Ready, steady... Ne-pal! (edited version)

N.B. After reading through this post I noticed that due to the limited time I failed to explain how great Pokhara can be, for that reason here it goes my second attempt:

Twenty-five days staring at massive palaces, having chais and watching mystical ceremonies was great but as I said before, I am more of a DO person than a WATCH person.

For that reason last Sunday I said namaste (-bye) to India right before saying namaste (-hello) to Nepal. I crossed the border shortly after noon and decided to head to Pokhara instead of Kathmandu or Chitwan (most common destinations for people entering Nepal via Sanauli). Don't ask me why I did this, I just had a very strong feeling about it. Three French guys (Sabrine, Logan and Ronan) and me shared a tiny taxi to cover the 245 km that separate the Indian border and the second largest city of the country.

During the long journey to Pokhara I felt like a child during Christmas Eve. The sun went meanly to let us only sketch in our minds a little bit of the great present that was awaiting for us next morning. Miles and miles of spectacular mountain ridges wrapped in the darkest black paper sometimes decorated with tiny shinny lights. Luckily we didn't have to wait until next morning to get our first gift. Just after arriving to the hotel we were rewarded with a Western style toilet! (Note that when I say 'Western' I mean all the developed countries except for the Netherlands and their pelican-style crap-thrones).

Next morning I woke up early for my particular Christmas day. I run to the door of the hotel to see if Santa had left a present for me and... YES! there was it, right in front of my hotel, the Machhapuchhre!

But there was more, much more. For those who know it, Pokhara can be compared with Switzerland's Interlaken or Spain's Jaca. This place really is an amusement park for mountain lovers. The city is characterized by a great lake called Pewa Tal which inspired Spanish Heroes del Silencio's song Bendecida. Along the lake a rich variety of guest-houses and restaurants can be found suiting everyone's pocket, my personal recommendation is to check those lying in the northside of the lake since they are the cheapest and therefore crowded with young laid-back travellers. Besides that, active travellers will find a complete menu of exciting activities to satiate their thrist: mountain-biking, kayaking, rafting, paraglading and of course trekking.

Over the past days I've tried a few of these myself in the good company of Ronan Herve, a French fellow that I met in the border. An average day in Pokhara would go as follows: Waking up early to have a huge continental breakfast featuring brand-baked French baguettes and Tibetan bread (<- Iñaki's choice). After breakfast we'd leave for an excursion on foot or by bike to some nearby lake or mountain including teas with local villagers. During the trip we would be due to solve incidental events such as bike parts falling apart, sudden needs to jump into tempting waters, and local kids challenging us to matches on rather exotic ping-pong tables (thanks good I was trained for this at TOPdesk!). At 8 o'clock sharp, a programmed blackout would force us to take care of the utmost important things in life: delicious pancakes buried under half an inch layers of chocolate, candle-enabled reading sessions and endless philosophical discussions.

In conclusion, from now and for a few days Pokhara will become my home in Nepal. It offers all I need to arrange Iñaki's Next Top Project: The Annapurnas. I won't reveal too many details for now, stay put and you'll find out more very soon!

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Despues de 25 dias en India ya estaba un poco cansado de tanto mirar y deambular de aqui para alla sin quemar demasiada energia. Para solucionar esto el pasado domingo cruce la frontera y entre en el maravilloso reino de Nepal. Que gran pais Nepal, mi entrada aqui fue como la vispera de la noche de reyes. Durante 6 largas horas que pase en el taxi a Pokhara tuve que aguantar delante de mis narices un gran paquete de regalo con forma de montañas espectaculares forrado de papel negro. La noche habia caido y no podiamos ver mas alla del barranco que bordeaba la carretera. Asi llegamos a Pokhara, una especie de Jaca a lo grande. A la mañana siguiente desperte y corri a la puerta para desembolver mi regalo. Alli estaba, el mismisimo Machhapuchhre delante de mis narices. Tuve que frotarme los ojos varias veces para asegurarme de que no estaba soñando.

Durante 6 dias he estado probando algunas de las actividades que se pueden hacer aqui. Paseos en bici y trekking en la buena compañia de Ronan Herve, un chico frances que conoci en la frontera. Y todo esto es solo el principio, ¡mañana mismo parto hacia los Annapurnas!