The Namaste Trail: As It Happened

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Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened 1/1 by Eleutheromaniac

We were back from the wonderful hike to Kalinchwok temple the night before. It was almost 11 PM when we reached Sunil's room in New Baneshwor and stayed there. We were to head towards Pokhara early next morning on Bike for the trek to Annapurna Base Camp. Packing was still remaining means there were no chances of moving early.

Early next day, I walked to my room in Maitidevi and prepared the backpack as fast as possible and got back to New Baneshwor. As Praches was ready in Pepsikola and desperate about this trek, he was continuously calling us and asking about the time to move. We told him to come to New Baneshwor picking Bikash on the way as both were in the same area; they came little later than our expectation. After hectic early morning schedule, everything was set and we were almost ready to leave.

LEAVING THE CAPITAL FOR THE CITY OF LAKES

Holding excitement and curiosity within us, we began the ride towards the beautiful city of lakes passing Maitighar - Tripureshwor - Teku then Kalanki. We stopped briefly in Teku to get new and safer helmet, which is definitely an important thing to consider for safe highway ride. Crossing the congested traffic of Kalanki - Nagdhunga road we joined the Prithvi highway, two-lane yet one of the busiest highway in the country. We swirled down the winding road until Naubise, the ride till was enjoyable one as there were comparatively less traffic.

The clear air, trees, hills, sound of Trishuli river flowing on the right were making the environment surreal and being out from the chaos of modern day living was best feeling. We were travelling through the beautiful highway in a good speed with some good music on; in the meantime the speaker strapped on one of the bag badly fell down and reached the other side of the road. We stopped to pick it up; pen drive attached to it broke into pieces and main part was lost but thankfully speaker survived with just few scratches.

Not much thinking about the event, the ride continued and in no time we reached Malekhu. The highway section till Malekhu was the challenging one due to sand trippers as well as loaded trucks, which does't bother much about following the lane as well as other traffic rules. As Malekhu is a place popular for fish, we ordered some and waited for the next bike to reach there. After 10-15 minutes, it arrived. We spent around 40 minutes there.

Sun was nearing the western horizon and we still had long way to reach Pokhara. So without more delay we followed the highway, reached Kurintar - the cable car station in an hour then Muglin in few minutes. After having brief tea break, we tracked the road to the right crossing the old and exhausted bridge of Trishuli River. We further followed the highway passing different cities such as Aanbu Khaireni, Dumre, Damauli and reached Pokhara at around 7:00 PM. After reaching the city, we directly went towards the lakeside as we were staying in Hotel Singapore.

The bike ride to Pokhara is somewhat easy one during the daytime but it's quite challenging during night. Because of the varying terrain, the road condition also varied in different sections. Our ride was pleasant except for few places. During the ride we once stopped in the roadside café to have tea and few times in the middle of nowhere due to the insects over the highway, which loves to come closer to the eyes and once it enter to the eyes, you have to stop everything, relax and remove it.

We felt relief after taking the bags off, freshen up and went for the walk around lakeside. We enjoyed lakeside music along with the tasty food including Thakali rice as dinner. As we were to move to Dhampus early tomorrow, we returned back to the hotel on time and it was already the bed time. I wished ' good night' with the silent desire of getting beautiful window view of Mount Fishtail, tomorrow morning.

RAIN, RAIN AND RAIN

As I woke up in the morning at around 7:00 with the sound of thunderstorm, my wish to see the mountains went in vain. All I can see was clouds and rain. We waited for few hours but there were no symptoms of minimizing it rather it was going heavy. As Bikash had some work in the Internet, we left the hotel room and went to the nearby cyber café. He took some time to finish his work, as we stayed there watching the rain. We had no chance to move as planned, we didn't even have raincoats to cover us as well as our backpacks. And another bad thing - similar weather was on the forecast at least till the afternoon. It was frustrating time till. Despite all frustrations we had lunch on time, came back to room and slept more.

