Pokhara

So after returning from a relaxing few days at The Last Resort we took a bus (another delayed bus, this time mechanical trouble) to gorgeous Pokhara, for some mountain views and maybe (just maybe) a trek up into the Himalaya. We stayed up at the top end of the lake at the Vienna Lake Lodge, run by the incredibly friendly and helpful Santos and family. We spent a couple of days exploring Pokhara (it's only small) - swimming in and boating on the lake, a walk to the Shanti Stupa and what we thought was going to be a walk around the lake but ended up in us having to pay a fisherman to take us back over the water to our hotel (that lake is BIG). On the walk we somehow managed to take a wrong turn and were soon disoriented and becoming food to the many leeches that inhabit Nepal during the monsoon. Jon got off fairly lightly (it's the mosquitos that like me !) but Nicky took the full force of the onslaught and ended up with about 15 bites by the end of the day - but nothing a cold beer and some hot food couldn't fix. (Lesson learnt: never go walking in Nepal during the monsoon wearing open toed sandals, waders would be a better choice). One noticable difference about Nepal compared to India (certainly in Pokhara) was just how friendly and charming the people are. We met such nice, happy faces - the family that ran the juice bar where we had a daily fix of fruit smoothie, Buti the Tibetan refugee whose beaming smile we saw nearly everyday, and all the others.
The weather, after sitting out the monsoon all summer, now seemed to be breaking and after much (gentle) persuasion Nicky had agreed to come on a trek into the Annapurna range with me. We met with Bhek, the man who would guide us through the mountains for 6 days, and he explained that each day would be relatively easy (ha ha !!) and arranged that in a couple of days we would set off. The plan was to walk up to Poon Hill at 3210m and witness the sunrise over the mountains from this amazing viewpoint, as the Lonely Planet put it 'in an area blessed with many amzaing viewpoints Poon Hill stands out'....we shall see....

Row, row, row !!!

Pokhara, Nepal