Day 25 Jomsom to Pokhara – 23rd July 2009

Today we woke up about 0600hrs to get ready and try our luck to check if we were able to get the air tickets with Yeti Airlines.. We got up and packed up and freshen up… Saw Wendy and Dawa already up and having black tea…

We sat with them and chatted, no sign of Rahul… about 10 mins later we saw him running thru the door and told us the good news!! Yahooo!! Ramli went with him to settle the payment and I waited for him to return while I continue chatting with Dawa and Wendy..

Ramli finally returned with the tickets but got the bad news that Rahul could not be on the flight and had to take the jeep… we felt sorry but could not help much as it seems a lot of locals are heading to Pokhara that day and only 2-3 flights is confirmed due to the bad weather…

We headed to the airport about 0730hrs after getting information that the flight is coming… The airport is only about 5 mins walk so we took our time and walked over… Checked in our baggage and walked into the departure hall and saw the French ladies also there waiting but they are on Agni Airlines… We chatted for so long the flight seems to not arrive… Finally at about 0745hrs the flight arrived, we waited and waited but seems could not board, then Dawa heard from the locals that the pilot went for breakfast… What???????

Before we took off


the plane coming..

View from the plane

Finally at 0830hrs the pilot decided to get in the plane and we boarded the flimsy looking plane with propellers at both sides and 14 single seats lined the air craft.. But the amazing thing is that they still can fit in a stewardess we serve sweets and cotton wool to stuff yr ears… Wahahahhaha

The view from the flight was fantastic, we could see the valleys and the snow capped mountains of Annapurna range which they call the “fish tail” … Nice!!! 20mins later we landed at Pokhara airport with a huge thud on the ground… Phew thank god we landed safely…

Phew we landed safely

The holy man we saw while waiting

Waited to get our bags and shared the taxi with Dawa and Wendy to check out the hotel they were staying at.. Hotel Mandap.. on the way they stopped at the atm to withdraw money to return to us…

Arrived at the Hotel Mandap which was at the north side of Pokhara about 15mins later… They pointed to us a few other nice hotels on the way which we might be interested if we didn’t want to stay at the same hotel as them… we decided to check out Mandap first, the room with the view to the Lake cause 800NPR which we thought was quite costly… About SGD15.60 for a big room with attached bathroom with hot bath, one double bed and one single bed and tv with a small balcony… Hmmmm so stingy la … He showed us another room also with the view of the lake from a far but with no tv and the rest the same for 600NPR after much bargaining from Dawa… hehheh thanks to him we confirmed the room at 200NPR lesser… SGD11 only!! And the owner was so nice he added the TV for us!! Yahoo TV at last.. They had HBO, Star Movies, Cinemax, Star World, Animal Planet, Discovery channel anything you could name… Wahahahha yahoo!! Nice and clean bed with super clean bath room with hot shower… what a steal!!

We checked in had breakfast… Nice breakfast!! Soft bread with egg for me and Ramli simple breakfast, toast, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes.. Tasty!!

Later sorted out our clothes to send for the laundry and decided to go find the Immigration office to extend our Nepal visa which will expire in 2 days time… we walked and walked and walked for about 1 hr and finally found the office…The tourist information told us that visa office is closed at 1300hrs but we still decided to try… Luckily the lady officer decided to entertain us even at about 1400hrs… Phew.. we filled up the forms and had to pay another USD30/each to extend the visa another 15days…

While waiting met a Taiwanese business man whom is there also to extend his visa.. He was on a business trip to survey the Nepali valleys for opportunities to start tea plantation business.. He invited us to go Taiwan for holiday as he said there is so much to see in Taiwan not just Taipei… He is from Alishan where Ah Mei was from.. Wahahhaha coincidence but too bad he didn’t know her… He thought Ramli was my Nepali guide… WAAHAHAAHAH … Told him his my husband la…. Kekekek

Waited for 15mins we had to go to the senior officers office to get our visa … Seems like we had to be interviewed but he just asked Ramli questions.. None for me except that he said my name was so difficult to pronounce so I told him he can just call me Cindy.. Got it signed and we parted our ways with the Taiwanese man and continued our long way back to Pokhara central…

Walked pass so many cafes and didn’t know what we wanted to have for lunch, but finally settled at a small little café for Tuna Salad and Ramli had cheese sandwich!! Woa!!! It is real fresh and tasty for us… hehhe finally some fresh vegetables other then spinach in the villages….

Enjoyed our lunch and headed to the internet café to check our mails after 11 days… Spent about 1 hr there and walked around the city and it was already time for dinner.. We decided to try out some Fresh Fish from the lake which was stated on almost every other restaurant… Some meat maybe and finally….

Our dinner

I ordered grilled fish rubbed with Lemon and pepper and Ramli had fish and chips… We sat at the roof top terraced with candles for light at the table… Yummy dinner!! Then we headed back to the room to rest our tired bodies…