- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 39–43
- 13. maaliskuuta 2024 - 17. maaliskuuta 2024
- 4 yötä
- ⛅ 30 °C
- Korkeus: 1 480 ft
IntiaTāl Katora Tank26°55’29” N 75°49’7” E
Jaipur

We arrived into our hostel "Mustache" with a good amount of time to make full use of their rooftop terrace bar and cafe. I was so thrilled when I was able to order pesto pasta with grilled chicken, something I'd been craving since Mumbai, and it was really tasty!
The next day we went to the city palace and enjoyed the beautiful pink and ornately decorated architecture. We then popped over to the Jantar Mantar, an ancient observatory that boasts the largest sundial in the world. We spent most of our time there try to recreate a picture James had taken in the same place 15 years ago.
That evening we booked a street food tour, where we were shown what and how to eat like a real Indian by Diksha. The food was immediately so good and we tried so many things. Our favourite item was the Alou Tikki and in close second for me was the chicken momos and the noodle wrap. By our 9th dish we were struggling to even put a bite in our mouths but luckily she took us on to dessert where we suddenly were able to eat a little bit more. My favourite dessert was the milk cake, which was basically milk boiled down until it had no liquid left and then mushed together. Diksha then offered us a lift back to the hostel, where she coinsidely worked in the mornings, stopping on the way at apartment where we played some Uno and a version of bingo before heading back.
We spend the next day digesting and planing our next few weeks. With regular visits to the rooftop of food and drinks. In the evening we went into the old pink city and ate a delicious meal out using some of our local food knowledge. Afterwards we followed the guidebooks walking tour of the markets and saw shoppings selling clothes and jewellery and even managed to find a place selling milk cake! My new favourite dessert!
For our final day in Jaipur we booked a rickshaw driver named Rishi for the day to take us to the Amber Fort and any other important sites. The Amber Fort was the highlight with beautifully decorated courtyards and a maze of rooms you had all access too it was a lot to explore. After lunch Rishi took us to textile wearhouse where they make handmade prints and we did get upsold to buy stuff which was didn't have the budget or the bag space for. After another stop off at the Albert museum and another upsell at the jewellery sellers before heading home and resting while we planned for our next day's travels.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 43–45
- 17. maaliskuuta 2024 - 19. maaliskuuta 2024
- 2 yötä
- ☁️ 31 °C
- Korkeus: 541 ft
IntiaTaj Mahal27°10’18” N 78°2’31” E
Agra and the Taj Mahal

We arrived into Agra after only a short journey of five hours where we had to be moved after asking for help because my seat would stay sat up.
We checked into our hotel which was a bit of a let down after the glowing reviews in the guide book and online, but it did have a clear rooftop view of the Taj Mahal. Also the reviews said it had delicious food but the chai masala was the worst we'd had the whole trip and they some how made a chocolate banana pancake taste disgusting. We actually only ate half and then walked to a neighbouring restaurant and ordered the same thing, which was an improvement.
The next day we woke up at 6 am and headed to see the Taj Mahal. Even though it was super early it was still quite busy, but not as busy as it was when we left so I think we did beat most of the crowds.
Verdict: it actually is very impressive in person as it is in the pictures. I think it is very photogenic but it still impressed to see it in the flesh. I still can't quite believe we actually saw it in person, I kept having to pinch myself. There are large gardens around the whole if the front which we walked around enjoying it from all angles, we also walked around the back (where there's a wide river). To go inside and in the upper floor you have to pay extra and wear these like booties to keep everything clean and respectful. Inside is just two tombs stones with nice decorative bits but nothing that special. We then also stopped off at the little museum onsite service I would recommend having a look at.
After taking it all in for about 3 hours we got a lazy breakfast, where we had the best lassi of our trip so far. After that we chilled in our room and then heading back out into Agra propper to get a final taste of all our street food favourites before we left India the next day. These included chicken tikka and alou tikki. We then found a large quiet park, which only cost 10 cents to get into, to stroll around in and enjoy the wildlife and fauna. The path took us all the way back to entrance gate of the Taj Mahal which was right next to our hotel. After a bit more digesting we then went to a proper nice restaurant and got more curry and food that we'd miss when we left. We stuffed ourselves silly and got taken back in a rickshaw blasting loud Hindi music which seemed like a perfect ending to Indian culture.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 45–47
- 19. maaliskuuta 2024 - 21. maaliskuuta 2024
- 2 yötä
- ⛅ 24 °C
- Korkeus: 4 295 ft
NepalThamel27°42’56” N 85°18’44” E
Bye India. Hello Nepal

Today we're heading to Nepal, via Dheli airport. Indian had one last present for me, when I woke up: I proceeded to get rid of last night's meal through both ends.
Right before checking out I popped an imodium and was ok apart from some mild nausea for the rest of the day. We got a fancy new 2 hour train from Agra to Dheli which didn't disappoint, with monkeys on the station platform, the guy sitting next to me trying to speak fluent Hindi to me and confusing signage after arriving at Dheli station while trying to find the metro and more.
Once we'de navigated leaving the station to then walk a mile in a construction site to get to the metro station, we then bought your ticket and went through security to get on to metro (their crazy on security here it's too much) after getting off at the wrong station we finally made it to our correct connection and then walked in the longest walkway I will ever experience. We walked above the city for actually 10 + mins hearing the traffic and goings on bellow. It was sad that we weren't seeing the city on our walk but it was also really nice to be somewhere simple and not get hassled.
At the airport we had to get into another queue for security before even getting to the check in desks, but once inside the airport was modern and comfortable with lots of western shops.
India has been amazing I'm sorry to leave but the constant hassle when you step outside, the constant horns and other little inconveniences were begining to grate on us.
When we arrived into Katmandu and got picked up by our taxi, the first thing we noticed was how quiet it was and a lot colder. No shade, but the streets were cleaner too and there were a lot less cars about (TBF it was 21.00). Our room was comfy and clean and we settled down for a good night's sleep. After being verticle for 5 minutes, I rushed to the bathroom to be sick and then ended up staying in there as everything tried to escape me. I thought I might end up having to sleep there but finally everything was empty and I crawled back to bed hoping I would not need to go back in there.
Our first day in Katmandu was spent speaking to our trek provider who gave us the full low down of what to expect on our trek of the Langtang valley and the route.
We then hit the town and stocking up on all the extra warm layers and hiking gear we'de need which included, gloves, a day bag, hiking poles for me and warm hats. It was fun seeing all the knock-off brands displayed and seeing how similar or different they were the the originals.
In the daylight the traffic is still a bit crazy with pedestrians and motorbikes/cars sharing the road but there we some sidewalks and there was very little garbage and the best bit; when you said no you didn't want a taxi/come into your shop etc they stopped asking, it's amazing 😍
After lots of shopping we heading to Fire & Ice a highly rated pizza restaurant and it didn't disappoint. The pizza tasted as good as anything you'd get in London and the drinks were delicious. Overall Katmandu was just what we I needed.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 47
- torstai 21. maaliskuuta 2024
- ☁️ 9 °C
- Korkeus: 4 682 ft
NepalLānṭān Kholā28°9’50” N 85°20’28” E
Langtang Trek - Day 1

