Nepal 2025 - Day 0 - KTM to Maccha Khola

 Departure from Kathmandu - The dreaded bus ride

Had a great night's sleep and those spicy beef noodles the previous night really hit home hard that morning but I was happy to be at a hotel when it happened.
With a clean colon, we left early for the bus stand. 4 of the 6 stayed in the same hotel so we grabbed a cab. This was very different than the last time I was in Nepal where I had to walk 40 mins to get to bus stand. Nepal was already an upgrade and the trek hadn't even begun. 

We caught up with our guide, Jangbu and the remaining group, at the bus stand and started looking for our bus. Even the Gongabu Bus Stand was upgraded. And there it was, the magnificent iron beast. And it really was, cushioned seats, charging points, window curtains, designated seats...the works. Another upgrade from the bus I took to Jiri 6 years ago which was the most basic engine, chassis, seats put together to get from point A to B. And there were other trekkers in the same bus going to Maccha Khola as well which was more validation of our choice. I was already excited. Maybe, it wasn't going to be dreadful at all!

In the pic  R to L (Jangbu, Sonam, Niranjan, Sohom & I) Not pictured : Hassan & Thejas


Getting out of Kathmadu n the early hours was smooth but it was all downhill after that. The roads if any were just rough and bumpy and with rampant construction everywhere, it felt like going through a dust storm. We stopped for breakfast and lunch which gave a chance to stretch our legs and back. From a food perspective, I mostly stuck with fruits and basic Dal Bhat through the first few hours of the journey. This was the first chance for our group to bond with each other so we killed our time with a lot of chit- chat. As we got closer to Maccha Khola, there was a quite a drastic change in landscape. It was almost like driving towards a beachtown with sup-tropical vegetation abundant on both sides of the river, higher humidity and generally sukcy weather. 



Then it happened, it had to happen. How can you go on an 8 hour bus journey in Nepal without an incident, eh? But, of course, we had a flat tyre but our driver decided to just carry on trying to get to some shop where he could get the tyre fixed as well. This wasn't a pleasant time in the bus with continuous bouncing around sketchy section as the dirt roads clinging on to steep banks of the Budhi Gandaki river. The driver finally stopped as a repair shop appeared out of nowhere and the repair job begun. It gave the passengers some relief as most walked around and gave themselves a tea break. It was already 5 in the evening. 


The last two hours were an ordeal as we were going at a snail's pace through landslide prone areas and incoming traffic as well. We halted 20 mins before we reached Maccha Khola as a vehicle had broken down. I decided to walk the last 15 mins as I just couldn't sit in the bus anymore. We reached our teahouse (Everest Hotel) around 8 and quickly had our dinner and crashed for the night. 

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