Pokhara

I arrived in Pokhara at about 5:00PM on 11/7.  As I was trying to figure out where exactly I was in relation to the guest houses I was trying to find on my map, I met an American (Mark) who got me pointed in the right direction.  He also invited me to dinner later that evening with him and a few other folks, which was really nice.

The first guest house I went to only had a dormitory room left, and since I was tired and really wanting a shower I went ahead and took it.  I was able to get a bottom bunk (key to my staying) and ended up sharing with two really nice guys, Fred from Brooklyn and Ben from England.  Ben left on his trek early on 11/8, and Fred and I were joined by three new people for my second night.  They were asleep by the time I returned that night and I left really early the next morning to return to Kathmandu, so I never got their names.

After my shower, I started exploring the Central Lakeside area of Pokhara where I was staying.  I was able to get my bus ticket back to Kathmandu purchased for the morning of 11/9 and reserve a spot to go paragliding on my one full day in Pokhara.

I met up with Mark and others he had met in Pokhara for dinner, and a few us went for drinks at the Jazz club upstairs afterwards.  Another thing I never thought I would encounter in Nepal - live jazz.  We ended up running into the two French men (Sebastien and Pascal) that Laurence and I had chatted with in Thorung Phedi.  

The following morning (11/8), I ate a quick and light breakfast before heading to Sunrise Paragliding to await my jeep to Sarangkot, the location of the paragliding launch.  There were six women in my group, including me.  One, Katrina, was from Ireland, two were from the Netherlands, and I think the other two were from Russia.  We arrived at the launch site around 9:30AM and were told we would wait for the good wind to come.  The launch pad itself was a bit frightening, although I'm not toally sure that is the right word to describe it.  It was wide enough to lay out 2 paragliding parachutes and "long" enough for the chutes and to take about 10 steps before going off of a cliff.  The time from when the harness was strapped on me to when we were airborne was the most nerve wracking of the entire experience.  The flight itself was amazing.  I was soaring above Pokhara, literally with the birds.  The views of the mountains and Phewa Tal (the lake next to Pokhara) were breath taking.  My half hour flight went by so quickly.  I took several pictures and am surprised at how well they came out given I couldn't see my view screen.

Sign at the launch site.

My tandem guy.

My chute

Paragliders

Views from paragliding

Paragliders and Phewa Tal

Agriculture terraces below me

Coming in for a landing.

After my paragliding flight, I rented a bicycle and rode to the other side of the lake to see Devi's Falls, Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave, and the World Peace Pagoda.  The bike was a bit small for me.  Even with the seat all the way up, my legs were still quite bent on the down stroke and came higher than the handlebars on the up stroke of my pedaling.  It did have a basket though, which definitely came in handy.  I broke my rule about wearing a helmet, and in Nepal of all places.  Traffic wasn't so bad though, nothing like the traffic in Kathmandu, and it was probably safer riding there than in Manhattan.

Once I got over near the sights, a young Nepali boy around 10 became my guide.  I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I went with it.  He took me to all three sights and got me back to the Lakeside district of Pokhara where my guest house was.  All in all he worked for about 3 hours taking me around, so I was happy to give him some payment afterwards.

Devi's Falls and Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave were a bit disappointing, but I'm glad I went none the less.  The World Peace Pagoda was well worth the 45 minute hike up to it.  The views of the mountains were amazing.

Devi's Falls

Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave (view of Devi's Falls from underground)

World Peace Pagoda

Phewa Tal and Mountain views from the World Peace Pagoda