Relax en/in Pokhara

Three chilled days in Pokhara. It's a cute town. Very touristic. Lots of trekking options from here. Lots of shops selling trekking stuff. A lake. Mountains. Vey high mountains with snowy peaks. Beautiful. Relaxed. Laid back. People are friendly. Temperature's nice. Warm but not hot. Light jumper at night.
The first day we spent it walking around town, looking at shops, pottering around. I bought a rain cover for my backpack and a silk sheet/liner- finally!
The next day we woke up at 4:40am (aaargh) and went up to Sorangkot mountain to see sunrise (Pokhara is 8,000 metres above sea level, Sorangkot 15,000 metres).. It was worth it. Stunning view. And we had a clear day so we could see all the mountains with their showy peaks. After a late morning nap we head back into town and I went paragliding. It was awesome! Take off from Sorangkot, and we went up to over 20,000 metres. So peaceful, beautiful views! The guy that went with me has the Guinness World Record of the highest altitude ever reached paragliding (7,720 metres, in Pakistan).
Today we went to the World Peace Stupa (or Pagoda?? some signs said Stupa, others Pagoda... looked like a Stupa to me!). It was beautiful, it had images representing the 4 places and events most meaningful for Buddhism- the front one represents Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first speech (we were there last week, in India). We then went on to the Tibetan refugee camp (which was really just a town with some tibetan people living in it- handicrafts, shops, markets... uhm... the Monastery was nice). And then on to Devi's Falls and to a cave. Uhm... yeah... can I say they were crap? The falls wasn't very impressive at all, and my favourite bit was the empty plastic coke bottle which was floating in it, and stuck in between rocks so it didn't look like it was gonna be washed away any time soon. The cave- it was a damp, dirty, humid, smelled bad, with water dripping down evrywhere... it was a cave. No stalactites, no stalagmites... it did have a sculpture of a cow though! With a man sitting by it guarding it... no pictures of the cow allowed! But it was very funny. The rest of the day we spent it back in town, had an awesome lunch in a restaurant with lake views and then relaxed there for a couple of hours- hammock, sun, ipod, mango smoothie... no complaints at all.
Pictures of day 3 to follow. I haven't got them on the computer yet.

Tres dias de relajo en Pokhara. Es un pueblito divino. Muy turistico. Muchas opciones de trekking desde aca. Muchos negocios vendiendo equipo para trekking. Un lago. Montanias. Montanias muy altas con picos nevados. Hermoso. Relajado. La gente re amigable. La temperatura agradable. Calorcito pero no calor. Un sweater finito a la noche.
El primer dia lo pasamos caminando por el pueblo, mirando negocios, boludeando. Me compre un protector de lluvia para mi mochila y una sabana/protector de bolsa de dormir de seda- finalmente!
Al dia siguiente nos despertamos a las 4:40am (aaaaargh) y fuimos a la montania Sorangkot a ver el amanecer. Pokhara esta a 8.000 metros sobre el nivel del mar, Sorangkot a 15.000. Valio la pena. Vista alucinante. Y nos toco un dia despejado asi que pudimos ver todas las montanias con sus picos nevados. Despues de una siestita a la manana mas tarde, volvimos al pueblo y yo fui a hacer parapente. Espectacular! Despegamos de Sorangkot, y subimos hasta mas de 20.000 metros. Una paz, vistas increibles! El tipo con el que hice parapente tiene el Record Guinness del Mundo de la altura mas alta jamas alcanzada en parapente (7.720 metros, en Pakistan).
Hoy fuimos a la Stupa de la Paz Mundial (O Pagoda?? Algunos carteles decian Stupa, otros Pagoda... a mi me parecio que era una Stupa!). Lindisima, tenia imagenes representando los 4 lugares y eventos mas significativos del Budismo- el principal, al frente, representa Sarnath, el pueblo donde Buda dio su primer sermon (estuvimos ahi la semana pasada, en India). Despues fuimos a un Campamento de Refugiados Tibetanos (que en realidad solo era un pueblo donde vivien algunos tibetanos- negocios, artesanias, mercados... uhm... el monasterio es lindo). Y despues fuimos a las Cataratas de Devi y a una cueva. Uhm...si... puedo decir que eran una cagada? Las cataratas nada wow, mi cosa preferida fue la botella de coca de plastico vacia flotando en el agua, atascada entre las rocas asi que no creo que el agua se la fuera a llevar a ningun lado. La cueva- humeda, sucia, con mal olor, con agua goteando por todos lados... una cueva. Sin estalactictas ni estalagmitas. Aunque tenia una estatua de una vaca! Con un tipo sentado al lado vigilando, y no permitian fotos de la vaca! Muy gracioso. Pasamos el resto del dia de vuelta en el pueblo, comimos un almuerzo riquisimo en un restaurante con vista al lago y despues nos relajamos ahi por un par de horas- hamaca paraguaya, sol, ipod, licuado de mango... no me puedo quejar.
Las fotos del dia 3 las agrego despues, no las tengo todavia en la computadora.