White water rafting on the way to Chitwan

How exciting, in all my visits to Nepal I have never managed to make it to Chitwan so I am really pleased that this is one of the main places Ewan wnats to visit on this trip.

Narayan has organised it all for us and we wake up super early to get ourselves sorted before our 7am taxi to the tourist bus park. It is only when we make it to the bus park that I realise I have forgotten to put in my contact lenses, and even worse than that I have actually forgotten to bring them with me, nor my glasses either.

It is not that I have particularly bad eye sight (and they have improved since I have been practising Yoga)but I can't see distances with total clarity. Which is not ideal when you are going to a national park to look for animals in the wild - and from a distance. In hindsight I would have had time to return to the hotel and pick up my contact lenses but the bus was due to leave at 7.30am and I was in need of a cup of tea (always tea huh, what a pitiful excuse!).

So we get on the bus and Narayan comes to make sure the driver knows where to drop us off as we are initially headed along the highway towards Kathmandu but will stop after a few hours to white water raft down towards Chitwan. See all very exciting. but of course I can't see properly and I am irritated at my stupidity because I managed to pack everything else for both of us!

After a few hours of bumping our way along the road (we did get a short tea break, although it was really cold as this mist hangs in the air outside of Pokhara)we finally get dropped off at Fishling for our white water rafting. Only that this isn't realy the right season for white water rafting as the rivers have calmed down after the monsoon back in the summer. So it kind of turns more so into gentle rafting down the river.

Still it is rather pretty. And cold. There are 8 of us on the raft including the leader and Ewan is sitting in front of me. Narayan had told us to wear shorts and t-shirts which is exactly what Ewan is wearing although I am wearing leggings and a fleece so am slightly warmer. Because the thing is, while the rapids are really rather easy going, you still get wet, and the water is cold, super cold, and so we are cold, which is never ideal.

Ewan spots a kingfisher but it is a bit of a blur to me. I do manage to notice many butterflies, which flutter around the river banks, making for quite a pretty scene. We paddle a little, but it is not exactly taxing and we even stop for a pee break half way down towards our destination. In fact we reach our destination before we know it, I guess we were only actually on the water for about 2 hours and it actually passed really very quickly.

We end up at yet another one of those dusty juntion towns and got to stay here for lunch today...yet more Dahl Bhat in a very local eatery and I feel Ewan is being very brav when he pours water for everyone from a general jug and then proceeds to drink his glass...is he mad, you should never risk the water over here. He is quite surprised he forgot and worries he will get sick.

There are 4 of us going down to Chitwan and we stand at the side of the road with one of the rafting team who has the task of getting us on a local bus for the remainder of the journey. A bus stops and there ensues heated discussions between the rafting team and the bus touts over the price they will pay for us. Finally the rafting team sells us out (well that is who I consider it) because there is only actually one available seat on this very crowded local bus (there are always lots of bags in the thin aisle) and I am not particularly happy about the situation.

We let one of theother girls take the seat and he friend sits on a bag besde her at the bak of the bus. I am notin the best of moods, I am cold and tired and I can't see properly and I feel cheated by the guys for putting us on this bus in the first place. So I sit on the floor of the bus, which is really rather disgusting as the floor is filthy but it is actually really difficult to stand when the bus is bumping all over the place. Ewan stands however andtries to be cheery but I can feel msyelf about to burst into tears so just put my head in my lap and pretend that this whole situation is not happening.

Still I perk up and feel a bit of a drama queen as a few of the men on the bus seem a little concerned. Ewan stands behind me so I can lean into him and he can lean into me and I am totally disorienated as I can't see out of the window. However it is not a pleasant experience and just before we reach our destination one of the woman sitting in a seat to the side of me is falling asleep and almost has her head on my shoulder and coughs from time to time all over me. Delightful! Still I wanted the local experience so what can I expect really, this is just life over here.

It is with some relief that we arrive at our hotel for the night, just outside of the park at Bharatpur Heights. Needless to say this is not exactly what I had in mind (see expectation is a terrible thing!), the brochure made it sound a lovely and quiet place with a swimming pool and character. But we are here out of season and it is cold and the swimming pool is empty and the rooms are really basic (although there is a tv, but it doesn't always work), and we are the only people for dinner again and there are bugs and I still can't see properly (and how ridiculous that I can't just let it go...so much for my Yoga practice and that non-attachment thing!)and so I write my diary and give myself a really good talking to!

