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Title	Sarangkot Hike
Start Date	12/11/2010
End Date	12/12/2010
Duration (hrs)	34 hrs
Distance (km)	400 kms
Hike coordinator	Subash Niroula
Participants	Adam Manandhar, Anup Poudyal, Ashish Bhujel, Bigya Shrestha, Gehendra Bhattarai, Nimesh Rijal, Raju Tandukar, Raunak Tuladhar, Shilpa Gorkhali, Subash Niroula
Photos by	Ashish Bhujel, Gehendra Bhattarai, Raju Tandukar, Subash Niroula
Captions by	Nimesh Rijal
Report by	Bigya Shrestha, Shilpa Gorkhali
Creative Support	Dijup Tuladhar, Prerana Pradhan, Sangharsha Bhattarai

	Origin	Location2	Destination
Name	Pokhara	Base of Bindabasini temple	Hiking upto Sarangkot
District	Kaski	Kaski	Kaski
Zone	Gandaki	Gandaki	Gandaki
Longitude
Latitude
Altitude	827 metres		1592 metres
Recommended Items to See	Phewa lake, Devi’s falls	Bindhyabasini temple	Mountain Range
Recommended Places to Eat	Thakali Restaurants		Not available
Recommended Places to Stay	Lake side Lodges	Local Lodges
Recommended Activities	Boating		Hiking , Paragliding
Recommended means of transportation	VAN/Bus/Bike	Van/Bus/Bike	Van/Bike/Foot
Available means of transportation	VAN/Bus/Bike	VAN/Bus/Bike	VAN/Bike
Weather	Temperate	Temperate	Windy
Culture	Gurung, Tharu, Chetri, Tamang	Gurung, Tharu, Chetri, Tamang	Gurung, Tharu, Chetri, Tamang
Distance from previous Location	200 kms (from ktm)	4 km	6 kms
Means of Transport	Van	Hike	Hike
Duration	6 hrs on VAN from Ktm	30 min from pokhara	2 hrs

Bigya Shrestha recollects: Sometimes it's the path of mistake and uncertainty that turns out to be the best. Yet another adventurous lifetime hiking - but this time with D2ians! We started our trip at 7:30 am and had our breakfast after couple of hours driving at Naubise. As it was already 9 am, we rushed in the van to follow our path to destination. Finally we reached Pokhara at 1 pm and we were very excited to see the city of lakes and wonderful views of mountains. First we made our tummy happy then headed towards Sarangkot. Top view of the Phewa Lake and cold air blowing up the Sarangkot hill which has made Paragliders more excited to jump from the hill. Wide range of mountains (Machhapuchhre, Annapurna etc) and the cool environment was keying up the hikers to get to the top of the Sarangkot hill as fast as they can. As we reached eye level to the top of the climb, we caught a reflection of the sun in the ground above us. Taking some more steps, gaining a couple of feet in elevation I could see the Phewa lake just about some km in front-down. It was pretty cool to just walk up a mountain and be greeted by a pristine lake with no forewarning. While the sun in the sky was leaving us by promising to meet in the next day we were enjoying the sunset and having photo session over there. Hiking for me has never been an enjoyable experience. It's just a thing I feel like I need to do along the way so I don't feel lazy. The reality of it is that hiking is a test of whether or not I can drag my unfit body up a mountain or across a field without hyperventilating or falling down. We weren't sore, it was easy on the legs and knees, and it's probably easier than hiking. The whole experience was really great and one I want to repeat it often! I think I can see myself owning a pair of trekking shoes  in the future. Shilpa Gorkhali recollects: The day for my first hike ever in D2 had finally arrived and that was on Dec 12 2010. Our team for the hike was all set for the journey to Sarangkot and we left at around 7:15 am. All of the hike members were excited and we made the most of our togetherness in the van with silly jokes, exuberant songs and interesting experiences of each one of us. After travelling through the curves of Naagdhunga, it was around 9:15 am when we stopped at a Banepali hotel in Naubise to have some breakfast. We resumed our drive to Pokhara after the breakfast and planned to have our meal there. After 7 hours long drive, we finally reached our destination. Pokhara, the ultimate place of natural beauty, indeed looked enchanting. Unlike Kathmandu there were wide roads, low traffic, clean air, serene hills and of course not to forget the mountains atop those green hills. I was looking through the van's window, trying to capture as much as I could of the valley. We decided to have lunch at a Thakali Restaurant after which we checked into a hotel. All of us moved for Sarangkot and screamed together with the voice of excitement. In the evening, we strolled around the streets of Pokhara and did some shopping. Next day, we woke up at around 5 am and got ready for the hike. Struggling up the hill, we captured the spectacular view of Pokhara valley. The serenity of lakes and the magnificence of the Himalayas rising behind them created an ambience of peace and magic. Satisfied with the views we climbed down the hill and had our breakfast at the hotel after which we checked out of the hotel and set off for another place Pokhara is well known for, Phewa Lake. We went for boating in this beautiful lake and visited the temple that stood in the middle of the lake, Barahi temple. Devi's falls was another place that was in our visiting list hence we headed for the awesome waterfall. All of us tried our luck in the Devi's wish pool which was great fun. After the eventful journey to Pokhara and hike to Sarangkot, we headed back for Kathmandu with lots of good memories.

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Trip Itinerary : Kathmandu to Sarangkot Hike
From-To-Activity		Start Time	End time	Distance	Means
Day 1
Kathmandu	Naubise	7:30 AM	9:00 AM	40 km	VAN
Breakfast at Naubise					Nrs 50/80 Non-veg/Veg Breakfast
Naubise	Pokhara (Halan Chowk)	9:45 AM	1:30 PM	160 km	VAN
Lunch at Hallanchowk(Bimal’s hotel)					180/120 Non-veg/Veg
Pokhara	Bindhyabasini	2:30 PM	2:45 PM	4 km	VAN
Bindhyabasini	Sarangkot	2:45 PM	6:00 PM	6  km	Hike
Dinner					Nrs 150 Lunch set with meat
Night stay Lakeside					Local lodge (Nrs 500/Room)
Day 2
Bottom of sarangkot	Sarangkot	5:30 AM	6:45 AM	4 km	Hike
Pokhara	Barahi Temple	7:00 AM	7:15 AM	1 km	Hike
Sight Seeing/Boating/Worship upto Barahi Temple		7.15AM	8:30 AM		Boating
Barahi Temple	Lodge	8:30 AM	8:45 AM	1 km	Hike back
Breakfast at Lodge		8:45 AM	9.15 AM
Lake side	Devi’s falls	8:30 AM	9:45 AM	10 km	Sight Seeing
Devi’s falls	Malekhu	9:45 AM	1:00 PM	120 km	VAN
Lunch at Malekhu		1:00 PM	2:00 PM		150 Dinner set with fish
Sight Seeing of Trishuli river		2:00 PM	2:45 PM	5 km	Hike
Malekhu	Kathmandu	2:45 PM	5:30 PM	71 km	VAN