Thursday, Oct 17/13 - we leave KTM to start our trek. This will be by bus. Just getting out of the city takes almost 2 hours of grinding along in traffic, traffic that seems to go where it wants, weaving in and out, bikes passing, overtaking on blind corners, relying on heavy use of the horn to warn or chastise. The dust and diesel fumes are a constant presence.
For lunch, the bus stops right on the road in a small village we are passing. See photo.
After a lunch break and almost 4 hours, we leave the pavement for another 4 hours on what reminds me of a BC Forest Service Road. It's single lane, rough, rutted and occasionally muddy. The difference in that there are frequent trucks and buses coming the other way, creating passing problems. Backing up, or edging by each other, each vehicle squeezing to the very edges of the track.
Not to mention people walking who must stay well to one side as large vehicles pass.
The other buses are very crowded, brightly decorated, some with classic horns. Front bumpers with slogans like "slow drive long life" or "Jesus Travels"
We finally stop and walk the last km or two, cross the Buri (Buddhi?) Gandaki river which we will follow for a week or so to its source at Larke Pass.
The Hotel Manaslu, our home for the night is along the path through the village. We are served tea and biscuits and go for an exploratory walk in the village. The "hotel" is more of a tea house, but I discover that beer is less here than in KTM. Go figure. I forego the beer for today but tomorrow....
The real trek starts tomorrow. We are told it will be about 7 hours.
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