The Upper Mustang adventure, part 1

After very little dithering, wifey and I had decided to go vacationing in our current country of residence. With monsoon-season hanging over us like a wet cloth, we needed to find a place which would be: Dry (to avoid leeches), not too warm (to make walking manageable), not too cold (wifey takes badly to chilly temperatures) and, finally, with no camping required as wifey sleeps poorly in tents. Fortunately, Nepal has an option worth exploring: The remote mountaing kingdom of Mustang!

So arrangements were made, deals concluded, I dropped the kids at my parents' in Norway for summer, and all was ready for the adventure.

To get going, we needed to fly from Kathmandu to Pokhara. This is a fairly routine flight, without much excitement to it. Upon arrival in Pokhara, we were met by our guide and taken to a hotel for the night. Flights to Jomsom in Upper Mustang ONLY take off in the morning hours, so if not airborne by around 10ish, then there are no flights that day. More on that later...

Pokhara is a tranquil place. Fewa Lake is the obvious attraction point for restaurants, bars and clubs, and we idled away a few hours sipping lime sodas and snacking at the terrace of one of them. Pokhara is great for relaxation!

We had a peaceful dinner and returned to our room for the night. And then Joe spotted her least favourite creature in the world: The cockroach. She sought refuge in the bathtub, while I got the duty of removing the poor thing. It was soon gone. No sooner had wifey calmed down, when another one appeared. There were a total of 4 of them in the room that night, and no furniture was left unmoved in the hunt for these. Little known fact: When a cockroach rushes across your foot, it tickles! This factoid found little grace with Joe, who ordered me back in the shower to wash again and then spent the rest of the night worrying. We were up very early in the morning, waiting for our flight to, hopefully take off. That is for part 2!