Day 1 - Trekking 101

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(no guide/porter, no poles and no Diamox, each carrying 11.5 kgs each)
3 hours trekking, Besisahar (790m) to Bhulbhule (840m), 10kms

Stayed at Heaven Guest house

The morning started at 6.00am in Pokhara with a taxi to the bus stop. With local tea and coffee under our belt, we caught the 'tourist' bus to Besisahar. Once filled with tourists, the bus stopped to pick up the locals as many it could fill. What followed 4.5 hours of 'any which way it goes' driving (at one point when the bus went to take an alternative road to get around a traffic jam, the bus had turn around with big ditches either side of the road - keep us all on the edge of our seats). Most of time, driving in Nepal simply consists of pulling out onto the other side of the road when you want to overtake and beep like mad. This is done on a regular basis, as everyone is in a hurry. We were well entertained on the bus on our way there, with one very sick local and another used Adie as a pillow.

Once we arrived, we took off immediately in the wrong direction twice. After a quick trip through the locals' streets we headed off again, this time it was very scenic and in the right direction but still the wrong trek. One suspension bridge then up a hill followed by a quick chat with a local asking if we were sure we were ok without a guide. Once on the road for about 20 minutes, we found a village and travelled through it to crossed over to the east side of the river. The first real trek of the trip not on the road. We convinced a South Korean girl to cross with us. She left us not long afterwards, roughly after I had a meltdown with a bunch of steep steps and a herd of cows coming down at the same time. My only excuse it was hot. After 10 minutes in the shade with a squashed banana and half an egg wrapped it (we had a packed lunch from the very nice hotel back in Pokhara), we were right to go. We travelled through farm land and a couple of villages until we found a dam. We had 4 sources of information regarding this trek and not one of them mentioned that! The security guy at the power station pointed us in the right direction after he caught us debating which way to go. Rejoining the road, we walked through a brand new tunnel with enforcement bars sticking out of the ceiling and water leaking. Yep, we don't expect this to last long.

We arrived at our first night's accommodation, Heaven in Bhulebhule (think of the sound of running water when you attempt to say that). We walked up to an incredible waterfall not far from the simple but pleasant accommodation. With the smell of the fire burning, the sounds of dogs barking and the locals chopping, it was magical. Think Lord of Rings or Game of Thrones prior to either a warmongering lord or white walker turns up.



Footnote:

One of the main reasons we couldn't find the trek out of Besisahar is due to the road to Manang (the last recommended stop to start acclimatisation). With the ability to travel directly there, many trekkers opt to catch a jeep up the road. This comes with its' own dangers. The road is just one massive dirt track with potholes, waterfalls and wooden bridges. We were hassled the moment we got off the bus to catch a jeep up. We opted not to due to the state of the road and the desire to work out any trekking kinks.

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Photos

Misty mountains
View from the teahouse with a rainbow in the background

Peaceful
Just another day in Nepal