So all good fun really!!

Cloudy day and out on the bike again

I am exhausted today. All that trekking up steep hills (let alone down the hill) plus the walk to Dumre and yet another bumpy bus ride and my body is tired and aching.

So we got to early morning yoga - obviously - although only Devika is there today and no electricity so she is meditating so I lead a practise for Ewan and I.

Usual thing, breakfast in the sun to warm up, more shopping (almost all shopping done now!) before buying cakes for the women at the Project and spending some time sitting with them and trying on yet more products.

Devika lends us her motorbike again the afternoon and this time we head out along the Lake to Bijay's village before heading out past the airport and up to rush hour in the old town, which is madness but incredibly good fun. Ewan has got well into the whole biking thing now and I must admit that i quite enjoy it too.

We go for dinner and then met Monie for a drink in the Busy Bee (her local) where the usual loud Nepali band is playing and there is a fire burning for people to huddle around as a lot of the cafes and bars are open fronted or literally outdoor like this one. We meet two of the owners of the Last Resort which hosts Nepal's only bungee jump and this makes for interesting - do something different with your life - type chatter.

Another early night, quite a lovely routine wehave adopted here.

Leaving Bandipur

So while we may have had an early night, we also had an early start. i don't wear a watch but Ewan is rather obsessed with the time and I have to say he is pretty good - I asked him to set his alarm so we could get up for sunrise but he just woke up naturally at 5.50am and that was us done for the night.

We were rather excited about the prospect of sunrise over the Himalaya from the comfort of our balcony but we were up far too early and actually the sun rises a little over to the side at the moment, being that it is December and all. So we wondered around the resort drinking tea and going onto the field at the top where the party was setting up for another day. The views were fairly impressive though and it was a great way to start the day.



We took breakfast on the main balcony before walking down to the swimming pool, which had been one of the main attractions of the resort, only that the pool was empty so no swimming for us. We messed around with the camera instead, Ewan in the pool and me messing around practising Yoga on what could be a ideal place to practise Yoga on a Nepali retreat - in fact the whole resort screamed Yoga retreat centre to me. Oh well, I can but dream!




We decided to go for a morning walk into town and walked down to the public washing area where cool spring water emerges from beneath a forest and the women were doing their morning washing (funny that!) and chanced upon a shrine to Krishna and Radha. there was a kindly man at the shrine who encouraged us to come and take a look. It was rather special.



I don't know, the last few times I have been to Nepal I have been particulalry drawn to Shiva, the God who is responsible for destroying and creating, but this year all I seem to notice is Ganesh, the God of prosperity and wisdom and the remover of obstacles and Krishna, the fun loving cowherd who dallied with the milkmaids, danced, played his flute and still managed to remain devoted to his wife, Radna. So it seemd rather approriate that of all the Hindu shrines we could come across, it was Krishna today, I can sense a meaning there somewhere, but that should be no surprise!

We then decided that we would check out and walk back down to Dumre taking the road. I suspect the motorist who passed us thought us most mad, in fact one bus driver actually stopped to offer us a lift, but we were determined to walk the distnace...which actually surprised us by taking about an hour and a half and in fact towards the end we were walking rather quickly for fear we would miss the last bus back to Pokhara. But alas not, a bus appeared a matter of moments after we reached the bus stop and while it was cmpletely packed with only 2 free seats, we decided to go for it and thus endured another testing bus drive all the way back to Pokhara Old Town before taking a taxi to Lakeside.

Back in town it was tea time again before my early evening Yoga practice on the roof in front of the mountains and in peace.

I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Bandipur. In many respects it was one of the highlights of the trip because we literally chanced it and just went with the flow of things and had so much fun together, working as a bit of a team. Thank you Universe, iI am very grateful.

Adventure to Bandipur

Adventure time.

We decide it is time to have a break from Pokhara and on Moniek's recommendation we head to Bandipur - a living museum of Newari culture, where winding lanes are lined with tall Newari houses and people here seem to live centuries before the rest of the country.