It was more than 12:00 when we woke up; rain was still hitting the city. We went towards the business area of Pokhara to search for the raincoat catching a taxi but we didn't find anything as our expectation, still took four raincoats from different shops, wore it instantly and came back to the hotel on a public bus. Then without entering to the room we started to hike around the Northern part of Phewa Lake, doing and eating whatever we like. It was around 5:30 when we returned to the room from the nice walk and most importantly rain stopped but the northern sky was still not looking good. After being fresh we left the room again and went to watch the evening awesomeness of the lakeside - different genre of live music, relaxing atmosphere and happy people. We enjoyed it to some extent, had dinner and got back to Singapore. As Facebook and Twitter are already the parts of daily life we checked it once before ending the frustrating day.

We will definitely be getting the good climate tomorrow; a quick view of weather forecast suggested so.

SINGAPORE, HONGKONG AND THE FISHTAIL

Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac

Pokhara is the city where you can stay in Singapore, watch Hongkong ;) along with the majestic mountains over it. As I got up at around 6:30, WoW! I was happy to get the wish of yesterday fulfilled. Triangular shape of snow capped mountain in the morning light was simply amazing. With the view, everybody were excited and without delay we prepared to move as early as possible. After having coffee, we left for Dhampus at 9:00.

Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac

From the hotel we followed the Phewa Marga towards the east till ' Zero Kilo Meter', and turned left onto Pokhara - Baglung Highway. After continuing the nice highway for 18 - 20 KM, we reached Phedi and from there, we went to the right through the newly developed rough road and it was slippery in some sections due to yesterday's rain. We reached Dhampus in little more than half an hour, went to the hotel near to the tourist check post, which was said to be the last point of Dhampus. We parked the bikes in the hotel's parking area, ordered the lunch, and had some photo sessions. Fish-Tail look of 'Mount Fishtail' was seen from there though lower side of the mountain was covered with the cloud. We had delicious lunch after an hour and it was already a good afternoon when the trek started. We will be staying in Landruk after completing that day's trek.

We began walking in the lovely jungle trail inside the Annapurna Conservation Area and weather was supporting us by not becoming hot but the chances of rain was also being increased at the same time. Stone paved trail was covered with the fallen petals of Rhododendron making it the beautiful flower carpet and we were gradually gaining the altitude. After crossing few tea houses in Pothana the trail was steep until Deurali. We met different trekking groups on the trail and their typical 'Namaste' with smiling faces felt nice.

The cloud covered the nearby hills and it started raining heavily; the temperature fell down too. We covered ourselves with raincoats and continued our journey towards Landruk in downhill path; we continued to get down and down until we reached a flat and motor able road. It was raining - sometimes heavy and sometimes light. During the heavy rain we stopped in the roadside tea shop in Tolkha to have tea and some biscuits. The relatively easy journey began again as the rain subsided.

We were walking on the muddy way in light rain; a jeep going to Landruk reached us, which was carrying the day to day stuffs. As the rain was annoying us, we decided to jump on it to reach Landruk little earlier. As we reached the small yet beautiful village, we went to New Peaceful Guest House, asked for the room, kept our bags and went to roam around the village.

Landruk is a small village in the just opposite side of the Ghandruk village and it is low in altitude. Beautiful view of Annapurna is visible from Landruk but Fishtail hides behind the hill. The weather got cleared after the evening giving us the chance to view some glimpse of mountains along with the twinkling stars. While walking around the village we reached Hotel Moonlight, which was almost at the end of that small village and decided to have dinner there. As we didn't order anything in the hotel where we kept our bags, we thought that won't be a problem but they were disappointed after we informed them that we had dinner somewhere else. We went to the room after having fantastic dinner. As the people of the hotel were dissatisfied with what we did, Sunil was worrying on whether they will give us blankets or not, sleeping on the bed.

"Will they give blankets to us?" Sunil enquired.

"Why not? They surely need to." Praches responded.

