Saturday 26 March
So the I finished the Annapurna Trek at Naya Pul, and after some wheeling and dealing with the taxi mafia, we got a minibus to Pokhara and to where the buses go from to Lumbini, 8 hours. (I want to go to Lumbini first and then make my way back to Pokhara). The guys who gather passengers and collect the money are pretty pushy, they seem to be able to persuade people onto the bus who never looked like they wanted go anywhere. But they seemed like nice enough guys. I usually like the bus journeys, I was sat near the front and watched the people getting on and off the bus and interacting with eachother.
Stopped for lunch. The owner of the cafe gave me latest cricket scores. Ate 2 small plates of curry and a boiled egg, and later spicy potato with raw onion, I like the snacks in Nepal and India. Good scenery from the bus, rivers and lakes.
While we were stopped for lunch I got chatting to a Nepalese guy and complimented him on his good English. He said this was because he served with the British Army. "Oh, you are a Gurkha", I said, "Thats right", he said. He invited me to sit with him and we had a good long chat about the Gurkhas and his career. He served in Hong Kong until it was handed back to China in 1997. He has been granted right of residency in the UK, something Gurkhas had campaigned for for many years. He knew all about Joanna Lumley's support for them and about the Sun newspapaers support (maybe the one good thing the rag has ever done?) And he met David Cameron before he was Prime Minister, as the Tories supported the Gurkha's too. So i guess the Tories brought in the law when they came to power. The next step is to provide the Gurkhas with the same pension that regular British soldiers receive. Quite right too. Although of course this does all mean that the British are taking away Nepal's best soldiers which might not be so good for Nepal?
We had an unplanned stop at Bhaiwara, they said the suspension was broken and shuffled me onto another bus, which I then had to pay for, and the guys I had paid before were nowhere to be seen so maybe it was a scam. I sat right in the middle at the front of the bus, virtually on the gear stick.
Changed bus again as the sun when down over another dusty town and a stone archway across the road. Off we went down a dark dusty road to Lumbini. We arrived after an hour or so. Lumbini is a hot, dusty, near-border town, with lots of mozzies. It is less than 10kms from the Indian border (the border I crossed at in 1995) so it feels more like India than Nepal, which is fine, cos I miss India, and I can sit and have chai and samosas again.
Sunday 27th March
Well, Lumbini may be dirty and dusty but it is also the birthplace (in 563BC) of Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha, so it is visited by pilgrims and tourists from arouund the world. The sights are within the Lumbini Development Zone which is a work in progress, designed by a Japanese architect. The Maya Devi temple houses the exact point, under a Bodhi tree, where Buddha is said to have entered the world. There is a flat slab of rock encased in bulletproof glass, to mark the exact spot.
Nearby there is an Ashokan Pillar, said to be from 249BC, as well as many small brick stupas hundreds of years old. As I left the grounds the sun was casting its rays from behind the clouds, right above the temple, and if I was Buddhist I would have thought it was a message! Anyway, it made a good photo.
Still in trekking mode so early to bed in my shoebox size room. But got up in the night to go out to the front veranda and watch the crazy rain and lightning show.
Monday 28th March
Up at 6:45am. After omelette, I hired a pushbike and cycled around the West and then the East Monastic Zone. These areas house Buddhist monasteries financed and built by countries around the world. So, rather like Bodhgaya in India, it is a bit like Disneyland for Buddhism, but in a good way. The German and the Chinese temples were the most interesting with some great dreamlike, pastel-coloured murals inside. Also cycled out the Japanese Peace Pagoda, not that exciting but fun riding out in the countryside.
Checked out at lunchtime. Had samosas and chai and watched the world go by, the closest I will be to India for a long time. Bus to Bhaiwara (where the cycle rickshaw drivers lied to me by saying that the bus stand was 2kms out of town, but I knew it was right there in the main street) then another bus to Butwal then another to Tansen.
Tansen is a small Newari medieval town, some of the buildings remind me of Tewkesbury. Had dinner with a french guy who only has half a lung, yet happily lit up a cigarette. Not many tourists here and locals are friendly, met a lovely local English teacher. Its chilly up here in the hills and not much choice of restaurants.
Tuesday 29th March
Upset stomach today. At lunchtime I walked up through the forest but it was too misty for the mountain views. Saw Hindu Hanumann monkey statue and Buddha statue then walked back down. Felt lethargic and just pottered around the town. Watched NZ v Sri Lanka in the samosa and tea shop with the owner and some locals, and saw the end in my hotel lobby with the staff there. The Nepalese seem really into the cricket which is cool.
Wednesday 30th March
My stomach is a bit better today but don't feel up to doing the long walks down into the valley, so just wandered around the town again. Watched India v Pakistan in the same samosa shop, the 2 Prime Ministers watching it together at the stadium. I got my hair cut, the guy knew exactly what I meant when i said 'grade 4', he used scissors rather than clippers and was real quick. I bought a new, fake, Diesel manbag, for 5 bucks, finally throwing out the beyond-repair bag from Cameroon. The cricket was on in many shops and cafes. Tansen is fairly quiet but sometimes a truck goes roaring down the narrow streets and sounds like it is going to crash through the hotel wall. Watched the end of India's win against Pakistan in the lobby.
