Off to India...
Hello again and sorry for not updating my blog in the recent past. As usual laziness has taken over after the trek.
I'm currently in lovely Pokhara killing time with some new found friends. Two days ago we climbed up Sarangkot mountain (1592m) to view the beautiful Annapurna mountain range. It was quite nice to get up early in the morning and enjoy the fantastic views of Annapurnas and Machhapuchre. On top of the mountain the viewing station is guarded by the military who like to joke around and proudly display their marijuana crops, lol! On the way down our moods changed somewhat as we were informed by local women that the Maoist (yet again) have just attacked three Korean trekkers threading to cut their throats if they did not hand over their money. We had to go down via a long route around the mountain in order to avoid these bastards yet again. There's a big army presence in Pohkara and some days the 'danger alert' gets escalated. Some nights you get a feeling as if something is going to happen and surely enough a bomb goes off here and there. They seem to be targetting mostly locals, but if you happen to be at a wrong place at a wrong time, well who knows.
The town is quite nice, sprawled across beautiful lake up in the mountains. It is a kind of place where people stay for months and time seems to stay still. Food and accommodation are cheap and the locals are friendly. I sort of wish I had done the Annapurna trek, but on the other hand I have a great reason to come back to Nepal in the future and I quite certain I will come back.
Cycling from Katmandu to Pohkara was quite easy and relatively flat. The first day started with a glorious descent from Katmandu (hehe, I'm glad I flew in!) and rolling hills afterwards. The road followed a river and traffic was minimal. The problem is the temperature again. Right now is 40C and it will only get hotter! The second day the road was pretty much the same but at some stages the Annapurna range came into view. It was a very nice ride, about 200Km and I still have about 150km to get to the border with India. I finally had my first mishap on the road and a very silly one as well. I stopped in a small town along the way, rested my foot on a concrete step along a ditch. After looking around for a while my foot slipped and I was falling into the ditch. I managed to jump of the bike and with one leg stopped the bike from completely falling in. It was so embarrassing as many people gathered around to lend a hand. I managed to get the bike out safely but I think my face turned very red and it was not from the sun. I got on the bike very quickly and left the scene as soon as possible.
I anticipate doing some cycling in India, however if the weather will get around 50C this could be a problem. I'll try to do some short days around 50-80km and not push myself to far. Off to Varanasi, then Agra, Janipur and Delhi. After which I'm considering heading back to Bangkok to gather my things, maybe go to Singpore for a couple of weeks and I'm contemplating taking a short vacation in Canada to visit family and friends, yes I'm getting a little home sick and after talking to my family last week I feel that it might be time to comeback for a little while. But everything is still up in the air and could change any time.
Cheers for now!
Robert
I'm currently in lovely Pokhara killing time with some new found friends. Two days ago we climbed up Sarangkot mountain (1592m) to view the beautiful Annapurna mountain range. It was quite nice to get up early in the morning and enjoy the fantastic views of Annapurnas and Machhapuchre. On top of the mountain the viewing station is guarded by the military who like to joke around and proudly display their marijuana crops, lol! On the way down our moods changed somewhat as we were informed by local women that the Maoist (yet again) have just attacked three Korean trekkers threading to cut their throats if they did not hand over their money. We had to go down via a long route around the mountain in order to avoid these bastards yet again. There's a big army presence in Pohkara and some days the 'danger alert' gets escalated. Some nights you get a feeling as if something is going to happen and surely enough a bomb goes off here and there. They seem to be targetting mostly locals, but if you happen to be at a wrong place at a wrong time, well who knows.
The town is quite nice, sprawled across beautiful lake up in the mountains. It is a kind of place where people stay for months and time seems to stay still. Food and accommodation are cheap and the locals are friendly. I sort of wish I had done the Annapurna trek, but on the other hand I have a great reason to come back to Nepal in the future and I quite certain I will come back.
Cycling from Katmandu to Pohkara was quite easy and relatively flat. The first day started with a glorious descent from Katmandu (hehe, I'm glad I flew in!) and rolling hills afterwards. The road followed a river and traffic was minimal. The problem is the temperature again. Right now is 40C and it will only get hotter! The second day the road was pretty much the same but at some stages the Annapurna range came into view. It was a very nice ride, about 200Km and I still have about 150km to get to the border with India. I finally had my first mishap on the road and a very silly one as well. I stopped in a small town along the way, rested my foot on a concrete step along a ditch. After looking around for a while my foot slipped and I was falling into the ditch. I managed to jump of the bike and with one leg stopped the bike from completely falling in. It was so embarrassing as many people gathered around to lend a hand. I managed to get the bike out safely but I think my face turned very red and it was not from the sun. I got on the bike very quickly and left the scene as soon as possible.
I anticipate doing some cycling in India, however if the weather will get around 50C this could be a problem. I'll try to do some short days around 50-80km and not push myself to far. Off to Varanasi, then Agra, Janipur and Delhi. After which I'm considering heading back to Bangkok to gather my things, maybe go to Singpore for a couple of weeks and I'm contemplating taking a short vacation in Canada to visit family and friends, yes I'm getting a little home sick and after talking to my family last week I feel that it might be time to comeback for a little while. But everything is still up in the air and could change any time.
Cheers for now!
Robert
posted by Rob at 11:51 PM
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