Oct. 31, 2014. Sarangkot Downhill on a Bike

I took a cab at 5 AM to the top of Sarangkot to watch sunrise on the Annapurna range.  Thousands of others also had the same plan.  But I was not part of a tour group on a bus.

I took the wheels off my rental mountain bike and had it hauled with me...in a Ford Fiesta sized taxi......to close to the top of Sarangkot.

The hilltop reminded me of all the busses ..and the South Koreans, Chinese and Japanese....at Angkor.

But no worries, mates, I was not one of them......nor with them or around them for very long.  I had my mountain bike that the cab hauled to the top of the hill for $12.00.  The tourists paid much more and did not have the enjoyment of going down the Sarangkot hill that I did.  The top was about 2,000 feet above Pokhara.  It was a good downhill, but not anything like the Haleakalā downhill on Maui or the coast down to sea level from Volcano National Park on The Big Island.

Got lost going home...left the Pokhara map in my room....but tripped acoss a Tibetian Monestry and gift shops that supported the Monestry. Finally found the right place to buy a brass Nepali singing bowl for $16.00.   I have been looking for the right place to buy one for weeks now.

Went to two tailors and haggled over prices for clothes then finally commited.   Had a housecoat made of raw silk at one shop and some hemp shorts, a vest, two short sleeve shirts and a pair of lounge pants tailored for me at another.   They all fit great.

My bike, parked next to haulage for hire trucks, on the main drag in the real Pokhara, during the bicycle downhill.  

There were no Westeners here.  Everyone stared at me. "WTF is he taking a picture like that for?"

For my blog, thank you.

On the bike ride down the hill....

Machapucchhare, but not one of the 8000 meter peaks.

I really missed not having my map.    Finally ended up wanderering down some alleys on the mountain bike....

Back at Lakeside, I parked the bike at the hotel, showered and went walking.  After walking 20 minutes I stopped for a beer at a shoreside restaurant with a great view.

Tibetan refugees at the monestry where I bought the singing bowl.  Very friendly ladies that spoke  great English.  We talked for a while about Tibet and the Chinese occupation and then about what it is like to be a refugee with no status.  Tibet (China) will not allow them back to Tibet - even to visit relatives.  Since they are refugees, they hold no passport.  They cannot leave Nepal.  

They were sweet, friendly and stuck in Nepal.