November 28

It rained during the night, and in the morning it was very cloudy, which was unusual. Lal expected a big snowfall at the base camp, and was glad we were headed down. Someone moved our drying laundry onto the porch before the rains last night. For breakfast, I had a double onion omelet and two light, puffy, delicious cornbreads, which were similar to the first one I tried at Tadapani. Lal's shoes were still wet, and we had a long walk today, so he asked to borrow my tennis shoes. I expected them to be too big, but they fit him reasonably well.

As we left Landrung, we climbed mostly uphill until noon. Along the way, Lal was constantly running into friends, and we stopped a few times for tea or soft drinks while he visited. We bought five oranges from a woman carrying a large basket of them for 2 Rs each. The final climb before lunch was a steep stairway to Deurali (meaning `pass': there are Deuralis everywhere), where we left the Modi Khola valley and got a cloudy view of the Pokhara valley and lake. We stopped for lunch in Pothana on top of the ridge. I had noodle soup with Tibetan bread. Lal had dal bhatt, as usual, and ate it with his fingers. The lodge had a beautiful view of the Pokhara valley. Many dark clouds hovered over the valley. Dhampus could be seen ahead, lower down around the curved ridge we would be following.

We could either stop in Dhampus, and have a short walk to the road the next day, or go all the way to the road and take a taxi to Pokhara today. Staying in Dhampus would be much cheaper. If I wanted to go to Pokhara, I would have to pay the Kathmandu-like prices, which were outside of Lal's budget. In fact, Lal had no budget at this point, because he had spent all our money. I gave him 500 Rs before he paid for lunch. I decided I had enough money, and I wanted to spend some time in Pokhara, so we decided to go all the way.

Mustard field in Dhampus

I stopped at the last police check-post in Dhampus as dark, menacing clouds gathered. We encountered the two Belgian women, who had stopped at the last lodge in the large town. Then we had a very steep descent to the road below. We could see the switchbacks of the road we had taken up to the trailhead across the valley. We would be ending the trek much closer to Pokhara than we began. Light rain made the steep trail slippery, and I fell once, but not badly. In a half hour we were down to the road. I was glad we had not started the trek this way, since this hill would have been a killer the other way, especially on the first day of a trek.

Two taxis were waiting in the parking lot at the bottom of the hill, but they wanted more than the 200 Rs Lal was willing to pay, so we sat in the lodge there and had a Coke. Eventually a driver accepted our 200 Rs, and we rode back to Pokhara. It was a wild ride, as usual. At one point, we almost hit a woman running across the road, and she dropped her basket in front of the taxi. We passed on blind hills and curves, blowing the horn constantly so people would hear us coming. On the way into town, we passed some elaborate buildings at a Tibetan camp outside Pokhara. Lal said they sold souvenirs there, and I could visit it tomorrow if I wanted.

After the small villages of the trek, Pokhara seemed like a big city, which it was for the region. In the cloudy light, it looked rather run-down and not so tropical as when we arrived. Lal got us a room at the Mountain Villa Hotel for $15 per night, a $3 discount because he is a regular customer, and had told me it would not cost more than $15. It was a nice new brick hotel with a beautiful garden. The room was nicely decorated, and had an attached bath. There was a bowl of fruit between the beds. This hotel was slightly nicer, but also more expensive, than the Hotel Garuda where I stayed in Kathmandu. The hotel was in the lake district where most tourists stay, but the lake was a five minute walk down the street. It could be seen from my room on the second floor. Lal asked me if he could stay in the room with me, or if he needed to find a place to stay with friends. There were two beds, and I told him that of course he could stay here. Lal went downstairs, and I showered. The shower again had no curtain, as at the Hotel Garuda, and the whole bathroom got wet. I left my shower shoes outside the bathroom door in case I wanted to enter again later.

Lal had dinner with friends while I went down to the lakefront to find a restaurant. I had left my guide book which describes the hotels and restaurants at Hotel Garuda and brought only a trekking guide, so I had to choose one on my own. After looking at several, I chose the Boomerang Restaurant, which was near the lake, was clean and attractive, and had a varied menu. I sat at the table next to the fireplace, which was comfortably warm, and ordered a ginger-garlic steak. It arrived on a sizzling platter with perfectly-cooked fries and vegetables, and was covered with a delicious ginger-garlic sauce. It was a great meal to end a trek. I had a Nepalese Iceberg Beer with it, which I believe is the best beer sold there. The deserts weren't interesting, so I got an apple streudel at the Garlic Garden Bakery to bring back to the hotel. Then I bought some souvenirs: a Nepali folk music tape, two patches, some postcards, and an embroidered Annapurna Base Camp T-shirt. I met Lal on the street while shopping, and gave him the key to the room so he could go to bed. At 8:30, I returned and ate my apple streudel, and then went to bed as well. It felt great to have a comfortable hotel room tonight.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1994. All rights reserved.