Wednesday 8th September
Well my last post was pretty down and thank you so much to everyone for your emails to brighten my day. I'm just back from Pokhara and I'm trying to get down as much as I can before it all starts to fade. Some of it never will, and from that comment you can tell I had a fantastic time. It is such a beautiful place and so much like the Nepal that I envisioned. I am restored of sound humour, very sunburnt and look like I have reverted to my hippie days.
Hope you are up for a long read ...
The Flight to Pokhara
Yes ... it got lost in the translation. I got to the airport and no booking. The people there were pretty helpful though and got me on the next flight which was a couple of hours away, but as luck would have it, someone didn't turn up, so I actually managed to get on the original flight. Pokhara is only a half hour flight from Kathmandu, so in a flash I was finally away from the city.
Pokhara
Pokahara is another town in a valley but there are just dozens of mountains all the way around it. Its main fame is as a starting point to get to the Annapurna range which has quite a few mountains just a tad smaller than Everest. It is quite a spread out city with a rural area (rice, what else !), mountain villages and a huge lake ( well theres a few, but theres a huge one in Pokhara central) .. I got myself a taxi to Lakeside, which is a more touristy area of town and doh .. on the lake. Found myself a hotel, settled in and headed off for a mosey around town. I'm just out of the gate at the hotel when I literally bumped into a local guide (Surya, which is also the brand of local ciggies that I don't mind at all .. kismet or what ?). We got chatting and he offered to show me around the local sites for the day as business is pretty slow in all the tourist areas here, the whole maoist situation topped off with the riots has seen a huge downturn in numbers. So, off we trot down to the lake. In the middle of the lake is a temple, so it was hire a boat while I sat there like a queen (umbrella and all) being rowed out to the temple. It was just a fantastic start to my break. It was so clean and fresh and being on the water looking up at the mountains was breathtaking.
After the boat trip, we hired a bike (motor of course) and headed off to Devi's or David's Falls. The local name is Devi, but the story goes that a number of years ago, a tourist named David managed to disappear down the falls and hence the rename. Well, could I ever miss somewhere with that name ... David(s) will now have a photo of their fall's in Nepal. With my photographic skills, a postcard would have probably been better, but hey this has the personal touch, next off was the Mahendra Cave which after the Margaret River caves, well, not even close ... Sight seeing out of the way for the day, it was time for dinner and to test out the local vodka, after 3 very dry weeks, it didn't take much, plus it packs quite a punch, but fun was had .. before I had too many vodka's though, we organised to do an overnight hike to Sarankot, which is one of the highest peaks overlooking town (1500m above sea level), so its an 8am start, with lots of walking ..UPHILL ..
The Sarankot Hike
OK, so we cheated a bit .. got a taxi about a quarter of the way up and it was hiking from there. As I didn't expect to go hiking, I only had my flip flop sandals, 2 sets of clothes, no hat, no umbrella and no sunscreen ... but I did buy a bottle of wine to celebrate with at the top, so I got something right.
I'm not sure if I can convey the absolute magnificence of the countryside. It is a tropical climate and the mountains are for the most part like stepping back in time. The path is loose rocks (apparently the bus does a run down this way, I do not want to do that trip ) but everywhere around is jungle type flora. Huge bamboo, trees, creepers, terraced rice paddies, delicate ferns, flowers and moss growing out of the stone walls, insects, buffalo and goats. It is so peaceful and the air is rarified, the views are just breathtaking. It wasn't taking me long to fall in love with Pokhara.