Irish Ciaron sent a text to say he is in Pokhara.
Thursday 31st March
Got the bus from Tansen to Pokhara, 6 hours. Normally I pretty much enjoy the bus journeys but today was pretty tedious. This is partly because I had a tipsy guy sat next to me (at 10am) hopelessly trying to make small talk. And later there was a rambling old sadhu trying to get my attention across the back seat. I put my headphones on but he kept shouting at no one in particular. Finally some nice little kids came and sat next to me and they put my headphones on and I showed them photos of Coogee and my neices. They called me 'uncle', as Nepalese kids do to older males.
The taxi mafia swarmed the bus as we got to Pokhara. I managed to fob them off and got into one with two English people. As we drove into Pokahara town I saw Ciaron sat in a cafe so got out there and we met up and had a good chat and shared his hotel room. Ciaron went the opposite way around the Annapurna circuit and ended up at the Pass, by himself, late in the day with not much food or drink until he was found by a local. Probably a good job we each did it our own way.
Friday 1st of April
We moved to a cheaper hotel then went to Laughing Buddha for breakfast. Porridge, then fried egg and toast and curried potatoes, and coffee. Delicious. Then we hired pushbikes with a plan to cycle around Phewa Tal, the big lake alongside Pokhara. After less than an hour we had cycled to the far end of the lake but then it became green pastures with the odd cow and hamlet along the way. We wanted to cycle around so we went over a suspension bridge and looked for a path. But the only way was up, and up. We were a bit knackered, but enjoying the picturesque lake and town from above, for about 2 hours. Most of the time it was so steep and bumpy that we had to push our bikes. We stopped at a tea shop and they warned us it was still further up, but we certainly didn't want to go back the way we came so although we couldn't see where we would pass over the hill, we kept going and eventually passed over to the other side of the hill and it was all downhill from there. We passed a few small villages and the local kids annoyingly ran up asking for money. The downhill was so steep that it was easier to get off rather than ride. Finally we arrived back on the main road. Stopped for momos and chai and then completed the our circuit back in town.
went to a very local bar and had daal baat (lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables) and big cups of chai; excellent. Its great how the lady brings out more food to you as soon as you have eaten about half of your plate. They usually just slop it onto your plate without much care, but thats fine. Not so happy about the caged owl they had on the floor. Drank whiskey in the room.
Saturday 2nd of April
Up early and breakfast at the Laughing Buddha again. Then we hired the bikes again. My bike had no gears and I got unduly agitated about the fairly steep roads to the Bat Cave. My legs hurt and we had done enough hard work yesterday. We had a quick look at the temple and then followed the signs to the Bat Cave. Well, it was a bit of disappointment really, just a fairly small cave with some bats hanging from the ceiling, and too many tourists. We cycled back via a samosa shop. We went to the Gurkha museum which was pretty good. They had lots of information about the various battles and wars that the Gurkhas have fought in alongside the British including both World Wars (including Gallipoli), the Falklands and Malaysia. There was a photo of Joanna Lumley with some Gurkhas and a framed copy of the British ruling from a few years ago that Gurkhas are entitled to UK residency.
I got my washing back from the laudrette and now I cant find my shorts, though I am not completely sure that they were in the washbag. The place where I took the washing made some calls and said they don't have my shorts.
We watched some Premiership, and the start of the Cricket World Cup final in an expensive bar. Then we went for the same daal baat as last night.
We went to another restaurant to watch the last couple of hours of the Cricket Final. I really wanted India to win and the atmosphere in the stadium in Mumbai looked electric, I would have loved to have been there, especially since India won. Ciaron, being Irish and therefore having no knowledge of cricket (except when they beat England!), had no idea what was going on. We had chai and 'chocolate pudding', which was actually chocolate custard.
Sunday 3rd of April
Slept in. I went to the immigration office to extend my visa. They blatantly tried to over-charge me, until I got hold of the calculator and showed them how much it should cost. They refused to lend me a pen and then were upset that I had used a red pen (although I realise that in Asia its bad luck, or something, to write with red ink). After, I had breakfast again at the Laughing Buddha, where the staff can be rude but its the best deal in town. I finally gave up on finding my shorts and bought a new pair. While I wandered around town for an hour deciding whether to buy them, I had left my wallet in the pocket.
We had daal bhaat at the same restaurant. Big cockroach in our room.
Monday 4th April.
Up at 7am. Left Ciaron and got a local bus to the bus stand and, after curried chickpea and beans and chai for breakfast at the roadside, got the bus half way along the Pokhara-Kathmandu road, to dusty Dumre. From there I took a minibus taxi up the hilll to the lovely Newari medieval town of Bandipur. Its a quiet town with few tourists and a relaxed atmosphere. After daal bhaat (lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables) and after a couple of false starts, I made my way up some steeps steps to Thani Mai temple; it wasn't much to look at but the surrounding valley and crop terraces are beautiful. I went back down and then hiked 5kms up and along a ridge to the smaller village of Ramkot, meeting freindly locals and some goats along the way. The women were throwing stones at the pesky goats eating their crops and also blocking the path. It was enjoyable to be hiking again although this was much easier than Annapurna, and it was good to be by myself, enjoying the countryside and the quiet.
