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Hiking from Phewa Lake to Peace Pagoda
Hiking from Phewa Lake to Peace Pagoda

Date: Saturday, January 16, 2010 and Sunday, January 17, 2010 Trip Route: Kathmandu-Pokhara-Kathmandu Trip Duration: 2 Days Hiking Route: Phewa Lake to Peace Pagoda Hiking Duration: ~ 3.5 hrs. Hiking Distance: ~ 8 kms. Participants: Bill Abraham; Lucien St Cyr; Bhaskar Shrestha; Pramod Kumar Rai; Roshan Raj Tamrakar; Rohan Bhattarai; Rajendra Banjade; Sudeep Khatiwada; Suresh Maharjan; Pawan A. Salman khanPandey; Dipesh Shrestha; Neeraj Dhungana; Amit Nepal Photos: Bhaskar Shrestha; Dipesh Shrestha; Pawan Pandey; Pramod Kumar Rai; Trip Grade: Extreme Hiking Grade: Moderate Trip Coordinator: Sudeep Khatiwada and Rohan Bhattarai Creative Support: Dijup Tuladhar/Mahesh Regmee
Trip Itinerary Day 1 1. Dawn and a typical one hour delay in Kathmandu 2. Brunch and V Shots at Riverside Springs Resort 3. Late lunch at Pokhara Thakali 4. Sunset and golden mountains from Sarangkot 5. Pool and R Punch at Amsterdam 6. Live music and V Shots at Busy Bee 7. V Shots and sleeping-like-a-baby at Grand Holiday and Trek-o-tel Day 2 1. Rowing and paddling at Fewa 2. Hiking to Peace Pagoda 3. Visit to Devi's Fall 4. Visit to Gupteshwar Mahadev Cave 5. Fish and prawns at Malekhu 6. Traffic jam and weapon-brandishing at Nagdhunga 7. Midnight at Kathmandu Bill Abraham and Lucien St Cyr 's Story: The van stopped by the Y&Y at 6 am Saturday morning for our weekend journey to Pokhara. Joining Lucien and I were Bhaskar, Roshan, Pramod, Rohan, Sudeep, Pawan, Neeraj, Dipesh, Amit, and our faithful driver, Ram. We stopped for breakfast on the way at a small resort called the Riverside, which coincidentally, happened to be alongside a river. After breakfast, we continued on our journey. We arrived in Pokhara at around noon and checked into our hotel. After we settled in, we went out to lunch at a local restaurant that everyone was quite familiar with. After a nice relaxing lunch, Ram drove us up to Sarangkot to view the sunset over the Annapurna Himalayas. We watched the sunset turn the mountain snow caps a beautiful golden color.

we somehow managed to turn a 1 hour hike, into a 3 hours journey to the top.

The next day, we went on a trek to scale a "mountain" (a mountain in my book) to view the Pokhara Stupa. First we had to cross the Fewa lake. Most of us opted to take a paddle boat across the lake, but there were four brave souls who dared to take a rowboat. Once across, we somehow managed to turn a 1 hour hike, into a 3 hours journey to the top. Once at the top, we viewed the beautiful white Stupa and also had another beautiful view of the mountains, as well as of the surrounding Pokhara valley. Coming down the "mountain" was a lot easier than going up. We made it down with only minimal stops in between, with Ram there at the bottom to greet us. Once at the bottom, we all hopped into the van and went to David's fall, a deep and narrow waterfall that is best viewed from behind. In order to do this, we had to cross the street and enter a cave. From inside the cave we were able to catch a much better view of the backside of the falls. After leaving the cave, we stopped for lunch at the same restaurant we ate at the day before. As before, lunch was good and relaxing (everyone was tired). We finished lunch at about 4 in the afternoon and then hit the road back to Kathmandu. On the way home we stopped at a small road side restaurant for a quick snack, and then continued on our way back to KTM. Unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic and did not arrive back at the Y&Y until after midnight. Everyone was tired, but we had a great and memorable time. Our hosts were terrific. Dipesh Shrestha 's Story:

