R & R in Pokhara

After the time we spent trekking, as I said in the last post, we were a bit stuffed and had to take some time to recooperate! So Pokhara sounded like a great place to go.  We got there on christmas eve, but as is the usual story for travel in India and Nepal, Sarah was sick. Just some tummy bug which lasted 48 hours, but it meant that Christmas eve was spent lying on the bed, Sarah clutching her stomach and moaning quietly, and me sitting reading a book feeling sorry for her but very glad that I felt ok!

 But a few anti-biotics later, and the next night we were able to go out and enjoy our (one night late) christmas dinner of roast chicken and vegetables. Wow, that was a special meal. Was great to have our trekking buddy Juan there to celebrate with us.

 We didnt realise, but from the 28th of december until NY day, Pokhara holds a relatively big New Year festival. It seems we were pretty lucky to get a place to stay, as up to half a million people can turn up - which is quite a few for a town the size of Taupo. All the shops setup `Street restaurants´ and charcoal barbeques. The food was unbelievable. We were really glad we were there at that time, because most of the tourists were Nepali, which makes it seem a lot more authentic than the foreigner parties they setup. And it helped keep the prices down!

 The thing to do in Pokhara. Paragliding. If you click on the photo you can count quite a few of them up there. But heres the catch. You think paragliding in Nepal is going to be cheap right? $100US - and all the instructors are foreigners!

 A day on the Fewa lake. It was pretty cool to jump in the wee row boat and go for a cruise for a bit, and experiment with the colour settings on the camera!

 More street festival. And colour setting changes! You can see the brace on my foot in the bottom of the photo, I cant tell you how crazy and dirty the hospitals are here. Its actually really sad. The worst toilet I used in the whole of Nepal and India was in the Government Hospital. I cant tell you how good we have it at home. In the emergency room, there were old bandages with dried blood on them, just lying on the floor. So I got an Xray, which showed no fractures in the foot. But there was a random swiss student doctor there on placement, who looked at the Xray and couldn`t believe they were looking for hairline cracks with an analogue machine. The local doctor laughed and told him they don´t have the money here for digital machines! So anyway, the doctor told me I have a ligament strain and just rest it for three weeks. At least I got the analysis huh? And the whole thing cost less than NZ$10. Unbelievable.

 Some of the amazing street food tandoor goodness. Chicken tikka chunks which we had three nights in a row, and the real deal butter chicken and naan. You have no idea how good this was!

 More of the festivities.

 The Fishtail mountain. From the guesthouse window, with more colour adjustments! Actually this is the only mountain in Nepal which you arent allowed to climb. It is a sacred mountain to the Nepali people.

We got to New Years Eve, and couldn't wait to have a nice celebration - but unfortunately we were held up again! This time, I was sick. Just the usual, but with a few different symptoms. So New years eve was spent the same, but this time it was me rocking and moaning, and Sarah looking on feeling sorry! This bug was a recurring one, and turned out to be Giardia. A few pills with some weird side effects, and 48 hours later, no problems!!

So overall, bar the sickness, Pokhara was an amazing place. Of all the places we have been since we left New Zealand, this would probably be the best city to live.