Today we left the hectic and polluted streets of Kathmandu and headed out on one of only a few 'highways'. At first we climbed until we reached a 'pass' over the valley. Here there were armed police as this is a major entrance point into the capital from the plains below. This was demonstrated by the number of commercial trucks struggling up from the valley below.
The road twisted and turned and deep groves were worn into the tarmac by the constant traffic of fully ladened trucks of huge weights, but only on the upward side of the road. We stopped at a view point before we lost too much height to take in a wonderful view of a couple of snow topped peaks in the distance. Parked at the side of the road was a school bus with all the kids hanging out the window saying "hello"! Needless to say they loved the attention of everyone taking their picture!
The road twisted and turned and deep groves were worn into the tarmac by the constant traffic of fully ladened trucks of huge weights, but only on the upward side of the road. We stopped at a view point before we lost too much height to take in a wonderful view of a couple of snow topped peaks in the distance. Parked at the side of the road was a school bus with all the kids hanging out the window saying "hello"! Needless to say they loved the attention of everyone taking their picture!
We continued to drop down towards the valley floor. As we did the scenes got more and more rural in nature. This is farming country and a major rice and crop growing area. There were numerous women carrying huge loads of produce in woven baskets on their backs, but supported via a strap around their foreheads. They certainly work hard for a living and it puts carrying your shopping back from the supermarket into perspective!
We dropped off three of the group who were doing the white water rafting on the river Trisuli. This was a 35 KM paddle with the current down some rapids up to grade 3. When we met up later they all seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience! We went on ahead to overnight stop at Khairenitar, at the Riverside Spring Resort. This is situated next the river and has small bungalows set in lovely gardens. It was a real treat after the hectic pace of the capital. It was also very hot as we had dropped several thousand feet and the temperature went up a few degrees with each thousand feet we dropped.
We had a nice lunch on the lawn terrace in the sun and watched the numerous colourful butterflys floating past. We also got to see several different types of bird, which I haven't seen before. All in all a nice relaxing start to our second day.
We dropped off three of the group who were doing the white water rafting on the river Trisuli. This was a 35 KM paddle with the current down some rapids up to grade 3. When we met up later they all seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience! We went on ahead to overnight stop at Khairenitar, at the Riverside Spring Resort. This is situated next the river and has small bungalows set in lovely gardens. It was a real treat after the hectic pace of the capital. It was also very hot as we had dropped several thousand feet and the temperature went up a few degrees with each thousand feet we dropped.
We had a nice lunch on the lawn terrace in the sun and watched the numerous colourful butterflys floating past. We also got to see several different types of bird, which I haven't seen before. All in all a nice relaxing start to our second day.
In the late afternoon we went to visit the local village of Thauwatha. We had to cross the river by a long suspension bridge, before we arrived at the village proper. Here it was like a step back in time. Houses with crops drying from the balconies and numerous animals in the yard. Buffaloes, goats, chickens, ducks and cattle all had their alloted space within a swept earthen yard. Out in the fields men and women worked the soil. There was a buffalo team plowing a field and another farmer stacking his rice harvest into a neat conical stack. Of course their were many children running about and we met the wife, sister and daughter of our guide, which was really great. We also saw a women preparing some corn with a hand stone grinder. This looked very hard work and something which I suspect hasn't changed in centuries.
The sun disappeared behind the mountains and by 5 pm it was getting dark. The only good thing was that the temperature didn't plummet like it did in Kathmandu the previous night. Hopefully Clare won't be sleeping in her night treking attire tonight as she was the previous nights!!!
It is now almost dinner time and my chilled beer is going down a treat, a great day 2, I'm sure tomorrow will be just as good if not better.
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