We took advantage of the long Dashain holiday to take a trip to Pokhara, a popular vacation spot for Nepalis and foreigners alike. The two big draws there are Phewa Lake and the spectacular views of the rugged Annapurna Himal mountain range.
As we drove into the outskirts of Pokhara I was impressed with the number and size of the water buffalo we passed. Once in town, we walked right past cattle on the sidewalk like they were any other pedestrian, but we crossed to the other side of the street when buffalo approached. One bull gave Bonnie quite a stare when she got a little too close once.
On our third day we took a 45 minute taxi ride to the small village of Naudanda, where we hiked along a very bad road that led east along the ridge for 6 miles to our destination, the tiny settlement of Sarangkot which is perched atop a big hill between Pokhara and the Annapurna range. People go to Sarangkot for only two reasons: 1) to get a killer look at the mountains from the viewing platform or 2) to jump off the hill strapped to a paraglider and wing their way back down to the lake. It was our mission to do both.
The walk took less than 3 hours and passed through several small villages along the way. We were immediately accosted by a small boy who demanded money. He walked along with us for nearly half-an-hour before getting bored, but he didn’t shut up the entire time! “Give me 5 rupees. Give me 5 rupees. Give me 5 rupees . . .” But this small inconvenience was more than made up for by our next companion, a little boy leading a tiny goat. All he wanted was our company. We were later joined by other very pleasant children who received a treat from Bonnie’s candy jar for their politeness.
It’s a stretch to call Sarangkot a village. It’s more like a collection of lodges and resident vendors taking advantage of the tourist trade. There are at least 5-6 small hotels, each with a restaurant, strung down the steep southern side of the ridge just below the big telecommunications tower and viewing platform. They seemed to be of better quality the further we went down, so we settled on the View Top Hotel which was priced at a very reasonable 500 rupees ($7.50) for a corner room with a great view of the lake. The managers were very friendly and had the cutest little daughter who kept making faces at Bonnie and actually blew her a kiss when we left.
We rose at 5:00 am and were at the viewing platform by 5:30 where only one other person was waiting for dawn’s early light. By 6:00 over 60 people had arrived. Popular spot! It was a partly cloudy morning and the peaks took turns going in and out of the dark clouds. When the sun finally came up, it only briefly illuminated a few of the crags before it too ducked behind a cloud. Despite this, the mountains were spectacular, especially Machhapuchhre, a triangular peak of 23,000 feet. Annapurna I to the north is higher at 26,500 feet but looked smaller due to its distance from our viewing spot. (On our last morning from the roof of the Green Park Hotel in Pokhara, we finally got clear views of the mountains.)
We bit the bullet and decided to spend the money ($100 each) on a paragliding trip back down to the lake. There are three paragliding companies in Pokhara, all with offices in the Lakeside district and they all have take-off points just below the hotels in Sarangkot. Our take-off time was 11:30 but it was delayed until noon because the earlier customers had to wait awhile for the winds to pick up. We got a good view of some gliders the day before from our hotel window and also got to watch the four 10:30 am customers take off.
For people like us with absolutely no paragliding experience, the pilots strap you to what looks like an adult car seat attached to the front of their harness. Then, once the glider’s chute is laid out on the ground in back of you, the pilot says “Run!” and you both go galloping off the cliff, hoping the chute follows and fills up with air. Bonnie took off before me, strapped to Ilya, a former Russian MiG fighter pilot.
Once airborne, you settle into the seat and enjoy the ride – except for the fact that I started to have some feelings of motion sickness immediately after take-off. My pilot, Jason, was very kind and didn’t do lots of twirls or other fancy acrobatics, so I didn’t hurl my breakfast into the lake or onto the other gliders below us. Bonnie didn’t get any ill feelings until right at the end when Ilya got bored and did several pirouettes just prior to landing. Despite the nausea, the views were fantastic and it was worth experiencing once (but I’ll never do it again).
After that, we pretty much chilled out for the next few days. Our biggest sojourn was going to the Gorkha History Museum where there were lots of photos and displays of the famous Gorkha Rifles battalion made up of Nepalis who have fought in the British Army since 1815. Our last high point was sitting in the Amsterdam Bar and Restaurant listening to the Nepali house band perform covers of Eric Clapton. Whatever you do, don’t order a drink at Zorba’s Restaurant. My $4 tequila sunrise was the size of a very large thimble. “But it’s a lady’s drink,” the waiter said. Not in Mexico it ain’t! And don’t eat at the Gorkha Restaurant – apparently the Gorkhas fight much better than they cook.
Although a flight from Kathmandu only takes 30 minutes, we chose to take the 7 hour bus ride instead in order to see more of the countryside. Fortunately, the Greenline Bus company has very comfortable coaches with air conditioning, stops for a complimentary lunch at a resort and a couple of potty breaks. Pokhara is only 100 miles northwest of Kathmandu but the terrain between is extremely steep, having been carved out by a couple of major river systems. The main road follows the rivers and winds through many small villages along the way.