We kind of chance it. With one bag between the two of us we go for tea at the little bakery at the end of our road before taking a taxi up to the bus park at the Old Pokhara town and - quite by chance - manage to find ourselves on a bus immediately leaving for Dumre, where we will need to get a jeep up to Bandipur, which is draped like a scarf along a high ridge above Dumre.

The bus journey is rather hysterical. The bus system out here is rather crazy. As far as we can work out you have government buses which are very decrepid, then you have lots of private local bus companies, which of course tout for business (and are especially good at ripping off us Westeners) and then you have tourist buses owned by tourist companies for the main tourist routes and then you have the Greenline bus which is the King of all buses over here in terms of comfort.

Anyhow we are on a local bus, which feels like it may fall apart each time it hits a pothole, which it does very often so we are literally bumping our way along the road for about 2.5 hours, only stopping briefly to pick up people or to stop for the passengers to take a pee at the side of the road (which they do, women too) before we finally make it to Dumre in one piece despite the head-on-head-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road-near-steep-cliffs-driving of the bus driver. Hoorah.

Dumre is yet another one of those depressing dusty junction towns with lots of traffic and beeping and dirt and litter. We manage to find the jeeps but are told by this young guy that it will cost us to go on our own, maybe better to wait for ohers to join us. So we follow our new friend over to a local tea shop where we are served horrid sweet black tea and Ewan chats with the friend and his brother who offers Ewan yet another opportunity to buy Marajuana (honestly, Ewan gets asked all the time, and if he doesn't then it seems kind of weird).

All of a sudden the boys leave us at the tea shop - so much for trying to get us on a jeep - so we go off and decide to simply pay the money (about GBP7 so no real biggy) to get us up to Bandipur and away from the noise of Dumre. It takes about 20 minutes for the jeep to climb its way up the hairpin bends to Bandipur, all the time the air becomes fresher and we are delighted by the views of the mountains, no wonder people visit this place.



In town we have no idea where we are going although we have decided to upmarket ourselves at the one resort in the town. To get there we have to walk through the main lane which is indeed lined with Newari style houses - glorious 18th century architecture - and then up some steps and past the small local maternity hospital (the first time I have seen anything like this) and down across a field which used to be the place where traders would gather to haggle for goods from India and Tibet before starting the long trek t Lhasa or the Indian plains.

This area not only provides fantastic views of the some of the Himalayan peaks but also hosts five huge fig trees (not that we noticed initially, in fact we had no idea that the trees were fig trees and even the fact there were 5 of them didn't stop us andeirng around trying to find normal looing fig trees!). In Nepali mythology the different types of figs are symbols for different Hindu Gods including Vishnu, Brahma and Hanuman.

Anyhow today the area is taken over with lots and lots of parties of Nepali youngsters, clearly on some bit school outing with lots ofdifferent schoolbuses parked nearby. It is kind of cool, lots of different music playing, food being cooked on stoves in massive pots, an atmosphere of celebration in the air, although we still have no idea of the reason.

So we finally find the resort which benefits from a lovely setting surrounded by pine trees and we are given a spacious room with an ensuite bahroom and a balcony affording fantastic views of the Himalayan range and tree tops to our side. It is quiet too, and we later realise that we were the only ones staying at the resort.

Anyhow we decided to make the most of our time in Bandipur and head out in our trekking shoes to trek down the "hill" (more like an incredibly vertical cliff face) to visit Siddha Gufa, said to be the largest cave in Nepal. The Lonely planet says it takes 1.5 hours to climb down, which we struggled to comprehend until we actualy started the descent and discovered that the path is mainly composed of slate tiles and as this side of the cliff does not receive the mid-day sun, the slate was incredibly slippery so at one point I was almost climbing down the steps sideways using my hands to grip onto the path.

Soon we were passed by two younger Western guys who were wearing trainers and virtually running down, whcih made our effort seem, rather lame. More so when we passed some Nepali women in traditional dress with flipflops on their feet climbing with the usual hedge on their back. Madness! Finally the steep steps eased and we were able to along a path before more steps all the way to the cave, about two thirds of the way down the cliff.

