Life in Nepal is certainly less than boring.
Friday we loaded up our tourist bus and started our loooong drive out of the city. As it was about a week before the constitution was supposed be passed, there was a strike! Tourists are allowed to move along the roads, but locals are not. We had no problems leaving Kathmandu, but as we approached the city limits we saw the tail end of a truck, and another, and another parked at the edge of the road. The first roadblock we drove up to had over a kilometre of stopped vehicles heading towards Pokhara. We drove past the line up and were finally stopped at a large group of mainly men shouting and cheering at a speaker. They stopped our vehicle and thoroughly inspected it to ensure that we were all tourists. They even gave our tour guide a hard time. We passed through a few more road blocks and stopped for lunch at a hill top cafe. It was dead, as nobody was getting through the road blocks. We all enjoyed delicious meals and continued on our way toward Pokhara. Along the way we passed huge buses packed full of people, with people teetering precariously on top heading towards Kathmandu to protest. But a few roadblocks later, and we were the only vehicle on the road. Each roadblock was just a group of male citizens, some with weapons, and occasionally one or two police officers sprawled on the side of the road looking bored. The men would stand in front of the vehicle so that it stopped, surround it completely, open the door, inspect everyone thoroughly inside, demanded Gocool to explain his presence, and some even required Amanda to present her passport. We were waved through all without much trouble. At one of the last of the 15 or so roadblocks we went through, there were two clueless german tourists who had no idea why there bus had been stopped. We picked them up and drove them into Pokhara.
We arrived around 4:30pm and we had left at about 9am. It had been a long day. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Pokhara, complete with free wifi and a pool. The first thing many of us did was jump in the pool, we felt a whole lot better. It's pretty hard to get clean by just sponge bathing and hair washing...yay full body immersion!!!! At 6:30 we were driven into town and went to the Fewa Lake Restaurant. It was next to the lake and had live cultural dancing and music. We stayed there until our pick up time of 9pm. We had way too much food to go around, and drinks that are a mighty bit stronger, and a whole lot cheaper than at home. The only problem with the holiday inn pokhara were cockroaches. Lovely. I found two huge cockroaches in my bed, but discovered they were quite skittish. So after removing them from my room I tossed and turned in my bed lots to scare any more of them away. Steph (the other one) was my roommate, she had been visiting next door and had brought Amanda and Sarah over for a quick hangout before bed. When they came over they immediately spotted two spiders, one was complete with an egg sack. We removed them both, and as I was getting the egg sack out the door a giant flying bug flew at me out of the night and I shrieked running and jumping up on my bed. Absolutely petrifying!
MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! We woke up at 4:45 and got in the bus, we drove up to a very popular lookout. There, we saw an amazing sunrise and an absolutely gorgeous view of the mountains. We then drove back and I showered. After a quick breakfast, we started out on our jam packed day. We first went to a huge cave, it had a temple and an underground waterfall (beat that Canada). After our walk down, we walked back up, crossed the street, and saw the above ground portion of the waterfall. We also made wishes in the wishing well there. Next, we were off to the World Peace Pavillion. We drove up a treacherous road (very scary, I wouldn't have driven a bus full of people up there) and then did a 20 minute hike up to it. It was very neat there were people there praying and you could walk on the pavillion but you had to take off your shoes and socks at the bottom of the stairs (a very typical act in Nepali culture). We had a fantastic view of Pokhara and made another dog friend. On the way down we had another animal interaction, except this time it was to make way for the water buffalo who had decided at the moment that we passed by that it was the perfect time to head down the hill at a faster pace than we were walking. We had to scramble to get out of their way, because they weren't waiting for us. At the bottom we had a Mountain Dew party and got all hyped up on caffeine and sugar just before our trip to the Gorkha Museum.We drove back down the crazy road, and got out at the Gorkha museum....oops, wrong location, actually a bird museum.....and then off at the real Gorkha museum. It was an amazing museum and had personal stories, equipment, clothing, and told the history and present work of the Gorkha's. The Gorkha's are the elite military group of Nepal and have been part of wars all over the world that they have no personal stake in. They are paid very well by the English government and they hold a very high honor for taking on that role.They participate both in wars as well as development programs in Nepal. Many of the bridges that connect remote communities, over rivers to cities were built by them while not at war. After the Gorkha museum we went back into the main area of Pokhara (the tourist area). We went out for lunch, and at the end of it, I was mostly surprised by a cake. Gocool gave away the surprise but then tried to cover by telling me that we had to wait for our bill because the people who were working there were doing homework.... it was a good attempt. Finally, we went for a canoe ride across the lake to an island temple, we got caught in the downpour so we played two truths and a lie for a while. Then, we paddled back, it was lovely. Back at the hotel we had a quick rest and outfit change then we were back to town. After a short bit of shopping we went to The Amsterdam for a celebratory dinner. We ate great food and drank Gorkha beer and drank shots that had names that are too shocking for my blog. Everyone had a great time. There was a cover band who played everything from Bob Marley, to Sublime to ACDC to Bon Jovi to Pink Floyd - and they were fantastic at all of it! Gocool came out with us which was absolutely fabulous, I'm so happy he joined in on the celebration.
