Nepal - Last Day

Our last day in Nepal, we flew out of Pokhara for Kathmandu around lunchtime. When we arrived in Kathmandu, we dropped our luggage at Fuji Hotel so we could do a bit more site seeing. Heather, Jun, Chris and I grabbed a cab and started for two important Buddhist temples. Our first stop was Swayambhunath.


Swayambhunath is also known as the monkey temple, for its resident monkeys.


I felt charmed by the quiet of the place. There were lots of people around and music was playing, but still it felt more quiet than the busy streets of Kathmandu. I particularly liked looking out at the view of the city surrounded by what seemed to be mostly locals.


We couldn't linger at Swyambhunath too long, though. We still wanted to get across town to the larger stupa at Bodhnath. The traffic was horrible, and it was practically dark by the time we arrived.


Part of the reason for the traffic was that we were driving during prayer time, 6-7 p.m. This ended up being a good thing for our visit to Bhohnath stupa. As soon as we arrived, we easily slipped into the quiet group of hundreds walking clockwise in prayer around the temple.


It was dark except for a few lights from surrounding shops. It was magical. There were regular folks, Tibetan women and Buddhist monks in red and saffron robes. The music of horns and drums and chanting accompanied our walk.


As we walked around, the music grew louder until we came upon its source. A group of monks sat at the edge of the stupa, with instruments and offerings. People walking by gave money, candy or cookies to add to the stacks. It was beautiful. I could have lingered here for a long time, but we had to move on. Dinner and then straight to the airport for our flight out. Good-bye, Nepal. You are beautiful.

Nepal - Begnas and Rupa Lakes

The day before I left Pokhara, I headed out on the bus for Begnas Lake. The day before I had a great flight and felt that was a nice finishing note for the flying part of the trip. I had kind of envied my cohorts who landed out and got to hike around the countryside and hop buses home. I'd had Begnas Lake in the back of my mind since Matt mentioned it at breakfast one day. My goal: get out of Pokhara, walk a lot, see some countryside, maybe talk to some people.


Getting off the bus, the driver pointed me toward the lake. When I asked him about Rupa Lake, he waved the opposite way up the hill out off the main square. At the edge of Begnas Lake there were crowds of teens walking the path and a throng of cheering elementary kids waiting to get into boats for a paddle. It was loud and didn't feel like where I wanted to be. I quickly turned around, walked back through town and started walking up the other road. Ahhh, quiet.


After walking up the road awhile, I wondered if there might be a foot path I could take instead. There wasn't a lot of traffic, but I couldn't see the lake and, well, I was walking on a road. I followed the next path I saw, hoping it wouldn't just end at someone's front door. A few yards off the road, the path connected with a stone foot path. Success! Not far up the path, I encountered a beautiful little brick temple.


From the temple, I could see the lake and the Himalayas in the distance. Beautiful spot. As I walked around taking pictures, I was approached by a man who had just pulled up on a motorcycle. Ends up, he was the most recent past mayor of Pokhara. We would have talked longer, but he got a cell call that his meeting was about to start and off he went. He did give me his card so I could call if I ran into any problems.




I stopped and sat at the edge of the path to eat my sandwich at a spot where I could see the lake and the mountains. The birds were calling back and forth, I could see a boat paddling in the lake below. This was the view from my perch.


At some point, my path intersected again with the road. I ran into a man at a Y in the road. He asked where I was going. When I explained that I didn't really have a destination, he said, "Oh, you're wander walking." Exactly. I started walking down toward Rupa Lake--definitely the right choice. The fields at the edge of the lake were greener than green and dotted with people and water buffalo.


Whew, it was warm and I'd been hiking around for hours. I needed a cup of tea. The sign for Dinah's Guesthouse said I should stop in even if it was just for a cup of tea. I took them up on the offer. The owner and I shared some Masala tea and chatted. When I had finished my tea, he asked if I wanted to see his garden. He had coffee trees, banana trees, a veggie garden and a water buffalo. The day was just what I needed. It made me want to revisit Nepal with more time so I could trek and fly.

Nepal - Peace Pagota

We had a great room at Mountain Villa hotel. One of the best things about it was the view from the terrace right outside our door. In one direction, I couldn't keep my eyes off Machapuchare (Fish Tail). Looking the other way, the Peace Pagota always caught my eye. Fish Tail was the first thing I would see when I opened my door each morning. For at least a week after arriving back in Seattle, the thought of the mountain was very present each morning. "I wonder what Fish Tail looks like today?"


Fish Tail was a bit out of my reach as a destination, being way up in the mountains and protected and all. But, the Peace Pagota could be easily reached. Just a few days before leaving Pokhara, we had a particularly lovely sunset and looking up at the temple I realized that I didn't have much time left if I wanted to get there.


My second to last day in Pokhara I had one of my most satisfying flights of the trip, landed at the end of the lake, kited a bit and then went off to meet Heather so we could make our way to the Peace Pagota.


Our plan was to take a taxi to the top, hike down to the lake and get a sunset paddle back to Pokhara. The plan worked out nicely. The view of Pokhara was pretty great. On the way across the water, the huge gorgeous mountains peaked out from the huge gorgeous clouds.