Our first official day of the Langtang trek, our guide Dil Man met us at our hotel and accompanied us to the bus, where we met our fellow trekkers; son Nicolas and father Fredrik from Denmark. We all loaded up onto the bus which seemed pretty comfy with good seats and glass in the windows. Once we set off the conductor turned on the huge TV screen right in front of us which began playing Nepalese music videos at the loudest volume possible. Some of them were bangers, such as "Namaskara" performed by Nepalese Captain Jack Sparrow while swinging from chains in a boxing ring. Half of them seemed to be your classic romance the other half were seemed to be a dark social commentary, such as the music video about famer man who goes to work in Dubai on a construction site and misses his wife terribly and then gets his arm chopped off in a work accident and comes home to his wife and their all sad, the end. Or the women who is in love with a man their happy, then she sees a doctor who's wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket and gives her some bad news. Next moment she's on a hospital bed and the doctor and boyfriend are around her crying then the boyfriend is scattering her ashes, the end. Reminder these are music videos and people are singing throughout.
As we acquired more people and deliveries, both of which eneded up in the aisle, the road conditions got steadily worse. With most of the main roads having been eroded by landslides or still under construction we had the bumpiest ride of my life, all while going down hairpin bends. After this 9 hour driver we arrived at Syapru Besi and checked into our rooms. The view was already gorgeous with a steep mountain view outside out window and the sound of rushing water accompanying out every moment.
We ate our dinner while getting to know eachother and went to bed for our first day of hiking tomorrow.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 48
- perjantai 22. maaliskuuta 2024
- 🌫 4 °C
- Korkeus: 8 228 ft
NepalKyāmpu Kholā28°9’44” N 85°25’48” E
Day 2 of Langtang trek

We started our day at 6 am with a hearty breakfast and packing up our bags. It turns out all the men suffered through the night because of the Momos we'd eaten at a rest stop. It must have been a sexist stomach bug because I was totally fine. 😆
The start of the trek was through a rough road that was being used to get to the new hydrodam that was being built, so not the most pleasant start. However, after about 2 hours of this, we got onto the original path which was quieter and immediately beautiful. With rocks and trees lining the fairly steep path, we felt like we'd entered into a different world. We saw lots of bamboo and the river looked gorgeous blue from the glacier it had melted from. We even spotted some gray langur monkeys on the rocks eating the flowering trees.
Our first lunch stop was at a typical Buddhist tea house with all the traditional coloured flags flapping. The food was all very carb-heavy, perfect for a tiring day's hike. We gobbled down some basic chow mein noodles and headed on. I came to love my hiking poles; after mastering the rhythm, I found them invaluable in helping me haul myself up the larger steps when my legs just couldn't do it. I realised I have a slow steady pace, which Fredrik, who was also struggling, enjoyed greatly.
We arrived at Lama Hotel, our teahouse for the evening, after a 6-hour hike, reaching 2380m up (from 1550m). This was the most basic place we stayed, with just simple wooden walls, a shared squat toilet, and no WiFi or plugs. We think the view was good, but the clouds had rolled in so much that we couldn't see anything. After eating our meal in the common room, which was a largish room with benches all around the outside, with a hot stove in the middle and the kitchen just off this, where everyone came together to eat their meals and chat. Pretty tired but not too uncomfortable, we headed to bed early and fell asleep straight away.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 49
- lauantai 23. maaliskuuta 2024
- 🌫 -2 °C
- Korkeus: 11 322 ft
NepalLāngtāng28°12’55” N 85°30’35” E
Day 3 of Langtang Trek

This was probably the hardest day of the trek. It started with a steep uphill, and then towards the middle of the day, it got flat, then went steep again, but when it got steep at the end, it became extra difficult due to the high altitude and reduced oxygen.
The scenery didn't disappoint, though. We continued hiking through the forest to begin with, me always thinking I might see a red panda at any moment, which I didn't (they're extremely rare to see), and then finally seeing the landscape change into open rocky grassland. When the view cleared, we had a magnificent view of the white peaks of the mountains in front of us, and roaming around were many enormous hairy yaks, who turned towards us photogenically every time we took a photo of them.
It was a relief to arrive at our teahouse, which was a beautifully painted three-story brick building with amazing views from the windows and rooftop common room. We climbed to 3,438m above sea level for 7 hours to the village of Langtang. This village was entirely destroyed in the 2015 earthquake which caused an avalanche and killed 310 people. The remnants of the avalanche are still visible, and we hiked over it to reach the newly built town where we stayed that night.
After an amazing hot shower, we had a warm tasty dinner and settled down for bed. We felt a little funny from the altitude, needing to take bigger breaths when going up the stairs, and we did have some unsettled sleep, which is also a symptom, but when waking up, we felt pretty good and a bit more accustomed.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 50
- sunnuntai 24. maaliskuuta 2024
- ☁️ -1 °C
- Korkeus: 12 618 ft
NepalLājā Kholā28°12’43” N 85°34’0” E
Day 4 - Langtang Trek

