We arose early for the flight from Jomsom to Pokhara, the only quick way out. Jomsom has a new airport and control tower, though it fortunately still uses the old entrance surrounded by Tibetan prayer wheels, which I used to ensure a safe flight. Those should be a feature of all airports!The flight took off about an hour late because the Agni Air pilots decided to have breakfast. But once we got in the air and did the steep turn in the valley, we had a spectacular view flying down the valley between Annapurna and Dhauligiri. After crossing the shoulder of the mountain, the plane descended over farming terraces into Pokhara, the only developed city in western Nepal.
Although Pokhara seems like a delightful place to spend a few days, Marcia and I plan to come back later, and we were motivated to get back to our clean clothes in Kathmandu. So we had Kinna negotiate to get us the last two seats on a flight leaving right away, and by 11am we found ourselves back in the big city.
It took a little work to find a good hotel room, since our organizer Ngima was away on a trek and he hadn’t booked a room in the guesthouses that are always booked full in this busy season. But his wife met us and was very helpful in helping us move to another hotel in a quieter location. The room was large enough for us to lay out our stuff and it had a bathtub, Marcia’s primary requirement, though we learned later that its hot-water heater was only large enough to fill a quarter of the tub.
Kathmandu is overwhelming even when arriving from another place in the twenty-first century. But for us who had not seen a car in almost a month, it was like coming to a different planet. The smells, the sounds, the crush of people were all a shock. But it was comfortable and it had good food.
Marcia and I are spending a few days relaxing and letting our muscles heal before posting everything and making new plans. Come back soon for more!
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