We climbed a little mountain/big hill today to the Shanti Stupa or World Peace Pagoda, a buddhist shrine built after the devastation of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan became public knowledge. Taking us over 2 hours, our friend and guide Mahesh was by my side constantly giving the reassurance of his hand enabling me to ‘scramble’ up the rock steps/dirt track beside. It took other people less time but we stopped regularly, both for my and Mum’s sake. Higher than Mount Lofty and much rougher going, the view from the top, glimpsed through the vegetation at progressive points throughout the journey, slapped the cherry on top of the achievement.
A taxi driver took us down the other side of the hill to the Mahadev Cave. Hewn from the rock by a stream over millennia, it is a sacred Hindu site as well as a geological marvel and this added a great number more to our step count for the day though they were mostly subterranean.
I am grateful for a bath and hot water at our Pokhara hotel (I know, right?) and believe this will hold me in good stead to arise at about 4 tomorrow to drive to Sarankot, a village atop the tallest local mount from where paragliders regularly launch. It also is the best place to view sunrise and sunset.
Shhhh… Can you tell how utterly exhausted I am?
