PICKING UP THE RAFTERS AND A BIKE RIDE

WEATHER: Sunny and a beautiful 25C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Feeling 100%

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Can’t think of a single thing

WORD OF THE DAY: Back on the bike

My notes on today seem a little on the basic side.  I am not sure why as we had quite a busy day, so I will be testing the memory of a week ago and hope that I can remember everything.

We were picking up the rafters today.  I wonder how they fared on their overnight excursion in a tent.  It was cold last night, so I hope that they had enough warm clothes.  Our departure time was scheduled for 9am and while we were having breakfast at 8.15am one of the hotel staff that would be accompanying us for a section of the way came and told us that we were leaving in 10 minutes.  Ummmm we were told 9am.  Luckily breakfast came out pretty fast and we ate and got our bags out just a little after 8.30am.  Not sure what the rush was as we weren’t meeting a public bus, and there was just us, but lucky the 4 of us were packed-so it was no biggie. 

We left the beautiful town of Bandipur for the 20 minute drive down the mountain.  We were in a jeep, with me in the front seat, the girls in the back and our bags, our staff member and 3 hanger-ons in the tray without bags.  The hanger-ons were just getting a ride to the small town at the bottom and then making their own arrangements.  I would HATE to travel like that.  Not knowing where the busses leave from, how much they cost, are they going the right way, when is the next one?  All for the sake of saving some money?  Maybe some do it for the thrill, like trekkers hiking a massive mountain-I see no fun in that, but thousands do it-so each to their own I guess.  We then transferred from the jeep to a waiting bus.  It was a local bus, a lovely bright PINK thing that was hired just for us and then the rest of the group when we collected them in a few hours.  The bags were loaded on the roof of the bus and then we were back on the Nepali roads again.  Every time we are on the roads I have this thing at the back of my head that we are travelling on some of the most dangerous roads in the world and I say a silent prayer that we are kept safe each time.  I don’t worry as such because there really is nothing you can do and if your time is up then it is up, but it doesn’t hurt to ask for safe passage just in case. 

We stopped once very quickly for the driver to get some credit for his phone and I used the opportunity to also get some more.  I had figured out that the internet hasn’t been free on my Nepali sim card but I topped up my card last week putting $4AUD on it and it has lasted me 8 days and that is with a lot of use, so I certainly don’t mind paying for my internet at $4 a pop.  It really has been the best value sim card from all the countries I have been to.  Well done Nepal-who would have thought you would have had such a great communication network and far superior than any South American country, especially based on your dated international airport you have.

We arrived at rafting camp at 10.45am.  It was pretty cool to be able to spread out in the bus and even with everyone on, we will all still be able to have 2 seats each this afternoon.  ‘Rafting Camp’ wasn’t much.  It had a small shop with some bench seats, a toilet where the rafters could change (not western) and a small shed thing that had wooden seats around a table and this was where lunch was served before hitting the road.  I used my time to boot up the computer and get some blog written while Ruby tried to keep an eye out for the group to try and see them as they come in so that she could get photos.  Well time passed and her enthusiasm waned and when we weren’t looking, the next thing we knew they were at the bus and her partner Aaron made a comment about thanks for the welcome!  Poor Ruby she had been watching out all morning and then we missed them when we weren’t looking for one minute, well maybe a little longer.  They were all drenched; they all looked tanner then when the left yesterday and can I say a little tired looking as well.  Jess, Rubes and I were firing questions at them all as soon as they arrived.  Was the water cold?  How was the food?  Was it scary?  Could we have done it?  Were you warm enough last night?  Did anyone fall in?  How long did you raft for?  Did you miss us?  We missed you-oh I guess that’s not a question!  So they all got changed out of their wet clothes we had a great lunch prepared by the rafting company and then we were back on the road again at 1.30pm.  Destination Chitwan National Park. 

For me, Chitwan National Park symbolizes the last few days of tour.  Once we finish our 3 nights there, we were back to Kathmandu and then I was pretty much on my way home.  I don’t think that part has sunk in yet, going home, as I am still having a great time on tour.  Everyone I think has shown some true colours in the last 10 days, and I don’t mean that in a bad way, as we are all still getting along famously, but it really is interesting how people do change from day one to day ten.  I think it would make a very interesting study on observing peoples behaviors.  Very interesting indeed.  We arrived into Chitwan National Park and our hotel at 2pm.  We were met by our guide who would be with us this afternoon for the bike ride and then for the next 2 days when we ventured further into the national park via canoe and by foot.  He ran through what we would need for it overnight stay tomorrow night at the tea house and instructions for our big bags that would be staying at the resort fir our return.  The accommodation here looked pretty cool.  It was a massive resort, with individual buildings scattered around the grounds.  There was an activities board with all the things you could do and the times a cultural dance at 6.30pm each evening and tea for our arrival.  The downside was they had Wi-Fi but it was slow as a snail, every man and his dog seemed to be on it and we were in a building with 9 ex-pat children on summer camp in our building.  They are teenagers and seem to be so full of life.  I wonder what their parents do for them to have to school in Kathmandu and that must be a great thing as a kid and can only help the kids with their confidence and appreciation for our world at that age right?

We had free time from 2-4pm which gave us time to organize our bags for tomorrow for our overnight excursion and to just kick back and try and access the internet from our room that seemed to have a better connection than what we had at reception.  I wasn’t too worried as I still have access on my phone, but I did have 2 blogs to load and I did get them eventually up on the net.  At 4pm we met again at reception and there were 12 bikes all lined up for us to pick from for the 1.5 hour ride around some of the villages.  Now I haven’t been on a bike since I fell off one 5 weeks ago when I thought I was wonder woman and held onto a tuk tuk travelling at 25km an hour and fell off.  It looked bad and I really hurt my arm quite bad and it has only just started to come good this week actually and I would say I am 94% recovered (injury wise), pride will take a little longer, but it was fun and seemed a good idea at the time, like a lot of things that turn nasty!

So with us all saddled up, people having a practice ride, as some of the group hadn’t been on bikes in years we were ready to head off.  Our guide was certainly in no rush, keeping the speed to a cool 3km per hour I rekon.  I probably could have walked faster than what we were riding, but I wasn’t going to complain-this wasn’t the Tour de France after all.  The bonus was that there aren’t many hills in Chitwan; it was pretty flat going the whole way, so it was really a pleasant ride.  We passed villages doing their daily thing, the Himalaya’s were to our right (but clouded and not a great view) we crossed a bridge that did have a great view and then arrived at our destination.  We were shown how the local huts were made from clay and elephant dung and then inside some traditional music instruments, cooking utensils and other cultural bits and bobs.  We then walked around the village where the ‘tourist’ hut was and saw some farm animals including a pig, goats, kids herding a herd of cows and the village breathed and functioned as we walked through taking out photos.  By this time it was after 5pm and dinners were being cooked and the smell in the air was magic.  But it was time for us to leave before it got dark and after we navigated our way around a tractor that had a hay stack taller and wider than the actual tractor itself we rode home to a setting sun, passing busses and a few cars for good measure.  We went a different way on the way back and our timing couldn’t have been worse as we passed a sunset view point and the sun had just gone down and around 100 people started to move, and with us on bikes, wobbly already, we got off them to avoid a calamity and were back at 5.30pm on the dot.  So I made it without falling off.  It also helped that there were no tuk tuk’s to actually hold onto-take away the temptation and the crisis was averted. And I didn’t fall off.  I need to FB Indika to tell him, my guide from Sri Lanka.    

