18th October, 2018
The alarm was set to 4 AM and it screamed out loyally at the stipulated time. It was to stay at 4 AM for this entire travel, instead of 5.30 AM, which is the time to start pushing my daughter for morning school bus. I got myself ready and knocked the doors of others. Five of us ventured out in search of a taxi. Kathmandu was still asleep and the vehicle meandered through the empty streets under the dark skies towards the Pasupatinath shrine. The temple site though, was awake and bustling with activity. As we walked down the alley towards the gate, vendors on both sides were screaming with the hope of selling their puja offerings. We finally obliged one of them to buy some. The shrine was enlightened by the glow of innumerable earthen lamps. The place was abuzz with chants from the priests and devotees. There was quite a rush at the gates, but we somehow managed to sneak through to get a glimpse of the deity and offered our pujas. After moving out of the temple complex, we went towards the cremation ground. As on the previous day, a few cremation proceedings were underway. We didn’t have much time and I had to get my daughter ready before we were to embark for Pokhara. Tej Gurung was to come and meet the group to brief us about the itinerary. All of that had to be completed before 8.30 AM, which is when we were to start for Pokhara. Tej was right on time. He met us at the dining place of the hotel. Some of us were already familiar with him. He was in his normal jovial self with his upbeat and encouraging words for the group. We made our balance payments. He was candid enough to remind us, regardless of the outcome of the trip (possibilities were there for someone failing to complete the trek due to altitude sickness), the charges we paid to him, were non-refundable. It was a bitter but unavoidable fact. Lodges were already booked, charges were already paid to the guide and porters. From his side, he had already invested his share of the bargain and there was no turning back. We hoped that all of us would be able to complete the trip successfully. After all, altitudes were much less than those of the Everest base camp trek. During our conversation, I took the opportunity to inquire about some other tours and treks of Nepal. Manaslu circuit and Makalu base camp featured high on the list of probables in future. After all the briefing, it was time for a group photograph with Tej. This is something which he always does with all the groups and we knew, the photo will make its way to social media with appropriate tags. He also gave us the T-shirts bearing the logo of his company. Finally, our luggage made their way to the roof of the vehicle and were fastened. With normal traffic conditions, it should not take more than 5 hours to reach Pokhara, but the roads, especially the ones leading out of Kathmandu, are congested due to ongoing work and it could take more. We didn’t waste any further time and boarded the vehicle, which started it’s journey towards Pokhara.
Our way took us through the streets of Kathmandu and we passed by the Narayanhiti royal palace and of course, the Pasupatinath shrine. Streets of the Nepalese capital were already abuzz with activity. The city almost looked like any other on the plains, but for the sight of the surrounding mountains. The van took a road that gradually moved up the slopes, one of the exits from the Kathmandu valley and very soon we found ourselves meandering through the serpentine roads of the mountains. Guide Raju and 4 porters accompanied us in the van. Another porter would join us at Pokhara before we start the trek. The morning chill went away as the day progressed. We had to abandon our mild woolen wears. Time went in a fly with gossips among ourselves and leg pulling of some of the members. After about 2 hours, the van halted at a place for breakfast. We got a chance to free our legs as we got down. Out of the items available in a roadside shop, fried onions and boiled grams (mixed with spice, freshly cut onions and hot chilies) took our attention. The latter would have us in its grip for the entire trip and we had this delicacy of the lowlands of Nepal at many other places. The daughters too, seemed to like it along with tea. The roadside shelter was being run by a local family, who had their homes in the backyard. There was an open balcony where they had put pickles and other spices for drying up in the sun. Beyond the balcony, the slopes went down towards the banks of a river. The slopes on both sides of the gorge and the entire valley was lush green. Terrace farms decorated the plains on both the banks of the river. The morning sun cast its golden touch on the crops, which stood firm on the fields, yet to be harvested.
