Our bus that would take us over all the bumps and speed past anyone who was in our way. It was only 136km, but it would take a whopping nine hours to complete.
If you had of told me that we would take nine hours to complete a road trip of 136kms, I would not have believed you. But here in Nepal, anything is possible. Maybe that is why I couldn’t get a straight answer from my guide Prem on how long this trip would take. He simply answered:
“Sir, I don’t know. it may take six hours, or it may take nine.”
The big challenge was getting out of a congested Kathmandu. It took us just over two hours to reach the outskirts of the city, before we would our way along the Kathmandu Valley. There we followed the Trisuli river over the landslides, bumps and potholes. I got my firsthand look at how challenging it really is to keep the roadways open in this unforgiving landscape.
Our driver made it his mission to overtake anyone in his path and I was impressed with his tenacity and skill. He played some great Nepali music which added to the atmosphere. We began to pass towns that were busy with street vendors and people purchasing all sorts of things, from food to house decorations.
We finally arrived at the village of Sotikhola resting on the banks of the Budhigandaki River. We would be following this river for the next nine days on our trek north to the High Himalaya. The river was a place in which I delighted in doing my morning Yoga routine beside.