Today was only a half day, but due to the altitude, it still felt pretty hard. It also gets colder as you go up in altitude, so even though the sun was hot, it was still very cold. The temperature drops approximately 6.5°C per 1,000 meters of elevation gain, so it's about 27°C colder than it was at sea level, so near 1-7°C during the day.
Although challenging, it was the most beautiful day yet. We became surrounded by snow-capped peaks, and the clear sky made looking up a breathtaking experience as we became immersed in the majesty of the mountain landscape.
We arrived about midday at our teahouse at Kanjin Gompa, sitting at 3,870m above sea level. We settled into our room, which had the most stunning view yet. After a long, relaxing rest, we headed out with the group for a short 2-hour trek up to the closest peak, Kyanjin Ri, which sits at 4,604m. To help with altitude, it's good to go higher than 500m and then come back down again and sleep at the lower elevation. It was SUPER steep and REALLY hard going. As we got higher, it got windier, and James and my vertigo were starting to get to us. So, when we got to Lower Lower Kyanjin Ri at 4,300m, we decided to turn back, leaving Dil Man and Nicolas (Dad, Fredrik had already turned back) to continue to the top. We later heard from them that it took them 25 minutes to reach the top once we left them and 25 minutes to get down, whereas it took us 1 hour to get just to where we had got to and probably the same to get down. Bloody youths.
After a tasty dinner, we headed back to our room to see that it was snowing, so we stayed up to watch the largest snowflakes fall that we'd ever seen. We went to sleep wondering when it would stop and how much would remain in the morning.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 51
- maanantai 25. maaliskuuta 2024
- ☁️ -4 °C
- Korkeus: 11 542 ft
NepalPālphu Kholā28°12’52” N 85°31’13” E
Day 5 of Langtang Trek

We woke up very early, as our sleep was still a bit disturbed, to 2 feet of snow covering everything! It was insane to see the transformation from brown shrubs to a white desert. We watched as the yaks slowly wandered through and as people began to wake up and try to carve a path through.
The plan that day had been to have a day hike up to our highest point, Tsergo Ri at 5,000m, which would have been a 9-10 hour trek there and back, from where we could see over 20 peaks, the Langtang Valley, and frozen lakes. However, as the path was now likely completely hidden and slippery with snow, it was not an option. When we went up to the common room and spoke to Dil Man, he said the new plan was to rest until after lunch and then head back down to Langtang village and spend the night there instead.
So we had the morning to go play in the snow and hang out. Very surprisingly, even though the snow was cold, the sun was shining and it was SUPER HOT. I could barely wear a jacket. With the sun so hot, the snow was melting pretty quickly, so it didn't look like we'd be snowed in after all.
While eating lunch, a helicopter landed in the field in front of us and picked up two people who looked like they'd just come off the path from Tsergo Ri. My guess was either they attempted it and got altitude sickness or they were super rich and couldn't be bothered to walk down the rest of the valley, like the rest of us plebs.
After lunch, we leisurely made our way back down the path from yesterday to Langtang village, which seemed SO much easier now we were used to the altitude and it was downhill.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 52
- tiistai 26. maaliskuuta 2024
- ⛅ 10 °C
- Korkeus: 5 856 ft
NepalThulo Shyaphru28°9’10” N 85°22’50” E
Day 6 - Langtang Trek

As we had changed our plans slightly from the original itinerary, our objective today was to head almost all the way back down to the tea house we stopped at on the very first day for lunch and stay the night there.
With a good hearty breakfast in us (I had by now had so many eggs this trip, I was getting sick of eggs, something I never thought possible), including apple pancakes, we began hiking back down. It's definitely a lot easier and faster going downhill; however, my toes did start hurting, which is a uniquely downhill problem. We were also walking the longest distance yet today, 20 km, and so for the first time my feet were properly hurting by the end of the day.
On the way down, we saw a huge family of grey langur monkeys in the tree right in our path. I could have watched them for hours, and the view kept unfolding in front of us of the valley we had hiked up just days before.
Overall, it was surprisingly one of the most exhausting days but also a marvel to see how far one's little legs can take you.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 53
- keskiviikko 27. maaliskuuta 2024
- ☁️ 13 °C
- Korkeus: 4 738 ft
NepalLānṭān Kholā28°9’46” N 85°20’13” E
Day 7 - Langtang trek

Our last day of trekking was only a half day, and we were finishing where we'd been dropped off by the bus, called Syapru Besi. With feet still sore from the day before, we had a late breakfast and then packed our bags for the porters for the final time. We'd forgotten that most of the walk was through the hydrodam construction site, so it was not a very pleasant end to a beautiful hike. However, arriving into our room at the end was a nice reward. We showered, ate lunch, hung out for a few hours, and then Dil Man had decided we should check out the current hydro plant that is just outside the village. With none of us really sure what to expect, we donned our hiking boots again and walked just outside the town to a bridge, where Dil spoke to a guy who opened a gate, and we were let into a courtyard with electrical pylons and cables. We then had to hand in our phones as we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, and we were walked to the opening of an enormous tunnel. We walked in and heard lots of industrial noises. With no explanation from our guide, we walked through multiple tunnels with machinery and water going through them, ending in a loop which brought us back to the tunnel entrance. Not quite sure what we had just seen in the 20 minutes we were there, we asked a few questions, took some pictures of the opening, and then headed back to our rooms.
That evening, we celebrated the end of our trek by drinking a local wine, which is fermented rice with hot water poured inside and then the liquid sucked through a straw. It tasted like marmite, and I couldn't drink it without wincing. After more drinks and trying to chat with the porters who spoke no English, but who laughed really hard when I asked them through Google Translate if they missed their families (they preferred the quiet of porter work to their family's company haha), we headed to bed. Overall, a fun end to a very good trek.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 54
- torstai 28. maaliskuuta 2024
- ☁️ 26 °C
- Korkeus: 1 562 ft
NepalTādi̇̄ Kholā27°51’37” N 85°6’37” E
Day 8 - Langtang trek

