No rain, unfortunately, so no reason to stay in bed. My body has betrayed me and has become a sucker for doona, guaranteed hot water, good food and coffee. Not to mention we have met some really nice genuine people since arriving here. Once out of bed Soph confirms that the mountains are now clear post the last couple of days of rain, by the time that I make it to the window however the fog has settled over the lake and is blocking not only the mountains, but the hills, the lake, even the street below.
We say goodbye to our Pokhara family at the hotel who looked after us so well and welcomed us so warmly as family guests.
Then Sima at the AM/PM cafe,
before cycling around the lakeside to Hermans cafe. Past the Russians in town for a paragliding championship event later in the week. Fruit muesli that tasted like bircher and was a fantastic start, together with filter stove top coffee. How could we leave this behind.
Swerving wildly around puddles of muddy water we made our way back to the Hallen (Camping) Chowk for the last time turning and cycling through the middle of town, across the Seti gorge and then out through the suburbs, past the industrial estate heading east along the Prithivi Highway. The cloud slowly lifting revealing the mountains to our left and later the Seti now once again in a broad eroded valley of it's own running to the right of the road.
Competition for road space increased considerably with trucks, buses and the occasional car jockeying for space on the thin two lane main highway. On the left of the road on the far side of a tree lined ridge another broad gorge like erosion of a water course not as hungry as that of the Seti but whether originating from the large Rupalkot Lake, not sure. To add to the feeling of ancient erosion quite a demand and correspondingly a business appears to have grown for river stones and quarried gravel as we pass first mechanised crushing plants prior to cement building brick manufacturers.
Post cycling down across a small bridge I choose to pull over and convince Soph to give up the camera for a photo of the thin gorge crossing, linking the smaller watercourse to our left with the Seti on our right. The thin grey stone sided yet white washed water both surging and constant. On the other side of the bridge the garbage was sadly considerable with one piece, a suitcase looking to have fallen from a passing vehicle, left discarded, wasted.
The road continued to follow the valley along even once the Seti turned further south.
Green treed cuttings of hills with vibrant green terraced fields at their base. Water filling the ridged enclosures from the last couple of days. The road winding it's way through with very little climbing prior to dropping down to the broad river valley of the confluence of the Madi Khola with the Seti just before Damauli. Once across the long bridge crossing the broad rock lined river and side beds a slight climb and then through the transport bustle of Damauli. Good lady finger bananas prior to lunch at the Green Park hotel restaurant which was good if pricey.
Leaving Damauli the road begins to climb quickly up and over a small range into the Marsyandi valley and Dumre. The climb leading past Newari styled houses and farming settlements. Hit the pass at about 10km from Damauli before commencing the descent which is gradual. Both of us looking for the turn up towards Bandipur to our right hoping that we would not lose all our altitude gained before once again climbing. Unfortunately with only 2kms left to go before Dumre (400mtr) and very little further fall we identified the signed turn below a gated entrance.
A quick provision stop for Nice biscuits and sprite and then begin the surprisingly fast height gain thanks to an overly ambitious road twisting but with nasty gradients. By the eighth or so we were both feeling the gradient deciding that pushing at 4.5 km/hr was more realistic in parts then cycling, legs weary from our first days outing. Quite a call when hauling luggage. Unfortunately the Manaslu peak(8163mtr) surrounded with cloud was only flashing aspects of snow covered slopes. With three kms to go we pulled up stumps and decided to take the descent and stay at Dumre for the evening. The descent was rapid yet slow through the tight corners.
At the gate on the highway we had only just pulled over when a cycling couple pulled up having come from the Pokhara direction. They identified that they also had come from Pokhara during the day and had even stayed in the same street but at the Gauri Shankar across the road. We identified that Bandipur was quite a climb, so it was decided to cycle onto Dumre a further 2km with Tom and Anja to get a drink and checkout accommodation options. The roll down felt weird if only for the fact of cycling with other people. It was intriguing to see the different bike styles and pannier systems as they both had front panniers in addition to the rear.
Once in town there was the usual hustle and bustle of a bus transfer location with boys clutching water, chips and snacks in their hands and taking the opportunity of a break in bus traffic to see if we were interested. With four people versus two, double the opportunity and we looked almost like an organised group. The boys were quickly followed by the banana lady brigade, unfortunately they all left with their merchandise as the focus was on lodging. Following a brief review of options we both settled into the New Mustang Fast Food and Lodge facing the Highway.
Over drinks we identified that the guys had been cycling together on this trip for just over 12,000km having cycled through Europe, down to Turkey, then onto Iran before flying to Mumbai and cycling through India and then similarly across the Terai and up via Butwal. It was great comparing stories of being on the road and continued through tea and up to closing times when we relocated the bikes inside the restaurant and retired ourselves for the evening.
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