Sunday/Monday am

September 30-October 1

This is going to be a short entry, we think, because we are headed off on our first shorter trek with an over night home stay in Sirubari.  Sirubari is south of Pokhara and is a Gurung Village that has been developed as a cultural tourism center.  It is filled, according to the guide book, with stone buildings.  We are really looking for to this as the culture of these people is unlike that of the Nepali.  Also, their language is also different!  We will be going with our guide, Hem and taking a local bus, which I am sure will be an experience and a half.

A bit about out hotel on the lake.  We have very nice rooms.  David and Marty are at the end of a smaller structure and have a separate bedroom with lots of windows that look out over a small rice paddy and one end of the lake.  Attached to the side of the building is an add-on structure where a Nepali family lives...we are observing their life first hand but with privacy and respect!  Their room also has an upstairs loft along with a sitting area with a writing desk (there is a second desk/table in the bedroom).  The floors are stone and the bathroom's shower area made of slate.  Tis a very neat place.  Marty and Harry's room has a larger sleeping loft with a great view of nearly the entire lake,  Downstairs has a sitting area as well. Both rooms are charming and of course the most interesting of our trip so far.

From the lake side dining area we watched nearly a dozen para gliders!  

It was quite a sight to see so very many folks in the sky circling gracefully down from the mountain top.

Now back to Sunday and some of evening's activities!  The clouds had hung low all day over the lake and hills and late in the day we got some showers, then the showers turned into a downpour.  We all thought that this might clear the air and we would experience a droop in humidity which was so high we couldn't really get dry after taking showers.  Anyway, we were sitting outside and discussing where we might go for dinner.  We are folks who enjoy food and we have had plenty of interesting foods on this trip.  Marty S. checked the guidebook and found a very nearby Indian place called Punjabi.  

We ordered a variety of really yummy things including ginger cried rice and some cheese nan (the best we have had so far).  We were just amazed at how good the food was and when the bill came (the total included 10% service) it totaled less than $20 for the four of us!  However there was one small problem.  When we left the hotel none of us thought it might rain a d we left all protection from the rain in our rooms.  By dinner's end we were looking out into the street at heavy rain which would let up only slightly before coming down hard again.  With a trekking supply store next door we made a mad dash and purchased a combination of rain parkas and umbrellas and made our way back to the hotel.

Evening found us in bed listening to more rain and now it is morning and the air does seem to be less humid and there is blue sky to be seen!  We are ready for our next adventure!