Some of the group were meeting at 6.30pm to watch the cultural dance, but I have to say I am just about cultural danced out.  Not just of Nepal, but I have seen some dancing in my time and without seeming biased, the Ethiopian national dance is pretty impressive to watch.  If you get a chance Google it, it is amazing and looks like they are double jointing there shoulders, and again the dance of the Hamer Tribe in Ethiopia is also a sight to behold.  But a lot of countries dancing tends to blur into another’s and based on this I decided to not go for the dance, and Jess, Jessica and Kalps also decided to not go and we were all going to meet at the restaurant at 7.30pm.  So Jessica and Kalps came to our room and we just chatted till it was dinner time.  It is so interesting talking to people about their passions, to travelers, to thinkers and to experience.  It makes for great conversations and I think this is why I love this group and it helps that I like Jessica and Kalps as well.  Kalps is doing some volunteer work in Pokhara after the trip and may have a contact for me in a Tanzania organization should I need something.  I also have a contact in Sudan (very loose) a contact in Cameroon and a contact in Kenya.  So it will certainly not be the end all if Ethiopia doesn’t work out.  And it is nice to know that I now don’t have to put all my balls in one basket (Ethiopia) and really, I am going to need a base of some sort when I am in Africa.  If I decide to travel more of the continent, gets jobs that take me out of Ethiopia, I am still going to need a place to have my stuff, why not Ethiopia where the rent is cheap, at least until I know where I am going to settle permanently and I am totally happy with this plan.  Rock it!!!  Bernie is BACK.

Welcome to Chitwan National Park.  We were leaving the hotel in the morning for our canoe ride and the walk in through the national park as we hunt (well not in the true sense of the work) for rhino, elephants and tigers.      

DAY 90-DAY 547

WEATHER: Beautiful, cooler and 20C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Feeling 96% better

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Half the group leave for rafting-miss them

WORD OF THE DAY:  Serenity

This is day 90 since leaving home on the 8^th of August and day 547 of my whole Odyssey. 

This is my life and I am one lucky person that is for sure.

Good morning…and what a good morning it is.  I am feeling 96% better, I slept through the whole night and I am hungry for something to eat this morning.  I still feel a little ‘off’ but compared to yesterday I have nearly made a full recovery.  Man, I can’t remember the last time I had food poisoning and it is the first time in 20 months that I have had it and I hope it is a long time till I get it again. Yuck, yuck and double yuck.

But today is a new day and we were up and dressed at 7.30am for some breakfast.  We decided to eat at the café across the way, the guys had eaten there yesterday and had raved about it and I needed something in my stomach after not really have eaten yesterday and I have to concur that my eggs and onion and tomatoes mix was amazing.  I wasn’t able to eat it all, but it was just what I needed.

Six of the group were going rafting today, which is an overnight excursion, and then the rest of us (4) would be leaving Bandipur in the morning with all the bags and picking them up along the river somewhere around lunch time tomorrow.  So they were all busy packing their overnight bags that were provided and that would go into barrels and I decided I HAD to get some blog written.  Even though it was a little cooler today, the sun was out, the sky was blue and I decided to make the most of this marvelous setting and view and sat downstairs, outside with my computer and just started to tap away.  Now this is what I wanted to do yesterday and is the beauty of getting sick on rest days, at least I got that part right and it was nice to have the additional day here, rather than in Pokhara, as I just would have shopped more there and there were more distractions, and it was a lot more relaxed here and exactly what I needed.  So my words flowed until my computer went flat and I had to go back to the room to charge it.  I am lucky it doesn’t take long for it to charge, around 45 minutes, so I left it in the room and bought back my hard copy diary and caught up on that, sticking in my daily sheets, ticket stubs and anything else that I hold onto for keepsakes all the while listening to my tunes and just enjoying where I am and thinking about where I am going. 

The group left at 11.30am.  So with a wave goodbye and wishes of luck we were now down to 4.  Rubes, Jess, Mar-Anne and I were left to our own devices till tomorrow morning.  We were given the run down from Satya on what was to happen tomorrow-so we were clear on that, and it was all taken care of, but we still had to sign a waiver that we were ‘leaving’ the tour for the night and reconnecting tomorrow, even though the company has organized all our extra accommodation and transport.  Well whatever paper work they need then so be it.  I skipped on lunch and retrieved my computer to keep blogging till I got kicked off the big table at 2.30pm for the arrival of a large group for lunch.  I was okay with it as I had nearly finished my 2^nd blog and was nearly typed out.  I moved to one of the smaller tables in the shade and it was just too cold to be sitting there, so I loaded the 2 that I had done and then went back to the room to read for a few hours before Jess, Rubes and I had decided to meet at 5.30pm for an early dinner.  It does sound early but it takes so long to get the food once you have ordered, so by the time it comes it is around 6.30pm-7ish anyway.           

The internet has not been so great since leaving Kathmandu.  There has been enough for status updates, a few loads of Instagram photos and a blog if I am lucky.  I have so many messages I need to reply back to and I feel bad that they can see when I have read them and haven’t replied back.  So as soon as I get some decent internet, I promise everyone that I will reply back to every single message that has been sent.   

        

I haven’t spoken much about the town of Bandipur but it is a super cute, quaint kind of place and with some of the buildings reminding me of Cuba with them all run down but still having a charm about them.  Bandipur is a hilltop settlement in Tanahu District of Nepal. Because of its preserved, old time cultural atmosphere, Bandipur has increasingly been coming to the attention of tourism. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 9952 people living in 1929 individual households.  Bandipur is located at an elevation of 1030m on a mountain saddle (Mahabharat range) approximately 700m above the Marsyangdi River Valley, 143 km to the west of Kathmandu and 80 km to the east of Pokhara. Since 1998 it is connected by an 8km access road from Dumre (Kathmandu-Pokhara highway). Until then, there was only an unreliable road, in monsoon usually not accessible or only by tractors. The mountain saddle, just 200m long, is barely wide enough to accommodate the main street lined by 2 –3 story buildings on either side. At the backsides of these houses the mountainsides steeply descend and the gardens are only accessible by stairs.

Bandipur was established as a funneling point of trade by Newar traders from Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu valley after it had been conquered in 1768 by Prithvi Narayan Shah. They took advantage of its malaria free location to develop it into an important stop along the India-Tibet trade route. With them they brought their cultural heritage and architecture which basically has remained unchanged to this day.  Originally a simple Magar village in the early 19^th century Bandipur developed into prosperous trading centre and a community with town-like features: substantial buildings, with their neoclassical façades and shuttered windows and streets paved with slabs of silverish slate. Bandipur had its heyday in the Rana times (1846-1951), when, as a measure of its power and prestige, it was granted special permission to have its own library (still existing).  In the 1970s, trading fell into a steep decline with the construction of the Kathmandu – Pokhara highway. For technical reasons it was logically built in the Marsyangdi valley, leaving Bandipur isolated up on the mountain. In addition to that, as a result of its poor accessibility.  The tradesmen of Bandipur were forced to move down to Dumre and many even left for the Terai; Bandipur turned a semi-ghost town. The population declined considerably.  Some relics of its wealthy past remain. Although many houses are in bad repair, the typical Newari architecture is preserved. A distinctive aspect of Bandipur’s main street is a covered veranda extending along almost the entire length on the northern side. Most of the buildings still have little shops in them. The slate slabs in the main street have been destroyed by heavy vehicles, for which they were not made, but they can still be made out along the edges and in the smaller alleys. The library still exists and was carefully renovated in 2000.

So not the most exciting day for an ordinary traveler.  But I need days like this and it was just what I needed following such a sick day yesterday. 

