Pokhara and the Tiny Seahorses

Last night we sat in an expansive blues bar, alight only with a few flickering candles, chattering away with Prekash, a slightly perverted but decidedly amicable Nepalese fellow who liked to mime the double-spank gesture while discussing romantic encounters with the opposite sex.

Before Prekash though, we grooved to a mediocre "blues" band and sipped Everest beer with a lad named Marcus from Sweden (not to be confused with "Mark-O" from a more obscure location that is not quite Snohomish or Woodinville or Monroe). Anyhoo, the point: Marcus inquired about the "highlight" thus far in our travels. What a question! Later Ty and I talked about this subject. Can you have a favorite? Our conclusion was that every destination was our favorite as it offered something distinctly unique: Thailand had the benefit of being first and therefore most novel as well as the closest we've been to actually living in a foreign country. Also, home to some of the world's most idyllic beaches, the land of smiles ranks high on our list. In Lao we had the opportunity to meet some of the most entertaining and interesting Westerners of the whole trip (big up to Dancy). In Vietnam we were baptized by fire and pushed far out of our cultural comfort zones which was an amazing opportunity for growth. Cambodia was the most awakening and soul shifting of our destinations. Nepal has taught us the most in regard to religious tolerance and the Hindu culture in particular; also Nepal has the additional benefit of being the only place we've visited that may drive us to burn some of the excess fat we've been liberally depositing into our bodies since our first bowl of green curry way back in July. The Himalayas really are powerful!

The bumpy bus ride out to Pokhara reminded Ty of the riverside drive to Stevens Pass with the exception that on that drive there is no one doing laundry or bathing in the river.










We were drawn to Pokhara because we heard that it was quieter than Kathmandu, offered many day hike opportunities to test the ol' trekkin' legs, and that it was pretty and nestled on a lake. Sounds good.

Would you believe it, the water buffalo here dig the water.






This is Bill, the water buffalo. Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.






























So it seems like every place has its "thing." Kite surfing in Mui Ne, para-gliding, para-hawking, and Microlite flights in Pokhara. Don't worry Mom, we can't afford any of these things.











Kind of reminds of us of Padden. We miss Lake Padden.












At night Pokhara reminds us of Pai from Thailand. One main street dotted with little bars and hippies, hippies, and more hippies. They even have a special kind of genie pant here with the crotch that nearly touches the ground. "You can't touch this!"








Most restaurants include a shisha menu. The hookah is a cultural norm in Nepal and India, and no, kids, there are no drugs in the hookah.











Although it would appear so by Mrs. and Mr. wild-eyes here. What is wrong with this photo?












I love the hotel keys here in Nepal; they remind me of haunted house keys.












Like I mentioned before, we're staying in the most basic (as in, mold everywhere, the toilet doesn't flush, they don't clean the room or give you new towels or soap, and you have to buy your own toilet paper basic). But it has a fantastic view of Phewa Lake - so it's all a wash.








This is the little garden that is outside of our room. We didn't really spend that much time out here because it rained (or gloomed) for the first seven days here. You quite literally could not see the hills in this photo. We arrived on Saturday and didn't even know they were there until Thursday!








Our cute little room. I didn't take any pictures of the inside.












On our first-sun we couldn't wait to get out on the lake and also go for one of those walks we came here for!











Stoked to be outside finally! We had to take a boat in order to get to the trail head for the World Peace Pagoda.











Cool clouds man.













The pagoda trek was a perfect day walk and provided some fantastic views of Pokhara from afar.












Cacti. Really?
















If I had known I could have taken a helicopter I wouldn't have done all that walking.












The view from atop the pagoda. There are apparently 200 World Peace Pagodas in the world. The faithful fought to have this one built for almost ten years before they finally got it done through the help of Japanese investors and a lot of tenacious Nepalese people.








Check out the Hindu tika on the dog's face!




















"Now, make a fist. Slowly ease it up underneath your chin.

Kay, hold still right there. Now, just imagine you're weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses.

That was the one. I think that's gonna come out really nice."




Peace Pagoda from a distance. Peaceful.




























Ah, lakeside looks so much more approachable in the sunshine!











Bustling Pokhara town.













We're not franchise lawyers, but we're pretty sure this is the real deal.












Yep, the reeeal deeeal.














These Poinsettias are for Claudette.
















It's crazy. These guys take off from the edge of the mountain-top town Sarangkot. From there, the winds lift them hundreds of feet above their launching point! I'm not sure, but it seems like they can float around for hours up there.

If someone wants to donate a mere 150 bucks I'll send you a really neat picture of me pooping my pants at altitude.










Second day of sunshine and we were not ready to waste it. We were off on another day trek to the little town of Sarangkot (launching point for the para-gliders). On the other side of the lake, you can see the Peace Pagoda we walked to the day before.













This walk was substantially more strenuous. No switchbacks, just up, up, up.












Once again, all worth it once we got to the top.













We found The Sherpa Lodge guesthouse. They had a great dining room with some jaw-dropping views of the Annapurna range.

























The idea was to hike up early enough to see the sunset, sleep at the lodge, and then rise early enough to watch the sunrise too! Many tourists skip the evening show and taxi up here at dawn to catch the sunrise. We thought the sunset was worth the walk.













Ty was high from lack of oxygen and wanted to have a sunset jump-off.















This is her proclaiming victory before I even had my chance.











Technique is more important than height. Right?













Me pondering my obvious loss in my new favorite ponder position. I call it, "Tiny seahorses."












The 6:00 a.m. alarm, and off we went to watch the star attractions of Nepal come to life!










































Worth the sore hammies, I do declare.













It took us 3 1/2 hours of walking to reach Sarangkot but only an hour or so to get down! Back to the land of the wandering beasts.

Incidentally, we saw a six year old kick a real sacred cow (these are lowly buffalo which make debuts in many a deep fried momo) right in the ribs as it clunked by, simply minding it's stupid business. The penalty for killing a cow here is 2 years in prison. I wonder what the punishment is for more mild forms of abuse?

It is currently Sunday at 3:15 Nepali time (15 minutes ahead of Indian time so as to make a clear distinction that Nepal is not India!) and we are posted up writing and planning our next adventures here in Nepal. Next week we'll be in Chitwan hopefully catching a glimpse of the elusive wild Rhino! Until then, unless something glorious or otherwise interesting takes place, we bid farewell!

N and T