But my blisters, which had almost healed after the trek, are sore again.
In the evening the hotel owners were a bit weird but I had daal baat there. They both seem over-friendly and became pushy expecting me to eat all my meals there and asking me what time I will back.
Tuesday 5th April
Read in my room until Ciaron arrived, to avoid the annoying owners; the guy came up at 10am and said he was making my lunch, when I hadnt asked for that and hadn't even had breakfast. Anyway so Ciaron and I went out and we got the same Daal Baat that I had yesterday and then started our walk to the cave. We went through the other side of town, the opposite way to where I went yesterday. It soon became downhill down steep steps cut into the rock. My blisters were a bit sore and when we got to the cave 1.5 hours later I justed wanted to sit down. Ciaron went with a guide into the cave. I don't think I missed much. We walked another half an hour down to the main road, my feet were fine once we were on the flat. Had chai and samosas then we walked the five miles up the proper road back to Bandipur, arriving at 6:30pm after a 6 hour enjoyable walk and lots of chat. Same Dhal Bhat for dinner.
Wednesday 6th April
Up at 7:30. Did my best to avoid the annoying owners. Left Ciaron there and stood up on the back of a shared jeep taxi down to Dumre and the main road and the bus to Kathmandu. Read my book and watched the landscape, we followed the river most of the time. Quite a few people were throwing up, some into black plastic bags, the woman behind me just threw up in the aisle. There seems to be no sense of embarassment and no thoughts of clearing it up, a bit went on my shoe. It was similar in India in that many of the locals can't cope with bus trips, especially bumpy ones.
The bus dropped me a bit outside of town again and I didn't want to deal with taxi drivers so I walked for a bit and then kind of forced my way into a packed local's minibus taxi. Still a bit lost and wandered for a while before coming to familiar places. Checked into nice hotel room in Freak Street near Durbar square, then walked up to Thamel to get my laptop from the travel agency and to talk to them about the Tibet trip. They said the Chinese are currently saying that only groups with a maximum of 2 different nationalities can enter Tibet, and obviously our group of 30 or so is from a wide variety of nations. We are hoping they will change their minds. Had a good walk around, I enjoyed being somewhere busy again. And everyone I met today, in the shops and on the buses was very friendly and helpful.
I have just had my first proper look at my photos of Annapurna, on my laptop, and they are amazing, especially the widescreen ones, the landscape was out of this world.
Thursday 7th of April.
Out to the post office at 8am, but found it doesn't open until 10am. But it was good to see Kathmandu preparing for a new day, the streets were fairly quiet and it was easy getting around. Bought some new sunnies after smashing mine on the overhead compartment on the bus yesterday. Porridge, then took my box to the travel agency for storage, they seem to like me so I thought I would take advantage (they are also getting alot of cash out me for the trip of course!)
Then I walked the 3kms west out of town to the temple complex of Swayambhunath, which is highly regarded. You walk up the very steep steps and at the top is a large Buddhist stupa with a gold-plated spire and four sets of Buddhist eyes looking out north-west-south-east. It was good to watch the local pilgrims touching each prayer wheel as they walk around the stupa clockwise. Inside one of the temples were hundreds of butterlamps (candles). There are many smaller stupas and lots of carved statues and lots and lots of souvenir shops and other tourists. By itself it might have had more magic but it was a bit like many other busy small Buddhist towns. The views across the city were ok, a bit smoggy. Still, I did buy a stone carving of the Buddha, from the guy who makes them. I walked down to the other stupa and then back down.
I wandered around the old part of town. I ate buff (water buffalo) momos, and samosa and chai, and visited bookshops, the post office and tried to find an internet cafe with a working connection, but in that area the power was off. As I have mentioned before, the electricity supply has to be rationed, so often you go somewhere only to find that the power is off. But how can an internet cafe have a business whereby there is no power between 3pm and 11pm? In my hotel, the power has just come on after being off since at least when I came back 4 hours ago. It makes you appreciate it more when it comes on.
On the way to the post office, there is a long wall where people sell sundry goods like sunglasses, cottonbuds and exercise books - very local. There were also quite a few disabled people there, some selling, some begging. One guy had only one leg and he had two stumps instead of hands, and yet he was drawing concise patterns very clearly with the pen clasped between the stumps.
Generally tourists are advised not to give to beggars as it creates a dependency on hand-outs and they will never do anything else, and there are charities who help them. So, to be honest it doesn't normally bother me to ignore them. But there were quite a few kids there today. Particularly one girl of about 7 who didnt seem to be able to stand but she shuffled across the pavement when she saw me and tapped my shins with the stump of her right arm and said something - I kept walking. It is a pretty easy cop-out for tourists to say you have to cruel to be kind.
I had the same dinner at the same Newari restaurant as last night, the guys who work there let me watch the Champions League game from last night and filled my water bottle up for me. One of them asked me, sincerely, if the American Wrestling, which was on before the footy, is real.
Friday 8th April
Up early and walked around to the bus stand for the bus to Dhulikel, 1.5 hours away. As often seems to happen, I was first on the bus, then within a few minutes it is jam-packed and off we go. I sat right at the front, not the safest but easier to put down and supervise my bag and try not to annoy anyone with its bulk. We cruised out of town, low flying planes landing.
