Up at 6:00, showered and walked to the bus stop and found my bus. One of the guys climbed up on the roof of the bus and I handed him my backpack, then another guy told me I had to pay, a "tip" for the guy putting my backpack onto the roof. That was not unexpected at all. I asked how much, he said 20 rupees. A British guy standing behind him, overheard, and indicated to me to only pay 10 rupees, so I gave the guy 10 rupees and told him 10 was enough. He chuckled and said ok. I went over and thanked the guy (Wayne). Had a cup of chai from local sitting by the bus selling cups of chai to tourists. He had a little propane burner, a handful of glasses, and the ingredients to make chai, and sold cups of chai to locals and tourists for 10 rupees per cup. He was making a killing!
Bus left at 7:00, I was sitting beside a British girl, Michelle. The bus stopped a couple of times, once for breakfast, another for lunch, along the way. Close to Pokhara, we had brief glimpses of some of the peaks of the Himalaya's, but most of the time, they were obscured by clouds and haze. Pokhara is situated on lake, and I'm not entirely sure why, but both Wayne and I had visions of a lake surrounded by flat, barren landscape. Driving into Pokhara, we realized how wrong we were.
We got to Pokhara about 2:00, and me, Michelle and Wayne got a taxi to the Butterfly Lodge. The main backpackers section of the Pokhara is a street that runs along the lake front, with shops and restaurants and lodges, with a scattering of tourists and locals. The lake (and city) is surrounded by green, tree-filled hills, very nice setting, with the Annapurna range in easy viewing distance (when it's clear). The highest peak in the Annapurna range is just over 8000 metres, and the Annapurna Circuit as well as the Annapurna Base Camp are two very popular treks with tourists.
It's a lot more humid here than it was in Kathmandu.
Wayne and I walked around town and to the lakefront. You can rent paddle boats at the lakefront to go across the lake or to an island temple, or to just explore. We stopped off at Sunrise Paragliding (http://www.nepal-paragliding.com), where I booked a 1-1.5 hour paragliding flight for Saturday (they were all booked up Thursday and Friday). It was $120US. After seeing it, I think Wayne was convinced that he is going to do it as well.
We then walked north of town, along the road, and stopped at a restaurant on a bluff overlooking the lake. Nice views of Pokhara. Incidentally, Pokhara is a campground...apparently a lot of overlanders, presumably from Europe, come through from campers. There were a few campers there today, I should have went and checked the license plates. I can't see it being locals, as I've never seen a camper or a trailer in any Asian country, that I can recall. And campgrounds are rare.
On the way back to town, an old lady carrying a load of wood on her head, asked us if we wanted to buy any marijuana.
We ran into Shaun and Steph (from rafting), and we made tentative plans to meet up later in the evening.
Going back to the lodge, an older Tibetan man, super friendly and nice, convinced me to look at his wares he had spread out on a blanket. Like a sucker, I bought from him, and another girl. They are from a Tibetan refugee camp just outside of Pokhara, and they invited me to come to their refugee camp one day and have Tibetan tea. It would be interesting, but I'm sure I'd get more sales pitches while there!
About 6:30, Michelle and Wayne and I went for supper at an outside restaurant by the lake. They had live local Nepali dance and music (which wasn't very good, actually). I had a steak, and it didn't taste really like beef...I suspect it was water buffalo. It wasn't bad, just different tasting.
Pokhara is nice, laid pack, not very many tourists. I hear tourism is way down here.
Had a good rainshower about 3:30, then it was nice all evening.
Ran into Shaun and Steph after supper and all five of us went to Club Amsterdam, a lounge and restaurant for a drink or two.
To bed about 10:30.
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