Pokhara mini-break

Well we had a great mini-break in Pokhara. The sun was shining, the Himalayas were magical and snow capped, the lake also looked lovely - although not up too close as there is a fair bit of pollution. We had a good time lazing around, eating food (and then being very ill if ones name is Anthony – I retain the stomach of steel award 2006), going cycling, going boating, climbing up a big huge hill etc… Most exciting however was my foray into extreme sports.

As many people know I really don’t like flying, so it was a slight surprise to me that I agreed to go paragliding. We went up a huge hill called Sarankot, and then I ran off the hill and into the skies for 50min - at the highest point we rode thermals to 2,200meters above sea level - which I can assure you is very high when you're only attached to a Swiss man and a kite (even if it is a big kite). The views of the lake and villages were amazing, although we didn’t have a clear day so the Himalayas were hidden – very frustrating when you know they are there and how beautiful they are. I did ok on the fear-front. I wasn’t ill and only stifled a scream once when we went rather too close (in my uneducated opinion) to the paraglider Anthony was with and my ‘pilot’ started shouting ‘hello darling’ in a dodgy Swiss accent… we didn’t crash and were probably nowhere near doing so but I felt unnerved! A strike by Maoists grumpy at not being included in selecting Nepali ambassadors meant that we could not land in the proper place and so had to use a very small rice field with many horses in it, needless to say on landing I fell flat on my face pulling the Swiss man down with me... ooops.

We have some nice photos and videos so I will try and upload some dans le weekend.

We rode the bus home, which made the 25min plane journey seem great value as it took nearly 8hrs (still 3hrs less than Mel’s trip up which was delayed by Maoist strikes and tyre burning students)… However I learnt many things:
1. Nepal has many suspension bridges.
2. Nepal has many other areas, which are in need of a suspension bridge, but instead of this they have some sort of tightrope wire set up which small children haul themselves across, and boxes on pulleys are winched across. They would not meet health and safety regulations.
3. The roads and very narrow and the ravines very deep and the drivers drive fastfast and there are a distinct lack of safety barriers. In one place we saw the remains of a truck at the bottom of the ravine, in the river.
4. People like to wash their clothes and dry them on pig stys, piles of hay, suspension bridges, piles of gravel – but rarely washing lines. I am wondering if this procedure could be counter-productive.
5. I am not in anyway an animal rights activist but I actually shouted at a man in the restaurant we were in for kicking a small cat… poor cat.