As we drove into the outskirts of Pokhara I was impressed with the number and size of the water buffalo we passed. Once in town, we walked right past cattle on the sidewalk like they were any other pedestrian, but we crossed to the other side of the street when buffalo approached. One bull gave Bonnie quite a stare when she got a little too close once. The first thing you notice about Pokhara, after living for two months in Kathmandu, is how quiet it is. It has a very low density of cars and therefore has very little noise and air pollution. There are even signs in the Lakeside tourist district prohibiting the use of horns. We also noticed a higher proportion of Western tourists there compared to Kathmandu. Even a Nepali here in Kathmandu called Pokhara “Heaven” in comparison.
Speaking of Heaven, ten minutes after arriving at the bus park, the skies let loose with a monsoonal downpour of Biblical proportions – just as we were getting into a taxi. Little did we know that our hotel, the Castle Resort, was not accessible by car. The taxi took us to the foot of a hill at the northern end of the Lakeside district where a half-mile set of stone steps led up to the resort. The staff had come to meet us with ponchos and helped us carry our bags in the rain up the hill. I have to admit that the view of the lake and surrounding hills was fantastic from the resort, but the relatively steep price ($45 compared to the standard hotel rate of $8-15) and the steep hike made us wonder if it was actually worth it. Older folks and anyone with a disability should think twice about staying there. The staff was great, though, and we had a few nice evenings in Branigan’s Pub talking to them, other tourists and the owner, an old reprobate Irishman named Joe.
On our third day we took a 45 minute taxi ride to the small village of Naudanda, where we hiked along a very bad road that led east along the ridge for 6 miles to our destination, the tiny settlement of Sarangkot which is perched atop a big hill between Pokhara and the Annapurna range. People go to Sarangkot for only two reasons: 1) to get a killer look at the mountains from the viewing platform or 2) to jump off the hill strapped to a paraglider and wing their way back down to the lake. It was our mission to do both.The walk took less than 3 hours and passed through several small villages along the way. We were immediately accosted by a small boy who demanded money. He walked along with us for nearly half-an-hour before getting bored, but he didn’t shut up the entire time! “Give me 5 rupees. Give me 5 rupees. Give me 5 rupees . . .” But this small inconvenience was more than made up for by our next companion, a little boy leading a tiny goat. All he wanted was our company. We were later joined by other very pleasant children who received a treat from Bonnie’s candy jar for their politeness.
It’s a stretch to call Sarangkot a village. It’s more like a collection of lodges and resident vendors taking advantage of the tourist trade. There are at least 5-6 small hotels, each with a restaurant, strung down the steep southern side of the ridge just below the big telecommunications tower and viewing platform. They seemed to be of better quality the further we went down, so we settled on the View Top Hotel which was priced at a very reasonable 500 rupees ($7.50) for a corner room with a great view of the lake. The managers were very friendly and had the cutest little daughter who kept making faces at Bonnie and actually blew her a kiss when we left. 
We rose at 5:00 am and were at the viewing platform by 5:30 where only one other person was waiting for dawn’s early light. By 6:00 over 60 people had arrived. Popular spot! It was a partly cloudy morning and the peaks took turns going in and out of the dark clouds. When the sun finally came up, it only briefly illuminated a few of the crags before it too ducked behind a cloud. Despite this, the mountains were spectacular, especially Machhapuchhre, a triangular peak of 23,000 feet. Annapurna I to the north is higher at 26,500 feet but looked smaller due to its distance from our viewing spot. (On our last morning from the roof of the Green Park Hotel in Pokhara, we finally got clear views of the mountains.)
We bit the bullet and decided to spend the money ($100 each) on a paragliding trip back down to the lake. There are three paragliding companies in Pokhara, all with offices in the Lakeside district and they all have take-off points just below the hotels in Sarangkot. Our take-off time was 11:30 but it was delayed until noon because the earlier customers had to wait awhile for the winds to pick up. We got a good view of some gliders the day before from our hotel window and also got to watch the four 10:30 am customers take off.For people like us with absolutely no paragliding experience, the pilots strap you to what looks like an adult car seat attached to the front of their harness. Then, once the glider’s chute is laid out on the ground in back of you, the pilot says “Run!” and you both go galloping off the cliff, hoping the chute follows and fills up with air. Bonnie took off before me, strapped to Ilya, a former Russian MiG fighter pilot.
Once airborne, you settle into the seat and enjoy the ride – except for the fact that I started to have some feelings of motion sickness immediately after take-off. My pilot, Jason, was very kind and didn’t do lots of twirls or other fancy acrobatics, so I didn’t hurl my breakfast into the lake or onto the other gliders below us. Bonnie didn’t get any ill feelings until right at the end when Ilya got bored and did several pirouettes just prior to landing. Despite the nausea, the views were fantastic and it was worth experiencing once (but I’ll never do it again).
After that, we pretty much chilled out for the next few days. Our biggest sojourn was going to the Gorkha History Museum where there were lots of photos and displays of the famous Gorkha Rifles battalion made up of Nepalis who have fought in the British Army since 1815. Our last high point was sitting in the Amsterdam Bar and Restaurant listening to the Nepali house band perform covers of Eric Clapton. Whatever you do, don’t order a drink at Zorba’s Restaurant. My $4 tequila sunrise was the size of a very large thimble. “But it’s a lady’s drink,” the waiter said. Not in Mexico it ain’t! And don’t eat at the Gorkha Restaurant – apparently the Gorkhas fight much better than they cook.
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