a great place to get the view of the mountain range and the pokhara valley

I was very excited about the trip to pokhara because it was my first hike from office. After leaving the office at 6.30 we moved towards pokhara. The ride from Kathmandu to pokhara was really interesting. Upon reaching pokhara and having lunch we went to Sarangkot to view the sunset which was the most amazing view of the Annapurna range and the sunset I had seen. Another thing that I saw that day was a face of the tiger on Machhapuchre. After the sunset we came down towards the lakeside and roam around the pubs. The next morning we took a boat towards the Peace Stupa after the boat ride we started our short hike towards Peace Stupa. It was a great place to get the view of the mountain range and the pokhara valley. After staying there for some time we moved down the other way where the office van was waiting for us which took us to Davis fall and Gupteswor cave. The view of Davis fall from the cave was great. And after having our lunch we returned towards Kathmandu. On the whole the trip was really great experience to know pokhara as it was just my second trip there and also to know the people we travel along. Amit Nepal's Story: Surely, one of the most awaited events. D2 hiking (Trip to Pokhara) was the kind of refreshment that I was looking for. I was wondering whether I could wake up at 5 in the morning. And I did wake up. That's amazing. Isn't it? The trip was interesting from the moment we took off from the office. I got this opportunity to meet new colleagues from D2 (Nepal) as well as two different colleagues from D2 (Boston). I definitely had a great time with them. Guru's Melody in the Van, having shots in Riverside restaurant was one hell of a moment. The most memorable of them all would be the moment while returning from Pokhara: We were stuck in traffic for about 2 hours and there was a stranger who was carrying a KHUKHURI in his hand and was guiding all the vehicles as if he was some traffic personnel. This may be the kind of attitude that Traffic police should have in order to prevent Traffic jams. ? So, overall it was a hectic schedule with an awesome experience.
A break on the highway
01 A break on the highway
Aaanch
02 Aaanch
We bond
03 We bond
We pose
04 We pose
Communication
05 Communication
Lucien
06 Lucien
Strings
07 Strings
The Gyanendra Pose
08 The Gyanendra Pose
Roshan, Amit and Dipesh
09 Roshan, Amit and Dipesh
Team at RSR
10 Team at RSR
Not much snow in Machhapuchhre
11 Not much snow in Machhapuchhre
Team at Sarangkot 1
12 Team at Sarangkot 1
The shoot
13 The shoot
The sea of sky
14 The sea of sky
Perspective
15 Perspective
Orange
16 Orange
Lucien Smiles Cyr
17 Lucien Smiles Cyr
The sun has set
18 The sun has set
Bill Smiles Abraham
19 Bill Smiles Abraham
Burn
20 Burn
M1
21 M1
M2
22 M2
M3
23 M3
Team at Sarangkot 2
24 Team at Sarangkot 2
The shot
25 The shot
There It Is
26 There It Is
We play
27 We play
Movement
28 Movement
Boats in Fewa
29 Boats in Fewa
Lucien, Dipesh, Amit and Rohan take the Row Boat
30 Lucien, Dipesh, Amit and Rohan take the Row Boat
The rest take the Paddle Boat
31 The rest take the Paddle Boat
The climb begins
32 The climb begins
Lucien leads
33 Lucien leads
Up Up
34 Up Up
From the Peace Pagoda
35 From the Peace Pagoda
Raniban
36 Raniban
Guess who
37 Guess who
Pawan, Neeraj, Amit, Sudeep, Lucien, Rohan and Roshan
38 Pawan, Neeraj, Amit, Sudeep, Lucien, Rohan and Roshan
The Eagle Has (not yet) Landed
39 The Eagle Has (not yet) Landed
Life is a Struggle
40 Life is a Struggle
The easiest part
41 The easiest part
Life is a twig
42 Life is a twig
The Buddha
43 The Buddha
The Peace Pagoda
44 The Peace Pagoda
Life is full of thorns
45 Life is full of thorns
So This is It
46 So This is It
Yellow
47 Yellow
Blue
48 Blue
Misty Pokhara
49 Misty Pokhara
Roshan, Sudeep, Bill, Lucien, Rohan and Neeraj
50 Roshan, Sudeep, Bill, Lucien, Rohan and Neeraj
Team at Peace Pagoda
51 Team at Peace Pagoda
Embrace Thy Soul
52 Embrace Thy Soul
Which One Shot
53 Which One Shot
The Pull
54 The Pull
The Four I`s
55 The Four I`s
Please Go Quietly
56 Please Go Quietly
More Downhill
57 More Downhill
Chautari
58 Chautari
Downhill
59 Downhill
Onlookers
60 Onlookers
Pigeons at rest
61 Pigeons at rest
Devi`s Fall 2
62 Devi`s Fall 2
Devi`s Fall 1
63 Devi`s Fall 1
Stalactites
64 Stalactites
Pythonlikes
65 Pythonlikes
Down the Gupteshwar Mahadev Cave
66 Down the Gupteshwar Mahadev Cave
Cavemen 2
67 Cavemen 2
Cavemen 1
68 Cavemen 1


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