Picturesque Perfect Pokhara :o))

It feels great to be back in Pokhara, I love the way it is so laid back. It’s easy to spend all day in a lakeside restaurant chatting over a massala tea or a beer or two. Its almost like being on a beach, there are a few hippies lost in in time here. You can swing in a hammock while reading your book. The owner of my favourite restaurant is trying to get the Goa atmosphere, i can’t comment as i’ve never been to Goa, but it works for me.

I’ve met loads of interesting people, one being Nicola an Australian lady who has been living in Pokhara for eight years, she came here as a volunteer and ended up getting married to a Nepalese guy and owning a bar. I was fascinated to hear about her marrying a Nepalese guy, he is now in Australia, volunteering. Nicola says she has  a typical Nepalese marriage (not sure if I believe her) she loves her husband but could never live with him, as they would fight like cat and dog….sounds all a bit sad to me. Kate from Tasmania, she is such great company and every time we meet up we are always the last ones to leave the bar…oops!! :o)

I asked Binod, the owner of one of one of my regular haunts, if he had an half an hour to spare to show me how to ride a scooter. Fair play to him, he took me sightseeing for the whole day. We spent the whole time laughing…it has got to be one of my best days yet! Thank you Binod :o). We had a delightful meal in the most gorgeous Lakeview setting, shame I didn’t take my camera. I’m feeling quite confident about hiring a scooter on my travels.

Fewa Lake, Lakeside

a mother and child I met while having a rest in a local park

I came across some kind of festival going on

views from "Don't Pass Me By Resturant" at Fewa Lake, Damside

Binod and Kate

Binod, Kate and me

going crazy to "Born to be Wild"

I must learn to pull more flattering funny faces, I just end up looking ridiculous!! Oh well

David, Binod and me...bbbbooorrrrrnn to be wwwwiiiiiilllld!!!!

see what i mean....ridiculous!!

David is part of a group who are travelling overland from the UK to Australia by truck. There are 40 people in total, it’s going to take seven and a half months, I think they done three and a half  months so far. They have been camping along the way and are having some time out from each other on a “holiday” in Nepal. Unfortunately or fortunately, whichever way you look at it, the Tibetan/China boarder is closed, so the truck has had to turn back to the UK. They are now going to be guided overland by public transport, I think some are talking the opportunity to go off on their own. I’m not sure how I would feel about travelling with such a large group, I suppose it would take away the overwhelm of… where am I going and how do I get there? But on the other hand…its nice just to come across somewhere and say..i’ll park up here for a while…or …I don’t like this place..i’m outta here!

Fewa Lake

Kids begging in Pokhara City

Views of the Annapurna Mountains from Fewa Lake, Lakeside, Pokhara

Machhapuchchhre (Fishtail) Mountain view

Devils Fall

I got lost looking for Devil's Fall, these three boys helped me and guided me around for 2 hours and then put me on the right bus. What great kids :o)

Back in Pokhara!

I’ve been very lazy re my blog…and I know I’ll regret not keeping it up to date, as it’s so easy to forget moments that might not seem special at the time and will all become a bit of a blur….

So here goes….Its Tuesday night 5/7/2011, just gone 10:30pm, I’m lying in bed in a gorgeous original old Nepalese building in the hamlet village of Bandipur. Its basic but authentic, wooden beams, original doors (not sure what they are made of),I have my own little private balcony, shared bathroom …all for £2.70 a night. The room consists of a double bed, a stool, a bamboo mat and ….so far 4 cockroaches! (that have now moved on to another life!) Oops all against the Vipassana thingy…but that was more of an experience journey for me than a religious one. At least they weren’t flying cockroaches….they are the hardest to find….especially in candle light, which is all I’ve has since I arrived at 7.30pm today.

Bandipur

view from my window

 I returned to Kathmandu after the Vipassana course. I was glad to hear that my drinking buddy Paddy was still around. Paddy moved onto Myanmar after three or so days and I hung around Kathmandu for a few days more after that…not sure why..as it was really getting to me :o( Went into overwhelm of what to do next. Strange feeling of being all alone! The monsoon is really starting to kick in…the streets are turning into rivers, shower water is like mud, you can smell the rust and the constant hash, which is not my thing....thank god! The street kids are becoming even more in your face. Begging for money whilst sniffing glue, some look as young as 5 or 6 but are probably older as more than likely malnourished. I got talking to Mary who owns one of the Irish Bars (funny that..huh!)..there is a guy called Declan who is doing amazing work trying to save the street kids before they get hooked on glue. She said he only takes on Nepalese volunteers…and to be honest, I think I would struggle emotionally even if I could help. I followed two boys for about half an hour whilst they went about their daily routine of sticking their hand out then sharing a sniff from a wrapper of glue. Hard to describe the sadness and guiltiness off not doing anything about it apart from observing! Their life gets worse..they are regularly beaten by police, become hooked on harder drugs and are vulnerable to sexual abuse (which includes tourists) :o(

Jan, a guy from Brussels who knows a lot about Buddhism and the whole Vippasanna thingy took me sightseeing. It was a very interesting day, however I did have to run away after lunch as he was getting a bit too “oh Elizabeth can you feel the real positive energy between us“ stuff going on, yeah ok Jan…tada mate!!  Must admit…starting to feel that people are only interested in my money or my body.…neither of which are up to much!!!

