Kathmandu To Jajarkot

I left the house on 20 September with my good friend Krishna. He was going home to Damauli, so day one was at his house, followed by a stroll around the town in the evening.

Kahu Danda

The next day we rode to Pokhara. The plan was to camp. But guys being guys, we sat in Lakeside until eight, and then the rain came and we hurried up to Kahu Danda.

We found a good spot. It was private property and we were asked to leave. The rain started again, so we got in behind a small building and cooked noodles there and made coffee. Around midnight it stopped and we put the tents up.

What we did not know was that Kahu Danda was a popular place. Drunk people came up until three in the morning. We lay there with the tents lighting up every few minutes from the headlights of bikes and cars. After three it went quiet and we got three good hours. Then the morning walkers arrived. One of the aunties, passing: "K bato ma sutna man lagya hola."

We woke up to a sunrise over the mountains, which the night had not really earned us.

West

I collected my bags from Krishna's relatives' house and set off for Dolpa. Heavy rain stopped me short of Burtibang, so I took a hotel.

The next day was about ten hours of riding: Baglung, East Rukum, West Rukum, Jajarkot, and finally Talu Bagar.

I was trying to spend as little as I could on lodging, so I asked the hotel owner if I could pitch the tent and eat dinner inside. He agreed. It rained all night. I slept some of it.

It was still raining in the morning, and there was a national flood alert telling people to stay indoors. So I stayed there for a couple of days.