Passed through grubby Banepa and arrived at the bus stand in Dhulikel. Annoying guy trying to usher me to any number of hotels, presumably for a commission. I told him to buzz off but he followed me anyway. The Nawaranga Guest House is cosy and has a solar-heated hot shower.
I went out for chow mein for early lunch then came back and sat on the rooftop terrace updating my blog from the Annapurna Circuit. Went for a walk to the old town and it was excellent. It was like going back in time, Newari medieval buildings, locals sitting outside their houses chatting, kids playing (not begging from the tourist), old men sat in the square playing cards, ducks following eachother around, a family sorting through a pile of straw. This is much better than the other Newari medieval towns I have visited, and they were friendly to me too. Will defintiely have another look around tomorrow.
It got me thinking about whether it made any difference to these people's lives whether their country was still run by the old monarchy, or the present Communist govt. I guess life has been the same here for centuries, no matter what. There is still some terrorism in parts of Nepal. Are the terrorists lives really so bad that they have to kill other people in order to try and force what they want, although of course, that's what the Maoists, who now have power, did. But the Communist govt was actually voted in through democratic elections in the end. Most people in Nepal work hard and just want to get on with their lives and supprting their families. It seems other people just want to cause trouble. Strangely, after thinking about this this afternoon, I read a very similar viewpoint in a local newspaper.
I also reminded myself how lucky I am not to be working, when most people around me are, often long hours, everyday. This should help me to be patient when shopkeepers or bus drivers or passersby don't understand my questions or requests.
Saturday 9th April
What a great day. After wheat porridge for breakfast, at 8:30am, I headed out of town, toward Mamobuddha. I left the main road and walked up the steps to Kali temple which is pretty much an empty brick shell, but a few army guys were there, machine gun behind sandbags, pointing down the hill. Carried on along the sandy path, pretty flat and along the ridge. Great views, not obscured by trees, like the walk to Ramkot was.
Passed through Kavre where men were gathered round playing a traditonal board game, the ladies holdling babies and chatting. Through the other side of the forest and along another ridge I stopped at a tea/supplies shop. Inside were 3 lovely young ladies and the mother of at least one of them; she was a bit nuts but funny. She started kind of dancing in her seat, so I put my mp3 player on, Buddy Holly, and she moved a bit more. So i changed it to FatBoy Slim and she stood up and danced around a bit. Her daughter(s) were a bit embarrassed but it was all good fun. I had spicy potatoes and milk tea. There was a sting in the tail when they clearly charged me more than they would have charged a local.
Past more small villages and tethered cows and goats to Phulbari and then I could see the monastery on the next hillside. A few coaches came past and when I got to Namobuddha there were many pilgrims there. Some were sitting in groups singing while others queued to offer biscuits and nuts and water at the stupa.
I walked around the site and then up the steep hill to Trango Gompa where a past Buddha is said to have offered himself as lunch to a starving tiger and cubs. This gesture transported him to 'a higher level of existence' and the story is portrayed in a diorama. Just a bit further up is a great view of the temples with thousands of Tibetan prayer flags.
I walked back down the other side of the hill and to Sankhu. I watched a guy working two cows as a plough with his wife scattering the seeds behind him, they let me take their picture, as did another group of older locals and a kid. As I approached Batase, along the sandy road with green fields on each side, it made me think of the Yellow Brick Road. And there was Hindi music coming from the village, it was like being in a Nepalese Tourist Promotion video, in a good way. I found that the music was coming from a makeshift tent and inside was a Hindu priest (guru) preaching and playing music to a couple of hundred worshippers. I didn't hang around as I was quite conspicuous, but the locals were friendly and all smiles and helpful with directions.
The last part of the walk, back on the main road, seemed to go on for a long time and it started raining but I was back in Dhulikhel by 2:30pm. The scenery and the countryside and the people and the villages were fantastic on the walk and really made me appreciate Nepal even more. Every tourist goes to the mountains but they don't all get to see rural life like I did today.
I had another look around the old town in the afternoon, but what a difference a day and the rain make. The square didn't look so good, there were motorbikes parked there and the guys were playing cards in the shelter. Oh well.
And in the evening I went for dinner and after, in the dark, decided to go back to the hotel via the old town again. As I came back out the other side I could hear some music coming from a large-shed-size brick building, that had only iron bars on the side facing the street and inside was a group of 6 guys singing and playing Hindi/Hare Krishna songs with traditional instruments including a small piano-accordian, bongo drums and small cymbals. This must be what they get up to when the electricty is off (their microphone and speakers must have been powered by battery or generator). Inside the room there were several pictures of Hindi deities on the back wall. As they played I sat on the wall outside, near some ladies and then took a photo from a distance. I approached the iron bars and asked one of the guys if I could take a closer photo (from outside), and he said 'you are welcome, come inside'. So I took off my sandals and my beanie and went and sat cross-legged in among the guys, and it was awsesome, watching them sing and play. A couple of the older guys in the corner were dozing off and the tambourine player had his eyes closed. I was only sorry that I couldn't stay longer as the hostel owner insisted I was back by 8:30pm. But I had stumbled across something authentic and really hung out with the locals.