This is day 90 since leaving home on the 8^th of August and day 547 of my whole Odyssey. 

This is my life and I am one lucky person that is for sure.

SPEW AND SQUIRTS IN BANDIPUR

WEATHER: No idea-didn’t leave my room all day

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: I’m alive

BUMMER OF THE DAY: I HATE being sick

WORD OF THE DAY: Food poisoning

The title a little too much information?  Tough.  I need to write about the sick times as well as the happy and sad times and today was a sick time.  There was no doubt about that.  So I went to bed at 10pm last night feeling fine.  I had a gurgly stomach, but that happens now and then so I wasn’t worried.  I woke in a sweat at 1am I had that terrible feeling I needed to go to the toilet, and in a hurry, everyone has had that feeling in their life and know what a horrible feeling that is.  For the next 6 hours I was back and forth between bed and the bathroom and I also had a spew twice up till 7am and the guys woke.  I just felt terrible and the first thing I thought of was that it was something I ate, literally, I had food poisoning.  The hole in the story is that we all ate the same thing last night as it was a set dinner and after Jess returned back after breakfast, no one else was sick.  I just didn’t know what I had eaten that everyone else didn’t.  Jess ordered some dry toast for me, which I ate and kept down, I took some Imodium’s to help with the diarrhea and washed it all down with some electrolytes.

The guys were off for a 6 hour hike today, which I was never going to be going on anyway, but I had hoped to have a productive blog day, which just wasn’t going to happen today.  So Jess left at 9am and I decided to have a shower and then I got a visit from Leena, who also decided not to trek today and lucky for me she has just finished 7 years of ‘doctor-ing’ (sorry Lenna-not sure what you actually specialized is) but I got some more pills from her, one to settle my stomach and another to help with nausea and prescribed sleep by my personal doctor.  So with that advice, I heeded and I slept till 3pm when Jess and the gang returned.  I was still in sickland and Jess went out and bought me some lemonade and a packet of salted chips to get me through the afternoon.  It was comforting to hear the everyday noises out the window.  Children playing and laughing, the temple bells tolling, men talking, women shouting-a reminder that life continues, even when you are feeling sick as a dog.  I was lucky I had the internet on my phone and I would check that throughout the day, which made me feel better that I was still able to keep an eye on the world from my sick bed and share my sickness news with them all.   

The gang went for an early dinner, which I declined-and with a visit from Satya to check up on me, we ordered some plain rice at 7pm, which I had a few mouthfuls of.  When Jess got back from dinner she said that Kalps saw me eat something from some kids yesterday and then the penny dropped-THAT is what made me sick.  I ate that puffed rice from the kiddies yesterday.  The way they make that stuff is that they soak the rice to the point of it nearly sprouting and then they dry it, coat it in herbs and then eat it.  So besides the Nepali water (which is not drinkable here at all-it is a browny colour out of the taps), I also had the spices to contend with and then the children’s hands which were probably covered in little bacteria.  Dang it-that had to be it!  What an idiot I am and I should, actually I DO know better, but those cute little faces just sucked me in and this was the thanks I get for trying to be nice.  SUCKER.  So I knew it was something that I had eaten and that was it.  I had a case of food poisoning and it was a terrible 16 hours.

So I was in bed just after 10pm and I hadn’t chucked since this morning, but I still had diarrhea, but the tummy cramps had also gone, so I was hoping that I was on the mend and prating for a good night’s sleep to wake up brand new in the morning.  Being sick sucks. 

      

TRAVEL TO THE HILLTOP TOWN OF BANDIPUR

WEATHER: Hot and blue skies 25C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: A late departure from Pokhara

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Can’t think of a single thing

WORD OF THE DAY: What a view

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 80KM

Jess and I were up at 7am this morning.  The one morning we could have a sleep in and our body clocks would have no part of it.  We weren’t meeting some of the others till 9am, so it gave us a chance to pack our bags and watch some TV.  I have still been receiving lovely messages via Facebook, they really are just too kind and it gives me a new lease of life every time I get one and they are coming from people that I would not expect.  I even got a Facebook message from Shelly Belly which is a BIG deal as she is never on Facebook.  EVER, so that was a great start to my day.  We weren’t leaving till 1.30pm today but we had to be out of our rooms by 12 noon.  So the plan was to go and grab some breakfast, walk around town, come back to the hotel at noon, put our bags outside and then head back into town for lunch and then back to the hotel again at 1.30pm for our departure.  So at 9am Kalps, Lenna, Jess, John and I made our way to one of the café’s that overlooked the Fewa Lake and to eat with a view.  It was a magic spot, to see the mountains, looking like they were rising out of the lake on both sides.  I wonder what people are doing back home today as I look out over this view? 

From here we walked back into the main section of the town and made sure there was nothing else that I wanted to buy and I am happy to report I was well and truly shopped out here.  I did buy some small purses from a Woman’s Co-Op, where the women of the region are shown how to weave and then their stuff is sold in the shop.  It is great quality stuff and Jess and Ruby went to town in here and with all the proceeds going to a great cause it is a win win situation.  It is nearly guilt free shipping right!  I would have loved to have bought some bags, but do I need them?  The answer is no.  So I held some self-restraint and didn’t get one, which is another rarity for me.  With my future in limbo, I need to just be picky on the stuff that I am accumulating, as it isn’t just the job of getting it back to Australia, but then moving it again to Africa.  I have enough stuff already without having to add to it.  I have been speaking to John the last couple of days about getting quotes for buying a shipping container and then paying for storage, trying to reduce the monthly cost of what I currently have.  This would be the alternative to what I currently doing or going through it all at Christmas and tossing and giving away all my belongings.  I am really not sure what to do about the whole situation.  At the end of the day, if I have no intention of coming back to Australia, it is just dead money paying for my stuff to sit there, but there are a few things that I don’t want to get rid of just yet, mostly my mums furniture, but after having this conversation with Christine in LA in June, they are just belongings and there is no point holding onto them if they aren’t going to be used.  I’ll see what prices John comes back with as he has emailed work to get some costs.        

The street is always a hive of activity and the shops were just starting to fully open around 10.20am.  I bought some stickers for my diary and computer, some paintings and while we were waling I saw Harry having a puff on a smoke on his balcony and he said hi Bernie (remembering my name) and asked how the tattoo was going.  Which by the way was cracking along.  Only a little bit of redness and a tiny bit tender, but all in all it was perfect.  I woke up this morning looking at it and it just bought a smile to my face.  I am going to have to think of something to tell my God-daughters (they are 7 and 5) on what it means and also think of an explanation on what I am going to do with the Zeme tattoo.  As I know for a fact they will ask.  Shelly has told them that Zeme and I have broken up so I am sure they will have a bevy of questions for me that only children can ask in their non-judgmental non-corrupted way of thinking and for the unconditional love that they give me always.  Maybe I am going to be one of those Godmothers/Aunties that roam the globe forever, where they will always receive postcards and gifts from all over the world.  The one unconventional person that they will hopefully think is cool even when I am 70 and still living in Africa and coming home once a year for a visit.  Even though the questions will be hard to answer, it is so refreshing to see their outlook and thoughts on life.  They are smart girls and I sometimes get a little sad when I am travelling that I am missing out on them growing up.  I mean Zoe will be 8 next year and Tess 6.  I can still remember clear as day when I had them both in my arms 30 minutes after them being born.  They are my family and I love them and miss then EVERY SINGLE day. 

