Pokahara

Took the bus to Pokhara yesterday for what turned out to be a long and hot ride.
As there are still some quite heavy monsoon rains and no road maintenance the Kathmandu to Pokhara road is in quite a state of disrepair especially the first section from the valley rim down to the Trisuli river. Here land slides have reduced the road to a single lane and that combined with the usual lack of road rules resulted in the traffic jam from hell with trucks and buses backed up as far as the eye could see, and you can see pretty far when you are on the top of a hill.
It easily added three hours to the trip and that combined with the aircon not working on the bus made for a frustrating ride.
On the other hand the country side is lush and green and the river in full flood is spectacular, I am looking forward to starting my hike.

Kathmandu update

I have been wandering through the city and slowly getting organised for my first trek of the season. Yesterday I took an American couple and two Dutch women to the Tourist Information Office yesterday, it's on the other side of town and difficult to find for first time visitors. After we all got our permits and TIMS cards and were releaved of $40.00 for the privilege we walked to Durbar square and had a wonderful afternoon visiting all the temples and just taking in the scene.

As I now have my permits and a bus ticket I am off to Pokhara tomorrow and hopefully I will be on the Trail by Friday or Saturday. I will start at Nayapul then walk the Ghandruk loop and all being well I should eventually end up at the Annapurna base-camp. Total trekking time there and back about 2 weeks.

Back in Kathmandu

After three hours flying and an hour at the airport I am back in Kathmandu. Where it is warm and humid, although nowhere near as bad as Bangkok.
Apparently there has been plenty of rain in the last few weeks and everything is either green or muddy and the potholes have to be seen to be believed.
In the next few days I will decide where to go and hike and arrange my trekking permits and other paraphenelia. My sleeping bag will probably need washing before I set out so I'll have to find a place that can wash something that large and delicate and more importantly dry it again.
In the meantime I'll just have to hang out in the KTM Garden House and drink coffee.