We spent the day in Pokhara. 6.00 we were up seeing the sun rise over the Himalayas. A magnificent sight. Sun rose as an orange and red striped ball bouncing above the clouds. The snow turned from a dark grey to fiery orange and then gradually to its natural colour. After breakfast we took a pedal boat tour (quite hard work for the driver who was sweating and stripping through out the trip). We landed on the other side of the lake and walked for about 45 mins up a cobbled track. It had all the features of a centuries old track but in fact was built in the 80's. This didn't stop me from thinking about the labor that went into the 500 metre vertical climb. At the top is a peace pagoda (one of 20 in the world). The bus was waiting for us on the other side and we went to the Tibetan refugee village for lunch. These families arrived in Nepal in the late 1950's. If they return to Tibet they face 5 years imprisonment. They have stayed and built themselves a community including shops and school. Employment is limited as the Nepalese government won't employ them. I wondered what it would feel like never to belong.
We then went for our paraglide. Travelling up a very narrow track in a full mini bus with no seat belt was pretty harrowing particularly when a larger bus came down the hill and our driver backed down. During the backing motor bikes passed us going up the hill. I seriously wondered if we would make it. Paragliding was a wonderful experience but I had an unfortunate take off. It was a very bumpy ground for take off and the pilot was taller than me. When he said 'run' he lifted me off the ground and on landing I lost my balance. 3rd time lucky. In hindsight I don't think I would do this activity outside of NZ or Australia. The safety information was not good enough and it was too difficult to explain the problem. Helmets didn't fit properly and we didn't get landing instructions. I did enjoy the flight over the villages, farmland and bush particularly all the little terraced gardens. In the evening we wandered the shops a bit then sat outside by the fire for dinner.
We then went for our paraglide. Travelling up a very narrow track in a full mini bus with no seat belt was pretty harrowing particularly when a larger bus came down the hill and our driver backed down. During the backing motor bikes passed us going up the hill. I seriously wondered if we would make it. Paragliding was a wonderful experience but I had an unfortunate take off. It was a very bumpy ground for take off and the pilot was taller than me. When he said 'run' he lifted me off the ground and on landing I lost my balance. 3rd time lucky. In hindsight I don't think I would do this activity outside of NZ or Australia. The safety information was not good enough and it was too difficult to explain the problem. Helmets didn't fit properly and we didn't get landing instructions. I did enjoy the flight over the villages, farmland and bush particularly all the little terraced gardens. In the evening we wandered the shops a bit then sat outside by the fire for dinner.
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