After the jungle we headed west to Lumbini - the birthplace of the Buddha and a UNESCO world heritage site. It was really crowded because we were there on the night of a full moon and a Hindu holiday. The architecture was pretty cool, there were a lot of elaborate temples and monasteries. There is a long row of monasteries from different countries, each one more elaborate and larger than the last. The Chinese one was pretty impressive and right across the street the Koreans are building a huge concrete thing. When I went to visit the Korean one, several water buffalo followed me through the gate so the people at the monastery were busy trying to chase them out.
Next we headed north to Tansen on the top of a public bus. The top is definitely the way to go. Inside is very crowded and very hot. On top you get the sun but you also get a breeze, more room, and a view. You do however have to watch out for power lines and branches.
It was from Tansen that we started our trek, and we finally got a view of mountains. It was still hazy but we could see Dhaulagiri and the Annapurnas. It was very hot and dusty but nice to get into more remote areas that tourists do not frequent. When we came into a village, it seemed that all the town's children came to see what was going on. They really enjoyed getting their pictures taken and being able to see them on our digital cameras. At times it was hard to take pictures without children in them. In one spot the whole school came out to see us.
We spent the first night in Ramdi, a small highway town. We went for a really nice swim in a big river while much of town watched from the bridge. The lady who ran the guest house suggested that we not sleep there because the bugs were really bad, so we chose to sleep on the beach. At first it seemed like a great idea but around 2am I still hadn't gotten to sleep because there was truck traffic going across the bridge all night long. The moon was still close to full and lit up the entire town, also making it hard to sleep. In the morning when we woke up, more villagers were watching us from the bridge.
The following night we made it to Walling, the town where Chandra's parents live. We stayed with them for two nights, while we spent a day climbing. Rock climbing is a rare sport here so it again brings out a lot of spectators. One man came and showed us how he learned to climb ropes in the Indian army-hand over hand and wrapping the rope around his feet. It was rather impressive how quickly he scaled the rope.
At this point we decided to take a bus the rest of the way to Pokhara. Our group had had enough with the hiking and decided that our time would be better spent there. The 60km ride took us 4 hours. At one police checkpoint they made us get inside the bus-where there were no seats. So we got inside and drove around the corner; then climbed back on top. I'm not really clear what the regulations are, but a bus with an empty roof is a rarity.
In Pokhara they were still celebrating the Nepali New Year, two days after the fact. There was a large carnival looking celebration complete with cotton candy, balloons, a ferris wheel, and big concerts.
We spent our first day there rock climbing. Again, not a big sport in the area, but we ended up climbing on a wall with bolted routes. It was on property owned by a women's guide company. They had given us permission to check out the climbing but not to climb because of liability. We scouted it out by climbing up it, seems to me we would have a hard time holding them accountable anyway.
Joining us for the climbing was Santos-the top mountain biker in the country and an animal on rock. He had only been climbing once before but scrambled up it like a monkey. He got even better after receiving some tips on technique.
Afterwards we hung out on the porch of his bike shop which he shares with a paragliding company. Also hanging out on the porch was a guy with five screws holding his leg together as a result of a paragliding accident-probably bad PR for the company he was sitting in front of.
The following day we hiked up to the World Peace Pagoda. Apparently there are great views from there but it was too hazy to see them.
In the afternoon we went to the International Mountain Museum. It was a much bigger and more established place than I was expecting. It was interesting to see displays on many of the early Himalayan expeditions, including some of their gear. There were also exhibits on geology, plants, animals, culture, the yeti, and conservation efforts.
The next day it was time to fly home. Airport security is a little different here. "Do you have a knife?" "no" "OK, go ahead". I guess it isn't really a high target route. Despite being on the south side of the plane, we could see views of the Himalaya during the flight.
Now I am back in Kathmandu resting and trying to get rid of some parasite that I picked up along the way.
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