POKHARA IS NEPAL'S ANSWER TO QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand. It is the paragliding capital of the world and a starting point for many treks in the Anapurna range. It is also a great place to recharge oneself, do laundry, stock up on groceries and take care of other necessities. Not that we did many of those things, except laundry. I finally succumbed to an intestinal bug. I hadn't eaten much the last day at Chitwan and my system still isn't 100%. We tried to go birding along the forest trail up to the Peace Pagoda but I made it only a few hundred feet before I became nauseous. I sacked out on a convenient rock while Connie scouted in vain for new birds.
Convalescing on a rock
Our room in the Crystal Palace Hotel was a find and would have been Class A if not for the frequent, city-wide power outages. The views of the Anapurna range from our balcony made up for the disruptions, though. The mountains were visible on our first morning, the jet stream whipping snow off the 8000 meter peaks. It must have snowed on Thursday because they were sparkly white this morning as dozens of colorful paragliders floated in their shadows. We briefly considered trying it but common sense prevailed. The entire range was spread before us this afternoon on the 35-minute flight back to Kathmandu, better than an in-flight movie.
