Sarangkot

 These shots were taken as we went up the road to Sarangkot. The first one is  the north eastern corner of Pokhara. We should have had a view of all the mountains, but of course they were hidden by cloud. The bottom photo is a little more to the north and shows the Seti River. Somewhere down there too is the road we will take in two or three weeks when we set out on our trek to Poon Hill.

 The point at the top is the viewpoint from where the mountains are viewed, particularly at sunrise. The lodge where we stayed was just below this viewpoint but on the other side of the ridge, so although it was raining we thought we would walk up to it the next morning. We got fairly well towards it, up great big concrete steps when we were stopped and asked to pay a fee for the privilege. Seeing it was so foggy we declined and went back down. When we took this photo we had already been climbing about 20 mins from where the taxi dropped us off and you can see we still had a fair way to go.

 This is the dining room at Superview Lodge and we had just finessed a lovely meal. They were very busy renovating the dining room in preparation for the season. Had clearly finished the walls and the lighting, but had still to sort out the tables, chairs and do something about the floor.

These pictures were taken before breakfast on Sunday morning, before the rain set in for an hour or two. Those of you who know Pokhara may recognise the large building in the middle of the top picture. We understand it is a hospital that has been shut down because of staffing issues. The Sarangkot ridge runs along the left hand side of the picture.

We lingered over breakfast until the worst of the rain had stopped, however there was still a slight mist in the air as we started down the paved walkway to the bottom . Half an hour to Lakeside. Yeah Right!

 Beautiful green terraced rice paddies were all over the side of the hill as we descended.

 This is not a NZ shot- but it could be.

 More rice paddies, with Lakeside in the distance.  We finally (after about 2 1/2 hours) got to  the road  somewhere in the middle of the trees to the right of the picture.

One of the houses on the way down-- perhaps better looking than many.  Ken noticed a TV aerial stuck high on a bamboo pole above a house with one wall of blue tarpaulin.

Fellow travellers on the path.
Sorry, it has taken me all this time to realise I could have the pictures this size!

Lakeside

 
These are some more pictures of building work in our lane. The whole stack of bricks was moved from here on to site by two women with baskets on their backs. I think you can see in the bottom picture how her basket is filling up as she tosses the bricks over her head and into it- jerking as each one lands.

T

 This is when they poured the roof/ceiling. They have braced the timber lining with lengths of bamboo poles. Some of these are a bit short, so they prop them up with a few bricks here and there to bring them in to line. The concrete mixer virtually takes up the width of the lane. (There was just room for me to squeeze past when I walked home from school.) The women and men are loading the bags of shingle to make the concrete. You might be able to make out the rope that is attached to the shovel so that as she swings back then forward with her shovel her co worker pulls the rope to assist her. The concrete is rhythmically passed up to the second floor in wide flat basin/plates and then passed hand to hand by the women to where it is needed.

 These are pictures from our weekend at the Peace Plaza at Lakeside. This was the Phewa Tal in the early evening after our arrival. As you can see the green between the hotel and the lake was being put to good use.

 The next morning the mountains were clear. You can just make out the tip of Maccapucchre to the right, with a wisp of cloud over it. The peak to the left is Sarangkot and it was in one of those reddish buildings at the top that we stayed the following weekend and then walked down to Lakeside on the Sunday. (Picture next blog)

 We went for a walk around the lake's edge the next morning. We enjoyed the sights we saw, including the buffalo in for their morning dip. Pond weed is a real problem around the edge of the lake. The young lads older mates were busy clearing it while he fished.  Not sure whether you can make out the net that the fisherman is using in the boat. Ken got a string of action shots as he threw,

 This is the hotel we stayed in as seen from the lakes edge. We were on the first floor, with a large balcony with table and chairs. Only thing is we had to watch out as the drips from the hoses draining the upper decks were out to catch us.

 The following morning these men played a complete game of volleyball below us.  Can you see the buffalo in the shade of the tree - she decided to join in too at one stage.

 So you shopaholics think Onehunga has it all?

 Main street of Lakeside - quite deserted. Interestingly there were many more tourists around even the following week. Clearly the season is starting.

Pokhara 6

 This is "Mr Whippy" Nepali style. As you can see he came right down our lane. He cooks snacks on the spot. He had several customers while we watched. This was late Sunday afternoon, but we have noticed quite a few of them are out and about on the roads when students are coming home from school and they seem to do quite a trade.

 We have included some pictures to show housing construction in Nepal. There are three being built in our lane at present. The first two you can locate by the concrete-making pile of sand in the street. They seem to form a mound of cement and sand with a hollow in the centre and then add the water to it, in much the same way as my mother used to mix her pikelets.

 On the building site closest to us (where the red bucket is in previous photo), they have partly knocked down a lean-to kind of construction next to their house and are upgrading it. They have left some of the original walls at the front, although roughly kind of leveled them off, presumably so they can add some height with new bricks. The steel was dropped off beside our house and the chap in the photo is cutting it and starting to bend it. It was a very hot day and Ken was amused to see him use both the umbrella and a towel down the back of his neck to try to keep cool. Every now and then he had to readjust as the sun moved.