Heather next to a sign intended to spur us on, had we been walking uphill instead of down.


When we got near the water, a fellow greeted us on the trail and asked us if we needed a boat. We had wondered how we would find a boat. We quickly negotiated a price and then followed him onto the grounds of a small resort on the water.


He paddled us across the lake. It was such a peaceful moment.

Nepal - Vulture Restaurant

Nepal's vultures are big beautiful soaring birds. Due to widespread use of a livestock anti-inflammatory that is toxic to the birds, the vulture population in Nepal has plummeted at alarming rates. For more info on the Himalayan vultures and the efforts to keep bird colonies going, click here.

There are a couple vulture restaurants in Nepal. They are places where sick cows can find refuge in their final days and where vultures can get a tasty and, more important safe, meal when said cows pass on. We parked at the edge of a small village and walked down to the river bed. Here was a sign that we were walking the right direction.


Attendants at the vulture restaurant skin the animal and set it out for the birds.


After the paragliding tour was technically over, but still before the guys had left to bivi fly, our guides got a call from the Parahawking folks that a cow had died. We left the hotel crazy early in order to see the vultures and still manage to fly from Diki Danda the same day.


A guide to the vultures of Nepal.


We heard that some groups have waited an hour for the vultures to arrive at a carcass. We had no such wait. Almost the moment the carcass was out, the birds began to arrive.


We were rapt, watching the birds from our position in the blind. The 30+ birds who came to eat made quick work of the cow.


Within 30 minutes or so, only clean bone remained.


When the birds seemed finished, we walked out to take a look at the bones that remained. Several of the well-fed birds flew away at our approach. With their heavy stomachs, they flew sluggishly and didn't always achieve the height they seemed to be going for. A few flew across the river and landed several feet below the lip of the bluff, rather than at the top. With a hop, hop, hop, they could get there.

Nepal - Maha Shivaratri

Maha Shivaratri is a holy day devoted to Hindu god Lord Shiva. When we arrived at Diki Danda to fly, the first sign of the holiday was a small group of villagers gathered at the a small temple to make offerings to Shiva.


The next sign that something was different on this day was the huge number of kids on launch. The elementary school was closed, and older kids swarmed us. They had a day off from their usual activities--school, work, loitering elsewhere--for the holiday.


The kids crowding in close was a bit overwhelming, but Chris and I enjoyed talking to Indra, here on the left, and her brother Wilson. Both had very good English, although Indira was quick to admit that her younger brother was better. Both seemed really pleased to have an opportunity to practice speaking English. They are from the village but live in Pokhara to go to school. Indra spoke of missing her village and being glad to have a chance to visit for the holiday.


On the drive home, I realized that all the sugar cane vendors I'd seen the past couple days were out in streets because of Shivaratri. At night, the tradition is to have a bonfire. People hold the sugar cane in the fire, and then when it's really hot they hit the cane on the ground so it pops. It's loud like a firecracker. The air smells of burned sugar. Hot bits of cane fly into the air.


I have a feeling Heather and I only caught the early end of the party--the family portion of the celebration. There were kids and parents gathered at the bonfire on the main street of Lakeside (the neighborhood of Pokhara where we were staying), buying sugar cane and holding it over the fire. Others were lining up at the altar contained in the trunk of the huge tree in the road to pray and make offerings.


The bonfire.

Nepal - Back in Pokhara

I loved to see the school girls at the next building next door to our hotel combing and putting up their hair, using a window as a mirror. Finally, I paid attention when driving by on the way to launch. The sign outside confirmed my suspicion; it was a boarding school.


Cows eating cardboard. Poor beasts. Cows are sacred in Nepal. They wander free in the streets, although I think they did have owners. At least once I saw a cow in the middle of the street with cars weaving around it. It could ignore all the honking horns with no repercussions to fear. Lucky beast.


Sweet Memories - my favorite restaurant. Mostly ate here for breakfast. They had fast internet in the morning, yummy masala tea and muesli curd with fruit, and two cute girls who waited tables before and after school.


Conrad and Mark with their muesli and yogurt (curd in Nepal).


Spices and other goodies in Mahindrapul, the main shopping district in Pokhara. The bags were full of spices, spice mixes, small dried coconuts and various rock salts--white, pink, black. I bought a couple of the coconuts. They were really good.


A view of the edge of town. It was as if houses were just popping up in the middle of the fields.


Bike and thatched roof.

Nepal - Trucks and Buses

The buses and trucks are wonderfully decorated both inside and out. Hand painted slogans on the back of trucks range from "welcome" to "road of the king" to "slow speed long life." That last one was my favorite.

Nepal - Camping at Sirkot

First view from Sirkot launch.


Looking over at camp from launch. Yes, those are the Himalayas in the background. Pretty gorgeous.


Set up for tea and cookies.


Pilots.


Howard, Matty and Heather at the fire, with Nepali onlookers.


Breakfast in the sun.


Flight orientation. Left to right: Conrad, Graham (logistics), Roger, Brad (guide), Matty (guide).


When we woke up our last morning in Sirkot, the Himalayas were in full view. Amazing spot.