Paragliding in Pokhara

Well I finally tried something that I’ve always wanted to do last weekend in Pokhara… I took a hot chick for a ride on a motorbike for a few hours. With that done, I left Di in Pokhara and headed up the mountain to catch a paragliding flight.

Although the photo above makes it look like I’m awesome and doing by myself, I can assure you I had a very experienced Russian pilot, Iliad, doing the flying bit for me. Still, had I seen this news article before I went, I may have had second thoughts.

It was a little daunting looking out from the take off zone, with around 30 paragliders already in the air jostling for space in the nearest thermal. Lucky Iliad had his little squeezy horn handy to warn others of our presence. Also useful when we flew into clouds and couldn’t see a thing. That was a little worrying.

Overall, it was awesome, and a sport I would definitely consider taking up (on cloudless days when there aren’t so many others flying in the same bit of sky).

Of course I logged GPS for the trip...



And last but not leaset... the video:

I'm still addicted to GPS

As an old, brilliant professor at USQ once said, "GPS is the closest thing we have to magic".

A few fun times in the last few days - first, a 50km ride from Dhulikhel to Kathmandu "via the back door", a dirt road from Panauti, over Lankuri Bhanjyang pass and downhill to the valley below. See link below for the trip, including a few photos embedded in it.

Dhulikhel to Kathmandu - via the back door

Then there was our Saturday morning mountain flight with Di's Dad. A beautiful day and beautiful, surreal views. These mountains are just gorgeous. Peering over them into the high altitude rolling plains of Tibet made us REALLY want to get over there. So we're thinking about Christmas in Lhasa... anyone want to join us?

Mountain Flight from Kathmandu

It’s Christmas in Kathmandu

Well it feels like it…

Tihar is one of the biggest festivals, and I think feels the most like Christmas.  It’s Sunday in Thamel and most shops and restaurants are closed.  The ones that are open don’t have much available.  There are lights everywhere at night, strewn over houses and hanging from eaves.  Fireworks going off in the evenings and groups of children walking around singing songs to try to get a donation from shop keepers and hoteliers.  Then there was a bit of the ‘Australia Day’ feel today as dozens of revellers on the back of 4WD utes sped recklessly through the narrow Thamel streets, yelling and banging cymbals, followed by motorbikes weaving dangerously all over the place. 

Craziness… and fun to be a part of!

Expat Monkey

I just had to write to say it’s another beautiful day in Dhulikhel… mountains stretching off into the haze in both directions.  Love it.  We walked up the hill for breakfast at Hotel Panorama with Di’s Dad.  Good chiya, great pakora, interesting ‘french’ toast.

We had dinner at our friend Prem’s guesthouse last night (Tashidale Lodge – ‘Especially for Backpackers’) and had dinner with a couple of interesting people.  Keith, from the USA, is travelling randomly and photographing and writing about his experiences here (www.expatmonkey.com) and an Aussie architect travelling just as randomly.  I love how that always happens.

’Tihar’ or ‘Deepawali’ this weekend – ‘The Festival of Lights’.  Another excuse for a festival holiday in Nepal!