Taking to the skies

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  Pokhara, Nepal
Friday, April 4, 2008

Well, paragliding absolutley lived up to expectations- 40 mins or so gliding high above Pokhara and the Phewa Tal lake enjoying the views and with birds of prey circling around the gliders.. I'd expected to feel some fear at having to run off the side of a hill but it was surprisingly easy! We were slightly miffed on landing however, having specifically enquired about parahawking at the booking office and been told that the birds were all 'in training', to run into the English guys who run the parahawking operation and find out that they are very much still flying and have been struggling to find custom! The weren't best pleased either to discover that a competitor operation was lying to customers to steal their business!

In the afternoon Clare and I took a rowing boat across the lake and climbed up to the Peace Pagoda- a nice walk, but sadly no mountain views as it was too hazy. We decided to take the Lonely Planet 'scenic route' back down but somehow managed to mislay the path and spent a highly entertaining couple of hours off-roading though dense forest (flipflops were not the best choice of footwear for this!) heading downhill, vaguely in the direction of the lakeshore, determined to make it back to civilisation under our own steam. We SO nearly made it.. but were foiled tantalisingly close to our goal by a bluff at the waterfront that we just couldn't climb round, and somewhat embarrassingly had to flag down a passing rowing boat to come and rescue us :)

Charlotte introduced us to a great restaurant in the evening (Moondance), where we ran into the Frontiers Parahawking guys again and they managed to talk Clare into doing a cross-country flight with Kevin the Egyptian Vulture at the weekend..

Today the 3 of us girls were up pre-dawn to watch the sun rise from the top of Sarangkot. Luckily we were blessed by clear skies and a stunning view out over the Annapurnas. The other 2 have then spent the rest of the day having an admin day, while I rented a decrepid Indian mountain bike (somewhat lacking in suspension or brakes.. I didn't dare try the gears!) and have taken myself on a 20km cycle tour of Pokhara Old Town, Devi's Falls and out to Mahendra Gufa and the Bat Cave - allegedly home to thousands of horseshoe bats, though I somehow managed the accomplished feat of not seeing a single one!! Cycling round town was a complete blast- having to dodge random cows, mopeds, buses, chicken etc etc in the street and brave the complete lack of right of way.. a little hair-raising in parts but I survived unscathed, if a little saddlesore!

Right on cue the sky has darkened at 17:00 this evening for our daily storm so we're holing ourselves up in Maya for coctails and dinner in just a moment and then heading to Jazz Bar to meet up with the Frontiers guys for some post-dinner beverages..

Links:
http://www.nepal-paragliding.com/
http://www.sunrise-paragliding.com/

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