There are adventures pretty much all day every day. This is making it a challenge to keep current on the blog and creates another issue for me. I have to try to remember everything that we've done and the order in which we did them. So here we go again, stepping back in time a few days.
We were up early Monday morning for a short, pleasant flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara. Pokhara is the second largest city in Nepal. It's population is about half that of Kathmandu but the city is spread out over a much wider area. This makes traffic seem much less intense and getting around much easier. The city has seven lakes but the one where we spent the most time was Phewa Lake. This lake is about 4 miles long and a mile wide at it's widest place. The lakefront area of Phewa Lake was filled with restaurants, hotels, bars and shops. Many of the shops catered to hikers or "trekkers" as they are known around here. The town is at the base of the Himalaya's and is the starting point for many of the treks/hikes into the mountains.
At the end of the day we enjoyed strolling along the lakeside area for a bit with a couple who were on our tour with us (Irwin and Carmencita). After a little ice cream we ran across a spa that offered massages. Beth took charge of the situation and lead us into the spa where we all enjoyed what was advertised as a foot massage. It was great and it really did focus on the feet and lower legs until the end. As my masseuse was finishing up I heard her climb up on the table. At first she dug her elbows into my back like she was trying to remove my liver. The next thing I know I feel four pressure points on my back. I quickly realize that not only is she digging in with her elbows but now her knees are in on the action. It was torturous pleasure at no additional charge! Come to find out everyone had gotten the same Grand Finale treatment...........so much for me getting a bonus treatment.
Tuesday started with a bang. We did something that we had never done before as a couple. We did a helicopter flight. I had been on a helicopter before but it was Beth's first time. We flew from the local airport to base camp on the deadliest mountain (for climbers) in the world. While Everest is slightly higher, Annapurna Mountain is no slacker in size. It has five peaks with the tallest being Annapurna 1 or Main at just over 26,000 feet. The basecamp for Annapurna 1 was just over 13,500 feet above sea level. Just as a reference, the Colorado Rocky Mountains brag about their mountain peaks that are over 14,000 feet high. As far as deadly goes, it's not even close. There have been just under two hundred summit attempts and 61 fatalities. The fatality to summit ratio is 32 percent. Not very good odds if you ask me.
When we landed the helicopter at base camp we were surprised to be greeted by around 50 or so folks. These weren't people who were attempting to summit the mountain. Just trekkers passing through basecamp. We talked to a few of them during our time on the ground (about 30 minutes). Some had taken routes that had gotten them there in two days while others had taken longer routes and had been trekking for seven days. I couldn't tell if they were amused or not when I told them that it was only a 15 minute helicopter ride. The flight up and back as well as the views from base camp were out of this world.
We finished our time in Pokhara with a visit to a local village. We had lunch at the house of a gentleman (Robbie) who is the leader of the village. He's working hard to make sure the village survives and is introducing tourism into the area. He's built not only his house but several houses into small airbnb type places. Pretty rustic but they do seem to be working. We also visited a local school that is fighting to survive as well. It was a holiday but around a dozen of the children were there to greet us and show us around. Beth had her a buddy from the start. Her name was Nameela. She had a great smile, grabbed Beth's hand and didn't hardly let go until we were leaving. The school is growing, the kids are excited about learning English as well as other subjects. One other thing the school is doing really well is making it a place for all the children. Under the caste system the children of the three upper castes do not socialize with the children of the lower class (they actually call them "the untouchables". It's hard to comprehend but this system has been in place throughout India as well as Nepal for a long time. At the school there is no caste. Just smiling faces learning and playing together. Thanks to Robbie and the school the future of this small village on the outskirts of Pokhara seems bright.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_Nepal
I've got more exciting stories to tell but it's almost 9:00 here and getting past our bedtime.
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| A selfie at 13,500 feet! |
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| Basecamp. Not quite all the luxuries of home but shelter and a place to fix a warm meal. It had gotten down to 20 degrees overnight and winter is still a while off. |
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| The secret to getting to base camp in fifteen minutes |
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| Sun coming up over the Annapurna Mountains |
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| Robbie's Mother. She's the one that prepared the meal as well as the necklaces that she gave all of us. She's 67 years old. |
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| Beth and her friend Nameela! That's Robbie in the background. |
