It's been an excellent day here. We spent the morning kayaking around Phewa Lake, the big lake here. The kayaks are MUCH lighter than the ones we are used to, and there was a strong wind on the Lake, so they were tough to handle at first. We got the hang of it pretty quickly but it took lots of concentration.
The kayaking was FABULOUS! It's been cloudy and sometimes rainy for the past few days. and the mountains have vanished into the clouds by 9 AM. Today they were kind enough to stick around until about 12:30. The mountain views from the lake were incredible, one of the finest experiences of the trip. The lower foothills surrounding us were also amazing, and we paddled past some villages that can only be reached by foot. or by boat.
On the way back we also passed by an island where there is a temple to Kali. As I recall, she is the mother goddess, and also an aspect of the major god Shiva. Yes, Hinduism is complex, especially to the Western mind - I sure can't keep everybody straight! It was a really picturesque, pagoda type temple in a great setting. Sorry, we didn't get any pictures on the kayaking trip; we had to keep control of the wind blown kayaks. I'll try some verbal descriptions later.
By the time we got cleaned up and ate lunch, it was too late for another major adventure. (Nepal is supreme among the slow food nations - meals are wonderful but you wait and wait and wait for your order to arrive... you get used to it.) We wandered along the lake shore and wound up in some back streets, saying goodbye to Pokara.
We are sad to leave this area; we'll miss the mountains, lake and wonderful people. We'll be in Royal Chitwan National Park tomorrow afternoon; it is a rainforest area and should be an adventure in itself. I think we'll have Internet access but I'm not positive. We'll be back in Kathmandu in 5 days - that's the afternoon of Jan. 7 (it is Jan 2, 4 PM here now.) I'm guessing we'll post before then; if we don't have access, that's when you'll see the next post.
Oh yes - Ellen G, thanks for the comments. Hope everybody else is well, how is life in the USA???PG
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Happy New Year comrades! I am enjoying hearing about you r adventures and look forward to pictures at some point. Only a coule of days left of winter break, it has been damp and chilly but nothing like the deep freeze that the rest of the US is experiencing. Great to see the greening of the hills, lovely driving up through Sonoma county last week. Anthony and I saw Milk last night, a very moving film...took me back 30 years like it was yestereday. What an exciting time it was to be a young adult in the Bay Area! Will be thinking of you out there on the rim of the world, for us it's back to school on Monday. Take care of yourseles and happy trails, love, Ann
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