Sorted!

In actuality it hadn’t been the horrendous night I had envisaged. James managed to keep everything in and didn’t get up once during the night. He obviously wasn’t feeling 100% still so I went down for breakfast by myself. It was alright, perhaps a little better than the Peak Point, which may have been the source of the illness for James, we will never know.

After I had eaten I found James up and out of bed, which was a good sign, although he obviously wasn’t his usual chirpy self. I spent the morning trying to work out the best way of getting us into Delhi or Agra, but it still seemed like an unenviable/impossible task. I also had a look into what other things there were to do in Pokhara, but it seemed that most things were well outside the city and would need some form of transport to get to them. James spent most of the morning asleep, with the occasional foray into consciousness, only to drift off again minutes later. With overland options now looking like it would end in tragedy if James didn’t get better or had a “double-dip” I checked out flights. We would have to fly from Kathmandu into Delhi and I had seen prices for about £100. When I checked them out again it was now £120 which wasn’t sitting well with me and I knew that it would be the same with James too. But after a little bit of snooping around I managed to find a price of about £80 with Spicejet. I had flown with Spicejet before on my last visit to India and it was spot on so I had no qualms about going with them again. When James woke up I told him the good news and went through to book the tickets. It turns out that the price I had been quoted was in Nepalese rupees and not Indian rupees so it actually came in at only £50 each. Bargain!

And that was one weight off our shoulders and we could relax – it would also be one less train journey/overnighter on a coach which was fantastic news. In addition we would also be able to stay an extra day in Pokhara which we had been keen to do ever since we had arrived. We were loving the nice peaceful atmosphere and had hoped to extend our stay and the hotel were happy to keep us for another night, no problem.

We took a stroll out and about the main street on Pokhara where all the cafes, shops and restaurants are but at a much-slowed pace due to James’s lack of energy. We wandered down to the lake and the view was spectacular. A slight bit of fog/pollution hanging around, but that didn’t detract from the view of the snow-capped mountains reflecting in the lake. We didn’t hang around too long though as my convalescing brother needed to get back to the hotel and rest up some more. We did so and then I left him to it whilst I went out for a wander round on my own. I went down the same street as before and mooched around the shops checking out what trinkets they had on offer, as I still had a little bit of room left in my bag to bring some things home with me. After an hour or so I was bored (Pokhara isn’t that big) so I moseyed on back to the hotel to check on James.

Lake Phewa

That evening we went out for a bite to eat but as James only ordered the chicken soup I decided that I would be “eating for two” that night and ordered the pizza with a side of chilli chips (we do eat local foods, but we need to break it up some nights). It was a challenge to get both platters down, with a big bottle of Everest beer, but I managed it just before the stodge sweats kicked in. The walk home was a slow one, and not because of James this time, but to ensure that I kept everything where I had put it at the dinner table.