Sept 30, 2019 Lumbini to Tansen, 82km 1272M up 1462M end

Initially an easy day, then a 1,000M climb.

Some pics:

This iron has a charcoal fire inside the iron.  Not the lightweight model.

This guy wasn't interested in sharing the sidewalk with me

Peter is happy, he has found the perfect Cell hotspot in town

Back alley of the old town we rode through

I guess rocks are better than nails for keeping the roof on

Bus on the wrong side of the road as usual

7 headed snake - odd to have on the side of a school yard

Now this is a proper swing!

Oct 1, 2019 Tansen to Pokhara:  126km, 2,908 to date, 1559m Up, 29,958M climbing to date,  905M end

We did an early start, up at 5:30, on the road just after 6:00 - really nice, very quiet roads.

I’ve noticed that we are seeing fewer cows on the road, the locals seem to keep the livestock tethered and bring the feed to them, rather than let the livestock wander for food.

Maybe some of the bus drivers read my blog from the other day (extremely unlikely), but ever since I posted about how bad the bus drivers are, they have been much more reasonable.

We are now in Pokhara, this is a huge centre for outdoor everything, especially trekking.  Lot’s of international restaurants.  The Annapurna Range is visible from Pokhara, including three of the ten highest peaks in the world (Dhaulariri, Annapurna and Manaslu).  It rained monsoon like all last evening and is fairly overcast again today, but we did see some glimpses of the range this morning, but not worthy of pics.

We have a rest day here in Pokhara tomorrow, then a 5 day push to Kathmandu and the end.  As in previous trips like this I have done, I am conflicted, very happy that this adventure is coming to an end and I will be heading home, but I don’t want it to end.  Things have been continuously damp for the last 3 odd weeks, so it will be nice to again have truly dry clothes, clothes that don’t always ave a musty smell.

Some pics:

The town of Tansen

Typical street in Tansen

Approaching Pokhara