Around the World

We had another long breakfast to start the day. Went for a bike ride into town to get bus tickets to Kathmandu. Then shopped for backpack covers to keep our things dry. We rode north and saw a wedding party of tents only. Donna wanted to turn back so we coasted down hill to some old adobe houses and took a photo of one. After returning my bike, I went back to the room. We ate at the Gura Restaurant for lunch. I went to a trekking store and got a rain cover for my pack. We tried to find a taxi to drive us up to the start of the walk to Sarangkot. They quoted us high prices and told us that the price of petrol has gone up. We negotiated a price of 80 Rp (down from the original 150Rp).

The clouds come in it started to cool down. The Taxi took us to the start of the Sarangkot trail. We started walking up a curvy road taking shortcuts up the hill. We met 2 young nepalese girls, one was carrying a pack and we took photos with them.It started to rain but we continued hiking in the downpour. Luckily I had a cover for my backpack. We met a Nepalese man who was a teacher at the secondary school on the hill and followed him for awhile. We stopped at a tea house until the rain let up a little. A local man was selling some very delicious Chi Tea. A couple young guys joined us for the trip to share umbrellas. We got a room at Lake View Lodge.The mountains looked beautiful with the clouds drifting by. Two other tourists came up too and we visited with them. Ben was from South Africa and Lee was from England. I ate butter mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding. Donna started to feel real sick. We visited with the guys for awhile before turning in for the night. That evening I watched lighting light up the night sky.

The best viewpoint of Pokhara is Sarangkot (1600m) and Thulakot (in Lekhnath a part of famous Royal Trek from where four lakes Phewa, Begnas, Khaste and Dipang and whole annapurna range is seen) to the west of the city. Paths and a road lead to the top from where one can enjoy spectacular views of the Annapurna range, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri and the city itself.

We didn't sleep well because of noise. I went out at 5 am to see the sunrise and ended up with a view of clouds and rain. So I went back to sleep. I came out later and walked up to the old fort on top of the mountain. It was a former fort (Kot) of king Kaski who fell to the Gorkhalis 1781. I saw more clouds in the sky and leeches at my feet so I returned to have breakfast. Donna came up and ate too. The jam toast she ate had shards of glass it it. A smoking lady asked if we wanted to buy some weed. It was a strange place. We packed up and checked out at noon. We talked with the guys for awhile and then started our descent.

The trail was extremely steep, mostly stairs made of stepping stones. I took a photo of a young goat. Many children asked us for candy and money. Obviously we weren't the first tourists to pass through. Donna wasn't feeling very good and my legs were getting weak. The further down we got the hotter it got. At times it didn't look like we were making any headway. I found a snake skin on the trail. There were a few wild flowers and many buffalo. I ate a snickers bar for some energy.

Once we got down to the lakeshore of Pokhara, it was easy walking to town. It was a relief to be back and get some rest. Ben and Lee came to our place and got the room across the hall. I walked around town for the last time. I bought a book about the Yeti, and exchanged my rain cover for another that wasn't damaged. It was missing some waterproof backing. The birds were really noisy by the boat docks. Our room had a lot of cockroaches in the toilet. Of course it started to rain again that evening.