Beautiful Pokhara is Nepal’s second city but first city of activities. Rafting, paragliding, zip lining, hiking, kayaking etc are all based in Pokhara. There are some beat sites to see but the crowning glory is the surrounding Annapurna Range including the well named Annapurna 1, Annapurna 2, Annapurna 3….you get the picture. It’s a multinational backpacker haven with lots of cheap accommodation and banana pancakes!
Activity wise, we saw the sights, walked the town a lot and ate yummy curries. The brave females all went paragliding while I sat at the pool and bravely drank beer. Though it was the rainy season, we got great weather and minimal rain, but the Himalayas were often shrouded in cloud. Often one highlight is sunrise in Sarangkot, a village high above Pokhara where one can see the peaks glimmering in the early sun…yeah, we got a fair bit of cloud after waking at 4:30 am.
Sarangkot Sunrise
Yeah 430 was awesome and driving up switchbacks in the dark was even better. The night before had torrential monsoon rain so we had hoped it would blow away all the clouds. It was pretty good but not as spectacular as it could have been…..