mountain roads. Unfortunately, there was a bus that broke down (very
common as they run them to the ground) causing hours of traffic jams
in both directions. Our morning rafting trip had to be canceled and
our 6-7 hour ride became 12 hours of fun.
The next day we hiked up Sarangkot, a nearby hill, to view the
Himalayas during sunset and sunrise. Our climb was straight up and I
decided to wear my flip flops, of course. They said the hike normally
takes tourists 3-4 hours, but about an hour for locals. On the way up
the views were beautiful and you could see all of Pohkara and the
lake. We all were huffing and puffing, taking breaks, sweating,
drinking water, but finally manage to get to almost the top where a
local man had a shack serving cold drinks. As I spoke with him he
congratulated me for making it half way and pointed to a tiny dot
further up to our hotel. I was a bit crushed by this information, but
pulled myself together just in time to see a group of young teenagers
trotting down the steep rock steps laughing and giggling all dressed
up for a night out. The humiliating thing was that I knew they would
have to climb back up and it would be nothing to them, even in their
nice clothes and fancy shoes.
To top it all off, almost at the very top as I was struggling up the
rock steps a small boy, maybe 3 years old, was walking down with his
little school uniform. He stopped when he saw me, put his hands
together, and said, "Namaste." (The standard greeting). I was all
shocked and worried that he was walking all alone on this difficult
path and then after he past me he bolted down the steep hill. He
literally sprinted down the side of the steps where it was all grassy.
It's pretty interesting to have your ego crushed and be amazed at the
same time.
Needless to say the view at the top was spectacular, both the sunset
and sunrise. We even had a cultural show at the small hotel we stayed
at, where the children of the local school danced, sang, and played
music.
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