I woke early this morning to what I went to sleep to: kids screaming. But I was feeling good for the first time in too long, so I really didnt care. After a nice HOT shower (something I dont usually get in the mornings) I walked along the lakeside and had a nice brekkie. Before I arrived, I had heard Pokhara to be Thamel by the lake but I have to disagree. Lakeside Pokhara is cleaner and despite having a similar array of shops, hotels and restaurants, there is a lot less touts - I had only one offer for pot the whole day! I definitely like this place a lot more than Kathmandu. To top it all off, the lake is beautiful and surrounded by hills (theyre actually mountains to us aussies) with no pollution obscuring them, however the pre-monsoon dust clouds are still annoying as hell.
I donned my trekking boots and headed off to Devi's Falls, named after a swiss bloke that fell into them. The place wasn't particularly spectular, especially with all the shops and railings that had popped up around them. I again had that feeling that after some monsoon rain it would be nicer. Climbing the staircase on the other side, I followed a small trail that ignored the railings and allowed me to climb over the rocks surrounding the creek. I got a lot of jealous and confused looks from the tourists still cooped up.
I had stinged over the taxi ride and walked the 3km and it was a stinking hot day, so I chilled out at a roadside stall with a sprite and icecream. Refreshed, I entered the caves across the road from the falls. The first part had strictly no photography as it contained a very sacred stalctite (or mite) that was revered as a shiva lingam (penis). Bunch of guys worshipping a dick?
The second part required me to crouch as I walked through to a large cavern. I felt like an explorer as there was no real path bar a rickety ladder, but I was rewarded with a nice view of the falls as it entered underground.
Pleased that my efforts hadn't gone to waste, I continued my journey into the hills towards the World Peace Pagoda. I had no map and my directions were to follow a small trail behind the falls that led onto the main trail up into the mountains. Does Lonely Planet have any freakin idea how many small paths there are??? I managed to cross the rice fields easy enough as I could see the path going across, but reaching the mountain I couldn't find any particular path that seemed like the right one. Determined, I continued to skirt the mountain until my path was obstructed by small huts. A young girl yelled out and pointed up when I said Peace Pagoda. She then asked if I needed a guide or if I had chocolate. Telling her no, I continued down a track when she yelled out again and pointed in a different direction. Unsure of wether to trust her or not as I hadn't given her anything, I decided to go straight up the mountain and follow the ridge. There were dozens of interwining trails and I had some pretty good views of the rice fields and forest below.
Reaching the top of the ridge wasn't all that strenuos and I felt pretty good considering my exercise over the last few months was eating. On the ridge there were two local guys lounging on a rock. I'd heard rumours of muggings on mountain trails around Pokhara, so I took a wide detour but in my povish state I musn't have looked the appealing target.
Finding a large trail, I rejoiced in that it must be the right one. What followed was 2 hours of criss-crossing paths, a lot of luck, effort and blind faith before I reached the final ridge top and could actually see the Pagoda! There was also great views from the ridge of the lake and the other side of the mountain, though the dust and clouds obscured the Annapurna range. The actual pagoda itself was quite impressive, especially considering they would have had to carry all the materials up the mountain. But the views weren't that great due to some trees and the bloody thing was under repairs! Not being able to climb it was bad enough, but my pictures were obscured by a large piece of blue tarp they had used to rope off the stairs.
I hadn't eaten apart from brekkie and the icecream, so I was hungry and keen for a beer. There was apparently an easy way down the other side, where you could catch a bus. But the only description was "plenty of small trails down". Well they were right, but I think I took the wrong one. A 15 minute uphill walk took me over an hour to do downhill, though most of that time was spent fending off kids returning from school who wanted chocolate. Who the hell carries around a block of cadbury whilst trekking? I wish I did, as I was that hungry when I finally reached a blessing - the road. A taxi spotted me and pulled over, but under the belief that the town was real close I waved him on. Of course I was a good kilometre from the buses and no other taxis went by.
The bus was only 10c so I had some rejoice, even if it dropped me off in somewhere I had no bearings. I knew I was close as I could see the huge gap in the mountains but I ended up reasonably lost in the small streets and used another hour to reach my hotel, missing the sunset yet again. Damn it.
Tired and thoroughly pissed off, the laundry place right next door to my hotel had no recollection of me visiting them. It took me ten minutes for them to find me in the book (thankfully I wasn't being scammed) but they didn't have my clothes! One guy did a lot of rushing around but didn't come back with anything. Was told to come back at 9pm as they had electricity problems. That was a lie as they wouldn't use the drier on a day as hot as this. So as I write this i'm unsure if I will have any clean clothes for tomorrow! Or if i'll even get them back. I have enough problems as it is with sores that could possibly form into blisters - I have planned a long walk tomorrow! I can see my destination of Sarangkot high up on a mountain and have to admit I am slightly dreading the walk. It is comforting to know where you are going, but I would rather not see how far I have to go!
The best way to finish such a long day was of course with a beer and steak along the lake. I don't know if it was beef, but to me it tasted like beef and I will always live in that denial.