Surya comes from a village about 3/4's of the way up, so after a couple of hours, we stopped at his cousin's for lunch. Being 'guest of honour' I was offered a grass mat to sit on and slowly the family started to gather around. I was made to feel so welcome and it truly was an honour to be able to share a meal with them. Old uncle was just a laugh and I received my first marriage proposal. He has no teeth and he noticed my missing one and thought it was very funny and said we should get married. Everyone is very concerned with my marital status over here, first question is always 'Where do you come from ?' and the second question is always 'Are you married ?', but I digress ... so after the best dahl bhat I have had here (rice, curried vegetables, lentil soup to pour on the rice and a spicy vegetable relish), it was onwards and upwards. I've got to say, I did a lot better than I thought I would. We took it slowly, but the knees and lungs held up and after a good 5 hours of walking we were at the top. There are a number of guest houses up there, the accommodation is basic to say the least, but none of that really matters. I was just in awe .. to be sitting there on the balcony looking down on the clouds is something I will never forget. It just made so many things seem insignificant. This was a time for reflection, to count my many blessings and as corny as it sounds, to really come to peace with so many things. It just all seemed so easy up there. After some reflection time, a nice South African Chennin Blanc with What You Want playing just well and truly made my day. That was it for me, an early nite and boom, I was gone ....
Overnight the rain and clouds came in heavily, now that is some music, listening to the thunder reverberating through the mountains with a gentle rain on a tin roof, magic .. unfortunately it also meant you couldnt see more than a few feet in front of you, so I missed the sunrise, but there's always another day.
Day 3
We headed off back to town, a nice slippery rocky very narrow trail, but luckily the flip flops held up and I didn't end up taking the short cut, which would not have been a nice way to go. As a busy day was planned, we got a taxi down most of the way, got myself a room at another guesthouse, and luxury of luxuries, a nice hot shower. I am so sunburnt, my hair is a total mess but wow I feel good. Back on the bike and off to Begnas Lake which is about 15k's out of town. Again, very beautiful, very peaceful and we just sat on the edge of the lake and had long discussions about Australia and Nepal, the differences and the iPod .. Surya is just blown away by it. (LOL and of course I made him listen to John Butler and Powderfinger, they are really into the girly pop stuff here, yuk ...). Now its time for some serious stuff, I really really need some clean clothes, so off to downtown Pokhara for some shopping. I managed to order 2 new sari's, which will be ready tomorrow, but still nothing to wear now. Ah well, I just keep switching the sari and my jeans, totally creased and dirty, but thats life on the road ... Tonight it was the Everest Steak House for dinner and to the bar next door for some live music. Had a few games of pool, which I haven't played for ages bar that one go at Fraser Island and again I didn't do too badly. It was 2 all, so figured it was a good time to quit.
Day 4
My flight back to Kathmandu leaves at 2.30pm, so after my usual early morning rise, I walked down to the lake and just sat there and soaked up the atmosphere and went for a walk around town. The people here are just so friendly, its take a few steps, have a talk with someone, take a few more steps, the pace is very leisurely and laidback. I checked out of the guesthouse and got an invite to spend Daisai, which is a big 10 day festival in Nepal next month, with the owner and his family. I'll have to see what is happening here, but I will make it if I can. After breakfast, it was up to the Buddhist Temple across from the lake. This was some ride, big loose rocks up a steep hill, with me and my backpack on the back, pretty impressive ... the track goes most of the way up, but theres about a k on foot up a fairly steep slope. By now I was totally burnt out, too much good life, sun plus very low clouds and high humidity finally did me in. I made it to the base of the temple (stupa), but then I just looked at this huge flight of stairs to the actual temple and knew I wasn't going to make it. So, after a nice rest on the lawn to get my breath back we headed into town, picked up my sari's and off to the airport. I really didn't want to come back, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Got to the reception desk to find my flight has been delayed an hour, so found a nice spot by the river, some more chatting and then it really was time to go .... After all that lovely fresh air and space, the pollution in Kathmandu seemed even worse, but at least I now have a bolt hole to disappear to when I just can't take the city anymore ...
I will definitely be back to Pokhara for a break or two and I'm going to have to get plenty of practice climbing the stairs here as this whole trekking thing has got me going now. After I finish my work in Kathmandu, I'm going to do the Annapurna Base Camp (or however high we have to go for the snow). We plan to take it slowly over about 14 days and wooohooo, I will finally get to throw that snowball......