After our stay at Namo Buddha Resort, we returned to Kathmandu for one night in order to catch the next day's early morning bus to Pokhara. We scheduled a taxi for the next morning in order to arrive at the bus station in time.
As it turned out, our driver deposited us not at the main bus station, but on a street with 20 plus tourist coach buses busy loading baggage and customers. As we walked up and down the line, all the buses were headed to Pokhara, however the bus matching our ticket was not in the mix. While being assured by some of the bus drivers that our bus would come, I had my doubts, especially after the last of the Pokhara bound buses departed.
Eventually a lumbering old coach approaches with a young man hanging from the open door shouting out our destination and the name of our bus company. Waving down the bus, we board, load our gear and begin our overland travel experience. Most of these long range tourist buses have wonderfully exotic names like the Gautama, the Shiv Guru Deluxe or the Lotus Express with air Suspension! Our bus has no such grand title, however “A Hope and a Prayer” might as well fit the bill.
Ready for our 7 hour ride, we leave Kathmandu behind, and begin climbing up twisty mountain roads at a speed akin to a brisk walk. We are part of an endless caravan of trucks, buses, cars and manic motorbikes traveling this bumpy often dirt road highway. There are roadworks which often cause us to come to a complete stop, as in shutting down the engine, we’re here for a while. Regardless of speed, or the lack thereof, the active use of the horn is apparently an operational requirement. And then of course there are rest stops every 2 or 3 hours, where roadside cafeterias and snack shops are ready to welcome our business.
All in all our advertised 7 hour journey deposited us in the lakeside district of Pokhara in just under 11 ½ hours. I remind myself of the adage, “It’s the Journey, Not the Destination”. As it turns out this particular destination was well worth the journey.
Two video clips from the road
On the road between Kathmandu to Pokhara:
View from the bus approaching Pokhara:
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