October 20 – Pokhara & Kathmandu, Nepal

Our “home” in Pokhara was called The Sacred Valley Inn, run by a lovely man named Bishnu. As some of you already know, when you are away from your own home for a long time, finding a place that makes you feel comfortable and homey is…priceless. Fortunately for us, these places are not always pricey but instead offer character, clean rooms, good breakfast (Sacred Valley had the best we’ve had so far) and friendly management. Oh, and somewhere for us to hang out other than on our beds. Getting clean, doing laundry and Paragliding was at the top of our list while we stayed for 3 days in Pokhara post trekking.

We had heard the paragliding in Pokhara was excellent and the reasons why were obvious. With the Himalayas as a backdrop, the launching spot was high up on a mountain overlooking the valley and lake. We asked around and chose one of the two most established companies, Frontier. Sadie decided it wasn’t for her so Ron, Janet & Anna headed out. If was fabulous. All three of us commented on how peaceful it was and much less scary than we anticipated. Our tandem flight was about 30 minutes and the landing down by the lake was very gentle. OK, I will fess up. We took Gravol so perhaps some of our impressions were because we were a bit stoned on over the counter pharmaceuticals! Up to 50% (on a “bumpy” day) of clients suffer motion sickness. We had heard this before so instead of risking it, we decided to nip it in the bud. We didn’t get sick but none of us really liked trying to get the Gravol out of our system for the rest of the day!

Often it’s not as much what you do, but who you meet while doing it. Ron’s pilot, Brad is originally from Colorado and now holds the world record for altitude in paragliding. He spends the season in Pokhara and off season flying, self sufficient around Pakistan…yes, Pakistan. He carries equipment to eat and sleep and flies around remote alpine areas in Pakistan. I would love to see the look on a farmer’s face when Brad lands in the midst of his flock! His other favourite destination is Columbia. My pilot, Scott is a graphic designer by trade but a bird trainer by passion. He is now a pilot for Frontier and has trained the first ever “Parahawk” named Kevin who flies with them to find the best updrafts. He now has

about 5 other birds he has rescued from various predicaments (they are unable to return to the wild) he is training to work with Kevin. Anna’s pilot (and the heaviest to counter balance her slight weight for their flight), Adam, is the founder of Frontier. A displaced Brit, he started another company in town about 14 years ago and this new one, about 3 years ago. They are all passionate about paragliding and have found the most amazing niches to help keep it in their lives. Ron was our designated photographer (Janet would not have been able to let go of the straps!) and it is his feet in the photos to give artful “perspective”!

We lucked out by coinciding with the Diwali Festival of Light (Hindu) while in Pokhara and Kathmandu this 2nd time around. People celebrate Diwali a number of different ways. Children gather in groups and troop from place to place singing songs for Rupees they collect for a big picnic on the third day. It was smart to keep a bundle of 10 Rupee notes in our pockets to hand out as we sat on our guest house porch catching up on our math, reading and journals. Others drag around large speakers and lights to set up spontaneous dance and singing performances on the street – usually the music is blaring and distorted. Large crowds instantly gather causing major log jams in the sidewalks and roads. There are also candles lit at just about every store front, and beautiful designs on the sidewalk drawn out of brilliantly coloured flour. We even heard fireworks. All this vaguely made us think of our own October Halloween rituals we’d be missing this year.

We also rented bikes and rode down the road beside the lake. The riding is a little rugged and very hot but it felt great to get a bit of exercise and we found an awesome spot for lunch. One can rent a bike in Pokhara for a couple of dollars. I think it cost about $8 for all of us to have bikes for the day. We won’t say they were awesome machines, but they did the trick and the road had only a few hills.

Back in Kathmandu before leaving for Thailand was hectic. After the peace of Pokhara, Kathmandu seemed even more clogged and noisy. We finally made our way to the Swayambhunath Buddhist Temple or “Monkey Temple”. True to its name, the Monkey Temple hosts a large band of monkeys who provide infinite entertainment as you climb the zillion (very steep) stairs up the east side. The temple marks the location of a very important centre in the Kathmandu Valley dating from the 13th Century. Truthfully, once up there it felt a bit like a mall with too many people selling artifacts but there is a fabulous view and the monkeys made the trip worth it. We then headed out about 17 km by taxi to visit Bhaktapur, an ancient city dating from the 12th Century which was once THE most powerful centre in the valley from the 14-16th Century. Bhaktapur showcases unbelievable architecture, cobble stone streets, 172 temples, 77 water tanks or pools, 172 pilgrim centres and 152 wells. Most of all this is still housing residents and worshipers. We got lost walking through the narrow little streets and were treated to views of real life still residing and making a living. The city suffered defeat in 1768 and was then relegated to a market town. Remarkably well preserved and traffic free (reason in itself to go) it was an amazing stop. Although it was a tough slog to get there by taxi through Kathmandu’s crumbling streets and sprawling mess. Sorry for not sugar coating it, but we were so astounded and what a mess Kathmandu is. One of its most redeeming features was The Roadhouse Restaurant in Thamel. Not remotely local quisine, we feasted there twice washing down brick oven pizza with cold white South African wine and finishing with chocolate ice cream. Ahhhh.