Pokhara

Today, we arrived in Pokhara, the 2nd largest city in Nepal and the home base for many trekkers given the proximity (15-35miles) of the Annapurna range. The range forms the backdrop for Pokhara's huge lake -- when the clouds lift, which I hope we'll get to see tomorrow.

We checked into our lodge, accessible only by a small ferry that is hand-pulled across the water. Even though you can spot the snowy caps of the tall mountains, the climate at the lake is actually subtropical -- hot and humid -- and the fauna and flora reflect that. 

We went on a canoe ride to an island in the lake that features the Tal Bahari temple, then did a walkabout along the lake and through town. It's a bustling city with a clear emphasis on all-things-trekking, including plethora of stores selling knock-offs of outdoors clothes and equipment. Tempting, but I did resist ;)

Up at 5am tomorrow so we can hike up and through the tropical forest to a stupa that overlooks the lake. We saw its top from the bottom of the lake today and it looks soooo far up... My first challenge will be to get up that early (is it even daylight at that time???) :)

If you didn't catch my post from yesterday (no wifi available at the time), do have a look: the view is spectacular :)