On The Trail Between Jomosom and Muktinath - First stop Kagbeni - The Red Lodge

After spending a couple of days at the excellent Kathmandu Guest House we hoisted our backpacks and made for the bus station where our guide, Tikka, had organised the coach to Pokhara. Having packed far too much we all realised after about 100 paces that we would have to off load some items at the hotel we planned to stay at in Pokhara. The coach was quite ancient and was a relic from a bygone era. But hey, it was comfortable and winding up and down the mountain road, if you can call it that, was an experience in its own right. The coach left in a convoy with many others and it was clear that each driver was hell bent on being in front. Missing a gear meant that you fell back a few places in the queue as lorries and coaches shot past with children clinging onto doors and happily waving and jeering at each other. Great stuff. Around midday we arrived at the Nepali equivalent of the "Motorway Service Station" where we could choose from a range of foods, mostly curries, Dal Bhat, lentils, bread and the like. Plenty of coffee and tea was on offer as was a curious collection of sweets ranging from Mars bars to crisps with dubious sell by dates on them.

The toilet facilities were pretty dire but that did not stop Michael - who was already feeling the effects in the change of diet- from making a valiant dash to a vacant cubicle. You can always rely on your fellow trekkers for comfort and support on these occassions and Neyland was not about to let such a chance slide. Grabbing his camera he manged to hold it above the door and capture Michael in an undignified pose. It was to continue in the vein for most of the trip.

It takes about 8  hours or so to travel from Kathmandu to Pokhara (around 210km) and it is a thrilling experience. Up until this time we had not really had a good sight of the famed Himalayas but as we got ever closer to Pokhara we were treated to our first sight of them. Machhapuchhre ascends to the skyline as it rises to just under 7,000m - well 6977 actually. The Annapurna massif in this western part of the Himalaya includes Annapurna 1 to Annapurna 4 - as well as Annapurna South - Fishtail (Machhapuchrre) is easily the dominant feature even though it is not as high as Annapurna 1 (8090m). From the coach they provided an awe inspiring for me (Jeremy) and a wonder which is still with me today.