“A Mish a Day” #222 Back To Nature. Pokhara. Nepal. 12.11.2018. After 9 days hiking through the Ruby Valley Region in the Himalayan Foothills on another ‘Active Hearts Foundation Charity Trek’ the team was ready for some western creature comforts. Hiking in areas rarely seen by westerners is a real privilege, and spreading the Active Hearts love is an honour I am very lucky to enjoy.
After leaving the masses of people and clouds of dust behind in Kathmandu, we had not seen another westerner. But, this was to change after we left our final campsite in the town of Dhading Besi. Most of the crew were a little jaded from the hike, and also from 1 or 2 too many cups of strong Roksi. A short nap was interrupted as soon as I saw the controlled chaos of the main highway between Dhading Besi and Pokhara ‘The City of Lakes’. For most westerners a near miss with an oncoming truck would be reason enough to give up a career riding a motorbike. But for the Nepali a near miss on the road is just another day travelling around Nepal. The highway was in good condition in places, and it took a while to get comfortable with travelling fast, as we had been slowly navigating our way around the country up until this point. Some people call Pokhara the ‘Queenstown of Nepal’ as the town is built on the shores of the large Phewa Lake. The similarities don’t stop at the lake, as the town is also known as the thrill-seekers’ capital of Nepal. On days with the right conditions there can be literally hundreds of paragliders in the air at the same time. There are also popular rafting trips down some of the large rivers in the area, and of course hiking with amazing views of the Himalayas.
After a brief stop in the city, we continued driving 8km around the lake’s northern shoreline to the very rough Fewa Road. The Active Heart’s Whanau had to go on one more mission before they could relax, and that was the hike up to the ‘Back to Nature’ lodge. The collection of small bungalows and main accommodation building are set in an incredible site, located in the hills north west of Phewa Lake. The short hike up to the lodge seemed a tall task, but the warm welcome we got from the lodge’s owner Dambar got us on the move again. On a hot and humid afternoon we slowly made our way along the track up to the lodge, encouraged along by a very enthusiastic Dambar. The cold drinks on arrival at the lodge hit the spot, and now it was time to relax in the epic surroundings…
