The greed of seeing the sun rising as a golden ball is always an elusive offer and when there are mountains tops that are glorified by the early morning rays, it’s surely a life-time experience. And, that dreams became a reality when I had a chance to travel up to Sarangkot, a must-not-forget destination in the scenic city of Pokhara in Western Nepal.
Leaving the warmth of bed early morning, traveling the dwindling uphill road for more than half-an-hour and then walking for another half-an-hour for the agonizing wait for the sunrise in the cool breeze were all but forgotten when the outlines of the Annapurna Range with the famous Machhapurchhre Peak becomes visible on the north.
From Sarangkot, the Pokhara city looks like a sky with twinkling stars before the dawn and then when the visibility increases the mountains looks standing smiling – so near that I felt like I could touch with an extended hand.
The mountains were white and then glow in red as if there was a fire. And there were lots of clicks from the foreigners and Nepalis standing for long for the view. No body was speaking as everyone looked so engrossed in the view. “Will it turn golden now,†someone asked me. “It should.â€
And I then realized I was so much looking at the mountains that I have forgotten to look east. There was half of the sun – as if floating – something that reminded me seeing the sunrise on the sea. The flickering sun rose slowly in the misty view and then the mountains began growing yellowish – and golden in color.
“That’s it,†someone shouted in ecstasy. And, it was probably the most beautiful scene visible from Pokhara – the Annapurna I peak at 8,091m and Machhapuchhre at 7,993m glowing in golden color.
From Nagarkot in Bhaktapur, I had seen a similar scene but the mountain tops looks so distant there when compared with Sarangkot and here the virgin peak shaped as a fish tail looked a beautiful girl modeling for gold jewelries.
[Originally written on Jan 18, 2007. I just forgot to post it then.]
