Every morning at 7 AM, 20-something buses leave Kathmandu for the daily race to Pokhara, the gateway to the Annapurna mountain range.

Franky, the cook of our mountain lodge, who made a killer Lasagne

“Race” might be a little exaggerated since all of them will need a minimum of 7 hours to complete the not even 200 km distance. The road is very windy, in bad condition and loaded with buses, trucks and motorbikes.  Most of the passengers are tourists from Europe, the US, Australia and lots of Chinese with their local trekking guide.

Pokhara is located at the beautiful Phewa Lake and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nepal. Three out of the ten highest mountains in the world —Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu — are situated within 30 miles of the city, so that the northern skyline of the city offers a very close view of the Himalayas.

We spent 5 days hiking through the surrounding mountain villages and enjoying the spectacular views.