Vacations Blog

After the 5-hour, nerve-racking motorcycle ride out of the Kathmandu congestion and into the outlying mountain ranges, I planned on doing a whole lot of nothing in Pokhara.

And that’s exactly what I did.

I soaked up some sunshine during the day, read a bit at night and then hurried back to my room around 9pm as I had both Cinemax and HBO on the tiny television. Sort of. I was fuzzy, but I rushed back anyway.

Then I realized I haven’t had a conversation with someone in…a long time. Relaxation turned into boredom and after a few days of this, I decided to take an alternate route up the mountain you can best see the Himalaya Range from (you might be tired of hearing about it. I’m tired of writing about it. Until I see it again and then I suddenly am not tired of writing about it).

So, I did – passing tiny homes on the way up filled with colorful patterns worn by the owners who look funny at the tourists who call them ‘lucky’ and came to the end of the road. The end of the paved road, that is. Beyond that was a dirt road with a lot of rocks. Rocks that could easily puncture my tiny tires. Tires that I didn’t know how to fix. Etc.

Sat for a few minutes, thinking-and-rethinking the consequences of a flat.

‘Maybe the villagers would help me.’

‘Maybe the villagers would help me for money.’

I didn’t have any money.

But the thought of what lied at the end of that road ended up being too much. Stayed in first the whole way, much to the amusement of the locals who couldn’t wait to take the money that I didn’t have. Dodging rocks on a road made of rocks is hard. I think it was only 100 meters up but am pretty sure it took 20-minutes. Came to the end of it. A kid ran out of his house and yelled ‘parking, sir’ even though there was no parking area, just his home on the narrow street.

‘I want to go to the top.’

‘Very easy, sir. Park here and walk up. 200 meters. 10 minutes.’

Took me about 30, the cheeky little monkey. Made it, though. Made it to the top where there was a tea and gift shop. To the left were some stairs. Stairs that took me up to an old military post. There was a guard throwing boxes in a barrel to keep warm and nothing else.

Except a few benches.