5th and 6th Jan, 2011- Pokhara

We woke up in a very chilly Birethanti – it is in a valley, so the sun does not hit and warm the place up until later in the day – had breakfast, packed up our trekking gear for the final time, and loaded everything onto the taxi, which had driven over the rough road from Nayapul (where we had been dropped off and started the trek five days ago). We drove back to Pokhara under a clear, sunny sky and, aside from a quick stop to change a tire, had an uneventful trip. It had been cloudy on our way there, so to see the high snow covered mountains the whole way was an added bonus. Before we got back to the hotel, we made a detour to the Gurkha musuem in a different part of Pokhara. The Gurkha soliders who fought in the British and Indian armies since the end of the 18th century came from this region of Nepal (as well as the hilly country in the east of Nepal) and there is still to this day a British recruiting center in Pokhara. It was interesting to see the pictures and various artifacts from the history to go along with what Jen and I had learned reading a history of the Gurkhas earlier on the trip. After the museum, it was back to the Fish Tail Lodge and time for showers! We debated what to do next and settled on a boat road and hike up to the World Peace Pagoda, a Buddist monument at the top of the hill above Lake Phewa with stunning views of Pokhara valley and the Annapurna range beyond. The hike was almost like being back on the trek! A bit harder than we expected, but we made it up pretty quickly and enjoyed the views. After we crossed the lake again and arrived back on the Pokhara side, we said goodnight to Ang Dawa and did a little shopping on the way back to the hotel. There we relaxed by the fire pit in the bar area, enjoyed a few drinks and had dinner. The trek was over, but we were still enjoying the beautiful surroundings of Pokhara.