Sunil was still in confusion.

"What would you do if they didn't give it?" Sunil queried again.

"We will get the bags and leave to Moonlight." Prachesh replied with confidence.

After 10-15 minutes of this dilemma, the hotel staff bought the blankets making everyone happy. We were asleep in few minutes.

We will be reaching Chomorong till tomorrow evening after having hot water bath in Jhinu Danda.

HOT WATER DIP THEN FREEZING RAINFALL

Early morning view of 'Himchuli', 'Annapurna South' and 'Annapurna I' was enough to make everybody feel fresh and energize for the new day. We left the hotel at around 7:30 and followed a stone covered trail towards the Hotel Moonlight; sometimes the track was through the narrow alley of the classical houses. We had Gurung Bread, Oats and Milk in the Hotel Moonlight before continuing the descent to New Bridge. Listening to the flow of river and capturing the waterfalls as well as different landscapes we crossed the suspension bridge built over Modi River. Very near to the bridge we met two young guys who were dead drunk. One was leading a sheep and other with a small side bag. As the bridge swung while crossing, their discomfort and action became the center of attraction for some time.

It was the relaxed trail till. The uphill track started after crossing the bridge and it kept going in the similar fashion most of the times as well as occasional flat area till Kimrong Khola, the base of Jhinu Danda from where the trail was steep for around 30 minutes. After reaching Jhinu Danda we got into the first hotel to the right, ordered lunch, kept the backpack and went down to the much awaited hot spring. As that was first time for me in such natural hot spring I was excited a bit more. Three square shaped, human made ponds were there, little above the bank of Modi River that collects the hot water. In addition to that few hot water taps were also available. After taking off the clothes and keeping them in a small hut nearby, I slowly jumped in to the refreshing warm water and stayed inside for some moments. It was good revitalization to the body. I felt quite strange to touch the hot water about two meters up from the freezing cool water of Modi River. I, along with friends spent more than an hour in different ponds, water temperature inside the pond was almost same in all but water from the tap was hotter. After completing the hot water bath we changed the clothes and ascended towards the hotel. We reached hotel at around 15-20 minutes, lunch was almost ready. We had delightful meal staying in the dining table outside of the hotel, packed the bags then got ready to climb steep hill towards Chhomorong. Floating clouds began to cover the surrounding hills increasing the chances of rain. As we spent more time than planned in Jhinu danda we didn't make further delay. We put on the raincoat and started the final trek for the day. About 5-10 minutes after we started ascending, it started raining heavily; we decided to wait for the rain to subside staying in the nearby hotel area and that continued for few minutes. As the force of the rain minimized, we continued the walk. Small yet beautiful settlement of Jhinu Danda started fading and it slowly lost in the cloud. As we crossed all of the few remaining human settlements of the area, it started raining very badly - not only cats and dogs but their neighbors and friends too ;). Me and Bikash were leading the way but other two guys were not on the scene. We were enjoying the walk in the rain but I was a bit worried about my camera, which was strapped on the shoulder. With that intensity of rain, raincoat seemed almost useless and we didn't even have any place to stay and wait for the rain to abate. We were only seeing each other as every other things were under the clouds. It was too cold and fingers were shivering. The frustrating rain continued for 30-40 minutes and in the meantime we reached Chomorong too. Following the track covered with flat stones, we went to a hotel to the right that seemed pretty nice, requested a room and unloaded the wet backpack. I immediately took off the camera, removed the battery and kept it covering with the towel - as per the company's description, battery and card slots were said to be weather sealed but I didn't want to take a chance. We went to the dining area after changing the clothes, ordered soup and coffee waiting for other two guys. As we were about to finish the soup, guys came into the scene and instantaneously we called them.

As I started feeling some kind of warmness after soup and coffee, I came out of the dining hall and looked at the surroundings but everything was hiding behind the cloud, my hope to have some shots of mountains with twinkling stars went on vain. I had nothing to do except waiting for the dinner to get ready, so I entered to the dining hall again. It was almost packed with domestic as well as international tourists and they were busy in their own way. After having usual Nepali dinner, the tiring day was over.

