17 October 2019
Today we have a more relaxed start before setting off on a long drive. This gives us lots of time to enjoy the beautiful gardens of the hotel with the snow-capped mountains in the background.
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- View of the Himalayas from my room
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- Flowers in the gardens
We are heading to the town of Tansen – formerly the capital of the Magyar kingdom Tanahun – in the Palpa District located in the “hills” of western part of Nepal. We drive through spectacular countryside with high steep hills towering above the valleys. Traditionally the houses were dotted all over the hillsides but since the road has gone through, many of them are now clustered around the roads in villages. We see schools in the valley floors that children walk to from miles around each day.
Beautiful valleys
We stop several times during the day to stretch our legs and take photos. There is no place for lunch but we have brought snacks with us and we stop at a wonderful tea house along the way that even served lattes and cappuccinos. I settled for chai tea.
One of the towns has houses that are mostly painted a very vibrant pink. Initially we thought that the local paint shop had had a special on, but we discover that the local government is trying to make the town distinctive, particularly to attract paragliders to come here rather than Pokhara.
There is a large bridge over the Kaligandaki River (which comes from all the way behind the Annapurna range). We brave the traffic to take photos of the river and life alongside it.
The traffic is fairly crazy in Nepal (not nearly as bad as India) and even though everyone is ducking and weaving and always seems to be coming head on, somehow it always seems to work. Kishor says there are hardly ever accidents. At one stage we are on a dirt road and we amuse ourselves watching two tractors (with trailers), that clearly have rally driving tendencies, racing down the road. The ultimate insult came when they were overtaken by a tuk-tuk.
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- Driving through the hills
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- Driving through the hills
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- Houses dotted on the hillsides
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- Roads cut into the hillsides
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- Stop at a Teahouse
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- Crazy town along the way
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- Rice fields
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- Pink towns
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- Tractors racing
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- and the tuk-tuk pulling out to win
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- Photo stop
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- Photo stop
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- Bridge across the Kaligandaki river
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- View from the bridge
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- Tea made the traditional way
We reach the Hotel Srinagar at the top of the hill at around 4.00. We have been warned that it is a fairly basic hotel. Anne and I are shown our rooms that are right on the top floor of a ramshackle 3 storey building. We twist and turn down little paths and then arrive at rooms that are literally at the top of the world. My room is perched on the edge of the hillside looking down the valley with 180 degree views. Then I discover another door with a balcony that opens it up to 270 degrees. The sun is streaming in and the windows are wide open to let the breeze blow through. I stand there for quite a while just thinking ‘WOW!’ Then I pull the chair up by the window and watch the birds circling round and listening to the sounds of the village below. If this is basic, I will take it every time!!
View from my room
We have some time to settle in and then walk around to see the sunset from the roof before having a buffet dinner at 6.00 – we certainly need it after just a few snacks during the day.
Sunset from the roof
For this and other similar tours see:
Explore Asia with Intrepid Travel
(a range of different travel styles – see my post on travel styles)
Peregrine Adventures (Comfort tours)
Geckos Adventures (for 18 to 30s)
Note: After people telling me they had booked an Intrepid Tour on my recommendation, I now have affiliate links with the Intrepid Travel group of companies and may receive a commission if you book a tour online within a couple of months after clicking through to these sites. So if you are enjoying my tips and stories and finding them useful in choosing your own travel, please click on these links and help me to bring you more 
.
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