Pokhara

Monday 13^th April 2015

I woke up early this morning after sleeping badly, there was a mozzie in the room that kept getting my toes. Since sleep was no longer an option I read my book for a while until Mark woke up and we went and got food.

Depressingly when we looked at the weather for the day it said it wouldn’t rain until 3pm really we should have just looked out of the window and we would have seen for ourselves that the weather man had gotten it wrong but we didn’t and so we ended up walking around in the rain with no coats in a somewhat fruitless search for an ATM that actually wanted to distribute money.

Eventually we had some rupees in our hot little hands and so off we went for breakfast. We found a little Indian place that was reasonably priced and got a huge plate of parathas each. Feeling satisfied we ventured back out into the rain to the guesthouse to enquire about trekking.

We sat and discussed it with the guy at the guesthouse and he showed us several routes before we went up to our room to have a think about it and research other options. Unfortunately the internet was working at a snail’s pace and it was more frustrating than anything else.

After sitting around for a while we decided to get active, since it was still raining we thought the Gurkha museum would be a good choice. We drove through the drizzle to get there and parked up in the empty parking lot where the security guard was exceptionally happy to see us.

We seemed to be the only ones there apart from two girls who upon learning that the museum cost 200 NPR (less than NZD $2) left. We got our tickets and headed inside. In the entrance way there was a display of all the Gurkha souvenir items you could buy at just a fraction of the cost they see the knifes for in the street it was a steal but I have no need for a massive knife and didn’t get one.

The museum is three floors of photographs, memorabilia and history it’s pretty well put together but the museum itself is a tad on the cold and dark side. We spent a few hours wandering about looking at the different bits and pieces and reading the many personal stories of soldiers before heading back out into the day.

 When we got outside it was raining we headed back to the guesthouse to drop off the bike and then went and had a late lunch back at the Indian place. We got idly much to an Indian patrons delight the coconut chutney was especially good as it was made from fresh coconut!

After eating we walked along the lake it was Nepali New Year and the celebrations were beginning with crowds everywhere extra street vendors and a huge carnival by the lake. We walked a bit people watching and taking in the atmosphere. The weather had cleared a little and we were able to see the snow-capped mountains that surround Pokhara.

Back at the accommodation we chilled out until we got hungry again and then went out and ate at a place overlooking the lake. The food was good and the place was crowded with people celebrating. We on the other hand were feeling rather old fogyish and headed back to the guesthouse to watch a movie.

Just before midnight we decided to check out what was going on we walked along the lake watching the fireworks in the sky competing with the hordes of bats for the most impressive air show. Most places seemed to be closing up and as we walked along the streets became more and fuller of drunken party goers stumbling in the street and shouting happy New Year. For the most part the crowd was happy and full of merriment but there were a few angry exchanges and bottles being smashed around us.

Since it all seemed to be winding down we headed back and within minutes I was fast asleep.

Tuesday 14^th April 2014

After our “big night” last night I felt groggy when I woke up so it was no surprise that it was midday before we had finished breakfast and were ready for the day. We ate pretty much next door to the guesthouse and so it was just a short walk back to get the bike and head out exploring for the day.

Our first stop was Davis Falls so called because is 1960 (or there about reports all seem to differ on the facts) a Swiss tourist (or a diplomats wife depending on your source) was taking a bath in the lake and was swept down the falls to his/her death subsequently the falls were named after him/her. The local name for the falls is Patale Chango meaning underworld waterfall perhaps so called because of the rock formation. The waterfall flows through a tunnel naturally carved into the rock.

We had to pay 30 NPR to get in and although it’s a tiny sum it was a bit insulting when inside was strewn with garbage (including in the river and waterfall) there was even a pair of pants stuck to a rock in the water which made all photos a bit shit. The crowd was also ridiculous with people constantly pushing and shoving for a better view.

We came out of the falls enclosure and went across the road to Mahadev Cave signposted as the “best and most wonderful cave I South East Asia” in my opinion it really didn’t live up to its name (either that or all other caves in SE Asia must be spectacularly shit!) we got our tickets and walked down the weird concrete spiral staircase. Alongside the stairs are bizarre concrete carvings such as elephant heads with creepy men sitting on top and tree people groping young girls.

We reached the cave entrance and ended up in line to see a weird cow sculpture that had water coming out of the teats that devotees seemed to want to drink. Once in the line there was no way out as it snaked slowly down and around a manmade single file loop of fake cave ending at the cow.

Once we were out of that claustrophobic nightmare we continued downwards past a very wet temple and further into the cave which seemed to be more man made than anything with concrete staircases and big steel and rock walls.

