A bit of hiking

Up at 5am (yikes!) and on our way by 6am to climb up to Pokhara's Peace Pagoda, situated 400m above the city. It's a 2.5hr walk straight up through tropical forests - hot and humid, but it offers incomparable views of the Himalayan summits and the city below. 

I struggled a bit: I don't do well in high humidity and some sections were steep and challenged my aerobic capacity (such as it is...). Makes me a bit nervous about some of the hikes we'll be doing in Bhutan, but one thing at a time.

The promised views were indeed wonderful although the summits proved elusive, playing hide and seek among the high clouds. One of the extras shows the landscape as well as the city below from which we walked. I need some kudos! ;)

There's a little rooftop restaurant just ahead of the last 900 steps to the pagoda (good strategic location), where the two gents featured in the image greeted us. The owners were lovely people; the mom was getting her daughter in pigtails, ready for departure to school (see extra). I think 'friendly' is the one term I'll come to associate with Nepalis :) We had a nice packed breakfast while enjoying the vistas and getting our breadths back.

Our driver was waiting for us near the pagoda ("Wait! We could've driven here????") and off we went to check out some local attractions (a water fall, a deep gorge that powers a hydro plant, and a deep cave). Caught a quick pic of the lovely little girl featured in the extra. I missed the last attraction (a new mountaineering museum) as the oppressive heat got to me. Back to the hotel for a restful nap and I'm ready for tomorrow: we'll be up at 4am and on our way to another lookout point at 5am -- in time for the sunrise. I hope my eyes will be open when that happens ;)