This day was technically still part of the trek, but it was just our travel back which ended up being quite eventful.
Dil Man had managed to get us a private jeep ride back to Kathmandu, instead of taking the public bus, but for no extra cost (just a tip for the driver). It was faster, so we left the village at 11 am and hit the road. The shortcut we'd been told the day before was going to have better roads "as they weren't under construction", however, we quickly realised they should have been. They were just bumpy dirt roads that followed the cliff valley, sometimes passing ANOTHER hydro-dam. The amount of bouncing about I did on those roads I'm surprised I didn't have bruises. Sometimes we'd hit a perfectly asphalted road where the driver would speed up to 80 km only for it to end in more dirt road 10 seconds later, no exaggeration. (The longest one we were on was for 30 seconds, Nico timed it).
After stopping for lunch and eating Dal Bhat, we were then on asphalt the rest of the way. To avoid the construction coming into Kathmandu, we took an alternative more scenic route which took us way, way up into a mountain to then come back down into Kathmandu valley. We went so high a very thick fog surrounded the car, and for all the skill of the driver, he loved to go way too fast and overtake any vehicle he saw, which was quite nerve-racking on the bad road conditions. The tension of the drive came to a peak for me when we witnessed an accident right in front of us.
A man, with a lady on the back, was driving a scooter up these long winding roads in the mountains before Kathmandu valley. Going around one sharp bend, he avoided an incoming car but lost the balance of his motorbike sending him and his lady skidding to the ground. We saw all of this from behind him and the driver slowed, but then overtook them and carried on. We were all shocked at what we'd seen and I wanted to get out and help as the driver was half under his motorbike, but the driver warned us that if we stopped and helped, the police would likely arrest us thinking we had something to do with it. He also made excuses that he thought he might have been drunk, however, I think it was just a simple loss of balance. I hid my tear of shock and remorse that we didn't stop and help as the others continued to discuss the particulars. To be fair, the lady at the back was fine, she was already standing shouting at the driver in anger over having crashed at all and he was conscious and already trying to lift the bike off himself as we passed them, so I think they probably were okay. But it pained me a lot to be so heartless and not even considering helping, which I know if it had been me I'd have been very shaken and wanted assistance.
We arrived in Kathmandu in one piece and said goodbye to Dil Man and the other two Danish guys. It felt weird walking away from people that we'd spent so much time with over the last few days.
We checked back into the last hotel we'd been at where we left some stuff and then headed out for delicious buffalo steaks which I'd been desiring the whole hike.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 55–56
- 29. maaliskuuta 2024 - 30. maaliskuuta 2024
- 1 yö
- ☁️ 22 °C
- Korkeus: 4 275 ft
NepalKathmandu Durbar Square27°42’17” N 85°18’27” E
Site seeing in Katmandu

We woke up the next day with plans to go sightseeing. We headed to see Durbar Square, which was only a short 20-minute walk away. The walk there was an experience. We went through a busy neighbourhood of shops and street sellers, selling everything from meat on the butcher's block to the latest wedding clothes and everything in between. The streets were packed with people and again with motorbikes trying to squeeze through; it was a feast for the eyes.
Arriving at the square, we got our tickets and wandered around trying to figure out which building was which. After retiring to a nearby rooftop cafe, we began reading more about the site and ended up going down a rabbit hole while reading about the Kumari cult. This involves the worship of young prepubescent girls, known as Kumaris, who are believed to be living manifestations of the Hindu goddess Taleju, revered for their purity and divine connection. She lives in one of the buildings in the square and cannot let her feet touch the ground. When she hits puberty, they find a new girl.
After our refreshments, we headed into the palace turned museum, which was a very mixed place but quite intriguing. We then headed a few streets away to get food. The first place we went only had Momos on the menu as their kitchen was preparing for a wedding later on. As James can't eat Momos because of his stomach trauma with them, we went to a Newari restaurant. Newari cuisine is of the native people from the Kathmandu Valley and consists of lots of pulses and spices, but nothing like how you've ever had them before. We got a set meal which was a perfect taster of all the main items and was such an amazing flavour and texture experience. It's like nothing we've ever eaten and may never have again, well worth a try if you ever encounter it.
We then headed to our room for a rest and to freshen up for our dinner with Dil Man and the Danish guys as a last meal together, on Magical Nepal's expense.
It was lovely to see them and catch up on what we'd been doing and what our plans were and also to see each other not in trekking clothes. At the end of our meal, the owner of Magical Nepal stopped by and basically got us to confirm our attendance on their Manaslu trek starting next week. We spent one more day in Kathmandu which we used for shopping buying anything we were missing from our last trek. Our hotel manager gave us a good package to stay at their sister hotel in Chitwan, with multiple days of activities in the National Park so we booked that too.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 63
- lauantai 6. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Korkeus: 2 717 ft
NepalMāchhā Kholā28°13’46” N 84°52’26” E
Day 1 - Manaslu trek

We started our day early by waking up at 5.30 to be at the microbus stop at 6 am. We had a quick hot drink with our host Thumpten, who gave us a bag of apples and bananas in place of breakfast. His mate, the taxi driver, then took us to the bus stop, where we were immediately swamped by the microbus agents, one of whom grabbed my bag from out of the back of the taxi and began taking it over to his vehicle. I got it back, and the taxi driver helped us buy an official ticket at the ticket counter to make sure those jacked-up guys didn't overcharge us. We settled into a minivan-type vehicle, aka a microbus, which had seats enough for 15 people, (seats arranged as 2/3/3/3/4) with two other ladies sitting at the very front. We took off with the sliding door wide open and our conductor calling out "KATHMANDU" to any loitering pedestrian. Basically, people just hop on and pay him and then try to fit in as many people as possible even if there are not seats/space; it's up to the person if they want to get in. We quickly accumulated a full bus with all seats taken, but then more people got squeezed onto rows with 5 people sitting on the three-person row at one point.
The driver was going SO fast and overtaking whenever any inch presented itself. As we made good time, we got stopped by a small accident that blocked the road and a mini-landslide at one of the many construction points, which held us up for at least 20-30 minutes.
We finally arrived in Mugling where we were meeting our guide and other hiker and joining them in their proper bus from Kathmandu for the rest of the way. While we were waiting, we ate at the cleanest, most hygienic restaurant I've ever encountered. When you entered, the waitress sprayed your hands with sanitizer and directed you to leave your bigger bags on a table at the front, and they were all wearing masks. It was like COVID was still a thing. But the bathrooms were immaculate and had signage on how to use the Western ones and thick, clean toilet paper, and all motion sensor water and soap dispensers. It was heaven. The food was average, but the masala chai was strong! We were shaking and jittery from the caffeine hit.
Eventually, the bus from Kathmandu arrived with our guide, Mitra, and I was sat next to our hiking partner Cecilia from Sweden. She's very friendly and lovely, and I think she will be great company. James sat next to a guy who manspread the whole trip and who kept falling asleep on his shoulder.
Just when you think you can't experience a worse bus ride in Nepal, you experience a worse one. The road quickly got very steep, and the bus was really struggling, and then the road turned to dirt for the last 2 hours, which meant tons of erosion, landslides, and narrow roads with cliff drops on one side. I had to just look away after a while as staying engaged was giving me a lot of anxiety that we'd fall off. We finally made it to our village for the night, Machhakhola, which sits at 800m above sea level. Our rooms are simple but good, and after getting to know each other better, we showered and headed to bed for an early night after a very long day.
P.S. Cecilia told us the tip to not cry when peeling onions: you should stick your tongue out. Please, someone try it and let us know if it works!Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 64
- sunnuntai 7. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ 12 °C
- Korkeus: 4 245 ft
NepalBālu Kholā28°21’5” N 84°53’45” E
Day 2 - Manaslu trek

