April
20 2006
Updated July 2006
Trekking
to Sarangkot
in Pokhara Nepal
Part
4
The
general mood in Pokhara is subdued. The tourist area,
by the Lakeside, is still mostly operational and there
is little feeling of threat for the average tourist.
All over, however, are reminders of the troubles,
various barricades along the public roads, charred
spots where fires have been lit during yesterday's
protests. Too many soldiers and too many guns are
visible. Business owners do not look happy.
Beginning
the Walk up to Sarangkot
I
only had a short time in Nepal and wanted to have
a taste of the trekking experience. I had never done
a trek, not even a short trek, and I didn't have time
for a full-on trek during this trip. But I read that
there were various short walks, some quite scenic,
around Pokhara. The logical choice was the walk to
Sarangkot, the small hilltop village above Pokhara,
where people climb to the lookout to see the sunrise
and the Himalayas.
The
Lonely Planet Nepal guide recommended starting from
Bibi Bisanee temple and it describes it as a leisurely
stroll, about a half hour, to the viewpoint at the
top. The other way to go was longer and more strenuous
way, and that was straight up the mountain trails
from Lakeside Pokhara, and that is the way I went.
The Lonely Planet method would not have worked anyway
because of the general strike - there were no working
taxis to take me to the temple.
Nepal Style House |
The
hike up the hill took about 3 and 1/2 hours. You first
walk along the lakeside road towards the mountains.
Then there is a small turn-off that says "Sarangkot,
7 kilometers. However, the ascent is very steep. It
starts out as dirt trails through a forest and then
there are a series of stone stairs to the top. I use
the term "stairs" loosely, because they
are large natural stones laid out wherever they can
fit best. Trails like these are all over the Nepalese
montains and are said to have existed for hundreds
of years.
Confusing
Directions - Part 1
After
a few kilometers into the hike, before it got really
steep, I came to a crossroads. Writing on the large
boulder in front of me warned "Many Victims of
aggression this Way-Beware-JM". There were 2
trails, one was wide, with stones and well worn, the
other was narrow, mostly dirt and looked new. The
arrow pointed to the newer trail but it seemed to
go in the wrong direction, I decided not to heed the
warning, but to follow what was obviously the more
trafficked path. This was the fist of two times that
I encountered what I thought were intentionally wrong
directions.
As
the trail changed from dirt to small rocks, I started
to meet hill folks walking down the trails. The first
group were three mountain people. They were young
people with strong compact bodies and wearing colorful
tribal clothes. Their faces were more Mongolian looking
and I guessed that they were Sherpas, but they could
have been any of several tribal groups that reside
in Nepal 's mountains. They were carrying loads of
provisions and looked stern. There were 2 boys and
one girl, the girl was pretty in a healthy country
girl way, Had I not said "Namaste" (the
local greeting meaning "peace') they would have
walked by me looking straight ahead.
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