Monday 10th Feb
The Road to Pokhara.
Today was a travelling day. We could have flown there as an add on but we opted for the 200 km drive to Pokhara. We knew it was going to be long, aka very long and rough, aka very rough but would show heaps.
We headed off at 7.30, along the country’s main highway. India in one direction. China in the other. It was single carriage way all the way. But that doesn’t mean only 2 vehicles heading in different directions. Overtake when you want. They toot their horns to let you know, so all good!
And the road works, Damn. If it wasn’t being dug up, ….well there was nowhere that wasn’t dug up! Dirt most of the way. We did hit 50kph for about 3 ½ minutes at one time. But most of it was at around 20 kph – due to the potholes and the roadworks.
But of course the drive was so interesting. Up out of the Kathmandu Valley and north east. The views would have been amazing. But the Air quality was well over 200 again. And then there was the dust. I’ve never seen dust so thick. It looked like it was put there with a blower for a movie set. Centimeters thick.
No land was wasted. Terraces were cut into the huge hills. Rice was the main crop. Rice paddies everywhere. Cauliflower and cabbage were next and mustard plants. And surprisingly a number of plants that we think of as tropical – bananas, sugar cane.
We went passed a number of brickworks. Hand shaped and carried into the kilns. Then spread in the sun to finish drying. When they were ready they were loaded onto donkeys and taken to the next stop.
One photo is fascinating. So much happening. Geometric designs, donkeys, clay pits, rice paddies. The more I look the more I see.
The road works were nearly all done by hand. All the retaining walls were Gabion Cages filled with amazing accuracy. Like stone masonry. The rocks were broken up by hand. Cement was shovelled into the giant mixer. The cages looked amazing and would be worth a fortune in Australia.
The evidence of the many landslides were everywhere. Some caused by earthquakes, others by rain.
People using the town water pipes. Chooks, goats, buffalo. Women drying turmeric. Workers in their gardens, amazing hack stacks.
For lunch I had fantastic Momo (dumplings in chicken soup).
And did I mention the dust! People hang their washing right on the side of the road – in the dust, the smog and the exhaust. Must have been horrid to wear.
We finished our 200 km in 8 ½ hrs later and arrived in the lake city of Pokhara.
Up at stupid o’clock in the morning to watch the sun rise over the mountains! Night!
Tuesday 11th Feb, Pokhara, Nepal.
Up at 5 am to head up to Sarangot Viewing Tower. A high point giving views to the sunrise and across to the Annapurna Range. Home to many of the highest mountains in the world. This is the view from my balcony. Check out the smog!
We drove up to the first viewing spot, got out of the van and headed up the 440 steps to the top. Did I add that this was in the dark?
We then sat at the top and waited. Drinking tea that cost 50 Rupee – 57 Aussie cents. And a tip as she lugged two pots of hot water up said 440 steps.
We got to watch the sun come up and watched as it started to spread pink light onto the range. Spectacular. The pink glow was amazing.
As it got lighter the range was harder to see due to the smog. I said the other day that the smog wasn’t too bad. I was wrong. It is horrid! The view over the valley is meant to be spectacular – but alas, couldn’t be seen very well. We couldn’t see the lake at all.
Why was the smog so bad in Pokhara? I wondered. No industry, much smaller than Kathmandu, not a huge amount of private cars. Turns out this pollution is not made by Nepal. It blows in from both India and Pakistan. How sad!
What a fantastic experience.
After the sun rise we went down to lovely Hindu Temple. Very special for them to have a view of the range from the temple. And back to the hotel for breakfast.
After breakfast we went to another Hindu temple – Bindhyabasini, this oldest temple in Pokhara. Yep. Steps.
Followed by another Buddhist Stupa. This was a new one built by a Japanese Monk who went around the world building Stupas in the Japanese style. This was the World Peace Pagoda. Of course it was way up on a hill. A hill that could not be driven up.
We walked up one way – 450 steps plus paths and down another way – 480 steps plus paths. It was a lovely walk though. Through forests that were strewn with Prayer Flags. At least there were monkeys at the bottom.
A visit to the Tibetan Refugee camp, where displaced Tibetans have lived since China started the land grab in the 60’s. They did some great weaving. Complicated and the ladies hands moved like lightning. Of course there were many stalls selling all the same stuff.
We then walked down to our next stop. “The natural beauty of Devi’s Falls and Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave”. Which I, of course, had built up in my mind as a stunning cave on the lake. But, in the middle of town we entered a temple area. Inside was a beautiful and elaborate building with a temple. Running down it were huge staircases.
We walked down a few hundred stairs into a cave entrance – in town. We walked down, down, and down, on the shinny wet steps. At times you had to duck to walk through some of the tunnels. At the bottom were some stalactites and a metal staircase/ladder that led to a platform. From there 2 or 3 people could see the a crack through to the lake and a small waterfall. Then back up the stairs. With the huge crowds, the hundreds of stairs and stale air it was fairly uncomfortable.
The final activity was a boat ride out to an island and a Hindu temple. Out boat was a huge paddle boat. Would hold 10 passengers, the boat man and the guide paddling. We moved at about .005 knots and slowly moved across the lake. We all said that we didn’t need to get out to see the temple. Which was lucky, as it was closed for renovations!
On the way back we found a White Throated Kingfisher at the lakes edge. Awesome!
What a fantastic day. HUGE. But fantastic.
I did……..2,500 stairs, 12,250 steps, 8.5 km and climbed 64 floors up and then down. That’s a lot!
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