bicrom abroad

after two beautifully clear days in pokhara it was possibly inevitable but still disappointing to see, when pulling back the curtains on our third morning, that even the magnificence of the himalaya could be entirely subdued by apparently feeble cloud and wispy mist. our mood was particularly dark given that we were due to go up for a closer look at the mountains in microlights, and accordingly had once again pulled ourselves out of bed earlier than we might have liked.
pokhara airport was in a state of sleepy turmoil; the weather meant that all flights were grounded but, given that this appeared to be quite a standard state of affairs, noone beyond frustrated passengers seemed particularly concerned. we went over to the flying club shed and batted off the nepali air geishas tottering around on hooker heels offering bland reassurances to try and ascertain whether it would be possible to go up at all and if it would even be worth it; no point heading up to 8,000 feet on a hairdryer with wings just to yawn at some clouds.
finally, the decision was made to go up in the tiny toy plane; we were assured that the mountains were clearly visible once you broke through the clouds but were both cynical. as i, strapped in, camera impotently on my lap, watched the pilot steer us through minutes of sheer grey cloud my annoyance grew as it appeared that the entire experience would be one of wasting both time and money.
and then we broke through. the sun beat down through the plexiglass and we were eyeball to eyeball with the annapurna range. the views were out of this world, like nothing i have ever seen before and completely inaccessible without arial assistance. from the ground on pokhara, up the ridge at sarangkot, the fact that the himalaya were special had been constantly reinforced but staring slackjawed at them, so close you believed you could almost reach out and touch them, was the pinnacle of our himalayan experience. vicki went up next and came back suitable wowed, having also had a crack at steering the plane.
as such, it was a happy pair that boarded our flight to kathmandu the next morning. after the inevitable hour's delay our little twin prop got up in the air and we were treated to one final, ridiculous delight; looking out of our window as we flew for 25 minutes to kathmandu we were treated to the himalayan range, snowcapped, jaw dropping peak after peak. after the close up experience in the tiny plane this flight gave us an idea of the scale of the himalaya, a realisation that it was not just the individual mountains that were amazing, but also the range, the constant, unbroken line of picturebook peaks each as wonderful as the last that made the himalaya so special.
and so to kathmandu; we're not quite sure what we're going to do here and the weather is forecast to be cloudy but no matter; the last few days have given us ample opportunity to appreciate that the himalaya truly are the greatest natural wonder of them all.

though dwarfed by its gargantuan neighbours to the north and south, nepal provides a remorseless assault on the senses which confounds its relative size. our first glimpse on this came at kathmandu airport where we were mobbed by eager touts and taxi drivers displaying the kind of relentless, desperate hunger that seemed surprisingly absent in their indian brethren. having missed the last flight to pokhara we allowed ourselves to be taken in by a crooked grin offering safe passage across the plains and, keen to not waste a night in a city which provided a singularly grotty first impression, duly boarded a tired looking car which, fuelled by nasal nepali hits blaring from tinny speakers, delivered us to pokhara as the town tucked itself in for the night.
nepal may be a small country but the greatest mountain range of them all runs thickly through its veins. i still
remember the slightly unreal, humbling sensation when i first glimpsed the high himalaya in north india a few years ago. looking out of our bedroom window and then from the roof of our guesthouse at the monstrous, snow riven annapurna range which utterly dominates the pokhara landscape that same astounding rush coursed through me again. there is something almost spiritual about being in the presence of these starkly beautiful behemoths, an unescapable urge to look skywards and be repeatedly surprised by the presence of snow and rock where only sky should be.
pokhara is a brilliant base for long, ten day plus treks, but shorter two to three day hikes are much thinner on the ground; as such, we won't be getting near the snowline on this trip at least. it still offers however a number of easily accessible but spectacular viewpoints such as at the small hillside village of sarangkot, perched under a mountainous ridge which acts as a natural spectator gallery to a himalayan ampitheatre of unforgiving peaks. watching the rising sun slowly hustle the insistent mist away and illuminate the tops of the line of jagged annapurna mountains was duly spectacular, and (for once) vicki's incessant photo-taking felt justified.
we have a couple more days in pokhara which we will primarily use to potter around and generally enjoy being in the shadow of the mountains. vicki's skills on a motorbike have already allowed a speedy jaunt down to a tibetan settlement and wander through the fluttering prayer flags, around dusty lanes filled with wrinkled tibetan pensioners and a gompa populated by sleepy looking monks. tomorrow morning we, cloud permitting, will be getting more up close and personal with the mountains, going up in a couple of alarmingly flimsy looking microlights before, in all likelihood, taking the rest of the afternoon to drink soothing cups of tea in an attempt to dilute the adrenaline. we came to nepal to be blown away by the majesty of the himalaya and, so far, that is exactly what has happened.