valley admiring the wonderful views along the way!

Traffic queues!!
A view of the queue of buses lorries and cars, a long way down into the valley. Worse than getting to work in the UK!!! (Maybe)

ladies carrying grass
Carrying grass to feed the cattle, it's the only method available to get the livestock fed.

Phewa Tal Lake
Boats on the side of Phewa Tal Lake in Pokhara, sadly it was very wet and misty when we left Pokhara and when we returned after 16 days, so we didn't get to boatride on the lake