Pokhara
The bus ride from Bardia to Pokhara was a 12-hour day ending in Pokhara just at 9 pm. All the shops were pulling down their metal doors and locking up for the night. A couple of friends in various parts of the world had suggested a great place to stay called the Hotel Lotus Inn run by Mr. Ganesh Thapa and his family. Wonderful people. Rooms are reasonable 700-1000 Rupee/night. If you are planning to stay along time or more than a week the upstairs rooms have a kitchenette so you can really bring down your costs by cooking for yourself and half the fun is going to the market. From the roof you can see K-2 reaching for the sky along with much of the mountain range supporting it.
I was trying to get to a music festival but due to trekking I missed it. I had also planned to spend some time here writing and clearing the desk. I finished ‘The Women of Cho’ and it is now at the editor. Soon we design the cover and I do have a fun idea for that. Lets see if the boys behind the cover can pull it off.
My mornings were all about writing or heading out to Katmandu, Dahding and writing about it. After a good day in front of the computer screen I took a late afternoon walk down along the lakeshore. It’s a very picturesque place with the lake and high mountains in the background. The temperature is right too. The elevation is a little deceiving because Pokhara isn’t very high in the mountains but feels like it because of the backdrop.
With further exploration I found a stack of live music venues along the main Lakeview Road. To name a couple where I listened to music; Club Amsterdam, Busy Bee’s, oxygen, One Love. At One Love I listened to a really refreshing band called, ‘Funk Nomads’. Part of the way through a set the police came in and took the amplifier. They didn’t ask any questions they just walked up the stairs, crossed the room to the band equipment and unplugged the band. Most of the other venues play pretty much rock and roll with a few contemporary songs drifting in ever so slowly.
When I first arrived there were prayer candles at the base of huge trees in the road islands offering prayers for the earthquake victims and their families. Kids try to sell you a candle for way too much money when you can turn around and get it for 10 rupee at the little shops lining the street. They are greedy little buggers but I’ve noticed that all over Nepal. If you are western the price automatically goes up and they don’t have a price in mind. When they say a price and you know better, you laugh and put your money back in your pocket and head for the door. They will stop you and shout out another price. I usually keep going and try 20 feet down the street; eventually you reach the local price.
Like the myths and Greek legends say about the Lotus eaters and the flower itself, 19 days past so quickly I all of a sudden woke up and had to leave or I wouldn’t. There’s a lot to do in Pokhara, Bungee jumping, Paragliding, trekking, bike rentals, boat rentals on the lake, and I found a lap pool called the Penguin Swimming Pool. 200 Rupee and you are in. It’s best to go around 10 am before the kids start showing up and you get the pool to yourself besides a coach teaching a few kids how to swim better.
Helping earthquake victims was a great way to spend some time in Pokhara. I didn’t do a whole lot of exploring in the area due to goals but that just gives me a great excuse to come back. I had planned to do a trek but with the earthquakes going off I just thought I’d wait until next time.
