How early is too early?

11/2 - Pokhara

Not only was it a 4:30am wakeup for a 5am departure, the taxi would only go part way up the mountain, leaving another 45 minute hike in the dark ahead of us. We paid our tickets, and when we did that, a face poked in the window saying "You need guide?" Sure, we need a guide - walking up a dark hill that we haven't seen, to go who knows where. The kid met us at the parking place, and guided us first up to one little spot about 30 feet from the parking area. "There's a second spot, up the hill, is better." That's what we were after. He fended off a few of his colleagues that wanted to also be guides or porters, which was a nice touch. The mini-trek was up steep stone steps, and even at 5:20, a few of the Nepali that had houses on the route were ready to offer tea and coffee. Both of us began panting pretty quickly, and the guide was smart enough to give us a break. The kid wasn't even panting 2/3 of the way up, but the poor guy had a nasty cough. Between him, our full-time guide, and Franz's hacking, I'm pretty much destined to get a cold. I'm loading up on vitamin C and zinc in preparation. We made it to the top, and were only the 2nd people up there. The stillness of the hill and the city that early let us hear the wind flapping the prayer flags tied to the building and the antenna up there. It wasn't too long before we were joined by others: Swiss, British, and most notably a hoard of Japanese and one among them that felt inspired to sing loudly for all of us, shattering the moment. The sky lightened softly, with clouds turning pink across the sky one by one, and at 6:20 the sun broke above the range. I have some great photos, but they're not going to be here yet. We stayed up there till about 7, and headed down with our guide, getting back to our driver at 7:30am. We gave the guide 350 Rupees, which was somewhat generous, but for about 5 bucks, he did alright. We returned to the hotel, yawning over coffee, and eating our breakfast, in preparation for our 8:45 pickup by our guide for the REAL program that we had. He met us, and on the way out, there seemed to be a bit of drama transpiring between one driver and our driver. It seems that in Pokhara, the taxi drivers have a union, and drivers from Kathmandu aren't allowed to be making hotel pickups. All politics is local, right? Somehow our driver and guide got out of the mess and we got underway to the lakeside of Pokhara where we caught a boat across the lake to the mountain where the World Peace Pagoda was. The hike, our second for the day, wasn't too bad, but it was a bit of an embarrasment to be panting with our guide that will be taking us in the real mountains. The day was mild and cloudy, and somewhat humid, so it made for a good sweatfest as well. We toured the stupa and hiked down into the damside of the city, stumbling around a group of Italian older tourists. After the hike down we visited the Devi's falls, where the lake we crossed drains after the dam into some subterranean river. Again, the photos are cool. Just wait. We walked along the highway a bit, and got picked up by our driver for lunch. Lunch was typical Nepalese Dal Bhaat, and afterwards we headed to a lakeside restaurant for a drink and a chance to write postcards in the shade. Our guide rather seems to enjoy being able to do his job while drinking a beer and watching people. I'm feeling more comfortable with being here, although there are plenty of moments of frustration with my physical abilities, with the way to do things in asia, and with a somewhat over-ambitious travel companion. Tomorrow should be an adventure in the air - we have scheduled a hike around Begnas lake, and then paragliding and a tour in an ultralight aircraft. Rest assured, the will is in order, and I love my mom and dad always.