THE UP-DOWN TRAIL

Photo of Chhomrong, Ghandruk, Mid-Western Development Region, Nepal by Eleutheromaniac

It was a good morning but not the best one. Floating clouds were still around the village and mountains were playing hide & seek with it. We had light breakfast and ready to move. We followed the downhill stone steps till Chhomrong Khola through the traditional yet beautiful Chhomrong village. The herd of mules were seen on the way carrying gas cylinders as well as other big sacks, the best transportation means for the villagers. After crossing the suspension bridge over Chhomrong Khola the steep uphill track began and it continued for long time crossing small villages - Lower Sinuwa and Upper Sinuwa. In the meantime we had dinner in Lower Sinuwa. We met good number of tourists on the way and they continued to greet us with the formal ' Namaste! ' The conversation with a middle aged tourist during the wait for lunch in Lower Sinuwa was nice one.

" Namaste! How is the Annapurna Base Camp?" I queried.

"Your camera will be happy." He replied in humorous way.

Since then 'Your camera will be happy' became the synonym for saying ' It's wonderful.' While we were climbing to Upper Sinuwa from Lower, we met a lady with a small child named Julia. Julia was with a small backpack and looked so exhausted. Her mum was motivating her to walk but not giving any physical support. They were from the USA and staying in Goa, India. ' Oh! This is how they make the child self-dependent' I silently said to myself. To fulfill Julia's wish to play with snow, they choose to hit this trail. As per her mom, Julia was 3+ years old. After we reached Upper Sinuwa (2340m), the steep uphill trail was over for some time. Having brief rest there we continued towards the flat & fine-looking jungle trail towards Bamboo (2300m). Looking at the altitude we expected nearly flat trail but that's not how high altitude trekking trail seems in Nepal. After nearly half an hour over the flat trail, we gradually started climbing and continued for some time. Afterward it went vertically down and Bamboo was not far after that drop. Weather started deteriorating as every day and we & rain reached Bamboo at the same time. To overcome the rain we ordered coffee then stayed in the porch watching rain at the same time smelling the good earth.

Coffee in our cups and water with the cloud emptied at the same time. Then we tracked the trail to Dovan (2505m) through the rain forest. The trail was not steep but we were somehow gaining the altitude. As we reached Dovan, we went to a hotel just in front of the nice waterfall, asked for the room, dropped the backpacks, put some warm clothes on as it was too cold and went outside. When we got out of our hotel room, we saw a group of tourists gathered in the backyard of another hotel and were looking at the hill. I joined them and with a smile and a usual "Namaste" enquired the reason behind the gathering. One among the crowd told that there is a bear moving in the far hill. I watched it through the camera viewfinder with some zoom, some object movement was there but I was unable to confirm whether it was bear or anything else. Meanwhile a lady from maybe from Korea or China approached me to look at it and later thanked me saying she saw it, but I was not sure because with the noise due to high camera ISO everything were moving. Anyway it was some fun.

We had potato soup before having nice dinner and in no time we were off to bed.

STAR TRAILS TO SNOW FALL

As we slept early yesterday, we had no hesitations on getting up early. It was 4:15 AM when we left our bed and got outside of the hotel room. The surroundings were still covered with darkness but the twinkling stars were making the sky beautiful. I thought it to be the perfect time to find some movements of stars over Himalayas and set the camera accordingly. I did few shots with relatively long exposure settings; results were pretty cool. In this type of photography the camera need to be busy than the person behind, so Sunil and Me stayed in the outside table covering us with the blankets bought from room. It was 4:45 and shivering cold.

After around 30 - 40 minutes, the east horizon began to spread the lights and Mount Fishtail was clear in front of us and few patches of clouds were hovering over it. Other mountains were not visible from Dovan. After the dawn, we became fresh with ice cool water and get ready to hit the trail. We had light breakfast before moving.