Let the trekking begin! I was really warm going to bed so only went to bed in my silk liners, but I woke up very early at 4 am in the night, cold and couldn't get back to sleep. Just when I was dozing off though, it was 7 am and we had to be down for breakfast. I ate Thumpa porridge with apple and banana, which is a type of cereal oat that Nepalese eat instead of oats. It looks like brown sandy sludge but it was very tasty.
We began for the first few hours hiking along the road, which had barely any cars using it so it was pretty peaceful. Once we crossed our first bridge to the path, it began to get interesting. Some bits were quite rocky, some smoother but by lunchtime, I was desperate for a break. My feet were aching and the sun was warm. After a good sit down in the shade and some grub, I felt much better. In the afternoon, the clouds came in so it felt a bit cooler which was nice.
However, we came to a section where there had been a landslide a long time ago and the path was very narrow with a pretty steep drop below, plus it was quite rocky and steep. After a while, I really began to feel my vertigo. James, ever the best man in the world, was right behind me encouraging me and giving his support. It was a relief to have that section done and back onto larger ground. We were then rewarded with a spectacular walk through the dried riverbed, which was all pure white sand with HUGE cliffs on their side, it was magnificent.
We finally made it to our beds for the night in the village of Jaget, at 1300m. We sat on our beds just processing how tired our feet, calves, and shoulders were before taking a cold shower and getting warm in our clothes. We had a lovely dinner of Dal Bat chatting to Cecilia and Mitra about the trek ahead. At 7.30 pm, we were falling asleep at the table and heading to bed.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 65
- maanantai 8. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ 4 °C
- Korkeus: 5 486 ft
NepalThunbān Kholā28°28’10” N 84°52’39” E
Day 3 - Manaslu trek

After a decent night's sleep, we were up and packing at 6.30 am to have breakfast and be out promptly. Cecelia and I shared porridge and some Tibetan bread. She also contributed some Skippy peanut butter and cinnamon which we sprinkled on the porridge and smeared all over the Tibetan bread which, with some jam, was a fantastic treat.
We began the trek feeling really good, our legs strong and our energy up. Just outside the town, I remembered I forgot my phone charging at the teahouse so James jogged back to fetch it, which was a lot faster than I would have been. The start of the walk was on the unused road and then we crossed our first suspension bridge of the day; we got onto some proper walking paths. This trek has had us pass through a lot more villages with women and small children going about their usual business and men on the trail either with their mules loaded up or just walking between the villages.
We had to share a few of our suspension bridge crossings with sheep, being shepherded across the valley which was quite funny as most of them would freeze in the middle probably from sheer panic at the height until the shepherd got them to move on.
We stopped for lunch early at 11 am as there were no good lunch spots further on. After lunch as we rounded a corner of the path, a guy told our guide that we'd better move quickly because they were going to dynamite the mountainside opposite our path to build the road. I haven't hiked that fast before in my life. We did not want to be anywhere near an explosion that could have caused a landslide on our opposite slope. After 20 minutes of fast walking, we made it to the next sentry where there were quite a few trekkers and locals with their flocks being held back, waiting for the explosion to proceed. We continued and 1 hour later we heard the boom echo through the valley, very thankful we were nowhere near it.
After crossing our highest suspension bridge yet, we got into some more wooded area which was very picturesque and tranquil.
With about 45 minutes until our final destination, I began to run out of energy. James said it was like watching someone in slow motion. I still had good spirits though and felt ok, just moved very slowly. We had been walking for 9 hours by this point, about 18 km, and I later saw I'd done 34,000 steps.
Our teahouse for the night is in Deng, which is at 1870m. SO cute! It's got a large front garden area with seating and then the rooms are arranged into a kind of courtyard. The main dining room was very large and laid out almost like a proper restaurant. It even had a TV playing animal documentaries!
We ate some delicious Dal Bat again and Cecilia had a pizza; all the food looked particularly delicious here. We had some of the local wine which put us all in a jolly mood and we laughed about one thing or another until we all got sleepy and headed to bed.
We have another long day tomorrow but I'm optimistic as I woke up stronger and had more endurance than the last day, so hopefully, this will repeat for tomorrow.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 66
- tiistai 9. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ -2 °C
- Korkeus: 8 510 ft
NepalTheraṅ Kholā28°32’43” N 84°46’6” E
Day 4 - Manaslu trek

Unfortunately, today was not a good day to begin with for me. We had a tasty breakfast in our dining hall and then headed out. The trail began with most of the morning on a steep uphill, and I was not feeling strong today. It felt like all the energy had gone from my muscles, and my feet felt like lead. I'm a slow walker and usually at the back, but today I was really falling behind. At one point, I had a wobble and burst out crying, thinking I couldn't do it. "This is so hard, why am I doing this?" But once I'd dried my eyes and received some amazing encouragement and love from James, I was able to carry on and put those negative thoughts behind me.
For lunch, we stayed at a very picturesque tea house with babies and children playing as we ate, who were really sweet to watch and interact with. We also all took the opportunity to take off our shoes and re-energize after a long walk. The afternoon passed much better for me; even though it was still uphill, I got into a rhythm, popped in a podcast, and was able to steadily tackle any incline. We passed through some beautiful forests and walked next to the rushing river rapids.
When we arrived at that evening's tea house in Namrung, at 2,600m, we were all thoroughly pooped and looking forward to peeling off our socks. We also met up with our old guide from Langtang, Dil Man, who was related to our guide and from the same village. We caught up and found we'd be walking with his group from Canada for the next day.
We ate a delicious dinner, pizza for me and Dal Bhat for James, and then enjoyed a large slice of homemade apple cake we'd purchased from the trailer earlier. Afterwards, after no Wi-Fi or signal since starting the trek I managed to tether off our guide's tiny bit of data and let me family know I was alive and likely wouldn't be contactable until after the trek.
With it starting to get colder we snuggled down into our sleeping bags and went off to bed ready for a early start tomorrow.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 67
- keskiviikko 10. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ -3 °C
- Korkeus: 11 476 ft
NepalKasupāṅ28°34’26” N 84°40’17” E
Day 5 - Manaslu trek

