Sarangkot
Annapurna and Machapuchare turning red at sunrise, above Phewa Lake.
Duration
3 hrs – 4 hrs
Difficulty
●●●●○
Best time
At sunrise, October to December
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
Sarangkot is a ridge sixteen hundred metres above Lake Phewa, and it is Pokhara's viewpoint. It faces the Annapurna range and Machapuchare — the Fish Tail — a pyramid of six thousand nine hundred and ninety-three metres that has never been climbed: it is sacred, and ascent has been forbidden since 1957.
At sunrise the light reaches the summits about twenty minutes before the valley, and they turn red above a sea of mist. Sarangkot is also Nepal's main paragliding launch site, the thermals being reliable all day.
Getting there
Fifteen kilometres north-west of Pokhara, forty minutes by road. Taxis leave the lakeside around five in the morning.
What the price covers
a small viewpoint entry fee, rate to be confirmed
What to bring
- Windbreaker
- Swimsuit
- Sportswear
Rules on site
Valley haze and the monsoon hide the peaks for much of the year: the reliable window is October to December. It is cold before dawn, far colder than at the lakeside.
