Pokhara - trekking, rafting and paragliding

From Kathmandu we went to beautiful Pokhara, where our real adventure began as it is the starting point for many of Nepal's most popular trekking and rafting destinations...

Phewa Lake in Pokhara

Colorful boats at the lake

One day we went for a long walk along the lake. The views were amazing!



Little house...


Sunset


Some local people that we met on the way

And some 'thirsty' tourists... ;-)

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As I mentioned before Pokhara is the best place for things like trekking, rafting and even paragliding! It was all so tempting that we didn't know what to choose so we decided to do everything! ;-)

Trekking first! As our physical condition was not so great we decided to do only 5-day trekking to Poon Hill (at elevation 3210m) in the Annapurna mountain range. We started walking from a small village Nayapul...

We saw many beautiful things on our way, like a waterfall...

or beautiful rice plantations...

or 3 little girls trying to block our way... (They had promised to let us free if we gave them some sweets... ;-)

and local kids...


Lukas resting for a while after having passed thousands of stone stairs... and wondering how many more stairs do we have to pass to get to our first destination - Gandruk (about 1900m)... It took us 8 hours walking to get there. We were worn out but very happy! ;-)))

The most wonderful thing was the view...

The best views were in the mornings at sunrise, about 6am...

Our next stop, at little village - Tadapani.

And some more amazing views on the mountain...

and its beautiful snowy peaks...

On our last day we climbed to Poon Hill just before the sunrise! We started about 4:30 from our last stop at Gorepani, situated just at the foot of our destination. The views from Poon Hill were so breath taking that we didn't want to go down! We saw 2 of 8 thousand high peaks and others of 7 thousand high. Amazing!!!!!! Finally we had to go back because it was too cold and also we were getting hungry!!!

***

Next- paragliding!

First we were going in a Jeep up to the nearby mountain, from where we were supposed to paraglide... We were a bit scared of the atitude, but also very curious what is the feeling of flying!

I was the first one. My instructor gave me some very brief explanation of paragliding, then we wore our equipment, start running and yuppiiiiiii we were in the air! Coooool !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was only 30 minutes and not that much adrenaline as I expected, but flying above Pokhara was absolutely great!!!

Lukas flying above the lake

And back on the ground ;-(

***

Rafting!

We were taken by bus to the Seti River, where we started our rafting adventure. Out of all the things that we have experienced in Nepal, rafting was what we enjoyed the most! It was perfectly organised, people were lovely (both locals and tourists) and food delicious!

On our first day we were rafting for about 6 hours, the river rapids were graded + - 3, water not cold at all so in some places we could swim, great fun!

Overnight we stayed at the river bank, surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery, together with some other people from the kayaking team. We had great fun sitting at the camp fire and drinking beers and singing some funny songs!

On our raft at the overnight camp...

together with the kayaking team...

On the second day we were rafting for about 4 hours and then we had a good-bye lunch. These 2 days passed extremely quick! But it was really fantastic and I can recommend it to everyone who is looking for an adventure an is not scared of water! ;-)

***

After rafting we took a bus to Kathmandu, where we had to obtain visas to Pakistan and China. It took us a week and many trips to both embassies! Uff! But eventually we got them! I will write more about this in the next post...

Nepal - Kathmandu

After Bodhgaya we got back to Calcutta for a few days and from there we set off to Nepal! The journey was really exhausting! As usually our train was cancelled so we had to take a bus that takes at least 10 hours longer than train... In 3 days and 3 different buses we got eventually to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. What we saw was worth the trouble...


Durbar Square, in the heart of the city...


Durbar Square

Women selling flowery neckleses on the square

Lots of colorful bracelets

And even more colorful handicrafts...

Some more handicrafts...

Local market

More market...

And more...

Meat shop... Brrrr!!! (As I said we are still vegetarians...)

Kathmandu temples

A temple...

Monkeys on the way to the Monkey Temple

View from the Monkey Temple on Kathmandu

***

Very near to Kathmandu there is an ancient city Patan, that we went to visit together with our Spanish friends that we met in Calcutta. The most popular place in there is Patan Durbar Square which is full of ancient palaces and temples.

Patan Durbar SquareAn ancient bell in the middle of the square

Patan by night...

Local boss...;-)

Another local...

In Patan we also visited an orphanage, where one of our Spanish friends works.

Children from Patan's orphanage

Lost in Bihar....

We left Calcutta for a few days and went to Bodhgaya, where the Buddha had attained enlightenment. The place is full of pilgrims, tourists and temples! The most famous one is Mahabodhi Temple, that stands in the east to the Bodhi Tree.

Mahabodhi Temple

Inside the temple there is a huge image of the Buddha in sitting posture in which he accomplished the supreme enlightenment.

Bodhi Tree



The Buddha...

Another temple...

Boys will be boys...

Talking with a sacre cow

After having visited all the temples and sacred places in Bodhgaya we (I , Lukas and our friend Pawel) decided to go to the Buddha cave in the near mountain, where he spent 6 years meditaiting. We met an old baba (hindu holy men), who said he would show us the way...

Baba, Pawel and I walking through local villages...

On the way we saw that enormous tree...

Then baba invited us to his Ashram, where we could rest a bit in a shaddow, with him and locals from the nearby village. They brought us some food, fruits and tea. Nice!

Baba practising yoga, after smoking 2 big joints...

After chilling out in the Ashram we set off again in searching for our Buddha cave. We reached the Ganges river, from where we could see our aim, the mountain. The only problem was how to cross the river if there was no bridge?????? What to do???!

Pawel, the bravest one, decided to cross the river by foot as it was very shallow. Lukas and I couldn't decide - should we go into this dirty water or not??? Eventually we decided to follow Pawel. It took maybe 10 minutes and we were on the other side, half wet, but happy!

Local children always asking for money! They will find you everywhere, even in the middle of the Ganges!!! Money, money, money.... Ufff!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I don't have any!!!!

Walking through rice plantations on very narrow paths...

We were walking for more than 3 hours now in the horrible heat, had only one mineral water left for 3 of us and we were becoming more and more tired. We asked some locals we had met on the way if there would be any transport at the Buddha cave or some shops where we could buy some water, but they denied... For a while we were very confused what to do - keep going or return???? Of course we made up our minds to go!

Children looking at 3 Sahibs (3 white people) passing their little village - I, Lukas and Pawel...

After 5 hours of walking in that unbearable heat, we finally got to the Buddha cave! We were exhausted but happy! We also saw there were 2 buses with tourists from Sri Lanka, visiting the cave, so we asked the driver if we could go with them, he agreed and this way saved our lifes! ;-) I couldn't imagine us coming back the same way 5 more hours! No, no, no!!!!

But then I realised that the way was much more interesting than the place where we were going so long...