So we headed back to the hotel at 12 noon, put our bags outside our doors for collection and then headed back into town for lunch.  I am not sure if I am getting a little blasé, but I also left my small backpack that had my laptop in there, some jewelry and other bits and bobs.  I figured if the bags were getting collected, they would be looked after somewhere right.  Everyone else seemed to be carrying all their stuff with them, which I couldn’t be bothered which also has something to do with the fact that my small backpack weighs a ton with my prayer wheel in there and my Buddha head wooden statue and all my other crap.  I am the same in the hotel rooms.  I don’t lock anything up, all my stuff is always strewn across the room where as Jess and others have all their stuff closed and under lock and key.  I mean I don’t leave money around, or jewelry out in the open, but surely the staff value their jobs too much to steal things from guests?  Well I am hoping and **touchwood** I have been lucky so far in my 20 months and that will continue for my last 10 days.

We were all back a little early, so with our bags on the roof, everyone accounted for, we piled into our ‘luxury’ van for the 2.5 hour drive to Bandipur.  This was by far the best vehicle we have had so far and I think the transport will be the one thing I will pop on my feedback form.  The first few vans were very ordinary which normally isn’t a drama for me, and if that is the only form of transport, then you just need to suck it up.  But for long journeys of 4-6 hours and there are other better quality vans, you need to have better vehicles than we had.  It’s not a biggie but I think some constructive criticism is hopefully well received.  We are heading back the way we came for around 2 hours before turning off the main highway and start our final climb to Bandipur.  As we left the city the clear view we had a few days ago was now covered in clouds and just made you think just how lucky we were to get photos on a rare, clear day of the Annapurna Mountains.  It was still an incredible view non-the-less.

It has been a week today that we have been on tour and it has just flown by.  The sign of a great tour I say.  To think I will be home in less than 2 weeks gives me butterflies in my stomach and I just can’t wait to be surrounded by friends and to share in the festive season this year and to also be home for my birthday is also a massive PLUS.  Last year I was in the Galapagos with my GREAT mate Aimes for my birthday and for Christmas Day we were in Bolivia touring the salt flats of Uyuni.  To think that on the 29^th of this month (November) was when I joined my South American tour that was going to take me through 11 countries on a trip that would take in 160 days around the continent.  Crazy times as that only seems like months ago, and I guess in my defence that tour finished in April, so that could explain why it still seems so fresh.

We are passing rice fields that are currently getting harvested.  Does anyone know how much work goes into obtaining a single grain of rice?  Well let me tell you and once you know, like the tea process, when you next have a meal that contains rice, think of all the work that has gone into getting that piece of grain on your plate.  So it's harvest time and all the rice planted three months ago is ready to rock and roll. Rice planting is tough business, a long and drawn out process. It is no wonder rice is so holy and never a kernel wasted. After seeing how it's done, you would be picking it off the tabletop.  First, seedlings are grown in small patches, dense and brilliantly green. They are grown prior to harvest and ready for replanting. As soon as the previous paddy is harvested, the men arrive with their ox. Still using the same ancient technology, the men wade behind the ox and plow in knee deep mud that houses scores of leeches. First they cut the earth with a large knife, and then they change to a large comb that evens the earth out leaving behind a fine silt. The job is back-breaking.  Once the paddy is ready, the baby rice plants are removed and transferred in bundles by the women.  Spread across the width of the paddy, each grasps a bundle of seedling and moving backward, replant them about three inches apart till the entire field is covered. Moving from paddy to paddy, they work in teams, their hands flying to place each blade of rice into the soft silt.  Those single blades of rice have now become large green bundles and all of Nepal is awash in color.  Rice harvesting involves bending, cutting and grabbing, bend, cut and grab. Over and over. Moving in rows again across the field, the women sliced effortlessly through the rice stalks.  The women work, the boy runs around and collects the large bundles and takes them to a central area.  There, plastic tarps are spread out and the stalks are beaten over a rock to shake the rice loose.  Once the grains have been shook loose 40kg bags of rice are filled and transported to homes and warehouses the usual rural way. On their backs. It's called a dokko and it is a large jute strap that wraps around the forehead to the load on your back.  In typical third-world fashion, nothing goes to waste in a process that has been refined over thousands of years.  After bagging the rice, the stalks are sifted to draw out further grains and separate rocks and other inedible matter.  Then the stalks are laid out in the sun to dry. Once they are completely dry, they are bundled and stored, feed for the animals for the next season.  So next time you eat a plate of rice, think of all the work that has gone into those grains and the labor of work by which the food was made.  Remember the hardship of producers and be thankful to them.

It is interesting what you see on drive days.  The most common occurrence is men taking a leak by the side of the road.  This happens in a lot of countries; this is not just a Nepali thing and is really just part of the scenery now.  But today I saw a small child with his bum to the road as he took a poo.  I saw another small child, around 4 years old, sitting by some hot ashes (still smoking) dipping a chip packet in the hot embers.  People are always working hard, seeing people carrying sand and ricks on baskets on their backs that are being supported by a piece of material around their foreheads, near misses with traffic and animals and I also saw an older woman fall over just before turning off the highway.  This is the world we pass each day and each day is a new day that brings new things to see and how things like that would never happen back in Australia but is the ‘norm’ in a country like Nepal and to remind  you just how lucky we are.  Really lucky.            

After turning off the main highway we had a 30 minute drive up the side of a mountain offering us great views again of the Himalaya’s.  I will NEVER get tired of seeing these magnificent mountains, EVER.  We arrived into Bandipur at 3.50pm.  There literally is only one main street that is not open to traffic, so we got out of the van, our bags followed with porters from the hotel, and we walked the 5 minutes through the main street to where were would be staying for the next 3 nights.  There were 6 of the group that were rafting the Seti River, so they were only staying 2 nights here as they camp for a night on the river and there were 4 of us that had decided to not raft, have an extra night here and then follow with our bags on the 3^rd day to pick up the rafters and then head to Chitwan National Park.  I was always dubious of the rafting from the moment I made my booking on the tour, but I now had a good reason, my arm has still not 100% healed from falling off my bike nearly 5 weeks ago and I know that if I fell out, I am not sure I would be able to pull myself in let alone if someone else fell in helping them.  So that excuse sounds so much better than I am not a water/small boat person and sounding like a chicken.  Yes siree, it is because of the arm people, the arm.  The place where we were staying is a restored village mansion that is over 120 years old.  It was an amazing building.  There were rooms and nooks and cranny’s, chairs and tables through the whole place and our room was located on the third floor that took up the whole length of the building, so one side we had wooden shutters that opened up on the main square and then on the other side there were wooden doors that opened up to a small balcony and a small view of the Himalaya’s.  We were in a triple share here, but the room was big enough with Jess and I at one end and Mari-Anne down the other end with a sitting area in between.  All the doorways are smaller than the average person, so you need to make sure you have your wits about you as you enter and exit rooms, careful to not knock your head on either delivery.  Poor Lenna is so much taller than all of us and she looked like a giant in some of the photos they took with her and the doorways.  It was hilarious; it looked like she had just stepped into Hobitland.  There are no TV’s here and an internet connection that came and went as much as the power loss here.  We were recommended to always have our torches with us, as the power supply here went all the time and most times without warning.  Something I will have to get used to with Africa.     

