Before our trek in the Annapurna range we stayed for a couple of days in Pokhara, a city where one can have a nice steak accompanied with a cold beer or a nice chocolate croissant unlike most places in India. We took a couple of days to relax and to organize the trek. The day before the trek we met a Spanish couple from Vitoria in a trekking store. They had come all the way from Spain to Nepal by bike!!!! They had just come back from a trek and were so kind as to lend us their two sets of hiking sticks. That night at dinner we heard the most amazing stories of their 11-month journey, I was just flabbergasted by their courage... these people have been basically every with their bikes!! If you want to read more, this is their website: http://viajenbici.blogspot.com. There are some amazing pictures and you’ll find the stories very entertaining too (in Spanish), highly recommendable! It only comes to show there are really folks with balls out there that you usually don’t meet in your daily routine.
After the trek we went to Khatmandu via Bandipur where we stayed for one day. Bandipur is a remote village in between Pokhara and Khatmandu. The village is very authentic and peaceful though there seemed to be sympathy for the Maoist cause in that we saw many flags and other propagandistic material hanging out there. They manage their tourism in a very sustainable matter as most of the earnings are invested in restoring local buildings etc. which made the place very pleasant.
The next day we left for Khatmandu where we’ve staid for a couple of days. Unlike any other place we had seen so far in Nepal we found the city chaotic and polluted. We’ve done a bit of sightseeing in the city and the surroundings: lot’s of beautiful shrines but also some political tension due to upcoming elections. After three days we flew back to Delhi (3rd time) again. Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the Himalaya nor any other mountains from the plain. Next stop: Risikesh.
