Pokhara it is!

We got to the bus station at around two o'clock in the afternoon, and to our biggest surprise the boys were at the station looking out if we were coming.. That was really nice because they had all rented motorbikes and we got a free ride to the lakeside where they had taken hotel rooms. This is also the main hanging out place for Paragliders (the people who fly the skies with a really big kite).

And also here the landscape is really awesome since this place has a lake, it's surrounded by mountains and on clear days you can see the Annapurna mountain range really well.

Now I'm starting to feel much better compared to Kathmandu and I even went out to rent a bike myself to roam around the town and mountainside. With Eric, Bryce and Colin we decided to go see the top of Sarangot where the gliders take off, it was a sweet ride all the way up; at first the concrete road winded up really steeply and after it ended, the sandy road continued all the way to the top.. The ride up the sandy road was awesome also because it was a kind of offroad drive and I got to play around with my bike.. This day was unfortunately cloudy so we didn't have a clear view of the mountain range, but we found out that there's a golf course high up so we might consider to come some day to hit a couple of balls..

 That's all for the moment again, I'll try to somehow manage my pictures over to here; might take a while though because my mp3 player in which I transferred my pics, hit it's final destination and doesn't work anymore..

Long gone is Pokhara.. But the news for your viewing are still fresh..  =)

So, after all we spent about two weeks in here, the days flowed by really lazily and without much differentiating from others.. I really got to like this place a lot, the people (tourists included) were really nice and we got to know a few better; also the shopkeepeers weren't all that pushy..

Almost every morning I went to the same Family restaurant to have my breakfeast which consisted of two eggs fried one side, hashpotatoes and toast plus tea.. A good way to kick off the morning dust.
Then during the day, some motorcycling around, little shopping and lots of sipping tea or coffee or eating pastries all around the place.
That's about all there was to it, except...

I went to Paraglide!!
That was so awesome!!!
Really the best thing I've done so far!
(Of course I went tandem with this French guy, and I didn't do any handling of the glider, but..)

Imagine first going up this hill in a cramped cab, then you stop almost at the top. Get out of the car, and walk down little to this clearing that's 50 meters wide, the jungly woods surrounding you.
Next thing you know, you have somebody gliding right over your head with the falcons.. Screaming out of passion of flying without any sound..
Then the French man unwraps the glider, hands you a harness; you put it on; he straps himself in the back and you in the front and he tells you to run down the cliff and don't stop running..
You look down and you see that the cliff drops some meters down straight to the woods.. Not too scary but you wouldn't want to hit a tree by running and falling to it..
He says let's go, and you start to run.. The cliff's edge is closer at every step and just when you think you'll hit the trees, you notice that your feet go over 'em tree tops.. Suddenly you realize that you are indeed flying like the vultures, with the only noize of the wind brushing through the glider's edges.. Amazed! Confused! Like a newborn you reach in the blue sky, without any spoken words, you are flying.

Then he tells you that you must use the warm current updrafts to go higher and you start to look around for them, or more likely you try to get the feel of the wind (or look for falcons doing the same thing). You find it and you start to go round and round gaining little altitude every moment.. Finally when you are high enough, he tells you that you are headed to the other side of the hill, you float over it easily and then you start to follow it's side for more warm currents.. You look down and about a meter under your feet are the tree tops and you just brush over them.. Then you get closer to the city and you pass over the buildings and you see the people swarming like ants around there.. Really impossible to even describe the smallest sensation you get from it..
But all fun must end at some point and you start to head closer to the lakeside looking for a spot to land, next thing  he tells you to run when you hit the ground and so you do.. Then he drops the glider to the ground also and packs it up..

I was left so stunned about this experience that I'll definitely do it again (maybe if I get rich, then I'll buy my own right the next thing =)..

This was the climax of my trip..


So now I got back to Finland, because I left some unfinished business here and I also wanted to meet a special someone..
Here I am again after a 26hours (transit included) flight time through Kathmandu, Delhi, London and Helsinki.
Feels actually good to be home. Everybody has also asked me if I'm going back to travelling and I must say that for the moment haven't got a clue what'll happen next, guess I'll go with the flow.

I have a complete trip diary written in finnish with all the pictures I took on cds, and it's for public reading so if you're interested ask me about it and I'll lend it to you.

Oh! pictures here coming also later, till then, Cheers!

Sincerely yours:
Ile Travelling(no more)