Pokhara to Bandipur

Thursday, 3 October.

A treat this morning to awake to a view of the Annapurna mountain range that had been hidden by cloud except for that brief glimpse (like 5 minutes) we got the morning we left Lumbini three days ago.

By 9 o'clock, the clouds had come in and the mountains were nowhere to be seen. 

 

The day got very quickly hot and humid. A stop for a cold drink en route at one of the typical shops that seem to operate out of every house along the way. We have no idea how people make a living this way - you can see the size of shop - typical - and the offerings in terms of drinks and snacks and perhaps some household items are often almost identical to the shop next door. Nice ladies - that is also typical of shopkeepers - the welcome here in Nepal has been great.

Colourful buildings en route...

...this one is typical of the style of new houses - roofs are well utilised here...

Tonight's destination, Bandipur, got bypassed when the highway was built some years ago. Rather than disappearing or being reduced to a much smaller village, the town opted to put itself on the tourist map by preserving its buildings and restoring them. The reason the town was bypassed was that it was impossible to route a motorable highway through the steep terrain to the village. The meant that our trip there included a steep 600 metre ascent in the last 8 km of the riding day... gotta love these long struggles every day... 

...one of the benefits of spending the night at the top of a hill was the view from the hotel...

...even if the mountains were still hidden behind those pesky clouds... maybe tomorrow morning we'll be stunned by another view of the snow-capped peaks...

Alas... it was not to be. Standing at the same place, same tree on the right of the picture - definitely instrument flying the next morning... too bad ! ! !