As well as doing some adventurous activities, we also had a host lined up for this place, a small village on the outskirts of of Pokhara. However after the seven hour stop start bus (transport seems to be exactly the same as India) and arriving at their guesthouse, the wife, Babita was in hospital with sickness and diarrhoea, it was taken seriously because she's eight months pregnant. The husband Raju, said we could still go to the village but in a few days time. We took the few days to explore the area! The weather was over thirty degrees and the sun did not repent.
Compared to Kathmandu it was a mellow place, especially around the lake, it's abundant with restaurants, live music bars, trekking offices and anything else a human would require. After seeing the green, motionless and almost mirror like lake we decided to rent a boat out for a day, it wasn't that expensive if you rowed the boat yourself (we're always up for a bit physical exertion!). The lake itself is fairly large with a small island which had a temple on and with the absence of any kind of engines and noise pollution it was unbelievably peaceful! After around an hour or so relaxing in the middle of the lake, we spotted a secluded little stoney bank where we could moor up the boat, have some food and skim some stones! The other side of the lake at the top of the hill is a world peace progoda which is visible from pretty much anywhere around Fewa lake, the world peace pagoda is one of eighty worldwide! It was built after WWII and it gave the whole afternoon a heightened feeling of serenity!After a quick dip we headed up the shore line to tackle the uphill half an hour hike to the world peace pagoda, we tied up the boat and headed up. The small hike took around thirty minutes, the upward struggle was worth it! The whole area was silent (apart from some men shovelling sand, I bellowed at them to be quiet however they didn't comprehend and continued!) The stupa built after WWII, gave the whole afternoon a heightened feeling of serenity!
Afterwards we took our sunburned shoulders and our peeling noses back down to our boat! We spent the rest of the afternoon just lounging on the boat with some music playing enjoying the motionless water and warm weather!
Sarankot
To reach this viewpoint was around a 2/3 hour hike, pretty much just straight up a country road, the day we decided to undertake it was a hot one, and after the sweaty hike we were gutted as we saw nothing but clouds, nevertheless we managed to get some good shots of all the
para-gliders hanging in the air overlooking Pokhara city and lake! Disappointed but not defeated we went back a few days later opting for the easy way up via taxi so we didn't miss the sunrise, the views of the distant, majestic mountains were marvellous and the day was unbelievably clear (for once)!
We also visited a cave and some waterfalls however there wasn't much to see, the highlight was the headless statues you can pose with! That same day was redeemed when we went back to the lake for a gorgeous sunset!
After a couple of days relaxing, it was time to head for the hills above Pokhara to help out around a small village!
Malagiddi (Host)
A dusty, bumpy road, a packed out rickety old bus, six bags and ten avocado plants! This two hour journey took us out of Pokhara then up into the countryside with tall, corn plantations surrounding and into a small, remote village of Malagiddi. The road ended around half way through the bus ride, so the rest of trip we were holding on for dear life! The uncomfortable hour ended with is being dropped off right outside the traditional Nepalese house, low ceilings, outside toilet and bucket shower, there were goats and chickens running riot but it was also strangely peaceful, the mountain life mentality is slow and steady.
On arrival we met the family, the grandmother gave us the warmest greeting in comparison to the nods we received from the others! Around an hour after chilling out and settling into our little room some village kids ambushed us and forced us to sing songs and play some Nepalese games which involved a lot of shouting, pointing an scream 'YOU ARE OUT!!' It was fun but after around hundred songs it became a little tedious! The only thing to eat up in the mountains was the bland Daal (Kirsty has grown to detest this dish) so we had this for most of our meals, it was plentiful so you can't complain! We also were introduced to the Nepalese version of moonshine named Roxy! The clear bleach flavoured drink is made from either rice or millet, basically made from boiling water using three large pots! I managed a couple of glasses every night (it helps you sleep and settles your stomach!), Kirsty had a half a glass throughout the duration of our stay (I don't think the mountain life is for Kirsty, the simple meals and bucket showers put her off), I also tried chewing some tobacco which I wouldn't recommend, it makes areas of your mouth numb, requires a lot of spitting and leaves an ashtray taste in your mouth for ages!The work here was relatively easy, quite physical but simple! Our first task was to dig then plant avocado trees, up in the cornfields there was no breeze which made the work a sweaty affair however it didn't take long! We also cut some grass (well we tried to but the old grandmother kept taking the machetes
off us and proceeded without us!), moved some bamboo and created slopes on an existing square hole which will be used for water storage as they have a lack of it in the area! Other than that there wasn't much to do, in the future they plan to build houses on their land to help earthquake victims and create a sustainable food supply for them, that project was due to start in the next couple of months, we were a little gutted we couldn't be apart of that! It was good to experience simple, small village life even if it was only for a few of days we'll miss the fantastic valley view and the fireflies at night but we won't miss the chickens (one evening the husband just came back from work grabbed a knife then decapitated a chicken, it was strange to someone be so casual about it) acting as a 4am alarm clock! After not doing a great deal for a few days, we were charge with energy to take on a four day hike through the Himalayas!