I must admit that I was no longer in the best of spirits because all I could think about was the ridiculous walk to get back to the top. plus we were totally unprepared, we barely had any water and we hadn't eaten lunch and only had half a museli bar to share between the two of us.

Amazingly we made it to the cave just after the two other guys (how strange is that, not many tourists in town, not the easiest walk and we happen to be visiting at exactly the same time) and there was a young Nepali guy waiting to guide us through the caves. Admittedly the cave is rather impressive with twisted stalactites and stalagmites but I just could not get into it. I was feeling a little lacking in energy and here we were being led around a dark cave and doing all sorts of things which would no way be approved by health and safety officers in the Western world - we had to go up and down ladders and use a rope to almost abseil down a section.



Ewan kept slippng and I just could not let go of the thought that we could easily kill ourselves in here, or simply twist an ankle, which would be a challenge bearing in mind we are stuck in a cave on a cliff. In fact there was one point where I refused to join the boys as they took another ladder into a deeper section of the cave and so I sat at the top, in total darkness and remembered Devika saying taht she would go to the cave to meditate, so I sat there, closed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing (which was not so easy as it was hot and stuffy in the cave)although Ewan kept calling to check I was okay and before I knew it they were all heading back up and their torches filled the place with light again.

Needless to say I was actually rather relieved when the whole tour was over - we were in there for 45 minutes - and yet was not in the slightest bit looking forward to our trek back to the top and did debate walking down to the town below and getting a local bus to the Dumre and the jeep back up again. But that seemed silly. So we shared the rest of the museli bar and just went for it.

Like really went for it. I kept wanting to stop but Ewan would keep saying, "another 5 minutes"...which never really came, although we did stop for sips of our limited water from time to time and he did help to push me up certain sections when I got realy quiet. It really did remind me of proper trekking, the fact it becomes more of a mental thing. I got angry and then Ewan would make me laugh.

Amazingly I found a stick that made a perfect walking pole and I decided to just completely go for it. I had some idea where we were on the path although Ewan wouldn't believe me as he seemed to think we would take longer to go up than we had to go down. But alas not. We almost managed it in half the time. And oh my gosh what a relief to reach the top and walk along the ridge and downhill into the main lane.



I downed a litre of water before enjoying the best nepali tea I have ever tasted - this stuff seriously picks you up, it is great! From there we managed to trek back to our resort and I took to my mat to stretch out my aching limbs before helping Ewan do a headstand and then we each enjoye a much needed shower albeit a cold night and the water was not particualrly hot - before heading off for an early dinner, the sunsetting around 5.30ish these days.

And we were literally the only ones in the dining hall, which was kind of weird. But oh such lovely food, probably because we had hardly eaten all day, but we opted for Dahl Bhat to make it easier for the chef, and it was all freshly made for us and tasted delicious.



Back to the room and it was really cold and there was very little to do except wrap up in the blankets and read our books until tiredness got the best of us and we were asleep by 9.30pm!

Visiting the Nepali Yoga Women's Trust and Ewan's shave!

Thursday and we have a day off. Well sort of. We seem to have gotten into a routine whre we are full on one day and then take the next day to integrate and breath!

So we are up super early as usual and go to Yoga for 7.30am but there is no one else there aside from Devika and as there is electricity she is chanting away to Deva Premel, which does nothing for Ewan so he leaves me to it while he goes for a walk along the lake.

We manage about 25 minutes of chanting until the electricity goes off (8am, rather normal these days)and so we practise along side each other, Devika sitting in meditation and me doing my usual post-trekking practise. All rather lovely, a bit like old times, only that we don't then spend the rest of the day lounging around the Yoga centre in our own little Yoga bubble.

Instead Ewan meets me and we head off for our usual breakfast by the lake in the warming sun. I love this time in the morning, when Lakeside is waking up (much later than it would do in the high season) and you hear all the shutters being pulled up and people wafting incense outside the front of their shops and sprinkling water onto the pavement (I am guessing this is to ward off bad energies and bring prosperity) nd lots of greetings of "Namaste".

