Evening Activities in Pokhara

Evenings in Pokhara - almost every night we ate out, but apart from that, not a lot happened for most of the paragliding course!

That is, with a couple of notable exceptions. Nicky hadn't come to Pokhara on her own, though it was only for a few days, so that when I got back from Bandipur I went out for a meal with Amy which was very pleasant indeed. It had been a long time since I had had any Thai food so I appreciated the recommendation - not more than the company and a familiar face though! That evening I also hatched a plan to hire a motorbike and visit the World Peace Stupa, a large monument up the side of one of the mountains overlooking the lake. I tried to plan it for the morning that Amy departed on the coach but the timings just didn't fit.

So the day after we got back from Bandipur, I hired a motorbike and set off for the mountain. But this wasn't any old motorbike - it was a virtually brand-new Royal Enfield Bullet 350, manufactured now in India but the design is over 60 years old! I had seen this bikes all over Nepal and, certainly, I was very keen to have a go riding one...

http://royalenfield.com/motorcycles/bullet-350-twinspark/

So for 1000Rp I hired it for a couple of hours and set off towards the mountain. I had a few vague directions and some sort-of-suitable clothings, but I ended up following a small gang of Nepali Bullet-riders to the road which conveniently took me up the mountain... It was so good to ride a bike again, especially on these roads which don't seem so crazy after all once you're the one behind the 'wheel'. The bike felt quite similar to my old 350 single but with a more conventional riding position, and handled really nicely - especially the gearbox which is better even than my Fazer!

Shortly after turning up the main road to head towards the Stupa, I hit the crazy track-road which I imagined and chattered my teeth up the 2-mile ascent. Sometimes the road looked like this (which was fine), but other times it was very sharp cobblestones which would probably break your leg if you stopped on them and I am amazed caused little damage to the tires. There was the omnipresent dust, well, everywhere and most of the time there weren't these convenient banks on the side...

At the top, I actually took a wrong turn and ended up further up the mountain than the Stupa. But that was only yet another temple anyway and what I was really after was the view over Phewa lake and Pokhara. Which I present to you now:

Also atop the mountain was a small group of Chinese visitors on a work trip, who I had a brief chat with and said my entire Mandarin vocabulary (which didn't make much sense when blurted out all in one go) and took a photo of me. I then set off down the mountain to find out where the cafe of one of my paragliding coursemates was - only to return to the top again because it turned out to be that same establishment I was parked alongside!

So I had a nice cup of tea with Keshav and met his wife and children, but couldn't stay too long as it was getting dark and I realised I had not tested the headlight of the Bullet...

...which thankfully worked fine and descending the mountain, riding the rear brake and engine-braking, was paradoxically easier than the ascent. I rode into Pokhara as it fell completely dark but had a really fun ride on the twisty tarmaced road on the descent into the city. With about 20 mins left on the hire, I went all the way through the Blue Sky Paragliding to see if anyone was around - my friend and paragliding instructor Richard was, so I let him go and have a whizz on the bike much to his delight. Then I returned the machine, thoroughly satisfied, and had some dinner. A good day out...