Patan's Durbar Square in Kathmandu

a crazy busy street in Patan

So I thought it’s about time I moved on. After a delicious breakfast, i walked to the local bus station, as I’m on a budget I’m getting really used to public transport, is very uncomfortable but it’s cheap and always a bit of an adventure and a sense of achievement when I finally get to my destination. That’s the best thing about having no real plan, I’m under no pressure and I can stop off were ever I like. There is always somewhere to put my head, it might not be the cleanest place, which is great therapy for OCD Liz! I’ve learnt to ask more than one person direction as they are embarrassed to say they don’t know so they just make it up, which isn’t much fun when you are carrying a heavy rucksack. So I look at my map and decide to go Dhulikhel which is described as a picturesque hamlet. Well whoever said that must have had their eyes shut! It was noisy and filthy…rubbish everywhere which is pretty standard in Nepal. I got off at the bus station and headed for the nearest hotel, off loaded my stuff and went exploring. I walked up a thousand steps to a view point which I’m sure on a clear day is amazing, I quite enjoyed it as it made me feel so fresh and alive after the suffocating atmosphere of Kathmandu. People seemed friendly. Whenever I got my map out people asked if they could help me..i could tell by their eyes they really meant it and weren’t after something. I came across a bunch of teenagers who were celebrating the end of their studies, they almost jumped on me as I came into view to welcome me to join in with their celebration. It was an organised set up with a disco and food, they insisted that I danced and were only too willing to teach me…but to be honest I was more interested in tasting their food, which looked mouth-watering. So after me saying no to the dance and I’d rather have some food thank you. It felt a bit like someone offering you a drink and saying …errr…no thanks I’d rather have the money, when they refused i moved on ..lol!!! So I bought a corn the cob from a street seller instead, he appeared to be so grateful. I popped into a local eating place for a beer and had a lovely chat with a ten year old boy working there. Even in the local shop they were really friendly, I got the impression that not many foreigners visit the place. I returned to the hotel, the hotel is run by a three generation family. I observed them and am not sure if I envied them or felt sorry for them…envy because they seem like a nice closenet family and I could since the love and respect they have for each other..pity because I thought that the young guy (about 18 I guess) is one day going to be sitting in his grandfather’s chair and pretty much every day on that move of one meter is going to be exactly the same only different faces along the way…boring!

a typical Nepalese street scene, rubbish and fumes..yuk!!

walking up the 1000 steps in Dhulikhel, the guys on each side of me look so serious..lol!

Next day I got up early to make my way to Naragort (a hill village). Another adventure…luckily enough as soon as came out of the hotel the bus driver from the day before was going past and said he was going to Naragort…result or so I thought!! They let me off in about 10km outside Kathmandu and pointed me in a direction to catch a connecting bus. Well…about an hour later after walking up and down and being stared at 1000 times..which I was not in the mood for, a helpful guy on a motor bike stopped to offer me help. He said in perfect English “I saw you an hour ago walking up and down, can I help you?” What a relief to my ears as by this time I had asked about six people who kept sending me up and down the same road. So fair play to him…he took me to the bus stop that he didn’t even know about so had to ask and asked the driver to drop me off at the correct stop and point me in the right direction to get the NEXT connecting bus to Naragort. I must admit by this time I’m thinking..i hope this place is worth it! 

So about six long hours later I arrived in Naragort and it was worth the effort, thank God! I found a gorgeous hotel for £4 a night. A bamboo hut in a very authentic looking hotel with amassing views even in the mist. I was their only guest. The next morning I headed for the view tower, on a clear day you can see Everest, on my day at some points I couldn’t even see my hand with the fog. It reminded me of the Monivea Road in Galway. There is a huge army base presence and I met a couple of army guys on my walk who were very friendly and quite entertaining. When I finally got to the view tower after about an hour, it wasn’t that bad and I could see something. I met a Korean guy who has been trekking all over Nepal in the monsoon, how brave! He reminded me of the Chinese bloke from heroes…which made me laugh.

Next day thought …this is nice might park up here for a while! So I’ll see if I can get a decent long deal…my hotel wasn’t having it and to be honest the owner wasn’t really interested..I’d rather give my money to someone who was. I spent the day walking around the village….and having dinner and tea with that locals. I had some Raksi, local brewed alcohol with the guy from the local shop, its crazy stuff…apparently the locals have a glass before they go off to work in the morning as its good for your health….maybe that why life expectancy is 65! Anyway..I’ve forgot his name (strong stuff), said that Jiri was a great place to go..i noted this and put it on my list. Shortly after that I went back to my hotel for a tea and then moved onto my room about 10.30pm. I was just about to get into bed when I looked at my pillow, there was only what I can only describe as some kind of poo on it…I thought..WTF..my room/hut was about 5 mins walk away my the main building. I’m thinking there must be some kind of animal in the room…maybe a rat or something and maybe my imagination was running away with me but I was sure I saw something run under the table.. The lighting was so low that it was hard to know for sure. I thought… if I open the door it might not run out and I might be letting more things in, so I hid under the covers.

 

At the Tower View in Naragort

I hope to ride on top of a bus soon!

5/7/2011.

Got up early to take some photos, and then made my way to the bus stop. Luckily I had 20 mins to spare to have breakfast in my local cafe. I thought I’d head for Jiri….probably the nearest place I could go to get to Everest. Well…it turned into an eventful day to say the least. There is something to say about travelling on your own…it has its freedom but also loneliness. So off I head…about three hours by bus around the outskirts of Kathmandu trying to find a connecting local bus to Jiri. So..i eventually find this bus after walking up and down that same road for about an hour (same old story)…even the local guy who was helping me didn’t know! I eventually got on the the bus for Jiri…they were so friendly and helpful. The bus was packed and thought I can’t stand carrying my backpack for an hour or so…so I thought double check the journey time. I asked the guy next to me how long the journey is..11 hours was his reply…11 HOURS!!!. I said..is it nice there? "no not really". I got off while it was filling up at a petrol station and made my way up to Pokhara via Bandipur. Note to self...research Liz...research!!