Photo of Dovan, Ghandruk, Mid-Western Development Region, Nepal by Eleutheromaniac

We were very close to the Annapurna range and the base camp, so for that day we definitely had to ascend more. We gradually started climbing the upward hill. The rhododendron trees were making the forest so beautiful with its red and pink flowers. In less than an hour of easy walk we reached a place equipped with a helipad named Himalaya. Whoever gets to this place will wonder why this place was named 'Himalaya' because you can't actually see Himalaya (mountains) from there. We continued from there approaching Deurali and the trail went up, which was bumpy; you sometimes had to jump over big stones. The whole area was completely covered with the clouds making us unaware of backgrounds. We took it positively for not having any distractions from the beauty of the Himalayas. We pass by the Hinku Cave, a shelter point naturally made of big stones. As we neared to Deurali, we saw some houses with blue roofs and the trail became flat; we walked over the thick and hard glacier with water gushing underneath in some sections though.

We went inside the Himalayan Hotel & Restaurant and ordered black tea then lunch. As we entered, exchange of smile and " Namaste" happened there too. In the meantime I charged the camera and phone. The sip of black tea felt so awesome in the freezing cold atmosphere. Our entry inside the hotel was followed by heavy rain and it continued for long. Lunch became ready in an hour and we didn't make any delay on having it. Rice was not cooked well but we had it anyway. Despite the rain we decided to move to Machhapuchchhre Base Camp (MBC) and tagged ourselves with some other trekking groups. After about 15-20 minutes of trek, we reached a relatively open part and saw a board that read ' Avalanche Prone Area'. As the left side was more risky it was closed and we followed the slippery path to the right, crossing Modi Khola. The trail was completely white and it started snowing. We were happy to experience the snow fall and at the same time a bit worried about the trail to MBC, which was said to be the riskiest among all. We kept on following the snow covered upward track. In the time being, the snow fall became intense, not giving us time to wait. We were following a porter as other groups were left behind, so we had to keep him in our visibility distance and at the same time maintain the proper speed; such scenario continued until MBC. Then we decided to drink tea there because we were feeling too cold, so we followed the snow covered steps to one hotel, ordered black tea and in no time it arrived. That was somehow enough to beat the cold at least for some minutes. In the meantime, clock ticked 3:00 PM. Due to intense & continuous snowfall and cold atmosphere we decided to stay there for that day even if that was too early and move to ABC early tomorrow. And that decision came to be the WORST decision of our life.

As I was feeling cold, I asked for a glass of hot water with honey and that drink warmed the body soon. Guys had drinks of their choice. After some moments, the snowfall was stopped but clouds were still covering the sky. Some glimpse of Mount Fishtail and Mount Himchuli shined with the sunset color but moving clouds always acted as villain. We had enough time to whatever we like - from removing the snow with shovel from hotel backyard to sleeping & dancing on it. While we were doing all crazy stuffs, an Argentine expressed his dissatisfaction with us in very rude fashion but we ignored him. Darkness covered the mountains early that day due to the clouds and that was dinner time too. Meanwhile Bikash felt some sort of stomach pain and he claimed that was due to gastritis; we had no options rather than believing him as gastric was normal for him. Due to pain he had very little rice. After dinner we went to the bed but his pain became intense and medicines weren't showing any effects - we didn't know what to do. With the warmness of the bed I was asleep after few moments into the bed but the guy with pain and other two were busy doing this and that to minimize the discomfort resulting very less sleep. We were in such a situation that if that wasn't the snowy trail, we would have descended during the night.