So after a welcome drink on the terrace that has a 180 degree view of the Himalaya’s we dropped our things off at the room, freshened up and then met back downstairs for a walk to watch a sunset over the mountain ranges.  We have seen them at sunrise, during the day cloud free so it only made sense to see them in the last of their glory as a sun set for another day.  I have taken a lot of photos of these mountains and I was about to take a whole lot more.  I don’t care how many photos I take of these mountains, as they are a special set, they always look different and something that you will never see anywhere else in the world.  It is a special experience, well for me anyway.  Imagine how people feel after they have climbed these babies!!!!  I’m so proud of those people that have climbed these mountains and I don’t even know any of them, oh except Jess, and I have a friend currently climbing Everest base Camp and hope that Kate is doing fine on the mountain with her dad.  They are raising money for Breast cancer that took her mum and also her Aunty.  How brave. 

So we walked for 20 minutes towards an outlook where we would get a better view of the sunset.  On our way we passed homes that were preparing dinner for the evening, kids playing, chickens clucking and people going about their life, really not giving us, a bunch of white people walking through the mix.  There were 2 cute girls eating something as I passed them and they offered me a handful of what they were eating.  It was puffed rice mixed with herbs and chickpeas and without thinking I let them pour me some in my hand and I didn’t want them to feel bad that I didn’t want any, so I popped some in my mouth, thanked them, had a little bit more and then threw the rest in the bushes when I was out of sight of the girls.  I then thought nothing else of it and little did I know what repercussions I would have just from the small amount that I consumed 8 hours later.  Crossing a soccer field we made it to the view point just in time to get some photos before we lost light.  The mountain ranges that were snowy white when we arrived were not a tinge of pink and reds as the sunset hit their peaks.  The weather had also gone a little cooler here, but it was amazing to get some pictures and then just stand there and appreciate the MAGNIFICENT view till the light faded and it was time to walk the 20 minutes back to the town. 

Dinner was included tonight of Dhal Baht at 7pm.  I can’t tell you enough just how much I am over curries.  But I ate with no complaint as it does taste delicious, but it will not be my first choice of ordering for the rest of the trip.  We ate outside and it was quite cold, so pretty much after dinner and with nothing else to do in the town after dark, we all retired to our rooms.  I attempted to get another blog finished and then read my Kindle.  Jess watched a movie and we switched the lights off just after 10pm.  I had a gurgly stomach when I went to go to sleep, but I just put it down to the curry I had eaten for dinner not even suspecting that things were about to get a hell of a lot worse in the coming hours.          

I GOT INKED IN POKHARA-NEPAL

WEATHER: Glorious 27C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The sunrise over the Annapurna Ranges

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Getting up at 4.30am to see the sunrise

WORD OF THE DAY: TATTOO

We had an early start this morning.  We were off to see sunrise over the Annapurna Ranges.  So with the view hopefully worth the effort, we were up at 4.30am and downstairs and in the van at 5am.  It was still dark as we drove through a very quiet Pokhara town for 10 minutes and then we started the dark windy drive up the mountain.  It was interesting the higher we got, we could see car lights from other vans and taxi’s full with people, also climbing to see the sunrise.  Satya had warned us that it gets busy at the tip, so we may have to park where we can and then walk some of the way, depending on how many vehicles were up in front.  We were all fine with that, but as it turned out the 5am departure from the hotel was worth it, as we got a ride direct to the top, parked in a hotels carpark and then decided to get a view of the Annapurna’s as the sun hit their snowy peaks and get a glimpse of the sunrise, rather than trying to battle the hundreds, seriously, hundreds of people for a roof top in a better position or somewhere on the mountain.  This must happen every morning and what a chaos.  It could have been worse, as we were all staggered coming up, but I am already thinking of the mass exodus once we are all ready to go, how long the ride will take going down that took us 20 minutes coming up but its not like we are driving anyway and we can worry about that later.

Annapurna is a section of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes 8,091m Annapurna I, thirteen additional peaks over 7,000m and 16 more over 6,000m.  This section is a 55 km-long massif. Annapurna I is tenth among Earth's fourteen eight-thousanders.  Annapurna is a Sanskrit name which literally means "full of food" (feminine form), but is normally translated as Goddess of the Harvests. In Hinduism, Annapurna is "... the universal and timeless kitchen-goddess ... the mother who feeds. Without her there is starvation, a universal fear: This makes Annapurna a universal goddess ... The entire massif and surrounding area are protected within the 7,629 km² Annapurna Conservation Area, the first and largest conservation area in Nepal.  The Annapurna peaks are among the world's most dangerous mountains to climb.  As of 2007, there had been 153 summit ascents of Annapurna I, and 58 climbing fatalities on the mountain.  This fatality-to-summit ratio (38%) is the highest of any of the eight-thousanders. In particular, the ascent via the south face is considered, by some, the most difficult of all climbs. 

So we took up residence on a rooftop of a hotel and luckily we were all rugged up for the crispness of the morning.  I even bought out the beanie and was glad I decided to wear leggings under my tracky dacks for extra warmth.  Now it was just a waiting game.  We had some stools that were bought up for us to sit on, some hot drinks of our choice were bought up to help keep us warm and wile away some time.  The building was a typical Nepali style with us in the roof of the second floor and there was another set of steps to a small rooftop where the water tanks etc. are kept.  There was enough room for us to come and go from the second to the third level, with the third offering the best view of the sunrise.  There were 2 buildings in front of us, so we were getting an obstructed view of the sunrise, but we could still see the colours change from black, to dark blue, to yellow and finally the red-orange colour that appears just before the red ball of the sun pokes out from behind the mountains.  I was going up and down between the levels when I heard the oooh and the ahhhhhs from the 2 buildings in front and knew that the sun had finally arrived at 6.25am.  It was beautiful, there is no question of that, but for me it was more impressive to see the Annapurna Ranges change colour and see the first rays of light hit the mountain peaks and for this we were in a perfect position to see that unfold.  Literally perfect.  The 2 buildings in front of us would easily of had 100 people on each roof top, if not more, and I really had to wonder what the building restriction was for the amount of people on the roof, that was a little worrying for me, but I was not on that roof and ours was getting a little busier, but compared to their hundred we would have had around 25.  It made for a good photo when I climbed to the third roof for the sun rising, there were like a 100 pairs of hands in the air, all taking pictures of the same thing of the building in front of us. Ahhhhhhh the serenity.

This is where we were now in an optimal position to see the rest of the sun pick out the peaks in brilliant colours of the Annapurna Ranges.  I need to pinch and remind myself that I am in Nepal, looking at part of what is called the Himalaya’s and we just saw a sunrise that not a lot of people would get to see in their lifetime.             

After seeing what we had come to see and taken about a gazillion photos of mountains it was time to hit the van and join what we could see was already a traffic congestion happening.  We got out of the carpark no worries at 7am, but then sat in the van, on the mountain, for an hour as we came to a dead stop 5 minutes into our downhill run!  I guess we all kinds knew that this was going to happen.  It didn’t make much difference to me, but the paragliding guys had to be back, breakfasted and ready at 9am.  It seemed there was traffic coming up and traffic wanting to come down and they had to play musical cars till a path was cleared enough for the down coming traffic to pass at the bend in the road.  You have to wonder if this is done every morning that there wouldn’t be a better system put in place for the influx of traffic and people.  But this is a country whose only international airport looks like it is straight from the Soviet Union of the 1950’s era, what chance has a mountain top viewpoint  got if the airport is not worth spending money on.  So the uphill run took 25 minutes, the downhill run took us an hour and 35 minutes.  While we were waiting in the van, I got Satya to write in Nepali ‘Happiness follows Sadness’ as this was the wording I was going to get with my tattoo.  One: I wanted to see what it looked like written in Nepalese and two: I could show and check it with the tattoo guy.  I liked the way it looked, so I now had my design (it was on a flag I had bought in Sri Lanka) and I now had the words.  Now I just needed the tattoo joint to be open.

