Marpha -> Pokhara – We ‘re on a Road to Paradise

19. March 2023

 

 

I didn’t like anymore. While I wasn’t really freezing all the time, I didn’t like wearing a woollen cap so much anymore, looking for warmth, jumping around shivering on cold ground after warm drip showers. I didn’t really like the scenery, which was perhaps due to my expectations. I didn’t like the wind. I found the big road (busier than on the other Annapurna side) stupid. And I didn’t find the prospect of a full trek in green scenery not attractive. I also had worse weather fears. So direct drive to Pokhara.

 

And besides, it was just nice to join other people, i.e. Michi and Verena also wanted to go to Pokhara by bus (we considered taxi, but it was way too expensive). So we gathered with other people in the morning for departure. There I met Katie again, who wanted to continue hiking from Tatopani. The sun was laughing again, but on the way down I didn’t regret my decision. It was quite pretty, but not as great as I had imagined. Maybe I should give the area another chance – but not this time.

 

 

 

 

 

I liked how dusty window and my camera produced these rough pictures. Then it came to a stop: road works due to landslide.

 

 

 

The gorge through which the Kali Gandaki flows between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna (both 8,000-metre peaks) is said to be the deepest in the world. I imagined a great open-mouthed amazement, but that didn’t happen. Because you don’t look down from 8,000 but from much further down and then it actually looks like a normal gorge.

 

 

In Nepal, by the way, you often see the face of Nirmal Purja (Nimsdai), who climbed all 14 8,000-metre peaks in just over 6 months and made a book and film about it. However, not everyone is completely enthusiastic about him.

 

 

In Tatopani, where there are hot springs, some got off the bus to continue trekking. A funny man got off, thought about it for 5-10 min and got back on. No trekking desire. On the stretch between Marpha and Tatopani, an alternative trekking trail had been made on the other side of the river, but various landslides and no reconstruction had destroyed a good part of it and one could only walk parts. A local says that since the road was built, there have been many more landslides. But since these were also clearly visible on the other side of the river/gorge, I don’t think there is a connection, but rather other causes.

 

 

 

Then we left Kali Gandaki and the bus drove up and down through hilly and mountainous landscape in dull light. Shortly before Pokhara there was another long wait due to construction work.

 

 

The many never-ending kilometres in similar scenery with similar Nepali pop songs seemed like being caught in an endless loop where everything just repeats itself. Soundtrack: Talking Heads “Road to Nowhere”. Of course, this was not true and we arrived sometime in the afternoon. Warmth. Clean tidy room with duvet without sleeping bag. Good shower. That makes for a small feeling of paradise for the time being.