Anyway, the clear and beautiful morning welcomed us the next day. Himchuli, Machhapuchchhre, Gangapurna and Annapurna were making golden and stunning 360 degree view. I clicked the photos as much as I can. Bikash's uneasiness was still intact so we decided not to take any chance. Following the ' All or None' policy coined by Praches ;), we quit our plan to go to ABC unhappily. Everybody were feeling the pain of not reaching the final destination. Sunil and I went around 100 meters towards ABC and it hurt more; the sound that came while stepping on the fresh snow was so nice that you forget your favorite song. ' I will hit the trail again very soon ' I silently said to myself as I turned opposite.

We made Bikash's bag as light as possible and managed the stuffs in ours then began the descend process. I was continuously looking back as Fishtail and Annapurna were looking majestic, which was completely covered with cloud during the ascend. We met Julia again little above Deurali, she was looking fresh, I wished her 'all the best' and continued to my track. We had breakfast in Deurali that was coffee, bread and jam. After breakfast we kept on following the downward walk to Dovan crossing Himalaya. Three of us had lunch there but Bikash didn't eat anything rather he slept for 30 minutes or so. Our search for any other carrying options ( horse, porter etc.) were not looked effective so we proceeded with the walk. Chhomorong or at least Lower Sinuwa - we wished to go as far as possible. From Dovan, Sunil and I carried Bikash's bag making him feel comfortable despite the discomfort inside. Following the up - down track crossing Bamboo and Upper Sinuwa we reached Lower Sinuwa at around 7:00 PM, Prachesh was bringing Bikash slowly and they arrived after ~45 minutes. Bikash slept immediately after taking a glass of milk, we waited for dinner to get ready and went to bed soon after.

CHHOMORONG, SIWAI THEN POKHARA

Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac

So with a heavy heart ;( we started off towards Chhomrong and then eventually New Bridge. The trail from Lower Sinuwa to Chhomrong was not the hard one as it went gently down till Chhomorong River then steep climb till the beautiful village through the endless stone steps. The weather was not clear few days back when we were there but that day it was clear and sunny. Breathtaking view of majestic Fishtail and Annapurna enlightened our hearts. The decent started after Chhomrong till Komrong River via Jhinu danda. We had lunch in a small hotel near Jhinu danda where Bikash had some pieces of apple. Bikash kept on going slowly but we stopped in the Komrong River bank and had some fun with cold water. It was same route till New Bridge, but from there we were to take right turn towards a small settlement called Siwai. The trail got easier, generally downhill, flat somewhere and a couple of ascents. To reach Pokhara early we reserved a jeep from Siwai, it was almost dark. The jeep followed the rough track through Saulibazar and Birethanti till Naya Pool then Baglung Highway till Phedi. As our bikes were in Dhampus, we managed a taxi for Bikash to reach the hotel in Pokhara from Phedi and took the jeep towards Dhampus through rough uphill track on the left. It was around 8:30 at night when we reached the Baglung highway while returning from Dhampus. As we were very near to Pokhara, Sunil stopped the bike all of sudden, I almost jumped to the front but somehow managed to stay in the back seat. It was due to some sort of night insect that hit his eyes, anyway we were safe. We reached the hotel after 20-25 minutes. Bikash was sleeping, Sunil asked him whether to go to the hospital or not that night but he postponed it to next morning. We agreed with him as we could take him to the hospital anytime in case of emergency.

Ufff! We were tired as hell.

TO THE HOSPITAL

As per the patient's wish we searched for Gastroenterologist in the hospital from Manipal to some others but not able to find the one as that was early morning. At last we decided to have the checkup with physician and went to the nearby hospital in Prithivichwok that was Charak Memorial Hospital. After ticketing formalities Sunil and Bikash entered to the checkup room.

Pressing few inches below the Diaphragm, Doctor asked, " Does it pain? "

" Not much ", Bikash replied.

Releasing his hands Doctor asked again, " Now? "

" Ooch! It hurt ", Bikash replied.

