Still Loving Nepal

Well, I’m going to take advantage of this rare rainy day to get you all caught up!

Getting tikka from grandma 

Kathmandu

After leaving trekking, I came back to Kathmandu where I intended to relax for a few days.  I achieved my goal the first day and the second morning was spent meeting with a local friend who I’d met on the trail.  The next day was anything but relaxing.  We left at 8am, with 2 of his other friends, to go to Nagarkot, which is a 3 hour public bus ride from Kathmandu.  Due to the gas shortage (India has stopped supplying gas to Nepal), the busses aren’t running nearly as regularly and are extremely overpacked.  We set on the roof, hoarded in with others.  It was uncomfortable and probably unsafe, but it was a true local experience!  On clear days, Nagarkot has a great view of the Himalaya, but it was too hazy when we were there.  Still, though, the hilltop village has a great view over two grassy valleys below.  In Nepal, there is a saying that “guests are god” and the three locals certainly treated me that way, always asking if I was okay and if I needed something and making sure I had the best “seat” on the roof!  I had planned to go to the lakeside town of Pokhara the next day, but due to the fuel, they weren’t running, so I spent one more relaxing day in Kathmandu before setting off to Pokhara.

Fewa Lake, Pokhara

Pokhara 

In Pokhara, I met up with a Coloradoan girl that I’d met trekking who lives in Nepal now.  Her and several of her friends (local and tourist) were in Pokhara as well, so I spent most of my time with them.  Pokhara is a great place to do a whole lot of nothing besides eat (and the occasional drink), but we did do small activities each day.  One day we hired a peddle boat and spent the afternoon floating around the lake and walking up a hill to a World Peace Pagoda with a panoramic view of the lake.  Again, in clear weather, the mountains are behind the lake, but except for the odd glimpse, they hid behind cloud.  Another day was spent bicycling around the lake and to a waterfall.  One of the locals had some family in Pokhara and it was Daishan when I was there, so we spent the afternoon with his family getting tikka (the red dot on your forehead—it’s actually rice), and eating a big, delicious meal.  While getting the tikka from his family, they all say a blessing or prayer for you.  It was interesting as only the friend and 2 cousins spoke any English, but the family was extremely friendly and their prayers were wishing us all safe travels and a long, healthy life!  Daishan is the biggest holiday in Nepal and, as I understand it, is the celebration of the gods eliminating evil from earth.  Otherwise, it was a very peaceful and relaxing several days.

Monkey Temple

From there, it was back to Kathmandu.  By now, I know my way around the city well, which is nice and am actually beginning to really like it.  The Coloradoan girl took me to a hilltop temple, known as Monkey Temple, which has a great view over the city, along with a huge temple and monkeys!  I also went to Durbar Square, which is a World Heritage Site, but was heavily damaged by the earthquake.  Essentially it’s just a block that is full of many temples!  Lastly, I went to see the Everest movie, which was really cool since I could recognize some of the places and relate to certain parts of it!  The theatre was extremely nice and modern, which was surprising in the dirty, poor city!

Kathmandu busses

Although Nepal is the poorest of the Asian countries, I loved it from the beginning and it keeps growing on me.  I know my way around Kathmandu now and actually quite like it.  It took a while, but am now completely comfortable in the overcrowded, polluted Asian cities.  The people, despite the hardship with the earthquake and fuel shortage are friendly.  They don’t harass you like other Asian countries, they smile, and they are always happy to talk.  I found a dumpling food cart that I really like, and visit every night, and every night I am the only foreigner, but the locals always talk to me about where I’m from, what America is like, what life in Nepal is like and so on.  They speak English exceptionally well and really do make the foreigners feel welcome in a way that the Southeast Asian countries didn’t.  In fact, although they are probably the most different country from ours, I find them the most relatable people. Oh, and they have some cool mountains!

 I’m not exactly sure what the plan is from here, but I’ll be sure to enjoy it and fill you in!