Late yesterday our guide Lillee arrived from Pokhara, it was a great reunion for Jules and him, they had met the last time Jules was in Nepal. Before he arrived Jules and I looked at the very limited options for getting Besishar, the starting point of trek. It should be about four hours by road and very easy to get transport, public buses, jeeps and lots of private cars, but with the petrol blockade, there is virtually no way out of town. We made some inquiries and the best option was a private car (probably using black market fuel) for 15,000 npr. about $200. After going away and thinking about it, I asked if there were any shared rides. He then told us of a minibus that a group of Israeli trekkers had hired and if we were OK to travel with them, he would see if they had space. All confirmed, three seats for 4500 npl. Best and only deal in town, leaving at 6:30 am the following morning. So a mad last minute race around the trekking shops (thought we had an extra day), a nice dinner and it was time to pack and repack our trekking gear, even with leaving stuff behind in Katmandu, the packs felt rather heavy.
 |
| One last beer |
We passed through the empty streets and arrived with plenty of time, only to find that the minibus was running late ( it ended up leaving at 8am), it gave us time for a quick breakfast. Then we piled in with the Israelis, our luggage on the roof and headed off. At first we made good time, but as we approached the outskirts, we hit a traffic jam of parked fuel starved cars, busses and trucks. After about 20 minutes, the police cleared a path and we were off again. Every time we seemed to get a run, we hit another jam of stopped traffic. When we did get a run, the driver tried to make up for lost time by hurtling the little van around blind corners, horn blaring.
Traffic Jam Blues
Besisahr
WiFi time
Eventually, after 6 hours (should have taken four) we arrived at Besishar, and stopped for lunch. The town has a slightly frontier feel to it, being the end of the bitumen and the launching place of the trek. There are very few trekers in the town at the moment and so you feel a little remote, children call out and wave as you walk down the main street. After lunch, the Israelis piled into a 4x4 and headed off up the jeep track that cuts out the first few days of hiking. We decided to stay for the night at a local hotel (600npr), and before it got dark, went for a walk along the town's main street. Night comes early in the mountains and the whole place was soon in darkness, time to rest before we start trekking in the morning.
The Myers of the town
No comments:
Post a Comment