We did have one more stop before getting back to the hotel and that was at Bindhyabasini Temple.  We had to climb around 100 steps to get to the temple and what a marvelous view we had of the mountain range from here as well.  Bindhyabasini temple is the only temple of note which lies in the center of Pokhara City.  The original temple was destroyed in 1949 fire, which started from a fire offering run amok.  The main temple which is of white plaster is dedicated to a form of the Goddess Bhagwati. Goddess Bhagwati is Pokhara's Guardian deity, also known as Shakti or Kali and many manifestations. Bhagwati is also known as a blood-thirsty aspect of the goddess.  Worshippers flock here to perform sacrifices and we did see people standing in line with chickens under their arms and we did have to wonder how the animals were killed and what happens to them once they are offered to the goddess?

We spent around 20 minutes here and then it was time to head back to the hotel. 

The guys were given an extra 15 minutes, so that they had time to get ready for their paragliding flight and get some breakfast and then 7 nervous people left and Kalps, Leena and I were left for the morning.  I was still on my tattoo mission and after breakfast the 3 of us walked into town to have a look around and hope that the tattoo place was finally open.  There are quite a few books shops as well, so we leisurely ventured into all the shops as we were in no hurry and really had no place to be, which was nice.  We made it as far at the tattoo place-and it was CLOSED.  What time does this guy open?  It was 10.30am.  We asked again downstairs and they still didn’t know and there was no phone number on his shop front.  Now that we were in the light of the day, we ventured down the lane in search of this other place that the soldiers had pointed out last night and we found it and it was also CLOSED.  Is this a sign that maybe I wasn’t meant to get the tattoo.  NO WAY.  I was getting it, no question.  Just as soon as someone bloody opened their doors.  We asked the shop next door what time they normally open and they just said non committedly in the afternoon.  Okay, so if I have to come back later I will.  So we joined the main drag again, shopping, and buying.  I bought some paintings, a turquoise bracelet and a turquoise pray wheel.  I was on a roll.  It was nice to just be able to enjoy the day (it was getting hot) and not be on any time frame and just walk into all the shops.  We made our way down the street when we found another tattoo place that was OPEN!!!  So we walked in and asked a price, showed him my design and said he could do it, but NOT TODAY as they had a big tattoo to do in the afternoon.  I must say I didn’t have a good vibe about that place, so I was okay with his reply and told him we were leaving tomorrow and thanked him for his time.  But at least I had an idea on price now which was still cheap as chips compared to Australia and our search continued.  We crossed the street, saw another tattoo parlor that was also closed and then started to make our way back on the opposite side checking out their shops and when we got back to the original tattoo place and he was OPEN!!!!! FINALLY. 

So we walked upstairs and the guy was chilling on his small balcony with a smoke and a coffee.  I showed him the flag and the words and I told him the size, which I didn’t want it to be bigger than the globe that was on my other wrist, which was 2.5cm.  The Wheel of Life that was on the flag looked a little like a ships wheel and I was never 100% happy with the design and luckily the tattoo artist was on his game and he pulled out his books and showed me 3 other designs and as soon as I looked at all three I knew straight away which one I loved.  Instantly.  So then we had the issue of the size.  I was happy to push the design to 3cm, but the words would be too small and we couldn’t reduce the size of the picture as it was intricate in the middle, so in the end I went to a 4cm size and this included the words.  So he told me to come back in 30 minutes and checked that I was definitely going to get it done, which was a resounding yes and he must have known because he said he normally asks for a deposit but he said he would trust me.  So we left him to do up the design and I just hope I like it when I come back.

I returned on my own at 12 noon and Harry was just finishing up my design and it looked great.  We definitely had to go with the 4cm, anything smaller and it just would have looked a little ‘off’.  So I was shown into his ‘work’ room, took a seat while he prepped his work station.  He certainly has a system and after laying the paper on the table, he set to work opening bottles, spraying utensils, getting everything he needed in the right place, showing me the needle he pulled out of a new packet and loaded, and then, after washing his hands and shaving my arm we got the stencil on my wrist.  It is like a carbon paper that they wet and the design is transferred onto your arm in purple.  I couldn’t stop looking at it, it was awesome.  It is hard to picture what it would look like in black, but if it looks good in purple, it can only look better in black.  Once that was done he said he just needed a few minutes to have a smoke and then he was ready.  Of course, a smoke!  In his defence he really was only a few minutes and then with me lying down on an awkward looking bench seat the work began.  I was lying next to a window so I could see out at the sky and I saw a few birds flying around with the hum of the needle.  It hurt more than I remembered, but it is like a sunburn type of hurt, it isn’t an excruciating pain.  It probably had something to do with the design as well, as there was a lot more detail on this one than my other 2 tattoos put together.  45 minutes later and the needle was switched off and my tattoo was complete and I LOVED it.  It looked better than I could ever have imagined.  I GOT INKED IN NEPAL!!

And the best thing was it only cost me 58AUD. 

By this time I had 40 minutes to get back to the hotel for our 2.30pm meet up and then an afternoon out and about around the city.  My wrist was wrapped in cling wrap that had to stay on for 3 hours and was also lubed up with Vaseline.  I will have to go to the pharmacy and get some Vaseline as it needs to be kept lubed for the next 14 days.  I’ll do that after dinner tonight. 

This afternoon we took a 25 minute drive to a Tibetan Refugee Camp where we were able to view their handiwork with carpets and then visit an open air market.  The carpets were beautiful and would rival a Turkish or Moroccan carpet, but it was just something I can’t justify at this part of my journey.  I don’t have a house, let alone room and then extra transportation costs to get it from Australia to Africa.  So I took an obligatory look and then we made our way outside the open air market.  Now this was more style.  There were 3 shops in a building, and these were like mini Pandora boxes.  They literally had tables full of ‘stuff’.  From Buddha locks, to pendants to necklaces to statues to anything silver, it was here.  The beauty is that the items were old.  Preloved stuff that had character, none of this mass produced stuff.  Ell they had some pendants that I had seen everywhere but generally it is like a massive lawn sale.  You do have to sift through some junk to get to the good stuff but that is half the fun!  So I bought some jewelry from the ‘shops’ and then it was time to hit the market side.  I felt so bad for these guys, as the shops were just the first thing we saw, so we had spent a lot of time there and then we were given the hurry up for the stalls.  I bought a ring from one of the ladies and it wasn’t her stall, she was looking after it for her friend so she asked me to buy something from hers…I felt bad so I did, but luckily I found a pretty pair of earrings so it wasn’t too hard to find something.  After 1.5 hours it was time to leave, which was a shame.  I think I could have spent another hour here, at least. 

    

From 1959 to 1962 approximately 300,000 exiles entered Nepal from neighboring Tibet following its annexation by China. Most of the Tibetan exiles then sought asylum in Dharamshala and other Tibetan exile communities in India. According to UNHCR, since 1989, approximately 2500 Tibetans cross the border into Nepal each year, many of whom arrive in Pokhara typically as a transit to Tibetan exile communities in India. About 50,000 - 60,000 Tibetan exiles reside in Nepal, and approximately 20,000 of the exiled Tibetans live in one of the 12 consolidated camps, 8 in Kathmandu and 4 in and around Pokhara. The four Tibetan settlements in Pokhara are Jampaling, Paljorling, Tashi Ling, and Tashi Palkhiel. These camps have evolved into well-built settlements, each with a gompa (Buddhist monastery), chorten and its particular architecture, and Tibetans have become a visible minority in the city.

