26 October 2017, Thursday
This morning, we woke up at about 7:30am and went for breakfast at 8am. It was about 16 degrees Celsius in the morning, slightly chilly but still comfortable because it was sunny. The hotel breakfast buffet was not bad and we ate our fill before heading out for one last stroll around Thamel before checking out of the hotel.
At 10:10am, we left Thamel and hopped on a taxi to the domestic airport terminal, which is located just beside the international airport. The taxi fare was Rs 400 (S$5.40) and the ride took just over half an hour. We had set out earlier because of the notoriously bad traffic in Kathmandu and we didn’t want to be late for our flight.
Our Yeti Airlines flight was supposed to depart at 12:30pm. However, when we checked in for our flight at the airport at 10:45am, the staff told us that there was heavy air traffic and she would put us to an earlier flight instead, so as to ease congestion for the later flights. However, she also said that our earlier flight would most likely depart at the same time as our original flight anyway, so in fact, there would be no difference.
As it turned out, our “earlier” flight was not early at all and we took off from Kathmandu at 12:45pm, later than the scheduled departure time of our original flight. You can only imagine how all this snowballs and affects the later flights. It was lucky we arrived at the airport ahead of time and managed to get on the “earlier” flight, so our schedule wasn’t affected by that much.
The Yeti Airlines flight was on a jet propeller plane and it was a very tiny plane. Some people have a phobia of flying in Nepal because of the relatively poor track record, but I assure you it’s safe enough. Despite the short flight (around half an hour) and small aircraft, there was still an air stewardess on board and she gave out sweets, cotton buds (for your ears), a packet of nuts and a drink during the flight. If you sit on the right side of the plane, you will get a good view of the Himalayan mountains as you approach Pokhara.
At 1:07pm, we touched down at Pokhara airport and we took a taxi to our guest house, The North Face Inn, at Pokhara Lakeside. The taxi ride cost Rs 300 (S$4) and the ride took only 7 minutes because the airport is very near Lakeside. Considering we paid Rs 400 for the 30-minute taxi ride in Kathmandu, it feels like we overpaid here in Pokhara. We tried bargaining with a few taxi drivers but they were reluctant to go any lower.
I chose The North Face Inn because I had stayed there during my first visit to Nepal five years ago, and liked it. The price was very reasonable and it was in a good location too. Since then, two more buildings have sprung up beside the main building, blocking some of the view of the mountains. But it didn’t matter much. They didn’t have a normal room for me so they gave me a triple room with three single beds instead, at no additional charge. It was way too big for me but I wasn’t complaining. Compared to Hotel Buddha, The North Face Inn is more like a homestay than a hotel. It’s not as nicely furnished but much more homely.
The most urgent business to deal with was our race registration, so we went to the race organiser, Trail Running Nepal’s office at Lakeside Marg to settle the matter. However, the organisers told us that they were not ready yet, and asked us to come back later, so we went to have lunch first. I picked a random eatery and settled for some garlic naan, cheese thosai and masala tea. EW had a mushroom and cheese thosai. The food took some time to arrive but it was so good. We didn’t have any particular agenda so we just enjoyed our food slowly. The meal cost us Rs 915 (S$12.30) altogether, which was reasonable.
After lunch, we went back to the office but they were still not ready for us. We then decided to take a stroll to Phewa Tal (‘tal’ means ‘lake’), which was just around the corner. Phewa Tal is a freshwater lake and it is Nepal’s second largest lake and certainly the most popular. Nearby at Sarankot, you can paraglide and fly over the lake. The more popular activity at Phewa Tel is boating, where you can row a wooden boat over the calm waters and enjoy the view of the mountains nearby. As we still had some time to kill, we decided to go for it. I have never rowed a boat here during my previous two visits so I was keen to try it.
The price of renting a boat for one hour of self-rowing is Rs 510 (S$6.80), and you’ll need to pay an additional Rs 20 (S$0.27) per person for a life jacket. The boat can comfortably fit up to five people, so it isn’t expensive at all especially if you are in a group. Or if you are feeling lazy, you can hire someone to row the boat for you, and it would cost Rs 560 per hour. It was evening when we went boating and we had a nice sunset view. The weather was very pleasant too. Boating a great way to spend an hour or two in Pokhara and I highly recommend it.
At 5:40pm, we went back to the office for the third time and they were finally ready for us at last. We filled up a registration form and signed an indemnity form, and that was pretty much it. The organisers informed us that due to unforeseen circumstances, our race T-shirts were stuck at Customs and were thus, not ready for collection. We would only receive it after the race, when we are back home, which kinda sucked. The race bibs and race chips were also not ready, and would only be available tomorrow. The whole process seemed quite disorganised but it’s ok, we just chill. We met some of the other race participants here, including our fellow Singaporean, CP. We also made a new Chinese friend, YM.
After that short session at the office, we left and just walked around the shops at Lakeside. We didn’t want to tire ourselves out too much so we just took it easy. We were still full from our late lunch so we didn’t have dinner. By 7:40pm, we were back at The North Face Inn and ready to call it a day. And that’s it for Day 2!