The breakfast along with tea, gave us some boost and we boarded the van to embark on our journey once again. The road went by the banks of the Marsyangdi river. Rural lowlands of Nepal revealed its beauty as the vehicle moved on towards Pokhara. The banks of the river were flanked by terraced fields abundant with crop yields. Most of them were paddy fields. The morning sunshine poured its brightness amidst the ripe crop. The van made its way through the serpentine roads. Time went by and the vehicle halted at a road side shelter for lunch. All of the members were in good health and they waited for lunch. As it turned out, the best available option was a local Nepalese meal that involved rice, lentils, some local vegetables and fried fish (apparently freshly pulled out of the river near by).
I sat with my daughter, mainly to ensure she eats well to be fit enough for the journey which still required us to travel for another 3 hours at least. The road to Pokhara from Kathmandu goes via some important junctions. One such junction has a diversion towards the famous national park of Chitwan. Another such junction before Pokhara is Bandipur. A diversion from here leads to the town Besisahar, which is an important place on two famous trekking circuits of central Nepal, the Annapurna circuit and the Manaslu circuit. The roads started to get bumpy as we moved closer to Pokhara, but that was mainly due to ongoing construction work. Though it slowed us down, but we were still able to reach there by around 3 PM in the afternoon. On our way, we crossed the Pokhara airport and went by the banks of the huge Fewa lake of Pokhara. The water glistened in the rays of afternoon sun, boats plied around with tourists. The town was neat and clean and most importantly, much less crowded than Kathmandu. Wide roads and evenly spaced houses gave a sense of planning. It was heartening to see Pokhara in such a shape even after its meteoric rise as a tourist destination in recent years and related development (normally, such developments lead to massive deforestation with houses and lodges mushrooming left, right and center). Finally, we arrived at the Golden Gate Hotel, our place of stay. We got our Wifi passwords, that allowed us to make calls and send messages to our homes via WhatsApp. After settling in our respective rooms and freshening up a bit, we ventured out again. The same vehicle that carried us to Pokhara was to take us for some local sight-seeing of the town. The first such site was a waterfall named “Devi’s fall”. We went with great expectations of a Himalayan waterfall, but were disappointed. The fall wasn’t as big as we expected. It had a park surrounding it, maintained with manicured gardens and sitting chairs. None of it was particularly captivating. There were many souvenir shops around. I bought a token from one of them to pacify my daughter. We boarded the van again. The next stop was Bindabasini temple. After feeling a few drops of water on my body, I looked up and saw dark clouds hovering in the sky. As the van moved towards the destination, clouds poured in. Though it was a welcome break from heat for the locals, it didn’t particularly please me. What if the clouds didn’t clear up before the next morning? No one wants to trek amidst rain, not at least on the very first day.
The rain subsided and after we returned from sight-seeing, some members went for shopping and rest of us just roamed around leisurely. Pokhara has restaurants of every kind that offered a varied cuisine. It also has numerous shops sporting trekking and hiking gear. We scoured some of them and bought a few essential items. One such gear was a rain cover for my daughter that could cover the entire body along with a small backpack. The lakeside walk was pleasant with much cooler temperatures than Kathmandu. There were many lodges and restaurants on the banks, some of which had live musical bands performing to delight the crowd, who were enjoying their evening beer and snacks by the banks of the lake.
After sometime, all the members assembled at the front of the hotel and we went for dinner at a nearby restaurant. After giving orders, we had a very long wait. Gradually, our patience started running out. We needed to finish it off to sleep early. We had to start early enough the next day. The idea was to hit the trail as early as possible. It wasn’t to be a long walk, but still, it was the first day of trek and I was anxious to see how the two little daughters fare. We finally ended dinner very late. After returning to the hotel, there were more work at hands. I carefully weeded out the items that weren’t required during the trek and put them into a separate bag to be left at the cloak room of the hotel. Some items always border on the essentials, but I took a hard look and left them. As I went to sleep, I was a tad nervous. One disturbing element was the weather. The other thought was about the daughters. How would they cope with the strain of walking? The first day was going to be crucial as it was to set the trend for the rest (or so I thought). I kept thinking about these and at some point sleep overran my thoughts.
Break shackles 
2 thoughts on “Goddess of the harvests, Annapurna – Pokhara”