From the camp we travelled only 5 minutes down the road to Davis Falls (meaning underworld falls).  It is a waterfall and an interesting aspect of the falls is that the water travels through a natural tunnel.  The water there comes from the Fewa Lake and is named after Mrs Davi, a Swiss tourist in Nepal, who was swimming in the Fewa Lake.  The dam unexpectedly started to overflow and Davi’s husband helplessly looked on while the waters swept his wife down the waterfall. This took place in 1961 and the body of Mrs Davi was never recovered.  How sad.  It was busy when we got here.  A lot of local, Indian and Korean visitors.  Satya paid the entrance fee as we navigated our way through the many stalls at the entrance.  From what we had just seen at the Tibetan Camp, this stuff all looked tacky and made in China kind of quality, nothing like the quality we had just seen.  It made me feel better about my purchases, not that I felt bad, but that we had got some good stuff at good prices.  It was here I also took off my cling wrap off my tattoo and everyone was able to get a good look at my new acquisition.  It looked great.  I am lucky that I don’t bleed too much from tattoos and it was just a little red looking but looking at it you would never have guessed I had only had it done 3 hours ago.  The falls were ok.  They certainly aren’t mind blowing but interesting to see the falls disappear through a massive hole probably the size of a kiddie’s pool, but that was about the extent of the excitement. 

It was now just before 5pm when we got back to the hotel.  So after dropping off my purchases, we made a plan to meet for dinner at 7pm at Punjabi’s, a vegetarian restaurant, and then we all walked into town for some last minute shopping.  We did have tomorrow morning as well to shop, as we weren’t leaving Pokhara till 1.30pm-giving us some extra time here, which was nice.  I felt confident after this 2 hour walk that I had seen all the shops and there was nothing else I really wanted to buy, well from here anyway.  I love going into the jewelry shops as they have so much stuff in there, but I was even over that, yes hard to believe.  I still had a few things on my ‘list’ that I wanted to get but I could look for that stuff during the week. 

Dinner was surprisingly delicious considering it was all vegetarian.  I am still a hard core meat eater, but every time I have a vegetarian dish I do enjoy it.  I think it is just 30 years of meat eating, it is still hard to grasp that you can have a nice meal without having meat in it.  I am tending to lean towards western options now though as I really am over curry-no matter how hot or not it is.  Considering I am not a curry eater in the first place I think I have done pretty well for the last 5 weeks including Sri Lanka and I don’t think I will touch the stuff again for a very long time once I get home and then into Africa.  The upside is that it is probably the healthiest cooking you could eat, so I have had a great diet the last month and feel great for it so I will try and contain my eating habits when I get home.  I won’t need to have a massive blowout of ‘Aussie’ foods when I get home this time and I plan to get some walking in every morning and get into some shape before leaving.  It will only be 5 weeks, but I am sure I could lose some weight in that time, even though it will be over the Christmas period.   

So that was my day. 

I GOT INKED IN POKHARA

My tattoo is a picture of the Buddhist Wheel of Life and the saying that is written in Nepali says Happiness follows Sadness and to say it in Nepalese is Suka le duka powchowcha.  This tattoo means a lot to me as it symbolizes my introduction to Buddhism in Sri Lanka, my great group, getting it done in Nepal on my last tour and last country officially on my 20 month world odyssey, my breakup from Zeme and indeed Happiness will follow Sadness and the Wheel of Life continues.   

I LOVE IT.   

OUR FIRST GLIMPSE AT THE ANNAPURNA RANGES

WEATHER: Perfect and 25C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The magnificent Annapurna Ranges uncovered

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Couldn’t find a tattoo joint open….

WORD OF THE DAY: SHOPPING

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 105km

It was time to say goodbye to this small piece of heaven and head back to the noise, the beeping of car horns, traffic and dust.  Do we have to?  It is hard to believe we are nearly halfway through the tour already!  They say time flies when you’re having fun and indeed we are.  I am getting excited though as today could be TATTOO day.  I am still 100% decided that I am doing it and I am hoping to be able to see someone today to give them my idea, get them to draw it up and then come back tomorrow to get it done.  That is my plan and anything less than that and I will be disappointed. 

After one last beautiful meal overlooking the valley, which still had cloud cover below us, making it seem like we were sitting above the world we were on the road at 8.40am.  We had yet another ‘micro’van which was an improvement on our arrival van-just.  We had a bit more leg room in the back and enough room for Padma and Satya to sit next to me on the back seat.  I still had to back my arse in to my seat, as they have these small box seats that sit in the aisle so they can fit more people in their vans, so once you step over 2 of those there isn’t much turning room, well for me anyway.  I am sure it looks as awkward as it feels-but it is the easiest way for me to get in and out of the van.  We wound out way back down the way we had come 2 days earlier negotiating 2 trucks that were coming up the mountain.  It really can be quite tricky with the single road and edge drop-offs, but they know what they are doing and I try and not look too complex as we pass close to the edge.  Seriously it is a cliff drop.  Once we were back on the plateau, we had a security check and then we stopped further down the road and a man got in the back with us.  You could tell that Satya didn’t know who this guy was and after a few words, it was the owner of the van and he wanted a lift to Pokhara.  Not the most professional thing to do, not that I cared, we had enough room, but how weird that Satya didn’t know what was happening for a few minutes.  Even though you don’t speak the language, sometimes you can still follow what is going on. 

So another day starts for the Nepalese.  Children in their blue and white uniforms heading to school, women in the fields already, men on bikes with all sorts of things loaded on them and the passing of small food stalls in the hope of selling a quick breakfast to people as they pass.  I love drive days.  It gives you a chance to just observe a country’s heart beat as you watch it pass you by and it also gives me time to reflect on things and listen to my music.  I find I can’t yet listen to any Ethiopian songs, so at this point I skip any that come on-this will change, but for now it is like my little embargo and it makes me feel a little better.  As the trip ticks down it also means I am closer to my return to Ethiopia.  Have I really thought about the implications of going back on my own?  The reality of trying to do day to day stuff not knowing a single person (besides Minalu), no English speaking people, no shop to ‘nip down to’, who will fix things when they break?  How will I move around?  Even if I get a car you need to know where you’re going!.... oh the brain ticks but I can only take it one step at a time and just go with the flow and it will all work out right? Right?  I am thinking once I am home I will start to email some orphanages and the Aid Charities and start to put some feelers out there before I leave Australia.  See what sort of responses I get back.  I would be looking for Volunteer or part time work so that should also get me out and about and making new friends….right……

We stopped at 10.45am, less than 80kms west of Kathmandu along the Prithvi Highway en route to Pokhara at a small riverside village poised on bedrock 30m above a sharp bend in the Trisuli River to walk across one of the many suspension bridges that span the rivers in Nepal.  This one took us to a camp site operated by the same company that looks after the ground arrangements in Nepal called Himalayan Encounters.  The suspension bridge was 160m and the camp was located on the river next to the bridge.  Once we had climbed down to water level we could see one of the things famous in this area and that was the banyan tree.  Locally known as the BIG FIG. 50 or more aerial roots nurture this huge tree of legendary age.   Apparently it is one of the biggest fig trees in the country and even from where we stood, it looked massive.   The camp is base of The Trisuli Centre for whitewater rafters – so well-placed for one-day and over-night rafting.  It was pretty cool with tables set up, clean toilets and an amazing view.  We stopped here for about 40 minutes to stretch the legs, skip some rocks on the Tiffany blue water of the Trisuli River and then climbed back to the bridge to cross and back in the car again for a few more hours. 