So the I finished the Annapurna Trek at Naya Pul, and after some wheeling and dealing with the taxi mafia, we got a minibus to Pokhara and to where the buses go from to Lumbini, 8 hours. (I want to go to Lumbini first and then make my way back to Pokhara). The guys who gather passengers and collect the money are pretty pushy, they seem to be able to persuade people onto the bus who never looked like they wanted go anywhere. But they seemed like nice enough guys. I usually like the bus journeys, I was sat near the front and watched the people getting on and off the bus and interacting with eachother.
Stopped for lunch. The owner of the cafe gave me latest cricket scores. Ate 2 small plates of curry and a boiled egg, and later spicy potato with raw onion, I like the snacks in Nepal and India. Good scenery from the bus, rivers and lakes.
While we were stopped for lunch I got chatting to a Nepalese guy and complimented him on his good English. He said this was because he served with the British Army. "Oh, you are a Gurkha", I said, "Thats right", he said. He invited me to sit with him and we had a good long chat about the Gurkhas and his career. He served in Hong Kong until it was handed back to China in 1997. He has been granted right of residency in the UK, something Gurkhas had campaigned for for many years. He knew all about Joanna Lumley's support for them and about the Sun newspapaers support (maybe the one good thing the rag has ever done?) And he met David Cameron before he was Prime Minister, as the Tories supported the Gurkha's too. So i guess the Tories brought in the law when they came to power. The next step is to provide the Gurkhas with the same pension that regular British soldiers receive. Quite right too. Although of course this does all mean that the British are taking away Nepal's best soldiers which might not be so good for Nepal?
We had an unplanned stop at Bhaiwara, they said the suspension was broken and shuffled me onto another bus, which I then had to pay for, and the guys I had paid before were nowhere to be seen so maybe it was a scam. I sat right in the middle at the front of the bus, virtually on the gear stick.
Changed bus again as the sun when down over another dusty town and a stone archway across the road. Off we went down a dark dusty road to Lumbini. We arrived after an hour or so. Lumbini is a hot, dusty, near-border town, with lots of mozzies. It is less than 10kms from the Indian border (the border I crossed at in 1995) so it feels more like India than Nepal, which is fine, cos I miss India, and I can sit and have chai and samosas again.
Sunday 27th March
Well, Lumbini may be dirty and dusty but it is also the birthplace (in 563BC) of Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha, so it is visited by pilgrims and tourists from arouund the world. The sights are within the Lumbini Development Zone which is a work in progress, designed by a Japanese architect. The Maya Devi temple houses the exact point, under a Bodhi tree, where Buddha is said to have entered the world. There is a flat slab of rock encased in bulletproof glass, to mark the exact spot.
Nearby there is an Ashokan Pillar, said to be from 249BC, as well as many small brick stupas hundreds of years old. As I left the grounds the sun was casting its rays from behind the clouds, right above the temple, and if I was Buddhist I would have thought it was a message! Anyway, it made a good photo.
Still in trekking mode so early to bed in my shoebox size room. But got up in the night to go out to the front veranda and watch the crazy rain and lightning show.
Monday 28th March
Up at 6:45am. After omelette, I hired a pushbike and cycled around the West and then the East Monastic Zone. These areas house Buddhist monasteries financed and built by countries around the world. So, rather like Bodhgaya in India, it is a bit like Disneyland for Buddhism, but in a good way. The German and the Chinese temples were the most interesting with some great dreamlike, pastel-coloured murals inside. Also cycled out the Japanese Peace Pagoda, not that exciting but fun riding out in the countryside.
Checked out at lunchtime. Had samosas and chai and watched the world go by, the closest I will be to India for a long time. Bus to Bhaiwara (where the cycle rickshaw drivers lied to me by saying that the bus stand was 2kms out of town, but I knew it was right there in the main street) then another bus to Butwal then another to Tansen.
Tansen is a small Newari medieval town, some of the buildings remind me of Tewkesbury. Had dinner with a french guy who only has half a lung, yet happily lit up a cigarette. Not many tourists here and locals are friendly, met a lovely local English teacher. Its chilly up here in the hills and not much choice of restaurants.
Tuesday 29th March
Upset stomach today. At lunchtime I walked up through the forest but it was too misty for the mountain views. Saw Hindu Hanumann monkey statue and Buddha statue then walked back down. Felt lethargic and just pottered around the town. Watched NZ v Sri Lanka in the samosa and tea shop with the owner and some locals, and saw the end in my hotel lobby with the staff there. The Nepalese seem really into the cricket which is cool.
Wednesday 30th March
My stomach is a bit better today but don't feel up to doing the long walks down into the valley, so just wandered around the town again. Watched India v Pakistan in the same samosa shop, the 2 Prime Ministers watching it together at the stadium. I got my hair cut, the guy knew exactly what I meant when i said 'grade 4', he used scissors rather than clippers and was real quick. I bought a new, fake, Diesel manbag, for 5 bucks, finally throwing out the beyond-repair bag from Cameroon. The cricket was on in many shops and cafes. Tansen is fairly quiet but sometimes a truck goes roaring down the narrow streets and sounds like it is going to crash through the hotel wall. Watched the end of India's win against Pakistan in the lobby.
