Close shave (Tuesday 8 February 2011)

Wake in white sheeted luxury. Not that the trek guest houses weren't great but sleep was a top up versus an event. Not sure whether altitude, expectation or new place every night but slept lightly, which has never been my curse.

Resettling day, organizing washing, cleaning and checking out more of Pokhara.(accentuation on the Pok, then har-a) Still hazy and cloud settled over the Himalaya, same as when we rode into town. Feel for the guys on there way up the valley as the visibility would definitely be different, not to say that not worthwhile, just not everything it could have been.

Drop the larger washing into the hotel, washing here charged per kg, but machine washed versus whip lashed and then sun dried.

Decide post breakfast to remove the fluff of a beard, but throw my hat into the ring by choosing to use one of the local barbers to achieve it. Walk the streets around here looking scruffy and from every fifteenth store or so, you'll have "Mr... shave... haircut?" which I seem to have been getting a lot of recently. Check at the hotel what the local going rate is and told 50rup (less then $1AUD). Also confirm recommendation and therefore shortly after am sitting in the barbers seat at Dharmendra Hair Cutting centre with a grinning Sophie lurking in the background.

The lean trim figure of Mr Thakur was of slight reassurance as He readjusted the neck rest, a moon shaped seat addition that shares a suprising resemblance to a guillotine neck rest, just facing the action, rather then away from it. Lathered up quite generously, he sources from a draw the cut throat razor. Soph identifies my virgin status, prior to my adding that as such will tip for good results, don' t want to be too cheap when someone is holding a knife to your throat. Thankfully it is a relatively modern razor to which he adds a Gillette blade rather then running it along a leather strap, like in the Barber of Seville. His hands firm, steady and confident go about their business with surprising ease with cheek and sideburns, prior to moving on to the more risqué position of the throat.

I attempt to relax my neck and throat sufficiently to take up my position in the moon. So far so good, but when he makes it to my Adams apple I have the scary need to gulp, not out of nervousness just positioning, or at least that is what I latter am able to inform those present. Since the start I have been concerned of what Mr Thakur's reaction might be should a passing car backfire, best not to think about. We finally come to the completion of the shave with the removal of the moustache, I smell a slight odour of sweat but whether thankfully or not it is his, not mine. We finish the service with a surprisingly strong head, neck and upper body massage which is fantastic, but has added to my bill. Still I leave satisfied and 400rup is a small price to pay for leaving more relaxed then entering.

Back to the German bakery at Damside for brunch prior to walking the streets of Ratopahiro (on the far side of the Sidhartha Hwy near the airport) to locate the illusive International Mountain Museum. A couple of interesting deviations later through residential backstreets and past tourist savvy urchins we find the Museum facing the Seti River gorge that runs through the middle of town. Tickets 300rup each we are uncertain of value though we are here on recommendation, so fork out. The museum turns out to be brilliant with exhibitions covering the local culture of the hill people, details of both the nearby Annapurna massif, but also the other 8000mtr+ mountains and the people who first ascended. Beyond fantastic photos, there are also summit tools and clothing. The museum also houses sustainability exhibits covering global climate change (glacial melt) conservation initiatives and flora/fauna of the Himalaya.

On closing we take a more direct return to Lakeside and dinner at Pokhara Thakali Kitchen again a recommendation. I can now confirm spelling to be Dal Baat. This time served with "Chang" (Light beer of fermented cereal) and in addition to the rice "Dhindo" a grey dough like putty made using Buckwheat flour. I can recommend the Dhindo but Chang was a bit too fermenty for my comfort.

Load setting (or Shedding) appears to have changed again with a varying schedule to our prior five hour routine, so we head back to maximize on charge time. The weather is starting to hint of spring, so we leave windows open listening to the chattering of the wedding guests three floors below. I had read from Michael Palin's "Himalaya" that Hindi weddings in Nepal normally run for three days,(versus one in India) so only one day yet to go.