Our driver was picking us today to drive us from our hotel in the park to Pokhara. We sincerely hoped that he had done the necessary repairs to his tire so that we at least would have a spare to see us through!

Our journey started out smoothly. We headed through the various villages as we moved towards the main highway towards Pokhara. Our journey was about 130 Km’s, but took around 4.5 hours. You can guess: condition of roads, slow moving traffic and bicycles in the motorway, lots of blind curves as we negotiated the various river valleys along the way. I took a few pictures, but from the backseat of a small car where the window does not go down and the windows are darkened…they are a little lacking!

Our dear driver even picked a rest stop that had clean (albeit stand-up) washroom. Any port in a storm as they say!

We soon reached our hotel. We are staying at the Temple Tree in the Lakeside area. A lovely retreat for our last few nights!

Once we settled, we went to the hotel dining room and had a light lunch and then headed off to explore the area where we are staying. I must say this is Kathmandu “light”. The bustle and shops of Kathmandu, but the lakeside road is paved, therefore not throwing up the same amount of dust. There are actually sidewalks, and it’s pleasant to walk outside and not be affronted with the dust and fumes of Kathmandu.

We walked much of the length off the main drag, and then headed down towards the lake itself. Just beautiful scenery, even though the weather was still a little hazy.

On the way back to our room, we managed to buy a couple of bottles of Gurkha Beer, and decided to enjoy one while on our deck patio.

We just got a call from the front desk, and the tour / hike that we thought was the day after tomorrow is actually booked for tomorrow. We are heading off to the Peace Pagoda for the sunrise, and hopefully can catch a glimpse of Annapurna from that special spot!

Given that we will be meeting our guide at 5:45, it will be an early evening for us both. Until tomorrow!