Ok, enough for the poking fun at nationalities. I must say, Pokhara is the coolest place so far in Nepal (albeit not a hiking adventure, but more of a hiking base camp for Annapurna region).
Made a new good friend (Mike from NZ) on the 5 hr bus ride from Chitwan to Pokhara. We got real close and part of that was b/c of Nepali buses are not designed for two grown white men to sit next to each other. Kinda felt like that movie "Stuck on You" when we got off the bus. Anyways, after sharing our life history and views on african vs asian elephants, we decided to keep it going and hang out in Pokhara.
Pokhara is surrounded by mountains and has a nice sized lake in the middle. Seems as though all the touristy things involve a cab there, so instead of dishing out rupees to cab drivers, we did it old school and rented motorcycles. Ah, I can still remember laying the last motorcycle I rode onto my knee in 8th grade, but the pain wasn't enough as the embarrassment of having to ask how to get the tranny back into neutral on my Yamaha Enticer (i.e. little man motorcycle). Remembering how to work the clutch we were on our way. First an unground temple in a cave (cool - 100 ft down with a waterfall), then off to the mountain climber museum. After catching up with Tenzing Norgay and being harrassed by high school girls wanting their pictures with white people, we hit a cross road - off to the 'bat cave' or just explore...exploring wins!
We hit the road north along the lake, with incredible views all along the way. About 45 min up the road ended and became more like a dirt/rock road. No worries, the Enticer can handle it in 2nd gear. small streams...keep the feet up. small streams and rocks...that's a new one. Finally we pulled over in the middle of rice patties and rocks, just in time for us to be rushed by a bunch of Nepali children. 'Ride, ride, ride!!!' Let's see, mom, can you waive them off? Nope, she laughs and says go, so we take off. I have two little ones in two (probably 5 and 8 years old). If she only knew my motorcycle driving record, or lack thereof. 100 meters down, 100 back, happy kids. They didn't want off. Mom pried them off then mouths 'GO' to us and we're off again. Whew!
Dodging the cars, bikes, walkers, bovine and dog we blew around the lake! Man, I gotta get me one of these.
Bars in Pokhara are awesome. Live music = Western music. There's nothing like hearing "Sweet Home Alabama" when you walk in the door until you realize it's a Nepali band! Little Bryan Adams Summer of 69, Freebird, Skynard and Green Day and I felt right at home. Had a couple Everest beers and off to the next place.
If I ever come back to Nepal, Pokhara will be my #1 non-hiking destination.
PS - traffic laws are great here. 3 years in jail for involuntary bovineslaughter, 2 years incarceration for taking out a goat. It's better to hit a person than a sacred animal here. No worries, I find a cow sacred now too, as I have found myself dreaming of the ultimate hamburger. Yum.
PPS - bought a Mammut dri-fit shirt for 450 rupees ~ $6 USD. Very nice. Got an embroidered shirt for 450 as well. Let's just say I'm feeling Super.
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