There are some morning sounds over here I don't so much enjoy. The men (not all men and I must admit I do hear women doing it too) have this thing about coughing up phlegm and spitting it out to the side of the road. The first time I visited nepal and especially when trekking, I was totally repulsed by this morning sound, it was certainly enough to put me off my breakfast, but I must admit that you kind of get used to it and now Ewan and I just chuckle about it instead.

When I was volunteering in a borading school in Kathmandu a few years ago, we ended up taking the health studies class. In their textboks the children were being taught all sorts of "health" things, like not coughing up phlegm and spitting, nor eating with hands and making sure to wash hands and brush teeth and wash etc. Strangely I was aware that when we were eating with Narayan and his family they were all now using spoons to eat their Dahl Bhat whereas last time I visited they were still eating with their right hand (and believe me this is not as easy as it looks, what with the dhal mixed with the rice). So I guess things are changing and with that chnage, perhaps less of the phlegm noise!

Anyhow we did some more shopping - see it gets addictive this whole bartering thing, plus we have the excuse of buying Christmas presents for everyone. And then more Dahl Bhat at Devika's sister's house this time. I love going to eat at Devika's place as the food is always so super healthy and we are not encouraged to eat more than is necessary. So we enjoyed the novelty of brown rice, plus a lovely pickle with fresh spices, lots of home-grown spinach and tasty curd. Yum.



After lunch we walked with Devika to the Trust's shop so I could have a proper look and meet the women again. It is great these days because the women are no longer shy around me and their English has improved so that they are able to understand what we are saying - unfortunatly my Nepali has suffered by my 18 month absence, although I hope to get that sorted next time. I would LOVE to speak Neapli fluently, it would make life so much more fun and interesting when in Nepal as I would understand what people are saying to me (and about me!) and have more bargaining power (it is not necessary to speak Nepali out here by the way, speaking English is deemed the golden ticket to make money in and out of the country so everyone tries to learn it).

The Trust is growing from strength to strength, it really is. I must admit that I stepped back from it the last year, a combination of committing to life in Guersey and also being sick over the summer, so that actually I didn't have so much energy to give. However this has all worked out for the best (or so I feel) as it has forced Devika to really stand on her own two feet (as I have been trying to do myself) and taken me and my impatience out of the equation (I am not so impatient these days by the way, one of the joys of a regular Yoga practise perhaps) and provided the space - and indeed the grounding (think feet) for things to manifest.




So that now there are 7 women (and their families) benefitting from the Trust. Naina has taken a break as she has recently had a baby and needs to be at home with her new son, but we have been joined by 3 others so numbers are higher than ever. One of the ladies is known to me personally - her husband, Dill, was one of the porters on the trek I initially did wih my parents a few years ago and then again last year with Ewan. Mum and Dad developed a real fondness for Dill, a very unassuming, humble and kind man, and have been sponsoring his children's education ever since (not abnormal over here).

Unfortunately Dill died last year when a bus knocked into him when he was walking Sushant (his eldest son of 10 years) home from school. So this meant that his wife, Manu, and his two sons had to move down from their small farm on the Sarangkot hill, to a house owned by Dill's brother in Lakeside, where they now live with Dill's parents and his sister (again this is not unusual over here, extended families tend to live together and in fact families are very close and will always support one another, as long as someone is putting food on the table then all should be well...).

Anyhow Manu is now benefitting from the Trust. She was very shy to begin and lacked the knitting skills learned by the other women, but she has now picked it up and seems to enjoy the company of the other women - I guess it helps to provide a distraction from the achig in her heart. I know the family have struggled to come to terms with Dill's death and her youngest son is still waiting for him to re-appear as he would often go off for weeks at a time on treks.

The quality of the woollen products being made by the women far surpasses the quality of woollen products being sold in Lakeside. The trouble is, the cost of the quality of wool and the time it takes the women to make the socks by hand means that the socks need to sell at a higher price than the other cheaper and less quality socks on offer in Lakeside. This is fine in terms of selling socks abroad (well it would be fine if we did not have to factor in the ridiculous freight/postage charges of getting anything out of Nepal) but means the market is somewhat reduced in Lakeside and all we can hope is that visiting yogis realise that by buying the socks, they are benefitting the women as much as themselves and may justify paying that little bit more.




