Nepal Adventures 2013!: Homeward Bound

Hello! Arthur and I got back from Pokhara two days ago. It was a lovely place, very different from Kathmandu because there was no honking, no pollution and very little litter on the roads. It is a city snuggled up between a lake and the Annapurna Mountain Range. It’s a good place to go without a plan. We ended up meeting some people Arthur had met on his previous trip to Pokhara and we stayed in the same guest house as them. It had a kitchen, a view of the lake, and was only 350 NPRs (3.50$) a night! Not bad. A lot of the tourists we met in Pokhara we very mellow hippies, including the other people in our guest house. We ended up going with them to a waterfall not far from our house where they all took showers totally nude despite the fact there was a house not far from us. Very chill, open people. We pretty much just relaxed the whole time. We swam in lake and I rented a boat at dusk and went out to the middle of the lake where I could see a mountain peak above the clouds! It was so peaceful and beautiful…but the boat was meant for eight people so it was a bit of a struggle to get around.

The next day was really fun. Arthur and I wanted to go see the Tibetan refugee camp so we rented a scooter (which he had driven only once before) and we headed around the mountain. We ended up passing the refugee camp and having to stop for directions at a gas station, where we saw a gorgeous waterfall coming down the mountain about a mile away. We decided to try and reach it and a lovely man named Dharmendra at the gas station volunteered to lead us. So we walked through sunny rice paddies toward this waterfall for about 15 minutes until we reached a small gorge with a very rapid river running through it. We had to cross the river to get to the waterfall, and we decided to swim. There were a bunch of boys swimming in the river and it was going really fast, and they kept asking me if I could swim well. “We’ll find out,” I told them. About thirty feet away from the place we were crossing was a small waterfall with rocks at the bottom…definitely not something I wanted to go over. Arthur got across fine, but I was pretty nervous so Dharmendra sent some of the boys to stand in the water down the river to catch me in case I went too far. But I crossed okay and we headed up the mountain in soaking wet clothes. This was when Dharmendra revealed to us that he actually had no idea where the waterfall was, so after about 15 mintues of searching we gave up and went back across the river. This time I almost get sucked over the waterfall because I thought I had reached the other side when I hadn’t and I got pulled down pretty far. It was kind of a heart-stopping moment. But fun! We thanked Dharmendra and gave him our contact information and then dried off on the scooter on the way to the refugee camp, which was really not exciting at all. Then we headed to Begnas Lake where we ate lunch before returning to Pokhara, where Arthur made dinner for everyone and then we went out dancing at Busy Bee Café, where we table-hopped and met a lot of cool people.

The next day I went to the waterfall alone and was just sitting in the stream drawing on a rock when an Australian man named Rod walked by. We started talking and he invited me back to his house for tea with his Nepali wife, Sita. He was a really inspiring guy. He and Sita had gotten married only four months ago, both as a second marriage. He told me about his travels and how meditation changed his life, improved his health, and opened his mind. He was so accepting of fate and so able to take life as it is and make the best of it. Meeting him was one of the highlights of my trip.

That night Dharmendra came lakeside to see us. We had a big dinner that night, with two Swedes, two Nepali, two Irish, four Americans, and one French. I just sat and listened to everyone talk politics and philosophy. It was interesting. Dharmendra ended up spending the night and then coming to the bus station in the morning to see us off. As we were waiting for the bus, what should appear but the Annapurna Mountains! Literally at the last possible moment. They were so beautiful and so shockingly high…I just stared for a good twenty minutes before taking some lame pictures that don’t do the mountains justice. I am so happy I got to see them though! I feel like I can leave now.

Speaking of leaving…my flight leaves in five hours! I can’t believe this month is already over. It was such an amazing time. Last night we stayed in and drank and laughed for my last night and it was a blast. I’m going to miss the other volunteers a lot. The kids made me a card and Dhanraj gave me a painting! Very sweet. It’s going to be strange not seeing them everyday…but I can’t wait to see how they grow. Maybe one of them will head over to the US one day! They taught me a lot. We actually just got a new orphan girl a few days ago and all the kids absolutely dote on her. She is surprisingly happy even though she is in a strange place and already a part of the family. I love how ready they are to accept someone new into their lives. Everyone is like that here. I hope I can use what I’ve learned here in the US. But I am excited to see you all soon! I have a thirteen hour layover in Abu Dhabi tonight so please, PLEASE help keep me entertained. See you all soon!

Lots of love,

Kate