We finally made it back to Pokhara after a full day of travel on the psychotic roads of Nepal. It felt very strange being back in the midst of bustling civilization once again after a couple of weeks seeing so few people in such a remote place. For the last 12 days we had been alternating between cold showers and swims in freezing alpine rivers, so we were both well overdue for a hot shower and a chance to wash our hair. I must admit, it took a couple of long hot showers before I actually felt clean again. We also needed to wash the entire contents of our trekking packs as everything was dusty, dirty, and smelly. We treated ourselves to a slightly nicer room at our guesthouse, and the bed was a dream. 

We commented to ourselves many times how crazy we were to even consider continuing on to the Annapurna circuit, the few days we had in Pokhara were very much needed. If we had committed to doing Annapurna we would have arrived back in Pokhara with only one night before a morning bus to Kathmandu… it would have been such a rush. 

We had a list of jobs to achieve in our few days in Pokhara before we caught a bus to Kathmandu, so our time here was once again spent parked up in nice cafes by the lake catching up on blogs from the trek and more admin. Turns out Pokhara is a great place to do admin, and also who would have thought there was so much admin involved with full time travel?? We’ve started our research for the next section of our trip, and it's quickly become apparent that China and Central Asia are going to be a real step up when it comes to travel planning, it all seems much more complicated than what we have experienced in South Asia. 

There’s not really much to report from these few days, apart from the fact we drank some delicious coffees, ate some really good food, and enjoyed some stillness and rest. One night we went to an outdoor cinema and watched Pulp Fiction. It was fun to have a date night with pizza, a movie and mosquitos! 

After a few days' rest, we boarded the bus to Kathmandu, and spent nine hours driving 200 kilometers! The roads here are in varying states of disrepair, which makes for long and sometimes painful journeys. I really feel for the government who is trying to keep up with mountainous roads, increasingly destructive monsoon seasons and heavy traffic, while also being one of the poorest countries in Asia. 

As many of you know, we are checking into Kopan Monastery on Sunday, where we will stay for one week doing a course titled ‘Buddhism for Modern Times’. While we’re at Kopan we will have no access to the internet or the outside world, going for a complete immersion experience. So if WW3 breaks out, we might have no idea! We’re both excited and a little bit nervous, but really looking forward to a totally different experience and all that we will learn. While the Manaslu circuit trek was a huge physical challenge for us, this will be much more of a mental challenge with hours of meditation each day and silence from 9 PM at night to after lunchtime the following day. The next time you hear from us will be in a week or so and I’m sure we will have lots to share about our time in the monastery.