bicrom abroad

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.