Irish Ciaron sent a text to say he is in Pokhara.
Thursday 31st March
Got the bus from Tansen to Pokhara, 6 hours. Normally I pretty much enjoy the bus journeys but today was pretty tedious. This is partly because I had a tipsy guy sat next to me (at 10am) hopelessly trying to make small talk. And later there was a rambling old sadhu trying to get my attention across the back seat. I put my headphones on but he kept shouting at no one in particular. Finally some nice little kids came and sat next to me and they put my headphones on and I showed them photos of Coogee and my neices. They called me 'uncle', as Nepalese kids do to older males.
The taxi mafia swarmed the bus as we got to Pokhara. I managed to fob them off and got into one with two English people. As we drove into Pokahara town I saw Ciaron sat in a cafe so got out there and we met up and had a good chat and shared his hotel room. Ciaron went the opposite way around the Annapurna circuit and ended up at the Pass, by himself, late in the day with not much food or drink until he was found by a local. Probably a good job we each did it our own way.
Friday 1st of April
We moved to a cheaper hotel then went to Laughing Buddha for breakfast. Porridge, then fried egg and toast and curried potatoes, and coffee. Delicious. Then we hired pushbikes with a plan to cycle around Phewa Tal, the big lake alongside Pokhara. After less than an hour we had cycled to the far end of the lake but then it became green pastures with the odd cow and hamlet along the way. We wanted to cycle around so we went over a suspension bridge and looked for a path. But the only way was up, and up. We were a bit knackered, but enjoying the picturesque lake and town from above, for about 2 hours. Most of the time it was so steep and bumpy that we had to push our bikes. We stopped at a tea shop and they warned us it was still further up, but we certainly didn't want to go back the way we came so although we couldn't see where we would pass over the hill, we kept going and eventually passed over to the other side of the hill and it was all downhill from there. We passed a few small villages and the local kids annoyingly ran up asking for money. The downhill was so steep that it was easier to get off rather than ride. Finally we arrived back on the main road. Stopped for momos and chai and then completed the our circuit back in town.
went to a very local bar and had daal baat (lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables) and big cups of chai; excellent. Its great how the lady brings out more food to you as soon as you have eaten about half of your plate. They usually just slop it onto your plate without much care, but thats fine. Not so happy about the caged owl they had on the floor. Drank whiskey in the room.
Saturday 2nd of April
Up early and breakfast at the Laughing Buddha again. Then we hired the bikes again. My bike had no gears and I got unduly agitated about the fairly steep roads to the Bat Cave. My legs hurt and we had done enough hard work yesterday. We had a quick look at the temple and then followed the signs to the Bat Cave. Well, it was a bit of disappointment really, just a fairly small cave with some bats hanging from the ceiling, and too many tourists. We cycled back via a samosa shop. We went to the Gurkha museum which was pretty good. They had lots of information about the various battles and wars that the Gurkhas have fought in alongside the British including both World Wars (including Gallipoli), the Falklands and Malaysia. There was a photo of Joanna Lumley with some Gurkhas and a framed copy of the British ruling from a few years ago that Gurkhas are entitled to UK residency.
I got my washing back from the laudrette and now I cant find my shorts, though I am not completely sure that they were in the washbag. The place where I took the washing made some calls and said they don't have my shorts.
We watched some Premiership, and the start of the Cricket World Cup final in an expensive bar. Then we went for the same daal baat as last night.
We went to another restaurant to watch the last couple of hours of the Cricket Final. I really wanted India to win and the atmosphere in the stadium in Mumbai looked electric, I would have loved to have been there, especially since India won. Ciaron, being Irish and therefore having no knowledge of cricket (except when they beat England!), had no idea what was going on. We had chai and 'chocolate pudding', which was actually chocolate custard.
Sunday 3rd of April
Slept in. I went to the immigration office to extend my visa. They blatantly tried to over-charge me, until I got hold of the calculator and showed them how much it should cost. They refused to lend me a pen and then were upset that I had used a red pen (although I realise that in Asia its bad luck, or something, to write with red ink). After, I had breakfast again at the Laughing Buddha, where the staff can be rude but its the best deal in town. I finally gave up on finding my shorts and bought a new pair. While I wandered around town for an hour deciding whether to buy them, I had left my wallet in the pocket.
We had daal bhaat at the same restaurant. Big cockroach in our room.
Monday 4th April.
Up at 7am. Left Ciaron and got a local bus to the bus stand and, after curried chickpea and beans and chai for breakfast at the roadside, got the bus half way along the Pokhara-Kathmandu road, to dusty Dumre. From there I took a minibus taxi up the hilll to the lovely Newari medieval town of Bandipur. Its a quiet town with few tourists and a relaxed atmosphere. After daal bhaat (lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables) and after a couple of false starts, I made my way up some steeps steps to Thani Mai temple; it wasn't much to look at but the surrounding valley and crop terraces are beautiful. I went back down and then hiked 5kms up and along a ridge to the smaller village of Ramkot, meeting freindly locals and some goats along the way. The women were throwing stones at the pesky goats eating their crops and also blocking the path. It was enjoyable to be hiking again although this was much easier than Annapurna, and it was good to be by myself, enjoying the countryside and the quiet.
