“A Mish a Day” #223 Bhanjyang Village. Pokhara. Nepal. 13.11.2018. Mr Dan Bus Keys had taken his band of happy international travellers to another epic spot. With all the hiking finished for the day it was time for a Nepali boogie, and word had got out so we were joined by some of the locals from the area. The comfortable dwellings at Back to Nature provided the team with their first night in a bed and not a tent, and with the crew exhausted I’m sure everyone slept very well that night.
Early-ish the next day I was up checking out the different yoga areas, and the incredible views from each spot. With most afternoons being cloudy at this time of the year we hadn’t seen the Himalaya giants from the lodge yet, and as the sun came up over Phewa Lake and Pokhara, the clouds parted just enough to reveal the majestic beauty behind. The white ice of the many glaciers on the huge collective of peaks in the Annapurna Range towered over the foothills between the lodge and the range. To the east of the Annapurna Range was the stunning jagged point of Machhapuchchhre(6,993m), one of the most impressive looking peaks in Nepal. Breakfast at the lodge was accompanied with a Himalayan backdrop, and with a view like at Back to Nature any breakfast is one to remember. After a tour of the lodge with Dambar it was time to leave, and drive around Lake Phewa once again to Nepal’s second biggest city, Pokhara. Dan had booked us into a very fancy hotel in Pokhara, and it was time to enjoy a shower in a bathroom for the first time in 10 days. Later that evening everyone appeared looking like new, and once again we were loaded into the van for another mission. The evening mish was a drive up to Bhanjyang Village in Sarangkot, for an epic meal. The many zigzags of the road took us high above Lake Phewa and the sprawling metropolis of Pokhara, to the small village near the mountain’s summit.
We walked into Bhanjyang Village to the sound of the iconic New Zealand band ‘Fat Freddy’s Drop’, and we could instantly tell it was going to be an awesome night. Lalit Tamang is one of the coolest dudes around, and he made sure everything was top quality, from the food to the entertainment. After dinner the guitars came out, and the evening was spent jamming on the hilltop. Full of good food, and blessed with new Nepali friends, we made our way back down the hill to our hotel in Pokhara. On visits to Pokhara since I have not been as lucky with the views of the Himalayan Mountains, so I definitely know we were super lucky on this visit. But even without the views, the busy town still offers so much to visitors, and is a must for anyone travelling to Nepal…
