Upon crossing a bridge, having reached the low point, we head up toward the destination tower which is more clearly visible. At this stage, rumor has it that people hear the sound of a trumpet echoing from the mountains. We confirm, based upon our experience, it's nothing other than people 'blowing their own trumpets'. We do our own share of blowing, too. On this hike, not only did we not see another hiker once again, but at the peak, there were less than a handful of residents. We are developing a complex of the negative aura we give off. Need to ease up on our trumpets as it is only a little less than 3,000 feet elevation gain. (There we go again.)
For more perspective, in the distance via the telephoto from the destination Tower (Matikhan) is the multi-level building which we pass on the way to the tough Sarangkot Peak. (Shanti Stupa sits to the right on the mountain below.)
Buddha sits on a hill above the lake which shows the building above. Well, we suppose you now know the layout of Pokhara as well as we do.
Oh! And by the way, while I've been scribbling some nonsense, Jen has reached Matikhan Tower. It was a great feat for both her and her feet (both of them). The tower was deserted, the door was locked, so we were limited to the lower level.
Each step of the way, the tower appears closer (brilliant deduction) as we have a brief spell on concrete.
The air quality was poor followed by clouding so that's the most exposure we enjoyed of Annapurna Range. (We'll take it anytime.) A house on a hill shines.
A view of only a part of the City of Pokhara from the tower.
Below the tower sits the Matikhan Holiday Resort. (Spelling of 'Matikhan' follows the concept of 'Nepalese flexibility').
From the tower, we view a temple across the way; below is the retreat/resort. It appears that most guests have resorted to a retreat from the tucked-away haven. The city is way down to the left.
We did come across a homeless woman or it might have been a very tired hiker. We tried not to disturb her...she looked like a lovely young woman to me. But, what do I know? Seriously, she earned the rest so she mentioned in passing.
From the tower, a view of the last part of the dirt road for vehicles.
...including the resort/retreat. It looks good and we considered staying a night.
We remember when researching the hike, the hotel management advertised the view of the airport. While we loved the view because the effort to reach the tower was tough, we concede a view of a runway is not a high priority. We can be a little staid at times. Perhaps that's why we never stayed.
Unfortunately, the 'big mountains' took refuge behind the clouds. Had there been visibility, we might have seen a scene as in the photo below this one. On the left is Shiva Temple, to its right is Shanti Stupa and in the middle on the rear mountain, is the tough Sarangkot Tower hike. All three are great favorites should one wish for a struggle, particularly, the latter.
Part of the Annapurna Range viewed from Kahun Danda.
...sneaked in one from Begnas Lake to the east. (Please don't mention this to Jen.)
and while on a roll, could not omit one from Shiva/Shanti.
Yesterday, we repeated the hike up to Sarangkot Tower. It begins across the lake at water-level below the 2 high-rise buildings (middle), rising "vertically", (it feels). Jen escapes over the wall...where did we hear of 'the wall' before? We were fortunate to meet a woman in Romania who crossed the wall under the communist regime.
On our return, we cut through a village and attain a different perspective.
Jen doing the actual 'cutting' through the unknown village.
Jen captures a 'Pokhara Eats' take-out delivery, cooking food (corn) on the back of the bike. Talk of a fresh and hot delivery. While we
On our return, we cut through a village and attain a different perspective.
Jen doing the actual 'cutting' through the unknown village.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
suspect some will love the concept of a low emission vehicle, sweat only, others might not favor the smoke. Can't win 'em all.
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