Now I have heard more than a few times how crazy the roads are in Nepal, and after being in Africa I was thinking just how crazy can they be.  Well they are crazy and our driver today was one of the crazies.  He hated sitting behind anything bigger than us, which basically is 99% of the traffic and he would get a speed up to overtake when he could find a small opportunity and then traffic would be on-coming and he would have to drop back, to get his speed up again to overtake, to see oncoming traffic and drop back again.  This happened ALL DAY.  So out bodies were moving forward with the momentum to jerking back when he had to pull back in.  It made for a very jarring ride and I think I was glad that I didn’t have the front seat, as I think there may have been some close calls that we just won’t even think about.  The local busses and trucks all use their horns and they hurtle through and beep us as they go to overtake us on the roads from behind, some of them on bends and cars coming…….I just don’t think about it, this is their job, they know the roads and I just turn up my music to drown out the honking.  If I am going to go it will be to a tune I am listening to and not the screeching or honking of a horn.

Lunch was a restaurant called the Highway Hotel and there would have been 25 of them all dotted along the highway, popular name that is for sure.  We stopped at a very touristy one with around 6 other groups also eating there.  They all looked like trekkers, and more of the older generation, I noted.  We ate the buffet which was probably the greasiest food I have consumed in quite a few weeks.  Fried noodles, pokora, fries and some other stuff that I didn’t go near.  I just hoped that my stomach would agree with it all as we still had a few hours in the sardine to go to get to Pokhara.

About 40 minutes from Pokhara and we got our first glimpse of the Annapurna Ranges that surround the city.  We stopped for a photo stop and then continued driving for only 10 minutes when we stopped again.  It was the view of 3 eight-thousand meter tall peaks of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu.  The Machhapuchhre (Fishtail) with an elevation of 6,993m is the closest to the city and could also be seen from here.  Satya said that he has never seen the view of this section of the ranges so clear, so it was definitely worth the photo op here.  They really are a stunning range and to think people trek these mountains is even more impressing to me.  They are like jagged bits of ice coming out of the ground.  We had only stopped by the side of the road, so we had to watch for traffic as we crossed the road, people on their daily routines, people working in the fields and all that with a stunning view.  People would pay millions to have a view like that and here were stalls and small homes all facing the Annapurna’s.  STUNNING. 

We arrived into Pokhara at 3.40pm.  We took a wrong turn to get to our hotel and we passed a tattoo place that was open.  I wonder if that was a good sign.  So I knew I could always come back there if I couldn’t find something else.  It’s a pretty big deal and wanted to see what all my options were before diving in, which I am sure it is what it looks like to people anyway.  I have never been surer of this tattoo and after I got my first tattoo done in 2009, people said that once you get one you will want/get more and they were right.  This will make number 3. 

Pokhara is the second largest city of Nepal and it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.  Three out of the ten highest mountains in the world: Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu or Lamjung himal are situated within 30 miles (linear distance) of the city so that the northern skyline of the city offers a very close view of the Himalayas. Due to its proximity to the Annapurna mountain range the city is also a base for trekkers undertaking the Annapurna Circuit through the ACAP region of the Annapurna ranges in the Himalayas.  In this region the mountains rise very quickly and within 30 km, the elevation rises from 1,000m to over 7,500m. As a result of this sharp rise in altitude the area of Pokhara has one of the highest precipitation rates in the country.   In the south the city borders on Phewa Tal (4.4 km²) at an elevation of about 827 m above sea level and the section where we stayed.  The city lies on an important old trading route between China and India. In the 17th century it was part of the Kingdom of Kaski which was one of the Chaubise Rajya (24 Kingdoms of Nepal, ruled by a branch of the Shah Dynasty). Many of the hills around Pokhara still have medieval ruins from this time. In 1786 Prithvi Narayan Shah added Pokhara into his kingdom. It had by then become an important trading place on the routes from Kathmandu to Jumla and from India to Tibet.

From 1959 to 1962 approximately 300,000 exiles entered Nepal from neighboring Tibet following its annexation by China. Most of the Tibetan exiles then sought asylum in Dharamshala and other Tibetan exile communities in India. According to UNHCR, since 1989, approximately 2500 Tibetans cross the border into Nepal each year, many of whom arrive in Pokhara typically as a transit to Tibetan exile communities in India. About 50,000 - 60,000 Tibetan exiles reside in Nepal, and approximately 20,000 of the exiled Tibetans live in one of the 12 consolidated camps, 8 in Kathmandu and 4 in and around Pokhara. The four Tibetan settlements in Pokhara are Jampaling, Paljorling, Tashi Ling, and Tashi Palkhiel. These camps have evolved into well-built settlements, each with a gompa (Buddhist monastery), chorten and its particular architecture, and Tibetans have become a visible minority in the city.

Until the end of the 1960s the town was only accessible by foot and it was considered even more a mystical place than Kathmandu. The first road was completed in 1968 (Siddhartha Highway) after which tourism set in and the city grew rapidly. The area along the Phewa Lake, called Lake Side, has developed into one of the major tourism hubs of Nepal.  The city is surrounded by the hills overlooking the entire valley.  Most of the tourists visiting Pokhara begin and end treks to the Annapurna Base Camp and Mustang. The tourist district is along the north shore of the lake which is mainly made up of small shops, non-star tourist hotels, restaurants and bars. Most upscale and starred hotels are on the southern and south-eastern fringes of the city where there are more open lands and therefore unhindered view of the mountains.

After getting the brief for the next 2 days, we had to decide who wanted to do parasailing tomorrow morning.  I was a definite NO.  Besides having my tattoo on my list, I just wasn’t sure that I was up to running off a mountain, jumping out of a plane-no worries, running off a mountain, not sure.  There were 7 out of the 10 that pit up there hand and for the grand cost of 90USD you really couldn’t go wrong.  Lonely Planet says this is one of the top ten places to do it in the world, so that is a pretty BIG claim to fame to say that.  Not even that was going to get me up there. 

We met again at 6pm for a walk into town for dinner and the second we turned onto the main street it had a great vibe.  There were small shops with brick a brack, tourist shops, picture shops, jewelry shops, hiking shops, bag shops, cafes and plenty of restaurants.  I am glad that we were getting 2 days here, it may be time to finally get some shopping mojo back and spend some spondoola’s tomorrow.  We saw one tattoo place that I liked the look if, upstairs from a t-shirt and embroidery shop-but it was CLOSED.  I was hoping to see someone tonight, get my design drawn up overnight and then come back in the morning.  Well it was only 6.10pm, maybe the guy was having dinner.  I will check after our dinner and just hope that he will be open.  Dinner was at a restaurant called Boomerang and as Australian as it sounds that was pretty much where the similarities stopped.  They had a cultural show that started at 7pm that we got to see a little if but as we were outdoors, it was a little fresh and pretty much after dinner finished we all made our way home in small groups as people stopped to look in the small shops.  I was with Kalps as he is coming back to Pokhara after the tour to volunteer with children for 3 weeks and is thinking of getting a tattoo when he comes back.  The place we had seen earlier was still closed, so we asked the shop below and they didn’t really know what times it was open, but some soldiers pointed down the dark alley way and said there is another one down there.  Kalps and I weren’t that keen to venture down there with no lights, so we walked the 10 minutes home a little dispirited, but I still had tomorrow, so we would check back in again in the morning. 

So I think I am going to enjoy my time in this charming busy town and I am not even a walker, hiker or trekker.