DAY 1 – Kathmandu to Besi Sahar by Bus
A big 20 passenger bus drove up to our hotel, The Marsyangdi, carrying the guide, porters, and the gear. They loaded our packs onboard and we headed off to the town of Besi Sahar where we would start the trek.
Besi Sahar
The drive to Besi Sahar was 5 1/2 hours long. The honking was constant. The heat was terrible. The narrow, winding road should only be experienced once.
We passed a military checkpoint with a lot of armed soldiers and police; some sitting beside the road in bunkers. Our Nepali porters had to show their identification cards and basically prove that they weren’t Maoist rebels.
Besi Sahar is not what I expected. It is definitely worse. The “town” is at the end of the road, just beyond another military checkpoint, literally. We set up camp at the end of town, near the start of the trail.
The campsite is actually someone’s home and it’s the sidelines of the “community” soccer/volleyball field. Dinner came with front row seats to the evening’s volleyball game.
Our Thamserku Trekking staff consists of the following:
1 Guide: Raj
Cook: Sham
1 Cook helper and 7 porters
*Additional notes:
Overnight it rained. Boy did it rain. Monsoon type rain we’re told. Along with thunder, lightning, and the windiest conditions we’ve ever experienced in a tent. Real glad to be in a North Face VE 25 expedition tent. Did I mention that we haven’t started walking yet? We drove, we camped, we got monsooned.
I’m almost afraid of what awaits us.