We started the morning at 6.45 am for breakfast to make sure we got on the path by 7.30 as today was either a half-day or further if we had the energy, which if we went further would open our options for side quests the next day.
We started off well with lots of incline but with a slow steady pace, it didn't feel too bad. At around 3,000m I began to feel the familiar feeling of just a little less air getting to me, so deepened my breaths to accommodate. However, luckily James and I felt no other altitude effects; we even slept well! We were still going strong when we stopped in Lho at a fantastic lunch spot which had the kitchen and dining on the roof in a kind of conservatory with the most stunning view of the mountains and even though there was a cold wind blowing, it was so lovely and warm in the dining hall. We took an extra bit of time enjoying extra drinks and the warmth of the space before heading back out. The second half of the day was only 2 hours so we had lots of time.
The afternoon's trek was through some beautiful woods with a rushing stream, moss on the trees and beautiful afternoon sun pouring through the trees. We finally made it to Shyala sitting at 3,500m. When walking into the village it had plenty of buildings but we saw no one around, it was like it was deserted.
We arrived early at about 5 so after getting comfy we sat in the dining hall and chatted together with Dil Man's Canadian group, it was only the 6 of us staying at the lodge so we were able to be as loud with our laughter as liked.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 68
- torstai 11. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ -3 °C
- Korkeus: 11 512 ft
NepalSamagoan28°35’14” N 84°38’30” E
Day 6 - Manaslu trek

Today the plan was to do a kind of V-shaped route, first heading to Pung Gyen Gompa monastery, sitting at 4,000m, and then heading down to Samagaon village, (where we'd spend the next two nights), sitting at 3,520m. This was to help us acclimatise to the altitude.
The hike up was only two hours up and two hours down, but both were VERY steep. Going up, the scenery changed from small pine woodland to open rocky tundra to vast open mountain plains. The view just kept getting better and better as we ascended until we just had no more words for how incredible it was. The air was definitely getting thinner too, as I was finding it very hard to move my muscles up the hill. We amazingly saw the most wildlife up here than we had the whole trek so far, including a tiny grey rabbit, marmots, mountain goats, and the National bird of Nepal, the Himalayan monal pheasant! (Which are super rare for this region, normally only found in Everest)
We finally arrived at the monastery and caught our breath and had some snacks and Tibetan bread. We explored the temple and took in the scenery before retracing half our steps down and then on to Samagaon. It started snowing lightly as we descended, so I think it made us keen to go down asap. Just outside the village is the local school which serves children in the whole region, and they had a stall outside selling fresh, proper, French-pressed coffee, to raise funds for the school. Cecelia couldn't help herself, and James decided to have a coffee too. After being exhausted, they both perked right up after only a few sips.
We checked into our lodgings, which were staying in for two nights. James and I plucked up the courage to ask for a room with a double bed, instead of the twins we'd been staying in every night, as we're missing sleeping next to each other and we'll probably need the warmth soon. They didn't end up having any free, but he said hopefully tomorrow when other people leave.
We all tucked into a late lunch of spring rolls, which are super thick and chunky here, not like those piddly ones we get in the west, and then headed to our rooms to warm up in our sleeping bags and rest before a late dinner tonight.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 69
- perjantai 12. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ -2 °C
- Korkeus: 11 965 ft
NepalYamnāṅ Kholā28°35’56” N 84°37’58” E
Day 7 - Manaslu trek

Today was the best day so far! It was an acclimatisation day for us, so we were heading up to about 4,200m and then back down to sleep at our hotel at 3,500m. As it was just a day hike, it was nice not to have to take our full bags.
As we hiked the steepish climb towards Mt Manaslu Basecamp, the view just got more and more amazing. Once we got about halfway up to the basecamp, we stopped at a cave with prayer flags and paused to take in the view. There were no words to describe it. While taking it in, we watched the glacier break off and avalanche down the mountain.
Once we'd rested and taken in as much as we could, we headed back down and then took a detour to see the lake formed by the glacier. The water was SO cold but so beautifully blue it looked like it could be tropical. Cecilia stripped down to her underwear and went for a cold water swim. In comparison, I took off my shoes and socks and put my feet in, which I could only do for like 30 seconds.
We then headed back to town via the massive monastery and arrived just in time to enjoy lunch outside in the sun. We spent the rest of the day chilling until dinner.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 70
- lauantai 13. huhtikuuta 2024
- ⛅ -1 °C
- Korkeus: 12 661 ft
NepalAṭhāhra Saya Kholā28°39’2” N 84°37’60” E
Day 8 - Manaslu trek

Today was a short day to Samdo, just three hours up to about 4,000m. We left late at about 8am and the road was a very gentle incline. James was not having a good day, his stomach was not great in the morning and then his back was aching from the bag today so it was a relief to finally arrive into Samdo.
We requested a double bed room this time as we have been in twins the whole way and are missing our cuddles and the comfort of sitting next to eachother.
As James wasn't feeling well, he tested in the room while we enjoyed a tasty lunch in the teahouses rooftop conservatory like structure which was warm in the sun. And then rested before taking a little 1 hour hike up to a ridge at 4,100m. It was pretty steep and I knew as we were going up I was not going to enjoy the decent. When we arrived at the top I didn't not like how steep it felt, I felt like I was on the edge of a cliff, which I guess was kinda true. The views of the mountains and the town and valleys bellow were incredible though and it was worth it just for that. Almost immediately as we deccended I became panicked, with my fear of slipping in the dusty rubbly path almost immobilized me, but with James there Cecilia was very encouraging and we made it down uninjured.
I returned to James feeling a lot better and we ate dinner and firmed up or plans for the remainder of the trip.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 71
- sunnuntai 14. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ -2 °C
- Korkeus: 14 547 ft
NepalLārkya28°39’32” N 84°35’4” E
Day 9 - Manaslu trek