We now have a lady who is experienced in using a sewing macine so she is busy making Yoga pants and yoga mat bags, while the other women are in the process of making woollen shawls now that socks, gloves and leg warmers are relatively stocked. Needless to say I have invested in yet more woollen products, smaller socks and leg warmers, as they keep me so warm! I can't wait until the day we manage to create the opportuinity for the international Yoga community wearing the Trust's socks, and literally helping women to stand on their own two feet. All rather exciting.

Anyhow we left the women to their knitting so that Ewan could finally gie in and have a shave! Honestly it has been getting ridiculous. There are a number of shaving places throughout town (in fact far more than I realised) and the last few days they have all been on at Ewan to have a shave. He knows he needs to have one - oindeed wants to have one - but he is not particualry happy about the thought of having such a sharp blade so close to his throat and controlled by someone else.




Anyhow he finally relents and I watch and am rather fascinated by the ease at which the young guy shaves Ewan's face. He even gets a head and neck massage of which I am rather jealous, so the whole episode takes about half an hour and costs about £3 and Ewan has baby soft skin for the next few days!

After all that excitement we head for tea and then another walk along the Lake, watching the sun drop behind the hills, before heading off to visit Manu at her house and deliver presents from my parents for the boys. We also caught up with Naina and her daughter Neha who is also supported by my parents.

There was no electricity at the hotel by the time we were done, so we headed to Cafe Amsterdam for a drink until the noise of the live band got too much (young bands are all the rage here, but they are clearly expressing their angst about the political situation as they play music LOUD) and so we went for dinenr before another relatively early night.

Trekking to Narayan's village

Wednesday and another active day.

Narayan wants to take us up to his village so we leave the hotel by taxi at 8.30am and stop to pick up Dick and Honey, a Dutch couple who sponsor Narayan's brother's children and who are going up to the village the easy way. Unlike us.

So the taxi drops us at the side of the road in the river valley the other side of Sarangkot to Lakeside. And before we know it we are trekking up the steep cliff for about an hour. My body goes into shock. I am still not 100% and my legs feel heavier than ever, even though they are not, but you know what I mean. And I can feel my heart going crazy, what with the strenous nature of trekking up steep steps without a walking pole to ease the pressure.

We stop every so often, Ewan trying to keep my spirits high, and I am almost pleased to find that Narayan is sweating rather profusely, seems we are all finding it hard work today. About 2/3rds of the way to the top, we pass an old man sitting outside his simple house with baby goats playing in the garden. Ewan and I have got this thing about the cuteness of baby goats and so we stopped to take a photo. The man being of the older and thus particularly hospitable generation, invited us in for a glass of fresh buffalo curd, which he churns by hand having first milked the buffalo.




It is an intersting taste. Quite nice really. Although one glass was quite enough for me, Ewan was sweet enough to take another glass so as not to offend the kindly gentleman who even invited us into his house so we could see how he churns the stuff manually. For Ewan this was his first glimpse into a village house and was a real treat for both of us.

Back on the trail, the intensity had eased somewhat. I do love getting up into the villages like this, they may not be far away from Pokhara here but it feels like a totally diffeent world. One very much lived in connection with nature. As Narayan tells us, you can live in the villages without really needing much money except for clothes and electricity (yes, amazingly the villages are slowly becoming connected too) because most people live from the land.

Not that this is easy. In fact it looks like back breaking work. The steeped fields are skinny and need to be ploughed by wooden plough dragged by oxon. Then there is all the other work involved in cropping and drying and storing all the rice, corn and vegetable supplies and dealing with the monsoon and the colder weather in the winter.



The views at the top, up near Dhampus, are magnificent. You gain a different perspective of Machhapuchha, otherwise known as Fishtail, and from this angle Narayan took great delight - hilarity in fact - in showing us how the mountain peak resembles a tiger. Which it does. We chuckled over that one for quite some time believe me.

We carry on along the ridge, passing more villages and indeed villagers - the women are often out collecting leaves and wood for the animals and fire resepctively and it is quite incredible how much they carry on their backs so that they often resemble a walking hedge and put us to shame with their strength and ability to still smile and say "Namaste". Which is basically what everyone says over here all the time. Each day we must say a hundred "Namastes" to the people we pass. It is all rather lovely.