The owner of the property, in the darker hat, is helping to bend the steel and tie it up so it  will form a columnar shaped reinforcing which they will form the boxing around and then pour concrete down.

The pile of bricks is now starting to disappear- brick by brick. We have been watching two women trudge in and out, load up their baskets by throwing the bricks back over their own heads and then trudge back to the building site. While we were taking these photos the owner came out, took a brick in each hand and walked back! The women seem to do most of this carrying work. On the site below we saw one woman shoveling metal chip into the other's basket and the head jerked with each shovel full. When they were on site they somehow pulled a string, the basket lurched sideways and emptied. Must be a huge strain on their body.

These three picture are from the site right at the corner of our lane and the road. The young chap (red shorts) has got quite friendly with Ken and likes to try out his English. He seems to be living on site in a rough shed made from piled up concrete blocks (not concreted together). On Saturdays when we go out to church we see his trousers and two shirts hanging up to dry on a pole at the front of the hut. You can see the columns and reinforcing as we described for the previous house. The bricks are quite roughly mortared in ( more mortar than bricks in some places). Ken also noticed that on some walls they are in a line with the outer edge of the columns and in other places with the inside edge. Today it is raining, and as we walked past we noticed they had spread tarps out so they could keep on working.

Pokhara Update

 I have had some queries about what the towns are like so have added some pictures to explain. These two pictures are from Kathmandu in the suburb where the guest house was. We took them when we walked away from the town, just to stretch our legs- hence the lack of traffic and cars. The bottom picture gives you some idea of the power wires that are fairly typical of everywhere.  Once in Kathmandu we stepped off the footpath onto the road and nearly hung ourselves on the power wires. There are a couple of places on our road here in Pokhara where we have to watch the same kind of thing. The other day from our vantage point we watched a couple of young lads use a coil in the power wires as a basketball hoop, and shuddered every time the wires swung too and fro as they were hit.

 This is Chippledunga, the main street in Pokhara.  (It is about 20-30 mins by bus from Naya Gaun or 250NPR taxi fare.)The photos are taken from almost the same spot, but one shows the power wires better than the other. This is fairly typical amount of traffic for this street. In Pokhara you don't take your life into your own hands when you cross the street as much as you do in Kathmandu. However the main rule for the road seems to be that might is right. Traffic just pushes in everywhere. When we first were driven in from the airport at Kathmandu I couldn't believe the pushing and shoving into the narrowest of spaces that happened and nothing has improved in that regard in Pokhara. The other day when we went by taxi to Lakeside there was a bit of congestion on a roundabout but our driver was determined to get through. We got stuck right alongside a huge truck soooo close. Yesterday the joiner down our lane was getting an order out on a little trailer attached to one of these small tractors they drive. A truck with cement etc on came down the lane and forced himself right alongside the tractor, although with a badly placed power pole, it was quite clear he couldn't have got past. There was a bit of jostling and finally the tractor had to unload and then back back right down just in front of our place while the truck went on through. And I haven't even mentioned the horns. The more they toot the better they seem to think they can push through. We went for a meal on Friday night to another teacher's home. She lives above the shop where Ken was talking to the shopkeeper (below). We simply could not hear ourselves talk with the windows open above the traffic and the horns, and it was not much better when they were closed- just hotter!

This power pole is immediately opposite us. Not sure whether you can see all the wires coiled up. The light on it operates from a switch on our deck that the landlord turns on every night.

Pokhara 4

This is where the pupils sit to eat-- two of the tables move forward onto the dirt area, so there is plenty of room for all. The caretaker lights a couple of mosquito coils before each break to take care of the mossies . You might also be able to see the fan above the tables which we put on to make it more comfortable too. My classroom is immediately behind the tables and the computer room is to the left.
P.S. I now realise  that it was an unnoticed auto correct that put whisky clouds in the previous blog instead of wispy!

Pokhara 3

 These are photos of our time in Begnis Tal. The lake on the Thursday in the rain reminded us of Milford Sound with the whisky clouds around. Some of the row boats were out on the lake, the occupants using their umbrellas as a shield against the rain.

 These two photos could almost be placed side by side to give a panoramic view. This was the scene from the third floor of the hotel on  Friday morning. The government fish farm is in the foreground and of course the Annapurna Range in the background. You will notice Maccaphuchre which you will also be able to spot in the picture from our roof further down.

 Community washing at Begnis Tal.

 This buffalo was one of four who thought they would graze the green patch. The wall on the right of the photo is the garden wall directly below our deck.

 These are shots of our house. The kitchen unfortunately has only one window that opens and is a U shaped kitchen, so a bit low on ventilation. Ken is busy grilling our cheese and tomato sandwiches for Sunday lunch in his new Nepali trousers. We really enjoy the door that opens to a little back Juliette balcony from the dining room. Our first job in the morning is to open it to let as much cool air in as possible.

This was the view from our roof top on Wednesday morning. We can't take photos from our deck as the power wires intrude, but we can see most of this from there.