Nepal - Pokhara

We woke up with our spirits high – Nepal was barely a kilometer away!  Which we were infinitely grateful for, as Sunauli was less pretty by day than it was by night – blanketed in smog from the constant stream of trucks and buses crossing the border, seedy, and dirty even by Indian city standards, we had a quick breakfast of samosas and dal, packed our things, and hailed a rickshaw.  Our driver weaved us in and out of the crawling traffic in bursts of movement that lasted no more than 30 seconds - after 15 minutes of which, we were ready to shoulder our packs across the border by foot.

You know that face - "I can't believe we're going to Nepal today!!"

Long story short: various people looked at our passports, various forms were filled out, various currencies scrabbled together for the Nepal visa fees, and we found ourselves in Nepal!  We were less than thrilled, however, that to make it to our final destination – Pokhara, a gorgeous lakeside mountain town very popular with tourists and a common departure point for many famous Himalaya treks – was a busride away.  A 10 hour bus ride away.  Well, we had been traveling for 36 hours already – we were anxious to plant our feet again!  After an absurdly cramped and uncomfortable van ride from the border to the nearest town, we caught our bus, and on we climbed, and squished, and threw our backpacks onto the roof, and set off again into the unknown, with at least the promise of a bed in Pokhara to comfort us, which the agent that booked our bus ticket kindly offered us at a discounted rate (as he happened to own a hotel in Pokhara as well). 

Not far from the border, we were enjoying the incredibly rich and verdant vistas of Nepal, so strikingly different from the more familiar dusty desolate roadsides of India.  It was a shock to see almost every home with a vegetable garden – fresh vegetables growing right out of the ground!  It was a rare sight in India.  And beautiful gardens, too – cabbages, cauliflower, pole beans, mustard greens, bok choi, carrots… the earth here was bountiful!  The hillsides yawned up all around us as we wove interminably through a valley towards Pokhara. 

6 or 7 hours of winding switchbacks along the Nepal mountainsides – in the pitch blackness of the dark for half of it – made us more appreciative than I can describe for our arrival.  Our bags were gratefully loaded into a jeep, also generously provided by the hotel (that was probably the best part of the deal – the taxi drivers descended upon the other passengers like vultures on a carcass).  We couldn’t have been happier to find a warm room with nice clean(!) sheets, towels, bathroom, and a big soft bed – even a TV to make us feel special!  Finally, we were snuggled up in bed, where we belonged.

View from our hotel room - so clean compared to India! 

Snuggled up in our hotel room with one of our favorite Nepali discoveries - pots of Chai delivered to your bed.  Decadent.

Pokhara is such a beautiful city!  Situated along the edge of an incredible serene lake nestled in the foothills of the Annapurna range – on clear days, you can see through snow-capped towering peaks all around 20,000 ft tall!  Which is probably why it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nepal.  We hadn’t seen so many white people since Auroville!  And not just Europeans and “Westerners” either - Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian tourists and alpinists all converge on Pokhara, the trekker’s mecca.  But the charm of the secluded city wasn’t lost on us – we spend the first few days just relaxing and enjoying our new surroundings.  The food was great, though a bit pricy.  Shop after shop filled with the most incredible Nepali and Tibetan handicrafts were so alluring we couldn’t keep ourselves out of them – the beautiful and intricate statues, carvings, malas, earrings, jewelry, pendants, all so colorful in their bright blue and red and turquoise, the hauntingly serene Buddha Eyes that pierce into you… it was enchanting. 

We even got to rent a boat – a wooden canoe – and spend the day paddling around the lake.  A deep placidity permeated the surface of the water, and it rubbed off on us.  There was nothing to do but enjoy the peacefulness of the day, as we floated by a buddhist temple on an island in the lake, watched for fish jumping to the surface of the water, gazed up at the tree-covered hills cupping us.  No doubt about it – Nepal was way more relaxing than India.  And we had 2 weeks to enjoy it before we departed for Thailand! 

Eating breakfast next to the lake!

Paddling around the lake - very serene.

Happy guy! 

She did paddle, too - the scenery was truly breathtaking.

The temple in the middle of the lake!

We even got to see a Nepali eagle!!

So what would we do? 

Fate, as it always does, intervened.  A casual conversation with our hotel concierge, Raj, revealed to us that the hotel ran a side-business of organizing treks into the himalayas – a lifelong dream of mine!  Aphyna was tentative at first – 3 or 4 days of hiking was her limit.  But when Raj showed us the map of the different options, the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trek –  which drove straight into the heart of the Annapurna Conservation Area, climbing up to 12000 ft and the base of 6 20-24,000 ft mountains – proved too alluring.  I felt guilty about pressuring her beyond her limits, but everyone we asked assured us that it wasn’t too strenuous – you could even wear tennis shoes.  You were really just walking.  For 8 days.  Gulp.  I don’t know where Aphyna got the Divine inspiration to go for it, but I was so grateful for whatever angel possessed her to take that leap of faith and make my dream come true.   

So it was decided – we would leave the next day for the High Himalayas!!