Pokhara by land, air, and water

Just yesterday we arrived in Pokhara, but I’ve already been up in the air twice, as well as on water. And I’ve explored on foot, of course.

Tomorrow we move on, so here’s my rundown on this popular tourist destination, gateway to the Annapurna range of the Himalayas.

Paragliding

When we first arrived in Pokhara four days ago, we had lunch at a restaurant overlooking Phewa Lake. While eating, we could see paragliders over the lake, and a few of us asked Raz, our tour leader, whether this would be an option. He said, “Everything is an option.” Five of us opted in.

It worked out really great, because we stopped on our way back from the Annapurna Valley and folks from the paragliding team picked us up and brought us to the launch site. We were able to have our flights, land at the side of the lake, and meet our group just in time for lunch. So we didn’t miss a thing, other than the drive back to Pokhara.

Paragliding over Pokhara, with glorious views of the Annapurna range, was nothing short of spectacular. And a little scary. But mostly a ton of fun! My pilot, Suman, recorded the whole thing with a GoPro.

Home-Hosted Dinner

A regular OAT feature is having dinner with a local family. We did that last night.

We divided into groups, and I was with three others at the home of Dulsi and Kiran and their 24-year-old daughter Kusum. Dulsi is a manager of a local hotel. Kiran is a full-time homemaker. And Kusum works at Yes Helping Hand. The also have a son, Bipim, who lives in Finland and got married earlier this year. We chatted, had a nice dinner (chicken, rice, lentils, cauliflower seasoned with turmeric, pickled vegetables, and papadam), looked at Bipim’s wedding album, and played their favorite game, Uno. 

Helicopter

This morning some of us signed up for an optional helicopter ride to Annapurna Base Camp, at 13,500 feet. The photo at the top of the page is from shortly after takeoff. 

I’m still debating in my mind whether this was more or less thrilling than the paragliding. Here’s a short video. What do you think?

Here are some more photos and videos from the flight and from base camp:

After we arrived, we had 25 minutes to wander around. The helicopter departed with the previous group and returned with the next group to pick us up.

Boat ride

After we got back, the whole group went for a boat ride on Phewa Lake. We visited a small island where there is a small temple. A lot of people were there to make offerings and get blessings. And a lot of folks were enjoying the water in rowboats like ours, peddleboats, kayaks, and paddleboards.

---

I have plenty more photos and videos here in my Google photos album.