So we walk for what feels like ages but is only actually 3 hours, with the wonderful view of the mountains to our left and even a few eagles overhead, before we finally trek up the last bit (and believe me by that time, with the midday sun overhead, it was all getting a little tough on one's energy levels)to Narayan's village, Astam, where his brother, Netra, lives with his wife and currently Dick and Honey staying who are helping him do some painting on his house.

Dick and Honey are a true inspiration. 65 and 64 respectively, they have visited Nepal many times. This time they are here for 3 months and have been doing an awful lot of trekking and staying in tents, very impressive actually. They have been sponsoring Netra's 3 children for many years, ever since he was their trekking guide on one of their first treks. They have also provided initial financing to implement a scheme to provide each villager with a clay oven so the people can cook in their kitchens without the usual stench of firewood, which ends up affecting the health - and indeed eye sight - of the people.




They are all waiting for us at Netra's house. Dick is already working on the house and Honey is resting up with some knitting in the garden (she had managed to do something to her back on one of the treks and was in need of time out to encourage it to settle and heal). Netra had prepard Dahl Bhat so we enjoy our second dhal bhat of the trip sitting outside Netra's house and enjoying the views of his vegetable garden and the mountains in the distance.




After lunch and a cup of fresh lemon grass tea, Narayan takes us for a look around the local village school before we begin the hour or so descent back down to the main road where we took a taxi back to the hotel at Lakeside.

Back in town, I practise Yoga on the roof of the hotel, the sunsetting behind the Peace Pagoda and the orange glow of the mountains ahead of me. My body enjoys the opportunity to stretch and release all the trekking-tension from my thighs and calf muscles and literally stretch and twist out the kinks. Plus it is a lovely opportunity to be quiet and still on my mat too, just absorbing the pulsating energy of the environment out here, one of my favourite times of the day when everyone is preparing dinner.

Lucky us, we did not think we would have a chance to get into the mountains this time, but thankfully Narayan provided the opportunity and we only wish we now had more time to do a proper trek, this is what is so special about Nepal, getting out into the villages and testing the mind as much as the body with the relentless walking terrain.

Namaste!

xx

Out on the bike!

Tuesday and I feel pants again, clearly my meal choice last night was not the best. Oh well, c'est la vie, just means we miss morning Yoga.

Still we have plans for the day, not a lot of sitting around going on here. We have arranged to borrow Devika's motorbike. Not that either of us has a licence, but apprently that is not necessary to ride a bike over here. Thankfully Ewan has ridden a bike before, albeit many years ago, off road, some dirtbike or something, oh and he used to sit on the back of his Dad's scooter, so we should be okay then huh?!!

We hire a helmet for Ewan, we are taking no chances over here, before we head off to Sarangkot, where you can get really good views of the Annapurna Himalaya (although the views from town are fairly special at this time of year when the skies are clear - the paragliders have been out in force since we arrived, all taking off from Sarangkot).

Off course this is not the smoothest of rides. I am sitting behind Ewan and have every confidence n his ability to operate the bike although we do seem to stop and start quite often, quite tricky in the middle of busy roundabouts! Plus of course we are not quite sure where we are going so get lost before we finally find our way up the steep hairpin bends to the top of the hill (quite some hill).

I am still not feeling great but feel it is only fair to trek the 30 minutes from the bike park (well an area where we can leave the bike by some women in exhange for a small fee)up to the top of Sarangkot to see the views. I have been up here before with Devika for sunrise, but now it is the middle of the day and the walk is rather taxing, my legs feel like lead and Ewan pushes me up the final bit (bless him, he usually does this for say a minute and then lets me go so that the next step is really difficult, but this time he pushes me the whole way!).



The views are stunning and the walk was well worth the effort. We stop on the way back down the hill at an eldery lady's cafe for some tea (see, it is all about the tea over here!) and water. The lady has rotten teeth and is very pleased to show us her Hong Kong coins that someone gave to her. So we leave her a Guernsey pound note and buy one of her anotated views of the Annapurna range, and she gives us some free postcards, bless her, sometimes it is not all about the money.