Today was going to be a very short day as we were just heading to Dharmasala, which was the final settlement before we went through Larkya La pass and the highest peak of the trek. We began early, setting out by 7 am. However, sitting at 4,500m, 500m higher than where we started, the whole route was uphill and with the altitude, the air was becoming very thin and hard to breathe in. So it took us nearly 4 hours to go 6 km.
It turned out Dharmasala was more of a camp than any kind of settlement. There were two or three rows of prefabricated shelters with many rows of tents beside them. It was like being holed up in some kind of temporary shelter. The three of us were sharing a room, which was just a row of mattresses next to each other covering the entire space, and in front of us was the "dining hall," which was another prefabricated room that had a window missing. The whole thing was incredibly basic and at this altitude, incredibly cold (prob like -10). We arrived at 12ish, and after eating our lunch, we then had NOTHING to do until bedtime. There was a hill nearby that lots of people, including James, decided to climb, but otherwise, there was nothing to do and no comfortable place to be. Everyone there was there because they were going to climb the pass tomorrow, so looking around this desolate outcrop, you just saw bored, antsy hikers milling around trying to stay warm and look for something to do. Because of the altitude, you're also not supposed to nap as it can make the acclimatisation worse.
By 3 pm, Cecilia, James and I were going crazy. We ended up speaking to a young man named Josh from Canada who was doing the trek with just himself and his guide. When Mitra found us, he managed to find us a deck of cards and taught us a Nepalese card game which managed to keep us entertained for at least 2 hours before our food arrived.
Thankfully, our food managed to warm us up and then we all retired to our room to try and sleep before our 3 am wake-up the next day to begin our hike through the peak of our journey, Larkia Pass.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 72
- maanantai 15. huhtikuuta 2024
- ☁️ 0 °C
- Korkeus: 19 898 ft
NepalSamagaun828°37’41” N 84°32’37” E
Day 10 - Conquering the Summit - Manaslu

This was the hardest challenge of my entire life.
We all managed to stay warm in the night, thankfully. However, we all slept pretty badly due to the altitude (it makes you sleep restlessly because there's little oxygen), so when we woke in the dark at 3 am, we were all kinda glad to begin.
After trying to stomach some Tibetan fried bread with egg, which was a terrible choice for so early in the morning, we got ourselves together and began our most challenging experience yet.
It was pitch black, so everyone was wearing their head torches along the path, and if you looked around, you could just see little lights slowly moving up the mountain. Mine and James' stomachs quickly started protesting the fried bread that morning, and with the combination of 55% less oxygen and little sleep, things already felt bad in our bellies.
At about 5 am, the sun was starting to hit the mountain peaks, and the view began to look like a poster picture of incredible images. The orange and pink of the sky reflected off some of the mountains onto others, and it was probably one of the most incredible things I'll ever see.
It was incredible but also somewhat hard to enjoy as all I could think about was how hard it was to put one foot in front of the other and get enough breath. It looked and felt like we were walking in slow motion.
At 4,900m, (1.5h away from the 5,100m peak), the altitude hit me the hardest. I felt incredibly lethargic and light-headed. I started worrying I was going to faint or that I'd have to turn back. We stopped for a moment, and Mitra gave me some coke which didn't seem like it helped initially, but after 10 mins, I think it kicked in. By now, the snow was many feet thick, and it was a gamble every time you put your foot down if it would hold or your foot would fall deep into the snow. The sun had risen fully and was blinding against the snow, and we were getting incredibly warm in our down jackets and multiple layers.
After my wobble, I set my mind to getting over the peak and just getting the hell down from here. This one thought of starting our descent, as we couldn't turn back and there was no other way to get down, was what drove me on and on. As we came to the peak, Mitra, who was ahead of us, exclaimed "You made it!" And James, Cecilia and I all started crying uncontrollably. We had made it. We all found it so hard, at moments we each felt like we weren't going to make it. It's hard to describe the relief and happiness we all felt to have actually achieved this mammoth task. We all hugged, cried, and took photos. Cecelia had promised she was going to do burpees on the peak for her bootcamp. Amazingly, she did 10 when she initially thought she'd only be able to do one.
After 10-15 minutes, we began our descent, but it turned out the challenge wasn't over yet. Going down, the snow got very slippery and even after applying our crampons, when we got to a huge side of the mountains with slushy snowy switchbacks for 2 hours, we all hated it. I was so scared of hurting my ankle again. James admitted to me on the peak that he already had zero energy and so was slipping quite a lot due to the lack of energy.
After descending 776m, we finally arrived at the first building after the pass. In a fog of tiredness and pain, we sat down, and then in shock at what we'd just achieved, we began laughing and crying hysterically.
The food was the most glorious thing I'd ever eaten, and afterwards, we descended into a silent stupor. We still had just under 5 km left until we arrived at our tea house for the night. We actually tried to get a price for a donkey to ride us the rest of the way, but no luck. At this point, we realised we'd be awake and walking for 12 hours.
We arrived at the cutest tea house we'd stayed in yet, all of us with our own little cabins and a glorious hot shower. All the ladies washed their hair. We then all gathered in the dining hall where the fire was roaring, and we tucked into our dinner, and then promptly went to bed at 7 pm because we'd been up for SO long.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 73
- tiistai 16. huhtikuuta 2024
- 🌫 4 °C
- Korkeus: 8 287 ft
NepalGho Kholā28°34’8” N 84°24’19” E
Day 11 - Manaslu trek

James and I both slept solidly for more than 10 hours. It was glorious. We woke warm and well-rested; it was hard to leave our sleeping bags. After breakfast, we said goodbye to the Canadian group with Dil Man who'd been shadowing us for the last 5 days and began our further descent down to Gowa at 2550m. This was to be our last full day of walking, so we pledged to try and enjoy it as much as we could. Thankfully it wasn't hard to enjoy, as the mountains in the background were epic and the rocks quickly turned into lush floral forests, making it hard not to stop every five minutes and take photos. We hiked through lush flower forests, dense clifftop woodlands, through a burnt-down woodland (from where lightning had struck), and finally on a rough dirt road.
Along the way, we bumped into hikers we'd met earlier on the trail, who'd also done the pass the day before. The German man told us how hard he'd found it and how he'd also nearly cried reaching the top. He was especially relieved to hear that we'd also found it incredibly hard.
With about an hour to our final destination, clouds began rolling in through the valley, and after a few very large drops, James and I put on our new ponchos. It was good to get some use out of them. We tried to quicken our pace as we heard lightning and thunder, and the memory of that burnt forest area came back to me, but after so many hours of downhill, our ankles and knees were protesting.
We finally made it to our destination without getting too soaked, to our wonderful cabin rooms which had little skylights and en-suites (with a cold shower!) the luxury. After getting out of our wet things and taking a quick cold shower, we settled down to read and watch the rain. After an hour, James spotted the most humongous spider hanging out right above our heads. It was too big for me to get near (and I'm not usually scared of spiders), so James got it into a vessel and released it outside.
We finally had full WiFi coverage so dinner was a bit quiet while everyone checked their phones, but overall it was lovely as we drank alcohol and ate some very tasty food. Mitra even arranged for us to sample some dried buffalo meat, as we hadn't had any meat for the hike. It was chewy but beautifully seasoned. Now used to an early bedtime of 8 pm, we all went to sleep in our last night in the mountains.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 74
- keskiviikko 17. huhtikuuta 2024
- ⛅ 29 °C
- Korkeus: 3 025 ft
NepalJogikula28°11’51” N 84°23’8” E
Day 12 - Manaslu trek