The next day we got back on our bus and drove to a huge gondola ride. Well, less of a ride and more of a form of transportation. It takes you all the way up to a hilltop temple. This temple is the temple of the wishful goddess. If you bring her a sacrifice and make your wish, it is quite powerful. To describe this temple without making it sound horrible is a challenge, but I will try. I saw the beauty in this place, and there is no way I will do it justice. As you walk up, the first thing I witnessed was a water buffalo being butchered and its blood streaming into the crowded courtyard. At the far end was a line of hundreds of people waiting with their goats and chickens for their turn in the temple to ask their favour. There are monks sitting in one corner and men walking around barefoot in the blood in the other. Watch your step because you never know where you'll find a pool of blood instead of a pool of water. The blood is said to be god, and is powerful when stepped in. There were no other westerners, nearly everyone there was on a pilgrimage. Most people choose to take the gondola and pay Rs. 150 to have their goat ride up in the goat basket, in the past you hiked the hill with your sacrifice. The animal is not wasted after sacrifice, it is eaten as a final aspect to the sacrifice. After witnessing this incredible event we drove back home passing through many more strikes stopping traffic into Kathmandu and saw much more of an armed police presence.
What an amazing way to turn 20. So much culture, so much fun, so many memories.
Namaste
Friday we loaded up our tourist bus and started our loooong drive out of the city. As it was about a week before the constitution was supposed be passed, there was a strike! Tourists are allowed to move along the roads, but locals are not. We had no problems leaving Kathmandu, but as we approached the city limits we saw the tail end of a truck, and another, and another parked at the edge of the road. The first roadblock we drove up to had over a kilometre of stopped vehicles heading towards Pokhara. We drove past the line up and were finally stopped at a large group of mainly men shouting and cheering at a speaker. They stopped our vehicle and thoroughly inspected it to ensure that we were all tourists. They even gave our tour guide a hard time. We passed through a few more road blocks and stopped for lunch at a hill top cafe. It was dead, as nobody was getting through the road blocks. We all enjoyed delicious meals and continued on our way toward Pokhara. Along the way we passed huge buses packed full of people, with people teetering precariously on top heading towards Kathmandu to protest. But a few roadblocks later, and we were the only vehicle on the road. Each roadblock was just a group of male citizens, some with weapons, and occasionally one or two police officers sprawled on the side of the road looking bored. The men would stand in front of the vehicle so that it stopped, surround it completely, open the door, inspect everyone thoroughly inside, demanded Gocool to explain his presence, and some even required Amanda to present her passport. We were waved through all without much trouble. At one of the last of the 15 or so roadblocks we went through, there were two clueless german tourists who had no idea why there bus had been stopped. We picked them up and drove them into Pokhara.
We arrived around 4:30pm and we had left at about 9am. It had been a long day. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Pokhara, complete with free wifi and a pool. The first thing many of us did was jump in the pool, we felt a whole lot better. It's pretty hard to get clean by just sponge bathing and hair washing...yay full body immersion!!!! At 6:30 we were driven into town and went to the Fewa Lake Restaurant. It was next to the lake and had live cultural dancing and music. We stayed there until our pick up time of 9pm. We had way too much food to go around, and drinks that are a mighty bit stronger, and a whole lot cheaper than at home. The only problem with the holiday inn pokhara were cockroaches. Lovely. I found two huge cockroaches in my bed, but discovered they were quite skittish. So after removing them from my room I tossed and turned in my bed lots to scare any more of them away. Steph (the other one) was my roommate, she had been visiting next door and had brought Amanda and Sarah over for a quick hangout before bed. When they came over they immediately spotted two spiders, one was complete with an egg sack. We removed them both, and as I was getting the egg sack out the door a giant flying bug flew at me out of the night and I shrieked running and jumping up on my bed. Absolutely petrifying!
MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! We woke up at 4:45 and got in the bus, we drove up to a very popular lookout. There, we saw an amazing sunrise and an absolutely gorgeous view of the mountains. We then drove back and I showered. After a quick breakfast, we started out on our jam packed day. We first went to a huge cave, it had a temple and an underground waterfall (beat that Canada). After our walk down, we walked back up, crossed the street, and saw the above ground portion of the waterfall. We also made wishes in the wishing well there. Next, we were off to the World Peace Pavillion. We drove up a treacherous road (very scary, I wouldn't have driven a bus full of people up there) and then did a 20 minute hike up to it. It was very neat there were people there praying and you could walk on the pavillion but you had to take off your shoes and socks at the bottom of the stairs (a very typical act in Nepali culture). We had a fantastic view of Pokhara and made another dog friend. On the way down we had another animal interaction, except this time it was to make way for the water buffalo who had decided at the moment that we passed by that it was the perfect time to head down the hill at a faster pace than we were walking. We had to scramble to get out of their way, because they weren't waiting for us. At the bottom we had a Mountain Dew party and got all hyped up on caffeine and sugar just before our trip to the Gorkha Museum.We drove back down the crazy road, and got out at the Gorkha museum....oops, wrong location, actually a bird museum.....and then off at the real Gorkha museum. It was an amazing museum and had personal stories, equipment, clothing, and told the history and present work of the Gorkha's. The Gorkha's are the elite military group of Nepal and have been part of wars all over the world that they have no personal stake in. They are paid very well by the English government and they hold a very high honor for taking on that role.They participate both in wars as well as development programs in Nepal. Many of the bridges that connect remote communities, over rivers to cities were built by them while not at war. After the Gorkha museum we went back into the main area of Pokhara (the tourist area). We went out for lunch, and at the end of it, I was mostly surprised by a cake. Gocool gave away the surprise but then tried to cover by telling me that we had to wait for our bill because the people who were working there were doing homework.... it was a good attempt. Finally, we went for a canoe ride across the lake to an island temple, we got caught in the downpour so we played two truths and a lie for a while. Then, we paddled back, it was lovely. Back at the hotel we had a quick rest and outfit change then we were back to town. After a short bit of shopping we went to The Amsterdam for a celebratory dinner. We ate great food and drank Gorkha beer and drank shots that had names that are too shocking for my blog. Everyone had a great time. There was a cover band who played everything from Bob Marley, to Sublime to ACDC to Bon Jovi to Pink Floyd - and they were fantastic at all of it! Gocool came out with us which was absolutely fabulous, I'm so happy he joined in on the celebration.
The next day we got back on our bus and drove to a huge gondola ride. Well, less of a ride and more of a form of transportation. It takes you all the way up to a hilltop temple. This temple is the temple of the wishful goddess. If you bring her a sacrifice and make your wish, it is quite powerful. To describe this temple without making it sound horrible is a challenge, but I will try. I saw the beauty in this place, and there is no way I will do it justice. As you walk up, the first thing I witnessed was a water buffalo being butchered and its blood streaming into the crowded courtyard. At the far end was a line of hundreds of people waiting with their goats and chickens for their turn in the temple to ask their favour. There are monks sitting in one corner and men walking around barefoot in the blood in the other. Watch your step because you never know where you'll find a pool of blood instead of a pool of water. The blood is said to be god, and is powerful when stepped in. There were no other westerners, nearly everyone there was on a pilgrimage. Most people choose to take the gondola and pay Rs. 150 to have their goat ride up in the goat basket, in the past you hiked the hill with your sacrifice. The animal is not wasted after sacrifice, it is eaten as a final aspect to the sacrifice. After witnessing this incredible event we drove back home passing through many more strikes stopping traffic into Kathmandu and saw much more of an armed police presence.
What an amazing way to turn 20. So much culture, so much fun, so many memories.
Namaste
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