Who knew that we would celebrate our 43rd anniversary in Pokhara!?! Not us, even in our wildest dreams, especially since we had never heard of Pokhara before coming to Nepal. It is actually a well known city because it is near the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas. Many trekkers come to the area from all over the world. We saw more tall, pale people in three days than we have in the last 9 1/2 months combined. It felt really odd.
We were able to take a day hike to Australian Camp and Dhampus, about 9.2 km. The trails in Nepal are mostly paved with stone and have many, many, many steps. The hike was listed as easy so we decided not to rent trekking poles. That was a mistake we won’t make again. We probably went up 4000 steps (that actually may be a conservative estimate) and down 5000 that were even taller steps. I realize we have not been hiking in just over a year, but we do walk everyday and have some stairs and hills so how could our quads and calves be sooooo sore?
The trail took us through forests, fields and villages.
One of my favorite experiences on the hike was these boys sharing some village dancing and singing. They were doing it on the trail with the hope that trekkers would pay a token amount to pass. We were happy to contribute.
We enjoyed beautiful vistas of terraced rice fields and the Pokhara valley on our hike.
The following morning we got up early to see the sunrise on the Annapurna Range from Sarangkot. It was spectacular and we felt lucky to have timed our trip with almost perfect weather.
The next stop on our half-day tour was the Peace Pagoda. It was built by Japanese Buddhists to promote world peace. We went right after the sunrise and were able to avoid the crowds and see the mountains before they became obscured by the clouds that tend to shroud them around noon this time of year.
We then went to Devi’s Falls before going back to our hotel for breakfast.
After breakfast we walked down to the Phewa Lake and took a boat ride out to a little island that has a small but important Hindu temple on it. This temple is one of four that faithful Hindus make a pilgrimage to in their lifetime.
It was a wonderful trip, a nice getaway but it is good to be back “home” and back to work. We feel so blessed to be here and having so many different experiences, learning new things, being challenged both mentally and physically and hopefully making a difference.
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