DAY 3 : NEPAL : Kathmandu - Arughat (680m) - 6 hours by bus

 

 

All packed and ready for the Smith/Townsend expedition.

 

 

Staff and gear all on board.

 

 

Bumper to bumper traffic on streets of Kathmandu, complicated by protests over oncoming election.

 

 

Satish, our guide and owner of Nireka Adventures, was stuck in traffic. 

So we were relieved to collect him on our way out of town.

 

 

Out of the metropolis and into the countryside - our first sight was of terraced market gardens rippling down the hills adjacent to the highway.

 

Women working in rice paddies.

   



We followed the Trishuli River which feeds industry and market gardens.
 

 

 

Houses of stone with slate or corrugated rooves by dusty, rocky single lane road. We thought it might be a good candidated for The Worst Roads in the World. All power to our driver who manoeuvered the bus across rocky terrain and narrow ridges.

 

 

Unexpected trucks, road workers, farmers and families herding animals all made the journey a little more hair-raising.

 

After 6 hours we arrived at our destination of Arughat. The heavens opened, lightning and hail. We were glad our first night was in a local teahouse. Our porters quickly unloaded our gear in preparation for tomorrow.

 

Our accommodation was the Hotel Manaslu - still under construction and with an outside toilet.

 

There was a blackout due to the storm and we had dinner by candlelight, prepared by our cook. It was Dhal Bhat - rice, dhal and curried vegetables - a very popular Nepalese meal.

 

Tunka, our assistant guide, and testament to the effectiveness of Dhal Baht.

 

M&M

mm_smith@bigpond.net.au

P.S. I have all the entries ready to roll but we have limited wifi access and very slow connection. Hopefully, we will be able to send more information about our exciting adventures soon!!