Yeti Fan 2011

Today was our last day of trekking. We took many more photos of the mountains from the lodge and then followed Narayan for the last time along the path. Soon the path turned into a road and we saw our first vehicles for 2 weeks; a truck and some motorbikes. There was a checkpoint where my pass was checked and the details written down. I’m not sure how useful these checkpoints are; the chap was so busy practising his English with me that he wrote my first and second names in the wrong order! We left the road and started down the last stone staircase. It went on forever and this is the route that I had originally intend to take. There were people coming up the staircase and they were all huffing and puffing while they clutched their Lonely Planet guides. Eventually we descended to the main road to Pokhara and after some short negotiations we got in a taxi for the 25 minute ride to our hotel. It was the usual white knuckle ride and the driver drove right up to any vehicle in front before pressing the brakes and horn at the same time. We arrived back at about 11:30 in the morning and the three of us enjoyed a bottle of pop in the hotel garden while telling the staff about our adventures. Pop? Yes, well it was a bit early for anything stronger. With a final shake of the hand we said goodbye to Narayan and Julian and I made the final ascent of the day to our room and a long overdue shower.