Nepal

21.05.2008 to 02.07.2008

Nepal was an unplanned diversion from our original plans... we were going to head to Varanasi but the heat was too much to bear so we decided to continue towards Nepal....

In all we spent one and a half months here... chillin out and resting. We would have loved to trek the Everest Base Camp trek, but the season was not ideal as it was monsoon. So we decided to spend most of the time in Pokhara.

Nepal is a poor country, but it is rich in scenic splendour and cultural treasures. It's the kind of country that lingers in your dreams long after you leave it.

During our stay here, Nepal's Maoist-led assembly voted to abolish the monarchy and become a democracy. The former king of Nepal has moved out of the Kathmandu palace where his family has resided for more than a century. Political violence (including three fatalities) escalated in the lead-up to Nepal's elections on 10 April, and at the same time as the new Constituent Assembly was sworn in on 27 May a bomb explosion in Kathmandu injuring two people. Currently making the transition from monarchy to republic, the country is on the brink of huge change, and the security situation may remain fragile for some time. On June 26, Nepal's interim Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala resigned and bitter disagreements continue within the ruling Maoist party.

Our first stop was hot Kakarvitta. We arrived at around noon and headed straight to do our Nepali visa... the maximum stay given is two months. It was then just a matter of waiting in the vicinity of the bus station to catch our bus ride to Kathmandu. This ride was going to last approximately seventeen hours and we were definetely not looking forward to it, especially given the reputation of both Nepalese roads and drivers.

We looked out for a place to eat and settled down in a nice hotel for lunch....where we incidentally met Elana again. She had just arrived in Nepal as well but had a diffirent itinerary than ours.

At around 17:30 we set off for our long bus ride, and true to their fame, Nepali roads are in a disastrous state. We made some stops on the way and arrived in Kathmandu at ten o'clock of the following day... from there it was a noisy drive and walk towards Thamel.

Thamel Janet was exhilerated as soon as we start venturing into Thamel's roads... the place was full of beautiful shops... it gave us the feeling of being back in Kho San Road in Thailand. We headed towards a guesthouse where our friend had stayed before and baragained the price of 150 Nepali Rupies for each night... which is approximately 1.50 Euros. Given we were spending some nights here we were glad of being able to do it cheap. As soon as we checked in we immediately shot off to eat a much longed for burger... and we found just the right place. It's incredible how ordinary food back home can taste so extroardinary when you are deprived of it. After our meal we had to go back at the guesthouse and take a nap as the happiness was too much! That same evening we went round a couple of nice clubs offering some good live music.

We ended up spending seven nights in Thamel, two out of which Janet was sick. She got bad stomach from some vegetables she ate and could not eat anything at all. But luckily she had a quick recovery. We ended up not doing any sightseeing and got stuck in Thamel, mostly shoping and eating. It was like heaven on earth for both of us... Yakof for food and Janet for clothes. It was the first real time for Janet, after six months travelling, that she got to do some serious shopping. Thamel was just the perfect place to be. Clothes, incense, perfumes, jewellery, art, and books yet again (even cheaper than India) !!! The same goes for food...pizza, pasta, burgers, chips breakfasts, coffee and everything incredibly good.

Our favourite places was an Italian restaurant Fire'n'Ice for pizza and BK's for chips, though all the restaurants we went to were great. We also met again the Swiss couple as well as Elana on our last day there.

After seven nights in Thamel we decided it was time to head off to somewhere else....somewhere more chilled out than the city.....Pokhara.

Pokhara

Pokhara was our home for a month and we just loved it. The first few days we stayed at a guesthouse in the town centre but, after many missed tries, we managed to find just the perfect place. A beautiful resort in front of the lake. The room was great... comfortable bed, refrigerator, television with DVD player, two windows with lake views... and very clean!!! We striked a very good deal with the owner : just five euros a day and we were also allowed to use their kitchen every now and again to cook some food our our own.

The month spent there passed by very quickly. We spent most of our days at the resort, either watching DVDs, or reading books, or just taking in the beauty of the surroundings. Elana joined us there for a couple of weeks before she headed back to India.

The same day we found our room we met three small kids wondering in the streets. They all took Janet's hands and walked with us. They were talking to us in Nepali which we could not make up at first. Eventually we understood what they wanted...food! We took them to a hotel and ordered them food... twice... which they devoured in no time. The kids here are beautiful but most of them very poor, unluckily.

We also made a friend during our stay there...Kali. Kali is the name we gave to a sweet black puppy which was eventually 'adopted' by all the guests at the resort. He was simply adorable!!! We gave him food, played with him and one time also ended up washing him as he came back to the resort after two days running in the fields. Yakof just loved him... if it was for him he would have taken the dog to India, but Janet knew "better". Many times we let him have naps in our room, though a couple of times we found leeches coming out of his body.

All the staff at the resort were great, especially the owner Bishnu... a lovely lady who has been running this business for the past twelve years.

We did not venture much around Pokhara due to both the continuous transport strikes as well as the frequent rain. Our sufferance from this was minimal as we just loved not doing anything!

When the time came for us to leave we were a bit sad, though definetely ready to get back to India.