We arrived in Pokhara around noon on Wednesday, checked into our hotel, and hit the town for lunch. Huge difference from where we’ve been and what we’ve seen. Pokhara is a tourist town and serves as the gateway to those heading north for adventure in the mountains of the Annapurna circuit. Hotels, Restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, and massage houses all compete for space and you’ll find people from all over the world who’ve arrived for their adventure. Phewa Lake is the western anchor. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and ringed by mountains. At 5:00 pm we took the short walk to the “Hearts & Tears Motorcycle Club” to meet our guides and set up our bikes. Led by Prabin, the 5-person team could not be any nicer or more knowledgeable of the area. Before opening the bike shop, Prabin led trekking expeditions into the mountains and promised to take us on some “local” only roads that even Brett had not seen. This is going to be an epic trip.
I woke up early the next morning and caught the sunrise from the rooftop patio of our hotel. Off in the distance, shrouded by clouds, was Annapurna, an Everest-like peak. It’s getting real. Had breakfast with the crew and learned more about our new member Warner. A fit 62-year-old, Warner is from South Carolina and a character. He had been a part of the earlier Tibet trip that got stuck in a blizzard on their motorcycles at the Everest Base Camp along with John, the eldest of the group at 76-years young. Warner owned a chain of restaurants (he’s down to just one) before selling everything to be the stay-at-home dad of a very sick young daughter. To me, most interestingly, he’s a wrestler. In the early 80’s, he walked onto the Georgia Bulldogs squad until a shattered ankle sidelined him his freshman year. Georgia ended their program the next year (Title IX) and no other school would take him. In his words, he’s been trying to prove himself ever since. He wrestles in international tournaments every year and in 2023 in Warsaw, Poland, he won it all, crushing a Ukrainian who hadn’t been scored on in 3 years. As for the young daughter he cared for years back, she shares her dad’s grit. She’s now fully recovered, works full-time at the restaurant and completed her freshman and sophomore years of college in one year. This is quite a group.
