Pokhara - Down the Bumpy Road

We boarded the bus around 7am.  Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The bus, not the trip.  We were told 6-8 hours with breaks.  I knew we were in for a treat when it took us an hour just to get out of the city due to traffic and construction.  Booking our tickets late gave us the experience of riding in the back of the bus.  The winding lane and a half width road snaked along a rivers edge all day.  The signal for passing, merging, and turning?  Horns, Horns, and Horns.  Occasionally the road would have old pavement, but mostly dirt and river rocks lined the road.  With the average speed of 20mph we rocked and rolled for 10 hours stopping every 2 hours for a short break and a road side market/restaurant.  Shadow was gutsy enough to try a hand dipped ice cream cone.  I stuck with a bag of Lays potatoes chips (Magic Masala Flavor).  If the expiration dates of any food expire in the current year of your visit, your in luck!  After a toilet break and something to drink, the main focus is to watch your bus.  Remember the color and when the doors open, be ready to jump in.  Although in the case of our bus, the driver couldn't get our bus door open.  Him and his assistant pried the door, banged on the door.  Crawled through the driver window and pushed the door from the inside to open it.  What's the warning that the bus is leaving?  You guessed it.  A honk of the horn.  Luckily each bus has a different horn sound, even so, the bus will leave with or without you.  At another stop, one of the buses blew a tire.  Just like the airplane part in Lukla, everyone pitched in to change it and life went on. 

4 miles from our destination the bus stopped to get gas.  Not from a gas station, but directly from a gas truck.  It's hot, we are sick of being in the back of the bus at this point.  Shadow has been coughing the whole time.  An Italian couple was making out in front of us.  Our skin was covered in a grimy mix of diesel exhaust and dust.  I couldn't open the window and even if I could, it would just mean more dust.  I looked at Shadow and told him I would just walk the rest of the way.  I was over the bus ride.  

Before long we were moving again.  The last 4 miles to town.  A gravel lot full of other buses and taxis wanting to take you anywhere.  A quick stop for dinner, shower, then crashed for the night.  

A morning internet search during breakfast found a village on the Northside of town called Happy Village with a hotel and good reviews.  Knowing that internet companies take a cut of the local's profit, we decided not to book online, took a $4 taxi the next morning to the village.  Internet booking costs aren't the only reason.  Photos can be deceiving too.

The Nar-Bis hotel was exactly what we needed.  Views of the lake without the noise and l a 40-minute walk back to the main town.  We had found paradise in Nepal.