So we get back on the bike and head out to Begnas Lake via the old Pokhara town. This is where things start to get a little hectic but lucky old me as I get to switch off as Ewan has to really concentrate on all the obstacles around him. The roads are terribel over here, tons of pot holes, like tons of pot holes, and while people drive on the left, you rarely have a single line of traffic as bikes and taxis and buses and trucks all overtake each other, beeping the whole time, so that it is not unusual (in fact it is actually very normal) to find yourself heading literally head to head with an oncoming vehicle, which is overtaking on your side of the road.

Seriously, how on earth I have never seen an accident over here I will never know. But the weird thing is, this crazy traffic system seems to work somehow. At home everyone would be getting realy stressed and suffering with mad road rage, but here people are completely chilled and are very courteous to one another, so that the traffic does manage to flow.

Ad of course it is not just the vehicles on the road, but you also have to keep your eyes out for people crossing the road, wandering cows, stray dogs and anything else that can move really! But Ewan does an incredible job of not riding into anything or anyone. Admittedly I was a little cocnerned when we did stall the bike in the middle of the round about in a crazy part of town, but we lived to tell the tale and we only got shouted at once when i thought we were going down a one-way road so Ewan pulled on the brakes and the minibus behind us had to sway out of his way. We found it all rather entertaining, we weren't going down a one-way road after all!

Begnas is stunning. I have visted previously with Devika but this time the views are clearer. We go to the Japanese resort, which literally sits on the bank of Begnas Lake, and cost a fortune to stay, and eat a very late lunch while sitting on the long balcony chatting to the waiter. Great stuff.



We don't stay long as we are aware that we really need to get back before it gets dark and already the sun is setting. Riding along the road out of Begnas a monkey runs in front of us and across the road. Got to love it! Needless to say we have left it a little late and the traffic in Old Pokhara is rather crazy, what with it being rushhour, and we end up riding back into Lakeside in the dark, whichis testing for Ewan, but leavs him feeling rather elated that he has got us back home in one piece. I never doubted his ability!

We went to Dorje's other cafe, Moondance, for dinner with Moniek and had a good evening catching up on life in Lakeside for Westerners trying to run a business in Nepal. And then another early night!

x

Back to normal, Yoga and massage

Monday morning and life is back to normal...well as normal as it gets out here! We are up early and manage a cup of Nepali tea in one of the little German bakeries in town before heading to Devika's Yoga class at 7.30am. It is lovely to be back in the "studio" on the first floor of Mamma Mia restaurant, Devika has done well in making the room lovely even if it is a little chilly without any heating to warm the room on these cold mornings.

After class Ewan and I head to one of the cafes by the Lake - Boomerang - where we warm ourselves in the morning sun while drinking tea and eating breakfast. I decided I wasn't going to get back into the local tea scene but it is just too tempting, I absolutely adore Nepali masala tea, simple as that!

We potter around town, I wasn't sure I wanted to do much shopping while I am here but it is just too easy. Lakeside is stacked with s many small shops selling all the same srt of things and it is all too easy to get into the barterting game. I am not so good at it as Ewan these days, he really does manage to find a price which seems to work for everyone. Perhaps I have already said this but I am aware that often we are bartering over a few pounds and while this is off season and shopkeepers are more flexible in reducing prices, the money they earn does have to inance their families until the next high season in a few months time.

In the afternoon we each have a massage from two of the women from the Trust in the Yoga studio, lying on blankets on the floor - Nepali way. The women are great, Devika should be proud, she has been training them the last few years and they have had a good deal of practice and are now offering their services to the general public. The women really work with their intuition and I feel really good after the massage - and it is also amazing to see how much more the confident the women are these days, not anywhere near as shy as they were when I first started visiting.

We meet Devika for dinner at Dorje's new cafe - Olive, very much based on the western cafe culture with familiar dishes on the menu. Ewan and I are still a little nervous about what we eat and I probably don't make the best choice, but it is difficult to now what is best, the body sometimes just takes a few days to adjust. Then home for another DVD and another early night - rather common over here, and great for getting up early the next morning!