So after our trek we went out to Pokhara to relax by the lake for a couple of days...we rented a row boat with a few other tourists and set off across the lake...it was a tough paddle across as the other guys in the boat had never paddled before and didn't quite understand how it worked (Lou, you would've left these guys in the middle of the inlet...)...we climbed the hill on the far side of the lake up to a Japanese world peace pagoda, our third of this trip, and one of 100 planned for around the world...The trip back was even more of an adventure as a storm was closing in on us and we were battling the waves with basically only me with a single paddle (paddle is a bit of a stretch...heavy piece of wood with a bit of plywood at the end...) struggling to push a giant wooden boat against the waves...Brie was actually a much better help than these strongly muscled guys...
Our second day we went to the mountain museum which was interesting...we learned about the 14 mountains that are over 8,000 meters and later that day the sky cleared and we saw Annapurna 1, one of those 14!
We went to Bandipur the next day which is one of our favourite places in the world! It is perched on a hill, overlooking fertile farmsing valleys on either side...we stayed in a traditional old house converted into a hostel...it was an amazing building...and then we started talking to the family that ran it and they were an amazing family! The mom couldn't speak much English but she was very kind, the daughter spoke great English and stayed up with us playing Uno after Brie helped her with her homework, and the grandmother who didn't speak any English somehow managed to be the jokester! The Aunt came in and grabbed Brie and brought her up stairs and dressed her in a Nepali Sari--and then we had a photo shoot, complete with tika (red dot on the forehead) and fake flowers! The aunt even gave Brie all the bangles that she had tried on! The family was so generous...they were always giving us the most fragrant flowers and sent us off in the morning with bananas!
The town itself was amazing too--no cars(as is the case with most of my fav cities around the world!) and a wonderful town square surrounded by ancient building with beautifully carved wooden windows...we walked around town enjoying the architecture and the views then hiked up the hill on the far side for even better views...The next day we decided to hike down the hill to the main highway so that we could pass Nepal's biggest cave...it was all down hill so we though it would be no problem in our Keen sandals...the only problem was that we forgot about all the leeches that have shown up for the monsoon! I took of my shoes at one point and picked off 8 leeches and another time 5 more! There was blood gushing from my toe where a big sucker had cut me open...Brie escaped fairly unscathed although she had to pick off a couple as well...I picked off the majority while standing on a giant rock and the blood was gushing out of my toe so we decided to do a little sacrifice and ask for no more leeches! We left our flowers and our banana peels in a pattern around the blood and it may have worked because we had no more leeches (although that also could have been the bug spray that we put on or the much dryer ground...) We eventually got to the cave and went in--it was very interesting...from a fairly small opening in opens up to a 60 meter high cavern...we explored all the nooks and crannies with the help of a local guide and Brie shrieked a little as the bats swooped overhead...we walked down to the highway, jumped on a bus and came back to Kathmandu...
We walked around town yesterday and then up to the monkey temple today--Kathmandu is FULL of ancient statues and temples and the architecture is amazing...we love this city...
Unfortunately, the buses and taxis went on strike today and we left both of our day trips to the end...we will still walk to Pashupatinath and Boudda if we have too but Bhaktapur is out if we can't get a bus...and getting to the airport will be a bit more interesting...oh well, all part of the adventure!
We fly from KTM to Delhi on the 21st and then from Delhi home at midnight on the 22nd so we will see you all soon!
This will probably be it...can't wait for salads at home...bye for now!
Our second day we went to the mountain museum which was interesting...we learned about the 14 mountains that are over 8,000 meters and later that day the sky cleared and we saw Annapurna 1, one of those 14!
We went to Bandipur the next day which is one of our favourite places in the world! It is perched on a hill, overlooking fertile farmsing valleys on either side...we stayed in a traditional old house converted into a hostel...it was an amazing building...and then we started talking to the family that ran it and they were an amazing family! The mom couldn't speak much English but she was very kind, the daughter spoke great English and stayed up with us playing Uno after Brie helped her with her homework, and the grandmother who didn't speak any English somehow managed to be the jokester! The Aunt came in and grabbed Brie and brought her up stairs and dressed her in a Nepali Sari--and then we had a photo shoot, complete with tika (red dot on the forehead) and fake flowers! The aunt even gave Brie all the bangles that she had tried on! The family was so generous...they were always giving us the most fragrant flowers and sent us off in the morning with bananas!
The town itself was amazing too--no cars(as is the case with most of my fav cities around the world!) and a wonderful town square surrounded by ancient building with beautifully carved wooden windows...we walked around town enjoying the architecture and the views then hiked up the hill on the far side for even better views...The next day we decided to hike down the hill to the main highway so that we could pass Nepal's biggest cave...it was all down hill so we though it would be no problem in our Keen sandals...the only problem was that we forgot about all the leeches that have shown up for the monsoon! I took of my shoes at one point and picked off 8 leeches and another time 5 more! There was blood gushing from my toe where a big sucker had cut me open...Brie escaped fairly unscathed although she had to pick off a couple as well...I picked off the majority while standing on a giant rock and the blood was gushing out of my toe so we decided to do a little sacrifice and ask for no more leeches! We left our flowers and our banana peels in a pattern around the blood and it may have worked because we had no more leeches (although that also could have been the bug spray that we put on or the much dryer ground...) We eventually got to the cave and went in--it was very interesting...from a fairly small opening in opens up to a 60 meter high cavern...we explored all the nooks and crannies with the help of a local guide and Brie shrieked a little as the bats swooped overhead...we walked down to the highway, jumped on a bus and came back to Kathmandu...
We walked around town yesterday and then up to the monkey temple today--Kathmandu is FULL of ancient statues and temples and the architecture is amazing...we love this city...
Unfortunately, the buses and taxis went on strike today and we left both of our day trips to the end...we will still walk to Pashupatinath and Boudda if we have too but Bhaktapur is out if we can't get a bus...and getting to the airport will be a bit more interesting...oh well, all part of the adventure!
We fly from KTM to Delhi on the 21st and then from Delhi home at midnight on the 22nd so we will see you all soon!
This will probably be it...can't wait for salads at home...bye for now!
It's so fun to read the Nepal part of your blog! You HAVE to go to Bhaktapur and spend the night there so you can experience it after the tourists have left for the evening. There must be a hotel worker somewhere that you can pay to take you there!
ReplyDeleteMaryam