Well, I made it here to Pokhara on Monday afternoon. The bus ride from Kathmandu was lengthy, curvy, hilly, bumpy- but well worth it. I am taller than 80% of the population here and buses are not made for tourists, even if they are labled so. I felt like I needed the exit row or something on this bus!
I was greeted at the tourist bus station in Poh by a man holding the Hotel Grand Holiday sign, so I knew he was the right guy. Just like getting out of the airport in KTM, you have many taxi drivers anxious to take you to your destination. It can be overwhelming, but thank goodness this man, Janauk, knew my name and what I might look like. He took me to the Hotel on a motorbike, my first ride while in Nepal. It was fun, yet a little scary because I wasn't wearing a helmet! (living life on the edge, baby).
As we pulled up to the Hotel, I was immediately greeted by Uzie's older brother who is the owner of this hotel. He was extremely enthusiastic, yelled my name, called me sister, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I love Pokhara!! He quickly took my bags and showed me to my room. Dai made sure I knew that anything, he meant ANYTHING, I needed that he would help me take care of. That is one of the best things I have found in Nepal: genuine, caring, GOOD people. I wanted to waste zero time, so I dropped my bag in the hotel and set off for some city exploring. Pokhara is a much smaller version of Thamel, if it can even be compared. Tourism is big here, made obvious by the numerous shops, restaurants and taxis along the main strip. But the biggest thing I noticed was Pokhara is much cleaner and has less begging or people pushing to sell you things. Ahh, a much needed breath of fresh air.
I stopped at an internet cafe and was shocked at how high the prices were. 60 rupees an hour for internet? That is ludicrous, but I got suckered in. There, I met a German girl also traveling alone named Shenya (prounounced "Jen-ya") and we decided to hang out for the day. We browsed the shops and sat for dinner at the first restaurant sign we saw "Continental food served here". The weather had been beautiful and sunny all day until we decided to leave dinner, and then the clouds opened up hard core. It rained for 24 hours straight accompanied with thunder and lightning. This unexpected weather change definitely put a damper on our bike ride and hiking trek we had planned together for the next couple days.
The next morning I planned a yoga and meditation course. This four hour course was held in a Buddhist man's home. Quite interesting. There was one other older gentleman from Italy that took the course with me. We practiced meditation that I had no idea what I was doing and yoga moves that made me so sore the next day. I told Max that we are definitely doing yoga together when I get back to Atlanta because it did bring a special air about me when I was done.
That afternoon I decided to indulge in a massage that the Dai made a special deal for me. The woman, she was actually the wife of the Buddhist yoga instructor, came to my hotel room. This is a story in and of itself that only a special audience will be lucky enough to hear....
That evening I met up with Shenya and an English boy named Marcus who she had met along the street. You never know who you are going to meet. He has been living in Tokyo for the past 4 years so we had some things to talk about. We had a good time, ate some dinner, met some funny Scottish trekers, and I was home by 10 p.m., still dodging rain bullets.
This morning was our hike up one of the nearby hilltops/mountains. We went with a Chinese couple who were really sweet. Our guide took us first on a canoe to the base of the mountain. That was such a peaceful, smooth ride. We reached the base ready to sweat, and we definitely accomplished our goal. The 4 of us followed our guide, who was traveling at a decent pace. To go up the mountain, we had numerous steps made of rocks, so it wasn't just a hill going upwards. This trek put the Swayambhu temple steps to shame. It took us a good hour to get to the top and by that time our clothes were drenched with sweat, not rain. Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and we could not see Mount Annapurna.... That was a dissapointment, but at least we got to see a nice view of the Pokhara valley. We headed back south looking for our next points of attractions: the Cave and the Waterfall. Pictures to come soon.
Its time to leave for 'reality' tomorrow. This has been a very nice few days of relaxation and Jessi time, but there is still much work to do at the Children's Home. I leave tomorrow on a tourist bus that will drive 3 hours, stop along a river and then we white water raft for 3 hours on the way to KTM. I figured I needed one more bout of excitement!!
On Friday, we are taking the 3 disabled children to the specialized hospital for an update on their progress and physical therapy. I am looking forward to this all-day event and making the physio notebook so that is much easier for future volunteers working in this home.
Much love to all,
I can't believe my trip is more than half-way over.
Jessi :)
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