Travel Day 1050 – Complete Mustang Trek, NEPAL
19/19 Tatopani via Beni and Baglung to Pokhara (820)
Actually today was a better day, but when I woke up in dampness and rain I thought nothing might be different from yesterday…
Removing a Rock from the Road, Nepal
When I was in Tatonani about two weeks ago, it was really hot and sunny, making me wish to just stay and relax in the nice garden of the guest house. But when I woke up today, everything was damp and wet. All my clothes were still soaked from yesterday and on top of that, water had been dripping from my ceiling the entire night, barely missing my bed. Feeling not really spoiled with choices, I put on my damp clothes and wet shoes again while hoping that today we at least wouldn’t have to walk though a freezing river again…
So right after breakfast I made my way down to the bus stand, crossing fingers that buses were actually in service today. Luckily they were and after one hour of waiting around, I was on the bumpy move again. The guys from the guesthouse had already warned me that there were some problems with the road between Tatopani and Beni, but after yesterday it would have been rather a big surprise if there would not have been any sort of a problem along the way…
Debris covering the entire Road, Nepal
But the first problem of the day we encountered was in form of fallen rocks. Like yesterday, the bus boy was bravely running around in the rain and clearing the road by bare hand while we were slowly driving behind him. But eventually we came across a rock that required the attention of all male passengers in the bus and about 15 minutes later, with the help of some wooden boards, we managed to clear the road of the disturbing heavyweight and continued our adventure. Unfortunately about one hour into the journey we reached the point where the mentioned problems with the road occurred and we had to walk again in the rain…
Luckily there was no river to be crossed and the road had been simply swept away by the water, which meant for us we had to climb a steep trail up and walk along a mountain trail at a higher elevation. Eventually the path was leading down again to the road, but we had to continue walking for another 30 minutes in the pouring rain until we passed an area where the road was completely covered by rocks and fallen debris. After that, a new bus picked us up again and we could continue the journey once more while somewhat comfortably seated in the shaking vehicle…
Truck stuck in a River Crossing, Nepal
Of course after only a short while we encountered the next little problem in form of a huge fallen rock and we once more had to first walk, and then continue in a jeep until we finally reached Beni at about lunch time. So far it had again been quite an adventurous day, but luckily from Beni on to Pokhara there was a bigger bus going and there was a better road available which made us believe that the afternoon drive would be a real piece of cake…
Technically the drive in the afternoon was much, much better but we still came across one little obstacle in shape of a big truck that got stuck in a river crossing. So it took another while for everyone to help get the truck out of the river and to get moving again, but eventually we reached Pokhara in the evening. Wow, what should have been a 30 minute flight from Jomsom to Pokhara had turned out to be two crazy days on the road. It had taken me 22 hours in total travelling time, 5 buses, 4 jeeps and 1 taxi plus a lot of walking in the rain to finally reach the safe haven of Pokhara. What a crazy trip… : )
Find all Day 19 – to Pokhara via Beni Photos here.
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