Off to Pokhara

The alarm goes off at 6:30 am. Today we set off for Pokhara, the city from where almost all mountain hikes start.

Since one of the main reasons for our trip to Nepal was a mountain hike, we naturally had to get there at some point. Pokhara is only about 240 km away from Kathmandu. However, the bus ride takes about 8 hours. It is also recommended to take buses with sofa seats. Until shortly before departure, we were not quite clear why. But when we started driving, it quickly became clear to us how important sofa seats are and why the journey takes so long. Potholes, as big and deep as after a bomb explosion, lined almost the entire way. Only occasionally, there was a road that looked really good. On this stretch of road, everyone wanted to overtake. There were many situations where a normal middle European would hardly dare to overtake. In such situations, the bus drivers saw it as a challenge to their skills and still tried to overtake. We were very glad that we were sitting in the last row of the bus. So we didn't have to witness the risky maneuvers. That probably saved us from a heart attack or two.

It's also not advisable to look out of the window, as the buses drive directly at the edge of the abyss.

After 8 hours of shaking, we finally arrived in Pokhara. And we breathed a sigh of relief.

Everything was much more relaxed here and not as chaotic as in Kathmandu. People coughed here too, but it felt like only half as much as in Kathmandu. We went to our booked hotel, a recommendation from Lonely Planet. It was really cute, but unfortunately it didn't have air conditioning. But we still wanted to give it a try.

Completely relaxed, we then went to the truly beautiful lake. We rented a paddle boat and the children blissfully pedaled for 1 hour and practiced docking on a small island.

The docking maneuvers were frequently interrupted because, as you can guess, Indian tour groups saw us and immediately wanted to take selfies with us. They surrounded our boat and only left after their prey, the selfie.

Then we started sneaking up on India and ambushing them to take a selfie with them. Maybe it will bring us luck!

In the evening, we went to a restaurant and had the most delicious Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan bread there is!