Caves and hailstorms

The second cave was Mahendra Cave, which the conductor told us was very deep (over 100 metres) and empty. Again, we decided not to go in. While we were wandering around outside, the sky suddenly went black, the wind got up, and the heavens opened! Hailstones rained down on us. We took shelter under a shop canopy, but the rain was so torrential that we were getting soaked from the spray. Our bus driver saw us and brought the bus as close as he could to where we were trying to shelter. We only had to walk a couple of metres to get on the bus. I have never in my life got so wet in such a short distance! I felt like I'd had several buckets of water tipped over me!

We had to wait a long time to get everyone back on the bus. I think some of them stayed in the cave, hoping the rain would stop. There was no getting dry in the bus because it turned out that it leaked like a sieve 😄. We drove on to our last stop of the day - Bindabasini Temple. The bus had to stop a 10-minute walk from the temple. It was still raining, and I think the conductor thought that nobody would want to visit. However, about half the passengers did! The rest of us waited for them to come back, trying to get dry and keep warm.

Then, it was just a case of driving back into Pokhara and dropping us all off where we wanted to be. Steve was one of the first to get off. It had been one of those weird, unexpected encounters that happen a lot when you travel. I got off close to an Italian restaurant I had spotted last night. It was already after 6, and it was dark. I knew if I went back to my hotel, I wouldn't bother coming out again. So, I had a pizza with home-made porchetta and mushrooms. It didn't look particularly appetising, but it tasted great. I couldn't finish it, so the waiter parcelled up what was left, and I'll have it for my lunch on the bus tomorrow 😊.Read more