Sarangkot and the Himalayan Mountains

April 4 – Jake – Pokhara, Nepal

Where are we supposed to be looking? Do you see them yet? Are we high enough? No, I think we should go higher. Kendall and I were quickly getting woken from our early-morning grogginess in the brisk mountain air and trying to come up with a plan. The driver, not really a big talker, dropped us off partway up to Sarangkot with little hint as to where to go. Everyone says this is the place to best view the massive Himalayan peaks that surround Pokhara when not actually partaking in a trek through the Annapurnas. So here we were, on a steep hillside, unsure if we had walked high enough to get a solid view. It was quite apparent that our window of opportunity was going to be short, so we wanted to settle in somewhere and enjoy the sunrise.

It is possible to trek from Phewa Lake north to the top of Sarangkot at 1590 meters, but it takes a minimum of two hours and is normally more than four. This is all assuming you don’t get lost, since we were told the trail is not well marked. So we decided to take a car 40 minutes up most of the way and then walk the path and steps that make up the last portion of the climb.

Turns out it was still a pretty good climb. We took our time soaking in the amazing view as mountains appeared in the distance, soon to only start fading away in the daylight fog.

The mountain crests glowed orange as the suns rays made their way over the horizon. We were drawn to the giant pyramid-shaped peak shown below. It is Mount Machhapuchhare, or Fish Tail Mountain in English, standing at 6,997 meters (22,943 ft). Hikers are prohibited from climbing the mountain because it is held sacred to the god Shiva by the locals and has never been ascended to its summit by man. The strange thing about this mountain is that it looks to be the tallest of the bunch, but is actually much smaller than its neighbors. Mount Annapurna I, to its left from our vantage point, is 8,091 meters (26,545 ft) in elevation, 10th highest in the world and king of this range. Mount Everest, not far from Kathmandu, is the highest on the planet at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft). These elevations are truly awe inspiring.

We decided to give it a go making it to the top of Sarangkot, when in Rome and all that. As you can see from the first picture of this post, the area is not empty of residents. Little huts dot the way to the top and around a thousand people call this slope home. However, the very top features a military post guarding a communication tower. Here is the view back down from the look-out area at the very top.

On the way back, we enjoyed the fresh look of the homes and people in the daylight. I appreciate the sentiments of this sign, which gets its point across even in broken English. We’ll be studying Nepali in a few days during our homestay and cultural training in preparation for our volunteer teaching stint.

Never a shy one with animals, Kendall took on some head butts from this playful baby goat.

In a strange twist of fate, the following animal is considered okay to eat by the Nepalis. Although eating meat is still rare, water buffalo replace beef in the Nepali diet since cows are sacred. From what I’ve seen, they are mostly used for milk and working the fields, but I also have seen them on the menus. In a poor country like this, though, meat is a luxury rather than a staple. I wonder what he thinks of the view…

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