It definitely felt like we left the mountains behind today, which was sad.
By now, we'd all settled into our breakfast classics: Cecilia's porridge, James's eggs, and my muesli. Sadly, there was a big furry centipede-like creature in the sugar jar, so I had a little freak out first thing in the morning.
After that, we set off promptly to the next village, Tilche, where we were to meet the jeep that would take us down to Besisahar.
I chatted with Cecilia for most of the walk and spoke about how she found the love of her life, her husband, which was not a straightforward tale, but was really beautiful to hear.
When we arrived at the jeep, James and I squished into the front seat, with Cecilia and two other Nepalese ladies and their two children in the back seat, and Mitra and another guy sitting/standing in the open-topped cargo area.
Although it was bumpy for lots of the 4+ hour route, it was actually not bad compared to our Langtang return. The hardest part for me was trying not to roll onto the driver next to me, as I had no seatbelt available, and keeping my legs out of the way when he needed to shift gear.
We'd heard tell that the Annapurna trek route went up roads now, and we saw this first hand as there were quite a few trekkers going up the road with all their gear while us and lots of other jeeps and lorries went by, throwing up dust and exhaust fumes. We definitely picked the better trek.
As we got lower in altitude, it got steadily hotter. When we arrived in Besisahar, we found ourselves in a bustling city and us in our smelly dusty trekking gear. We ate a delicious lunch in the Manaslu restaurant and then stayed in their super cute blue guesthouse across the street. Our window view was of a cement wall, which was great for echoing the sound of other rooms' noise to us and making it super hard to tell where the goat bleating noise was coming from. Back in civilization, I felt very unsure of what to do with myself, without any mountain to look at and only a busy street to explore.
At lunch, Cecilia showed us the new clothes she'd purchased as it was easier than trying to wash your clothes, and we chatted and exchanged tales. Getting to sleep was much louder and more chaotic than in the mountains, with the noise of someone watching Call of Duty footage floating up to us and someone deciding 9 pm was a good time to blast the latest Nepali hits, but we drifted off eventually.Lue lisää
- Näytä matka
- Lisää toivelistallePoista toivelistalta
- Jaa
- Päivä 75–80
- 18. huhtikuuta 2024 - 23. huhtikuuta 2024
- 5 yötä
- ⛅ 28 °C
- Korkeus: 2 785 ft
NepalChhahadidanda28°13’43” N 83°56’56” E
Pokhara - part 2

On our final day of the trek, which was our travel back day, we woke up early to catch the 7 am microbus with Cecilia. We ate our breakfast in the Manaslu hotel front outside area. After we had finished, we said goodbye to Mitra, which was sad as we had spent so much time with him and got to know him, knowing we probably won't meet again.
The journey was long and bumpy as usual, the only moment of note was when we got stuck in the more standstill chaotic traffic jam I've ever experienced. On a road with construction taking place, a truck and an oil tanker had collided while trying to pass each other on a dirt road. Nothing was much damaged, but obviously, it being an oil tanker, they were being very 'careful' with a digger trying to dislodge the vehicles from each other. This was taking up the entire road, and so the other half under construction road was being used to move either side of heavy traffic past, although this was not being managed by anyone and was super ad hoc. We didn't know this until passing by, so we got stuck further up, and it all seemed to be people trying to wiggle and pass each other for the whole length. It was also extremely hot, and we were in a mental box with no fan or AC, and with the car not moving, no air was getting into the open windows. We all quickly sweated through our clothes, and I began panicking that I'd get heat exhaustion and pass out. We were in the same spot for at least 1 hour. I was very close to getting out and walking past the traffic jam I was that desperate. Finally, we began moving inch by inch and got past it. Finally arriving in Pokhara, we said goodbye to Cecilia and got into our separate cabs to head to our accommodation.
We found our place on the slope of a hill, at the top of a dirt path, with a stunning view of the lake and treetops growing around us. Our room was divine. Huge with a lovely bathroom, huge bed, and windows opening out onto the view, with our own private balcony.
We didn't get up to much while in Pokhara, mostly read our books, slept extremely well, wandered around to the local cafes and bars for food, and enjoyed delicious homemade granola made by our hosts.
There were a few highlights though. We went up in the gondola, which was right by us, to the top of the hills, where you can normally see the Manaslu, Annapurna peaks but with the haze that engulfed the city the whole time we were there, we didn't see them. The gondola ride itself was fun though, very high and much longer than we thought it would be.
We also rented a pedal boat for an hour and went out into the lake, but it was very hot and a lot of physical effort, most of which James was doing, though he didn't realize until we were almost done.
And one evening we went to an outdoor screening of Amelie where we got served drinks and pizza all surrounded by a bamboo forest and twinkly lights it was lovely.
On our final evening, we met up with Cecilia and had a fun evening dinner and drinks, catching up on what we'd been up to and what our upcoming plans were. It was a lovely way to end our time in Nepal, laughing and having fun with new friends.
Our time in Nepal has been really magical. I've learned so much about myself and experienced things I never thought I'd do or see. The people we met have been amazing and friendly, and the country will definitely have a special place in my heart.Lue lisää
MatkaajaStunning photos! What a magical place 😍
MatkaajaIt was so gorgeous, I had so many more photos I couldn't fit on this post
MatkaajaThat noodle wrap looks yummy 🤤🤤
Matkaaja
You look a lot better now james 😂