The Himalaya mountain range runs across Nepal’s northern and western parts, and eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest, are within its territory. How could we miss that!
Our taxi driver, Raju, took us up Up UP the mountain. How we managed to go up is beyond me. The road was seldomly there. Raju told us there was a better road but not to go up, up, up, only for down, down, down. We were to experience that later.
It was a rattling ride up to our destination, 2000m up in the air. When we arrived our feet didn’t feel like they were touching the ground. The town was pretty bereft of anything or anyone. The hotels looked deserted.
Town of Nagarkot
We knew from the start that we would not be seeing the mountains in all their glory as it was the wrong time of year. That didn’t stop us getting our 6.00 AM sunrise knock on the door curtesy of the very keen hotel-staff. The peaks we did see poking above the clouds were amazing - they are way, way bigger than anything I’ve ever skied down. We felt like we were on top of the world. We were more than happy to chill out here in the beautiful garden, watching the eagles and stare with wonder at the mountain peaks.
After acclimatising for a day we headed out on an adventure. A 3 hour hike - on a tarmac road curtesy of the military, rewarded us with even more breathtaking views, accompanied by music and chanting filling the valley below us. It was very moving.
En-route to our destination, an observation tower an extra 200m, we heard music nearby. A bus was parked on a bit of wasteland, an oven was being set up, food unpacked and a loud speaker turned up to max - A women’s community picnic had just rocked up.
In Nepal, communities can pay into a fund that assists people, similar to how our building societies originally worked. This fund also funded days out for its members and today was picnic day.
Before we could even introduce ourselves I was whisked off to the dance floor, the cook grabbed my phone and while he waited for the dhal to heat through he videoed my poor attempts at dancing with a very lovely group of ladies.
Nagarkot rocks.
The journey down on the better road was vastly steeper, unfortunately once the military area ended so did the road. It was a white knuckle ride and Raju certainly entertained us as he expertly navigated the rubble, holes and rocks.
Before we arrived back in Kathmandu, Raju insisted we tried some King Kurd - his favourite snack. A sweet yoghurt made from Buffalo Milk and served in disposable terracotta pots. Good call!
Farewell Nargakot, it was an unexpected delight.
One day left in Kathmandu, then back to India for the final part of our journey.