Pokhara, Nepal

Pokhara- truly NEPAL 

Pokhara is the second largest city in Nepal and the best tourist destination for an affordable price range for international tourists. Pokhara is the starting point for most of the trekking routes including Annapurna range, Mustang, Manang and Tilicho. These trekking routes are among the best in the world. The key places that I recommend for travelling are: 

Sarangkot. 

The perfect pre-trek warm-up. Head up Sarankot in the late afternoon (be prepared, it's steep and hard work) find yourselves a warm guest house before sunset, go up the top for sunset and again for sunrise... you won't be disappointed. You can rent a motor bike for under NPR700 and take yourself to the top. The road is rough, but traversable. Great views, spectacular images and a great way to get a taste of what it's like to be trekking.

• Sarangkot south slope trail. A killer run/polewalk workout. Go north through Lakeside about 5km, through Kare, around corner to SediBogar village. Park bike/moto at the Caravan Restaurant (last spot to buy water/snacks)—the stopwatch starts here. Follow stone road 1+km directly north towards Sarankot's forested slopes, past houses, to school. Don't try to ride a moto or bike up this road, too rocky. road ends to rite (east) of school, follow trail behind, east (right) into seasonal creek gully, then 100m up it trail goes off a bit to left and soon the gruelling stone steps begin. Take water! Follow steps all the way, follow the arrows carved into stones where confusing, cross 3 new 4x4 roads but stay on stone step trail, way up you'll come out on the 4x4 road along north to Kalipani and Naudada villages at a restaurant/school three quarters of the way up, follow road 100m left to the parasail jump off, then continue up obvious steps to Sarankot village (hotels/cafes/shops) and up cement steps to lookout tower. Morning views are best. Sometimes a ticket taker asks for top admission fee of NPR20 but a simple trick of just running by, saying you are on the clock may help you to dodge the toll. This trail takes at least 52 minutes from the bottom at Caravan park spot. Knee jarring decent takes 40 minutes, or possible to take taxi or even hitch a ride in a parasail truck going down. Absolutely brutal workout!

Adventure Sports

• Hiking / Trekking - For information on trekking in the Pokhara region, including popular treks and suggested itineraries, see Trekking_in_Nepal. Most trekking routes of Annapurna region starts from Pokhara including Annapurna Base Camp / Sanctuary, Poon Hill, Mardi Himal, TAAN Model Trek, Khopra Ridge Trek and Jomsom - Muktinath.

• Boating / Canoeing - Just hire a boat or canoe and go out in the water for a day. Canoes can be difficult to steer on the flat lakes. Row boats are extremely overpriced at NPR400 per hour.

• Whitewater Rafting / Kayaking / Canyoning - including Lessons - 1-10 day adventure expeditions on beautiful Nepali rivers. There are many operators offering trips. Some of the most-recommended operators include Rapidrunner Expeditions, Fundraising TreksAdrenaline Rush, and Paddle Nepal.

• Hearts & Tears Motorcycle Club - Tours & Lessons - Learn to ride custom bikes.

• Mountain Biking. Consider these fun bike rides:

• Around Phewa Lake

• Sarankot/Naudada/Hemja loop. 3h hard from Lakeside is a fast time. Go towards downtown (Mahendrapul) from Lakeside, turn north at "Zero Kilometre" along the main road to Baglung. Be careful as it's crowded. Ride about 5–6km north, slowly up, past the nasty old bus park, to the Sarankot Road junction, turn left (west). The climb time starts at the fork 50m further. Follow paved road up incredibly steep climb, 1st gear almost all the way. You'd rightly doubt a rental bike could do it. Good pavement mostly, climb zigs past houses and ends at a small village on a saddle. It takes around 40min from bottom. From here you can park bike and hike up old ridge trail to Sarankot, but for this loop continue west along rocky jeep road along mountains south slopes, past parasail place and onwards, rolling ascent to Kalipani village and after and hour or so jeep road hits the "hi-way" at Naudada village on ridgetop. From here good pavement zigs steep down to valley bottom, then its a long gradual decent to Hemja village, and back into Pokhara.

• Dobindy Pass ride. A fun up and back hillclimb to a pass on pavement southwest of Damside. Take paved road south from Damside to Birota area then turn right (west) along main road, the "hi-way to Syangja and Tansen, gradually down towards Devi's Falls, continue west to the Chorepatan area to base of climb. The steep bends begin here, road climbs steadily, though not too steep, along south side of Peace Pagoda ridge, up to a few villages, then after a short steep decent into a forest for last climb up to the pass at Dobindy village. At least, it'll take just under an hour from Lakeside. From here you can continue west through scenic rolling country towards Syangja town, but it's usually possible to zip back down to hotel in about 35min. Beware; this road is getting more crowded, and sometimes with lots of buses & trucks in the wrong lane.

• Tibetan Refugee Camp - Go for a bike ride down to the airport way, on the way to the Tibetan settlement where there is a nice little monastery, a school, and refugee jewellery and craft stalls. Be prepared to ride all the way uphill on the return trip to Lake area and it is wise to take a rest halfway if you want to avoid suffering from cramps and weariness the following day, from the long ride.

• Paragliding Don't miss soaring around Lake Pokhara and the Annapurnas with Lammergeyer eagles or huge Gryffon vultures to guide the way!

• Tandem There are several companies that organize tandem flights (no experience required) ranging from 30 minutes - 1.5 hours, as well as cross-country. You will find advertisements on the main road as well as most guest houses and hotels. Cartel prices starting at NPR8500 per 1/2 hour. Sunrise Paragliding, the original company operating there, is also one of the best.

• Lessons All the paragliding centres also offer lessons. A beginners course costs about USD120 per day including equipment rental. You will need a course of at least 15 days before you can obtain an international paragliders license

• For Experienced Pilots Pokhara is a rewarding location for experienced cross country and/or acrobatic pilots. Any of the paragliding schools will be able to help you with logistics such as equipment hire, transfers to take-off, advanced training & folding of reserve parachutes.

• Parahawking / Vulture Restaurant No you don't eat the vultures! Due to vultures eating dead cows that have been injected with a drug that helps the cows in old age but poisons the vultures when they eat them after their deaths, the population of certain species of vulture has collapsed in many parts of Asia. A charity group has set up a kind of cow hospice for cows coming to the end of their lives. They look after the cows but ensure they don't have any of the drug that kills the vultures. When the cows eventually die they are given as food to the vultures. Trips are arranged to view such early morning vulture feasts. To find out more and to be emailed if a cow should die, visit Blue Sky Paragliding.

• Ultralighting

• Avia Club Nepal specializes in airborne adventure sports.

• Rock Climbing, 3 Sisters, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of Nepali women, runs a rock climbing course near Lakeside.

• Himalayan Golf Course offers a unique golfing experience.

-UMANGA