When we eventually reached the cavern itself it was full of pushy people jostling about for the little space there was. We didn’t bother going all the way down as the line to get onto the stairs was a huge ball of people pushing each other that didn’t look like something we wanted to join in.

We didn’t stay in the stuffy cave long instead heading back up to the fresh air of the surface. We headed back to the bike avoiding all the touts trying to palm off their crappy wares and headed back to town for some food.

We dropped into the Indian and had some samosas and a chill out before getting back on the bike and driving the other direction to Sarangkot which is a lookout way up on a hill overlooking the entire area. It sits at an altitude of 1600m (but seems much higher) and overlooks Pokhara lake on the northwest and the Annapurna range on the western side (we could only see the tops of the mountains because of the clouds)

Most of the way up the road was pretty great but it deteriated for a freaky few kilometres of bumpy hell before getting nice again. We could drive most of the way up before having to park up and walk the last wee bit. Annoyingly its 30 NPR to look at the view but according to the sign the money goes to the local school and health care centre which is obviously a good thing.

We sat looking out at the snow covered mountains for a while watching the clouds clear a little bit before heading back down and back to town (with Mark playing silly buggers and driving with no hands part of the way)

By the time we got back it was close to 6pm so we relaxed until dinnertime. We headed to the Indian place for a lateish dinner and chilled out for the evening.

Wednesday 15^th April 2015

This morning as usual lingered over breakfast chilling in the sunshine and reading our books. We planned to walk around Fewa Lake. We set off at about midday leaving behind the shops and touts and walking along a pedestrian way right on the water’s edge. There were people advertising boat trips and a few restaurants but the atmosphere was very laid back.

Pretty soon though the path ended and we had to continue along the road making sure to keep out of the way of honing trucks and vans the road wound through pretty little villages past water buffalos swimming in the marshy lake edges and ponies grazing in the lush green fields.

We managed to walk the length of the river before admitting defeat the options being get a boat across or keep walking quite a bit further to another town where we could cross the river that feeds the lake. We sat at this point watching a ton of paragliders land and laughing at the ones screaming in terror as the hit the landing point surrounded by the water of the lake.

We walked back to town in search of some food feeling like the day had been a success the walk was about three and a half hours which was good for us since we have become a bit used to driving everywhere!

Back in town we found a restaurant with lake views and sat and ate and chilled out before heading back to the guesthouse to wash off the stink of the day.

In the evening we weren’t really hungry but went out for food anyway and had a drawn out meal before heading back to relax.

Thursday 16^th April 2015

Today was a pretty chilled day we had a long breakfast as is becoming our morning custom and then headed back to the guesthouse to do a ton of laundry taking advantage of the sunny weather. Once that was done we organised some trekking and then relaxed for a while.

We had a late lunch at the local Indian place and then went back to our accommodation to pick up the bike and headed to Begnas Lake. Google maps told us it was an hour’s drive away it took us almost that long but only because we got lost twice and ended up on some pretty dodgy roads.

At the lake we sat and took some photos making friends with a stray dog (who I called Stanley) and a local family who wanted about a million photos with us in one the mum made me wear her husband’s ray bans which was a tad peculiar.

Stanley was quite boisterous and at one point jumped up on me (covering me with mud) and licked my face the small Nepali girl was horrified and informed me it was a “very naughty dirty dog” we didn’t stay too long at the lake just soaked in some atmosphere and then battled the traffic heading back into town.

It wasn’t long before we were hungry and so headed out for food when we came back several hours later I pulled the curtains closed and was met by a humungous spider just chilling it was about the size of my face! The guesthouse man said it was a harmless spider but then proceeded to beat it with a broom much to my distress I didn’t Want it in the room but I certainly didn’t want it dead and I feel like I took on the bad karma of its death.

The rest of the evening was spent freaking each other out that there was a huge spider about to jump on our faces and eat us.

Friday 17^th April 2015

Today was forecast to be wet and miserable but when we woke up the sun was shining and the skies were blue.

We had our typical long breakfast and enjoyed the sunshine while we read our books before heading back to the guesthouse to pack up a bit and get our things ready for trekking tomorrow.

We ended up spending ages trying to sort my laptop out and by the time we were done and I was well and truly grumpy thunder was rolling lightening was flashing and the skies had turned black.

We used the crappy weather as an excuse to sit inside and watch TV for a while until our bellies began to rumble and we decided to go and get some lunch and then cake and tea.

Once we were fed and watered we returned to the guesthouse for an evening of lounging around before trekking bright and early tomorrow.