But my blisters, which had almost healed after the trek, are sore again.
In the evening the hotel owners were a bit weird but I had daal baat there. They both seem over-friendly and became pushy expecting me to eat all my meals there and asking me what time I will back.
Tuesday 5th April
Read in my room until Ciaron arrived, to avoid the annoying owners; the guy came up at 10am and said he was making my lunch, when I hadnt asked for that and hadn't even had breakfast. Anyway so Ciaron and I went out and we got the same Daal Baat that I had yesterday and then started our walk to the cave. We went through the other side of town, the opposite way to where I went yesterday. It soon became downhill down steep steps cut into the rock. My blisters were a bit sore and when we got to the cave 1.5 hours later I justed wanted to sit down. Ciaron went with a guide into the cave. I don't think I missed much. We walked another half an hour down to the main road, my feet were fine once we were on the flat. Had chai and samosas then we walked the five miles up the proper road back to Bandipur, arriving at 6:30pm after a 6 hour enjoyable walk and lots of chat. Same Dhal Bhat for dinner.
Wednesday 6th April
Up at 7:30. Did my best to avoid the annoying owners. Left Ciaron there and stood up on the back of a shared jeep taxi down to Dumre and the main road and the bus to Kathmandu. Read my book and watched the landscape, we followed the river most of the time. Quite a few people were throwing up, some into black plastic bags, the woman behind me just threw up in the aisle. There seems to be no sense of embarassment and no thoughts of clearing it up, a bit went on my shoe. It was similar in India in that many of the locals can't cope with bus trips, especially bumpy ones.
The bus dropped me a bit outside of town again and I didn't want to deal with taxi drivers so I walked for a bit and then kind of forced my way into a packed local's minibus taxi. Still a bit lost and wandered for a while before coming to familiar places. Checked into nice hotel room in Freak Street near Durbar square, then walked up to Thamel to get my laptop from the travel agency and to talk to them about the Tibet trip. They said the Chinese are currently saying that only groups with a maximum of 2 different nationalities can enter Tibet, and obviously our group of 30 or so is from a wide variety of nations. We are hoping they will change their minds. Had a good walk around, I enjoyed being somewhere busy again. And everyone I met today, in the shops and on the buses was very friendly and helpful.
I have just had my first proper look at my photos of Annapurna, on my laptop, and they are amazing, especially the widescreen ones, the landscape was out of this world.
Thursday 7th of April.
Out to the post office at 8am, but found it doesn't open until 10am. But it was good to see Kathmandu preparing for a new day, the streets were fairly quiet and it was easy getting around. Bought some new sunnies after smashing mine on the overhead compartment on the bus yesterday. Porridge, then took my box to the travel agency for storage, they seem to like me so I thought I would take advantage (they are also getting alot of cash out me for the trip of course!)
Then I walked the 3kms west out of town to the temple complex of Swayambhunath, which is highly regarded. You walk up the very steep steps and at the top is a large Buddhist stupa with a gold-plated spire and four sets of Buddhist eyes looking out north-west-south-east. It was good to watch the local pilgrims touching each prayer wheel as they walk around the stupa clockwise. Inside one of the temples were hundreds of butterlamps (candles). There are many smaller stupas and lots of carved statues and lots and lots of souvenir shops and other tourists. By itself it might have had more magic but it was a bit like many other busy small Buddhist towns. The views across the city were ok, a bit smoggy. Still, I did buy a stone carving of the Buddha, from the guy who makes them. I walked down to the other stupa and then back down.
I wandered around the old part of town. I ate buff (water buffalo) momos, and samosa and chai, and visited bookshops, the post office and tried to find an internet cafe with a working connection, but in that area the power was off. As I have mentioned before, the electricity supply has to be rationed, so often you go somewhere only to find that the power is off. But how can an internet cafe have a business whereby there is no power between 3pm and 11pm? In my hotel, the power has just come on after being off since at least when I came back 4 hours ago. It makes you appreciate it more when it comes on.
On the way to the post office, there is a long wall where people sell sundry goods like sunglasses, cottonbuds and exercise books - very local. There were also quite a few disabled people there, some selling, some begging. One guy had only one leg and he had two stumps instead of hands, and yet he was drawing concise patterns very clearly with the pen clasped between the stumps.
Generally tourists are advised not to give to beggars as it creates a dependency on hand-outs and they will never do anything else, and there are charities who help them. So, to be honest it doesn't normally bother me to ignore them. But there were quite a few kids there today. Particularly one girl of about 7 who didnt seem to be able to stand but she shuffled across the pavement when she saw me and tapped my shins with the stump of her right arm and said something - I kept walking. It is a pretty easy cop-out for tourists to say you have to cruel to be kind.
I had the same dinner at the same Newari restaurant as last night, the guys who work there let me watch the Champions League game from last night and filled my water bottle up for me. One of them asked me, sincerely, if the American Wrestling, which was on before the footy, is real.
Friday 8th April
Up early and walked around to the bus stand for the bus to Dhulikel, 1.5 hours away. As often seems to happen, I was first on the bus, then within a few minutes it is jam-packed and off we go. I sat right at the front, not the safest but easier to put down and supervise my bag and try not to annoy anyone with its bulk. We cruised out of town, low flying planes landing.
