Day One: Besisahar-Bhulebhule-Ngadi
Jangbu Sherpa, our coordinator, rang us up at 615am.
Instead of 8am, the micro-bus from Kathmandu to Besisahar (start point of the trek) was to depart at 645am. Kathmandu’s micro-bus drivers had decided to call for a general strike in the city to demand action against the burning of a micro-bus by student protesters. We had to sneak out of Gongabu Bus Park before the strike began.
At 7am, the bus moved out, packing in many more passengers before leaving the Valley. Word of advice: take seats next to the driver. Kathmandu’s micros can be packed like bloated sardine cans, as drivers try to max out their profits.
We arrived at Besisahar – the capital of Lamjung district – at 1230pm. The main road ends here in this booming township, and this is where you register yourself at the Tourist Police Checkpost before heading off into the hills. Our plan was to find a jeep to Syange village (pronounced sigh-ang-gay) so we could save a day’s walk in the humid forests, but landslides along the gravel road made it impassable to vehicular traffic.
Bus to Bhulebhule
Our only time-saving option was to take a one-hour local bus to the next village of Bhulebhule. Walking would take 3 hours. We took up the offer for the roof-top seats. Half the time, our feet were dangling precariously above the raging Marshyangdi River, as the bus swayed one side to the next along the rocky cliff path. Des, my partner in crime, swore this is scarier than white-water rafting in a Class 4 river. The little goat sitting beside him seemed to agree.
We reached Bhulebhule at 3pm and decided to make best use of the remaining daylight to gain some headway. After two hours of easy walking, we reached Ngadi, a village with an idyllic air, despite the angry song of Marshyangdi in the background.
Our guide chose Sky High Hotel, a basic lodge run by a young Nepali couple. A picture of Jesus Christ greeted us in Room 101, a planked-up square space with simple beds and mosquito nets.
As we sat in the garden taking in the view of Ngadi, Des commented how nice it was a get away from it all once more – work, emails, and phonecalls. Indeed, we were out of network coverage by now, although not far away, the TV in the kitchen would blare away late into the night.
Ngadi
>>Day 2: Ngadi-Jagat
Trackbacks