2024 LCC River Karnali Trip – Nepal
Day 3 – Pokhara – Kohalpur
Another early start (6.30 am) found us on a tourist bus loaded with 13 kayaks on the roof, 3 rafts somewhere on board and tonnes of kit on the back seats. The 6 of us plus 4 or 5 of our guides and 2 bus drivers set off for what was set to be another long day’s drive. Fortunately, these roads, although narrow and windy and at times very close to the edge, were actually paved and made for a much better drive than the day before.
Along the route, we stopped at a teahouse for “milk tea” and for a lunch of dal bhat. We also came to a stop when a landslide had covered one side of the road in rocks and our bus was just a little too wide to get through without the guides all helping to clear some rocks while we watched the bus pass within 3 inches of the steep drop to our right.
That evening we were put up in a hotel in Kohalpur where we were given more dal bhat and met the rest of our paddling companions – 2 Canadian women on the raft with Colin and Sue, and 9 Chinese people, 2 on the raft and the rest kayaking.
Before entering the hotel, Keith warned us to take sleeping bags with us but we found the beds to be nice and clean. We did however spend some time admiring the bare electrics hanging from the light switches and plug sockets, the plant growing from the bathroom light and the extractor fan wired through a mouldy, damp ceiling that was obviously the site of a leak from above.