Pokhara: Nepal, at last

The Kathmandu airport finally opened Saturday evening, and on Sunday at 5 a.m. we got a call from the desk at our Doha hotel asking if we could be downstairs in 10-15 minutes. We were prepared, and later that morning were on a flight to Kathmandu, where the airport was insanely busy catching up on four days of canceled flights. Our plane had to hold for most of an hour for traffic, then wait on the ground for a parking stand. Clearing immigration took 1.5 hours, and we waited 2.5 hours more at the baggage carousel before giving up.

Kathmandu baggage claim

Escape from baggage bardo

Per directions, we were at carousel 2, but bags had earlier come in at #4 before the latter conveyor broke. So as it turned out, our bags had been sitting in a pile in a corner of the baggage room. 

Who's in a hurry?

Having escaped (metaphorical?) baggage hell, we arrived at our Kathmandu hotel near midnight and collapsed. Next morning, back to the much calmer domestic terminal for a short flight to Pokhara.

Though Pokhara is Nepal's second largest city, it carries a small town feel sitting on the edge of Fewa Lake. We took a small rowboat over to see the temple of Tal Barahi on a small island, then to the other side of the lake to hike 1100' up to Shanti Stupa, one of 80 world peace pagodas in the world.

The hilltop site offered an expansive view of the Himalayan Annapurna Range, with Pokhara by the lake below.

Paragliding is popular with tourists. 

Walking down the back side of the hill, we came across some locals, including this woman gathering kindling.

We came out in a decidedly untouristy part of town to visit a cave-turned-Hindu temple (no photos allowed) and an unspectacular waterfall that empties into it. 

As with much Hindu religious art, this statue of Ganesh outside the cave was pretty colorful. Though Nepal is said to be mostly Hindu, many people blend it with Buddhism and the iconography of both are seen side by side.

We caught a taxi back to the lakeside part of town for lunch. Across from the restaurant, a group of women were having great fun playing drums and dancing in a women's pre-nuptial wedding celebration. The men raised a ruckus of noise in the streets later on.

Patience and flexibility seem to be the watchwords for this trip. Our flight to Jomsom Wednesday morning was cancelled due to winds, which, given the 8800' elevation of Jomson and its little 1700' runway, is fine with me. This guy seemed to have all the time in the world.

We took advantage of the unplanned extra day in Pokhara (actually not extra, since we arrived a day late) to do some paragliding. It was a beautiful clear day, and the panorama of the Himalayas was spectacular. Each of us did a tandem ride, which means sitting in the lap of someone who knows what he's doing and just taking it in. Judy's pilot seemed to have a bit of a rough day.

Judy just made it to dry land

One way or the other, tomorrow we're off to Jomson and the ancient kingdom of Mustang. Since Mustang was only recently opened to outsiders, I'm not counting on internet. Stay tuned though, there should be some great photos.