Day 43-45 Chitwan to Pokhara

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Day 43 Chitwan to Pokhara (Sun 15th Aug)

Up early today for an 0700 departure. Its not all that far but apparently there are going to be public transport strikes today and the roads may be difficult. We want to get to Pokhara as smoothly as possible, hence the early start.

It was a smooth journey, despite having to stop a couple of times. The drivers of the public transports stopped work at 0900 and blocked off the roads, only allowing tourist coaches through. So we got through okay, we just had to slow down to manoeuvre around the blocks.

The scenery today was stunning. We are getting to the higher regions of Nepal and there were mountains, ravines, waterfalls and suchlike all the way. It is just unbelievably beautiful and so very peaceful. We followed the rivers for much of the day, and went over a couple high points - you could feel the altitude increasing at some points, but nothing too drastic. It was worth the early start just for the drive, although perhaps the people who are a little afraid of heights may not have enjoyed the trip as much as I did...

At one point we stopped for a tea break and when Ali and I asked where the toilet was, the girl there showed us the way. And we needed the guide, too! She led us up a flight of internal stairs, then up a second flight. Then up a third flight. Then we came to the ‘back yard’ (yep, they built into the hill). And then there was another flight of outside stairs, and across a rock. Then one final lot of stairs, over another rock and there was a couple of stone buildings - one of which was the toilet (the other was a pig pen, but then you don’t really care about that do you?). It was an experience in itself.

So we made it to the Lake side resort in Pokhara around midday and settled into some really nice rooms. No air conditioning but at least its a bit cooler here. The first thing we all did was put in some washing! We haven’t really had a chance to do any yet in Nepal and everyone just wants to wash the dirt of India out of everything!

Lunch at the resort was beautiful - they had meat!!!! I mean proper meat!! It was worth every penny (well actually, it only worked out to be around £2, so who’s going to complain about that?). The restaurant/bar was a terrace overlooking the lake and the whole place feels very relaxing.

I took a wonder around our end of town after lunch and it is nice and friendly and it was such a nice feeling to be able to look around the shops and walk around town without being part of a group. I really like the people on this trip - but a girl can only take so much enforced company!

A few of us decided to book for paragliding in 2 days, so we will cross our fingers that the weather stays good.

Back at the resort, we took advantage of happy hour and somehow Heather, Ali, Lynn and I ended up with very odd flaming vodka cocktails. Well, at least we entertained the bar tenders! They did have a few odd local drinks actually, which were worth sampling. Dinner tonight was included and was interesting. I could actually manage to eat a couple of the dishes, which was nice. They had a particularly nice spinach and garlic dish which I didn’t expect to like but found myself enjoying.



Day 44 Pokhara

Today dawned nice and we all slept in a bit. A very leisurely day on the terrace with a couple drinks and a book. A few of us took advantage of the chance to do absolutely nothing. And then of course it started to rain. Heavily.
And strangely - that was pretty much my entire day!



Day 45 Pokhara

We had another day in Pokhara today. Our paragliding was booked for 0900 but the weather was miserable, so they postponed it, promising to call us if the weather cleared enough to go. We got a lift up the hill in our coach instead to see the views and we did get a glimpse through the clouds. And then of course it started to rain. Again.

However we were surprised to receive a phone call around midday saying the clouds were moving and if we were quick we could still go up. And so that is exactly what we did. It was tandem (of course) and we met the guys who do it at the travel agency.

We drove up Sarangkot Hill (roughly 1600m - though we didnt go quite to the top) and then had to walk for about 10 minutes. The guys carried the chutes up and they looked rather unwieldy. They harnessed us in and I was the first to go (all the while I could hear Ali and Lynn in the background fighting over who got to go with the ‘cute’ guy - hilarious). I must say it was amazing. The hill we went from was very steep and so we didn’t get much of a run up - pretty much just got dragged off the hill by the wind. There actually wasn’t much of it (wind, that is) so we could only stay in the air for about 20 minutes - but it was still worth it. The views were amazing and the feeling of being so high up and flying was incredible! You just kind of sit and relax and enjoy yourself.

Of course, they did some slightly more thrilling manoeuvres before we landed which felt like a roller coaster and really got the adrenalin pumping, and then suddenly I was on the ground again! So very quick to land, and the landing is right by the lake so I was glad I had a good ‘pilot’. Jo came down after me and then we watched Ali and Stephen before Lynn came last a bit later. Stephen was the only one who managed to get wet while landing - a pity I didn’t catch that on video...

On the way back in to town we stopped to have a nice leisurely lunch and then walked back to the resort. All in all a very nice day. And then of course - it started raining again...

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Photos

On the road
Beautiful scenery on the way to Pokhara

On the Road 2
A glimpse of the mountains

Happy Hour
Yep, that cocktail is in fact on fire...

Dinner
Rather large dinner

Pokhara 1
View from Sarangkot

Skydiving 1
Amazing view

Comments

[deleted_155993]

such a delicious food love to have it now. Hey friend you love our national food. Enjoy it. sumek adhikari
such a delicious food love to have it now. Hey friend you love our national food. Enjoy it. sumek adhikari