Himalayan Heights - hSenid Certified Trekkers at Sarankot

Just after having lunch, we packed up our backpacks and started off on the hike to Sarankot. The ascend was very smooth, we took breaks, Krishna bought a bag of oranges and we ate them on the way. While ascending we could see alot of people paragliding from the peak and taking a ride all the way up to the Pokhara lake.

Sarankot over looking the Pokhara lake

We went and checked into a small lodge at the peak, the range was very cloudy and the hopes of seeing the sunset over the himalayan range was fading. We decided to make our way to the peak and sit there and see whatever thats visible. We reached the view point at the top. While waiting for the clouds to clear we were talking to an old couple from Finland. While we were freezing in the cold weather, they told us that its a perfect summer day for them and its "hot" when compared to the -40 during the winter. Next like any typical Finish they started the nokia boasting session, later on H commented, they sounded like the owners of Nokia. Thanks to apple we could make some fun out of them, this prompted them to tell us, "you know nokia is working a secret project to build a rival to iphone". Lets wait and see how informed they were?!

Sarankot sun set

Slowly the clouds started to clear and each peak teased its way to brightness. A feeling of real sense of joy rushed into the system. It was turning out to be memorable. The beauty of the annapoorna range was beyond comparison.

Holy Mountain

The holy mountain also referred as the fish tail was majestic and it had a sense of attraction. No wonder many had tried in vain to conquer its peak and fallen in the process. It looked really mysterious and was a monument of curiosity. It was beyond comparison when a guy standing there was explaining and ranking most of those peaks in the worlds highest list. The sunset was glorious the colours over the range changed to different shades, peaked and then faded into darkness.

Sun set colours

We went to the lodge, and was forced to have the dinner in lamp light. Dinner today was a bit more special it was served with spirits and the usual joy of being the non-spirited at a spirited place and listening to all the scoops didn't happen as expected. These guys were pretending and the poaching happened on the non-spirited. It doesn't always go according to plans :D

Sun rise colours

Then we slept at almost a make shift place and woke up to make it to the view point in time for the sun rise. The place was crowded and then when the sun rose from the east the light was falling on the annapoorna range on the west. The rays falling on it gave almost an effect of slowly unveiling the himalayas for us. It was almost a spiritual experience to have seen the sun rise. I have taken pics of sunrise in many countries, but this was beyond comparison, It was indeed a once in a life time experience, you wouldn't feel like making a decline, the feeling was beyond comprehension, you feel the world would stop and allow you to be there and let you admire the beauty of nature. A feeling of eternal satisfaction embraced the soul.


After the sunrise, we had a modeling session, and we managed to take the cover page for Harsha's autobiography and the other person it was a picture for the matrimonial advertisement :D

Autobiography pic

Then we make made the descend downhill. It was faster. In the next episode it will Devi's fall and Street festival.

Valley as seen from Sarankot

Himalayan Heights - Reaching Pokhara

After an eventful day in Katmandu valley, we woke up in freezing cold and Krishna, our guide was already there to take us, we hurriedly packed our back packs and set off to Pokhara. The bus ride took about 8 hours ( i think we started at 7 AM and reached Pokhara at about 3).  It was a decent bus ride, wasn't bad as the reviews sounded. Pokhara was a totally different from Kathmandu, strangely its relatively warmer, its a quieter, cleaner and very relaxing. Basically its not a city, so the people are nice, humble and honest. Unfortunately yours truly doesn't know to ride a bike, but if you can ride a bike, its a perfect place for taking bike rides.

Pokhara lake - The way it welcome us

Nepali food perfectly suits me,where ever I go I could always find decent vegetarian food. The dhal bath was the my usual choice for lunch, where you get a serving of rice with dhal and other vegetables. The type of other vegetables you would get depends on the class of restaurant you are eating at. But then remember irrespective of the class of the restaurant Nepal food has a distinct Nepali aroma. Ask JK he will tell about it :D

Pokhara lake - Serene!

Next day we woke up and took a boat ride to cross the scenic pokhara lake and then we hiked to the peace pakoda. We took some pictures of this lake and when I showed the pics to JK, he said "wait I had seen this picture somewhere else" and opened his iPhone to show that apple had a wall paper taken at the same location.

On the top of the peak there is the Peace pakoda, a buddihist stupa has been gifted by the Japanese. From this peak there is a nice view of the himalayan range. Then we made the decent had lunch and set off on the hike to Sarankot. Earlier plan was to make the hike on the following day morning, but Krishna being very sharp at this advised lets go there and try to catch a glimpse of both the sun set and sun rise.

View from Peace Pakoda

So hopefully in the next write up it will be on Sarankot!

Himalayan Heights – The Ariel View

Once upon a time three people decided to take a trip to Nepal. The planning was so "good" that they didn’t have tickets for the travel even two days before the travel date, didn’t have a clue on the trip route, only things in hand were the lonely planet travel book and a booking into a the cheapest lonely planet author reviewed hotel in Katmandu.  At the last moment managed to get the bookings done, plan was to fly to Nepal via Delhi and then on the way back to take the same route, but with an extended transit in Delhi.

The day before departure one of the guys managed to skim through the book and found a gem of an advice, that is to get a window seat on the right hand side of the plane to catch a glimpse of the Himalayas.  So they remembered this and double checked at the check-in counter and got a window seat.

The take off was usual, they were flying for about two hours and then all of a sudden, they could see some very uncharacteristic thick white clouds. One guy was just staring at it without realizing what it was. It looked as if it was a cloud at the altitude just below the plane. Suddenly the other exclaimed “Those are snow caps right?”  Few minutes later the magic started to unfold, minutes of breath taking views, felt like getting closer and closer to the mountain range, it was absolutely amazing, within those few minutes itself they had this feeling of having reaped the value for money of the trip. Let me leave you today with the pictures they  captured. Believe me these pictures doesn’t do any justice to the scenic beauty of the Himalayas.

In the next edition of Himalayan Heights – It will be Katmandu and the story of the temples