James & Clare, Coddiwomplers Inc: Nepal Part 3

The bus journey to Pokhara

POKHARA

The bus journey to Pokhara was by far the most uncomfortable so far ... if that is even possible! The road was as bumpy and pot holed as any road we have ever been on. The good news is that new roads running parallel are underconstruction so we can only hope that they will be finished by the time we get to return.

Pretty amused at the technique they use to secure
the roofing iron!

Pokhara is a town surrounding a lovely lake with fabulous view of the Himalayas. It is very touristy, which is not the atmosphere we prefer, but it is also very pretty and a great place to relax.

The walkway to our hostel

The view from the roof of our hostel

Fishtail Mountain

We took the local bus to the town centre a couple of times.

Very pretty inside of the bus

Finding the fruit and veg market

Finding our favourite dish so far -
Samosa Chat

This one not quite so nice

We also enjoyed hanging out on the lakefront most days.

Creative cafe furniture

James having his shoes cleaned

The fisher man watching the fishing man fish

Watching some guys playing table tennis in a park

Dogs of the street hanging lakeside

Cows cruising along the lakeside path

We took a couple of trips to a fishing park. We carry our own fishing rod and gear around the world and like to find every opportunity to sit waterside and watch a rod tip. James found common ground with the guy who owns the fishing park who is an equally passionate angler. They have already spoken about going on a fishing trip together next time we are in Nepal.

As we arrived the caretakers sons were getting
out of a canoe having fetched this specimen

James and Hanson

James caught four or five of these tilapia which
Hanson kept for serving at his restaurant

The fishing park at sunset

One of our most interesting experiences to date is the day we decided to take a hot air balloon trip over Pokhara. The whole experience from start to finish was quite fascinating. We got to watch them 'blow up' the balloon. It takes quite a few people to make this all happen. The flight itself was approx 45mins. The blowers are quite noisy however they aren't in operation during the whole flight. They are only activated when we need to gain height.

One of the surprising things is that it is not possible to steer the balloon in any meaningful way. The pilot is at the mercy of the wind. Fortunately the valley where these flights take place are not known for blustery weather. This whole aspect of the flight makes landing a very tricky thing. Our pilot landed very precisely at the end of a dead end road. The local kids enjoy the fiasco just as much as we did.

Our Spanish pilot

Looking down the valley toward the lake

Looking up the valley

The Himalayas - you can see Fishtail poking
through the clouds too

Unfortunately it was quite a cloudy afternoon, but this did not detract from the experience or views. We were also lucky to be treated to a series of flights by a helicopter which was taking parachutists up near us. Our pilot said he had never experienced this before and was quite enamoured by it.

ne of the surprising things is that it is not possible to steer the balloon in any meaningful way. The pilot is at the mercy of the wind. Fortunately the valley where these flights take place are not known for blustery weather. This whole aspect of the flight makes landing a very tricky thing. Our pilot landed very precisely at the end of a dead end road. The local kids enjoy the fiasco just as much as we did.

Clare, of course, found a puppy to cuddle

KATHMANDU

It soon came time to spend our last week back in Kathmandu. On our way into the country James's friends from here were out of the country and we wanted to spend some time with them before we left.

We enjoyed a trip to Boudhanath temple.

James and Yuba

A happy couple

Marigolds

The stupa

By far the most interesting thing we were involved in was attending a wedding the day we flew out. The happy couple were related to Asim and Namrata, the friends we were staying with. The wedding was interesting in so much as it is just a happy occasion for friends and family to meet up and eat amazing food. There is no alcohol at the wedding itself. That is saved for the party the next day! While the wedding ceremony goes on, very much in the background, while most of the guests continue talking and eating in other areas of the venue. It was certainly one of the most relaxed weddings we have ever been to. Formal, yet strangely informal?