Passed through grubby Banepa and arrived at the bus stand in Dhulikel. Annoying guy trying to usher me to any number of hotels, presumably for a commission. I told him to buzz off but he followed me anyway. The Nawaranga Guest House is cosy and has a solar-heated hot shower.
I went out for chow mein for early lunch then came back and sat on the rooftop terrace updating my blog from the Annapurna Circuit. Went for a walk to the old town and it was excellent. It was like going back in time, Newari medieval buildings, locals sitting outside their houses chatting, kids playing (not begging from the tourist), old men sat in the square playing cards, ducks following eachother around, a family sorting through a pile of straw. This is much better than the other Newari medieval towns I have visited, and they were friendly to me too. Will defintiely have another look around tomorrow.
It got me thinking about whether it made any difference to these people's lives whether their country was still run by the old monarchy, or the present Communist govt. I guess life has been the same here for centuries, no matter what. There is still some terrorism in parts of Nepal. Are the terrorists lives really so bad that they have to kill other people in order to try and force what they want, although of course, that's what the Maoists, who now have power, did. But the Communist govt was actually voted in through democratic elections in the end. Most people in Nepal work hard and just want to get on with their lives and supprting their families. It seems other people just want to cause trouble. Strangely, after thinking about this this afternoon, I read a very similar viewpoint in a local newspaper.
I also reminded myself how lucky I am not to be working, when most people around me are, often long hours, everyday. This should help me to be patient when shopkeepers or bus drivers or passersby don't understand my questions or requests.
Saturday 9th April
What a great day. After wheat porridge for breakfast, at 8:30am, I headed out of town, toward Mamobuddha. I left the main road and walked up the steps to Kali temple which is pretty much an empty brick shell, but a few army guys were there, machine gun behind sandbags, pointing down the hill. Carried on along the sandy path, pretty flat and along the ridge. Great views, not obscured by trees, like the walk to Ramkot was.
Passed through Kavre where men were gathered round playing a traditonal board game, the ladies holdling babies and chatting. Through the other side of the forest and along another ridge I stopped at a tea/supplies shop. Inside were 3 lovely young ladies and the mother of at least one of them; she was a bit nuts but funny. She started kind of dancing in her seat, so I put my mp3 player on, Buddy Holly, and she moved a bit more. So i changed it to FatBoy Slim and she stood up and danced around a bit. Her daughter(s) were a bit embarrassed but it was all good fun. I had spicy potatoes and milk tea. There was a sting in the tail when they clearly charged me more than they would have charged a local.
Past more small villages and tethered cows and goats to Phulbari and then I could see the monastery on the next hillside. A few coaches came past and when I got to Namobuddha there were many pilgrims there. Some were sitting in groups singing while others queued to offer biscuits and nuts and water at the stupa.
I walked around the site and then up the steep hill to Trango Gompa where a past Buddha is said to have offered himself as lunch to a starving tiger and cubs. This gesture transported him to 'a higher level of existence' and the story is portrayed in a diorama. Just a bit further up is a great view of the temples with thousands of Tibetan prayer flags.
I walked back down the other side of the hill and to Sankhu. I watched a guy working two cows as a plough with his wife scattering the seeds behind him, they let me take their picture, as did another group of older locals and a kid. As I approached Batase, along the sandy road with green fields on each side, it made me think of the Yellow Brick Road. And there was Hindi music coming from the village, it was like being in a Nepalese Tourist Promotion video, in a good way. I found that the music was coming from a makeshift tent and inside was a Hindu priest (guru) preaching and playing music to a couple of hundred worshippers. I didn't hang around as I was quite conspicuous, but the locals were friendly and all smiles and helpful with directions.
The last part of the walk, back on the main road, seemed to go on for a long time and it started raining but I was back in Dhulikhel by 2:30pm. The scenery and the countryside and the people and the villages were fantastic on the walk and really made me appreciate Nepal even more. Every tourist goes to the mountains but they don't all get to see rural life like I did today.
I had another look around the old town in the afternoon, but what a difference a day and the rain make. The square didn't look so good, there were motorbikes parked there and the guys were playing cards in the shelter. Oh well.
And in the evening I went for dinner and after, in the dark, decided to go back to the hotel via the old town again. As I came back out the other side I could hear some music coming from a large-shed-size brick building, that had only iron bars on the side facing the street and inside was a group of 6 guys singing and playing Hindi/Hare Krishna songs with traditional instruments including a small piano-accordian, bongo drums and small cymbals. This must be what they get up to when the electricty is off (their microphone and speakers must have been powered by battery or generator). Inside the room there were several pictures of Hindi deities on the back wall. As they played I sat on the wall outside, near some ladies and then took a photo from a distance. I approached the iron bars and asked one of the guys if I could take a closer photo (from outside), and he said 'you are welcome, come inside'. So I took off my sandals and my beanie and went and sat cross-legged in among the guys, and it was awsesome, watching them sing and play. A couple of the older guys in the corner were dozing off and the tambourine player had his eyes closed. I was only sorry that I couldn't stay longer as the hostel owner insisted I was back by 8:30pm. But I had stumbled across something authentic and really hung out with the locals.
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