Doctor repeated the similar process for few more times in the surrounding stomach area and said, "Its appendicitis. Go and have CT Scan." That was a private hospital so the scan took very less time and the report supported the physical test done just before. When we asked the doctor about taking him to Kathmandu for the operation, he replied, " The appendix may(?) rapture within 1 or 2 hours as its badly swollen. "

We called his family and informed about the issue, despite some confusions for some time they allowed us to proceed further and said to send required money as soon as possible. We collected the money that was remaining after the trek and deposited it for the operation.

After taking the patient to the formalities of Operation Theatre (OT), the doctor said with us that they will perform 'Laparoscopic Appendectomy' that is operated through 3 small ( about half inch) openings while watching an enlarged image of the patient's internal organs on a television monitor and will take around 15 minutes. "Patient may leave in 2 nd or 3 rd day of the operation", he added.

After all procedures, he was taken to the OT. Meanwhile Prachesh left for Kathmandu alone due to some urgent work. Sunil watched the operation live in the monitor just outside of the OT, recording it in my phone at the same time. I watched it later. Few minutes after completing the operation, the doctor came back, he asked Sunil to bring some post operation medicines as we thanked him. We were happy that everything went well. After around 15 minutes he was taken to post operation ward, was not completely active but recognized me anyway.

Sigh! It was hard few hours.

That night, we slept in the hospital bringing the required bed stuffs from the hotel.

BORING DAYS

Due to strike called by terrorist natured political party the city was calm the next day. It was already a boring morning and had no other tasks except obeying the doctor and nurses. Bikash was still on the high care but doing fine. We were feeling absolutely dull and that continued for few more days. There was nothing interesting in the city too. Bikash got transferred to cabin after a day and started walking around. For us the cabin became the place to watch TV at least killing some tediousness.

It was so many days off from the office so we talked with the doctor regarding the discharge date but the doctor tried to linger us saying that the patient was still having medicine through injection, which won't be possible in home. We asked him to give the names of medicines and ensured to take them in the nearby hospital in Kathmandu; he later agreed to discharge a day after. Bikash himself talked with his uncle for the flight ticket to Kathmandu and it was set for ~11 AM of the next day.

BACK TO KATHMANDU

It was clear and beautiful morning. We were happy knowing that we will be riding back to Kathmandu on the same day after Bikash's flight.

After discharge procedure and during payment we realized that the hospital was 'five-star' on cost. Anyway, we were nearing to his flight time so without any delay we called a taxi and went directly to the Airport. He proceeded to boarding formalities and we came to the hotel, had bath swiftly, packed the bags and were ready for highway ride. Before riding we took the bike to workshop in the side of the hotel for usual checkup, everything was fine but while checking the bike tires we saw a nail roof in the back one - it was a nearly 2 inches long nail, they added a bottle of liquid along with some solid stuffs and made it ready after around half an hour.

We began to follow the Prithivi Highway towards the capital. Buses and trucks were zooming past at crazy speeds and that wasn't the surprise story. We were too hungry so after a bit more than an hour and passing Dumre, we stopped for lunch. We went to a restaurant below the road, that was among the trees and ordered the normal Nepali Dal-Bhat, which was fine. Shortly after, we were back on the highway. It was somehow difficult and stressful last leg of the ride after crossing Muglin, as the flow of vehicles increased. We kept on continuing having few breaks in roadside cafes just to remove the motorcycle monotony.

It was already dark when we reached Kathmandu and it felt like a different place after so many days.

~

This trek was the mix up of everything. We saw many new places, enjoyed the food, got new experiences, admired the beauty and overwhelmed with the closer view of the Himalayas. Walked in the rainfall, walked with the snowfall, and had unlimited fun till wherever we reached. We bore the pain that was never expected and learned to find joy and enjoyment in whatever happens.

And above all! We received hundreds of Namaste! Hundreds of smiles!

~

Photo of Kathmandu, Central Development Region, Nepal by Eleutheromaniac
Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac
Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac
Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac
Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac
Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac

This post was originally published on Cool Sky.

Photo of The Namaste Trail: As It Happened by Eleutheromaniac

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