Namaste! We thought that we had better get round to finishing the blog for Nepal as it has been some time since we have updated you all on our journey.
After leaving Chitwan National Park we made our way on a rickety old bus for a 6hr journey to Pokhara. Some parts of the journey were a little bit hair raising due to the meandering roads and tight bends over the hills and with what now is the standard crazy Asian driving but we arrived in Pokhara safe and sound and without any problems - which must have been a first so far on this trip.
We had arranged a hotel via our Lodge manager at Chitwan however we only stayed there 1 evening as it wasnt what we expected, and as we were staying in Pokhara for 10 nights we wanted something more comfortable. The following day we had a look around Pokhara and found a a nice new room for $12 per night, bargain.
The first thing we noticed about Pokhara is the amazing views of the Himalaya (Annapurna range) which was just breathtaking. Pokhara is on the edge of Phewa Lake, which we could see from our hotel room.
I have to apologise to my family and friends for my lack of appearance on photographs on this blog, I can promise that it is not because Andrew wants all the photos to be of him. As most of you will know, I hate having my picture taken and therefore as I have full editoral control of any shots it means that there arent really very many of me... I promise, I will try and be on a few more over the next few months.
Our time in Pokhara was spent wandering the streets, shopping and just enjoying being in Nepal. We took a taxi out for the day and visited places of interest in Pokhara. We went up to the World Peace Pagoda, which had views of Pokhara and beyond which was great. Then we went to Devis Falls (which if honest weren't that amazing but only because it wasn't monsoon season, so not much water to see) and we also went down to see some caves, which was a rather damp experience and involved walking up and down many stairs.
Us at the World Peace Pagoda
Andrew on the steps of the World Peace Pagoda
Mount Machapuchre (Fishtail) - View from the rooftop of our hotel in Pokhara
As you may know already, Andrew went paragliding which he found amazing. He says "I was up there about an hour, all around me were mountain hawks and drongos (himalayan vultures) gliding on the same thermal high above the lake and mountain". If you haven't already you can check out the video on the blog or on YouTube.
During our stay we found out that Nepal tends to have lots of strikes. These are normally called for by the Maiost party for various reasons although this was never formally communicated, we heard differing stories as to why to the strike was being held but never knew the real reason. Basically it meant that Nepal went on shutdown. If you were due to leave anywhere then it was impossible as all transport links were stopped. Bars and shops close and the restaurants shut down so the place turns into a ghost town. We actually enjoyed the days of the strike in Pokhara as it was so peaceful and there was no noisy traffic so we just hunted down a bar that would let us in through the back door.
Pokhara is a small town filled with gift shops, bars and restaurants as well as many Thangka shops which house Buddhist art. Some of these paintings take months to paint and they have intricate detail, they really are beautiful - we treated ourselves to a couple to decorate our future house. This is an artist working on a painting; as you can see it is quite a painstaking process.
Our 11 days in Pokhara was up and our next destination was Kathmandu. Again, the journey was going to be made by bus, and was due to take about 7 hours. However, the day before we were to leave we were told by a bloke in a bar that there was another strike planned the sameday and we wouldn't be going anywhere. We were starting to panic as we had already made plans in Kathmandu. Luckily the strike was postponed 1 day. Thank God! Of course we didnt get to Kathmandu as planned due to the fact that there had been mass panic about a strike the following day and so hundreds of cars and trucks on the road, all going to the only route across the windy hills to Kathmandu. So, we pulled into the bus station 5 hours later than planned and feeling rather grotty after sitting in car fumes for hours on end.
In fact on the bus I had started sneezing continuously but I put it down to the dust, unfortunately it wasnt turned out to be a rather bad cold which meant that I was laid up in bed for a few days so I had nurse Andrew looking after me (he tried really hard to look after me and I was really grateful but I dont think he should give up his day job!).
Our friend at Honeys (a restaurant in Goa), Thapa, had kindly arranged (thank you very much for you help) for his brother Hari Darlami and his wife Bismu to help us out during our time in Nepal's capital. They had sorted out us out a lovely hotel right in the heart of Thamel a surburb of Kathmandu (he he.. you should have seen Andrew's face - he nearly had a heart attack when the receptionist told us it was $80 per night, especially as we had been paying $12 previously). We managed to get them to reduce the price down to $45 per night with breakfast, although this was still too much for Andrew to stomach so he went off the next day to try and find somewhere equally as nice for a cheaper price (which was impossible and it turned out the hotel was a great find).
Despite being poorly I really wanted to have a look at Kathmandu especially as on the journey through it looked good. If honest, I was expecting it to be similar to a big Indian city i.e. dirty, scattered with beggars and generally not very welcoming. However, we were both pleasantly surprised. We had a walk through Kathmandu, stopped on our way to buy a facemask due to the smog from the traffic and we stumbled across many beautiful temples on every corner.
Andrew donning a facemask outside a Temple in Kathmandu
Bumped into a ceremony on Durbar Square, the Nepalese people were giving presents to the little girls. We were not entirely sure what was going on, but the girls were dressed like the Living Goddess, who resides in Durbar Square
Holy people on Durbar Square, the priviledge of taking this photo cost us about 200 Nepalese Rupees - not sure how holy it is to state that we must pay money just to take photo?
Andrew booked us a night away from Kathmandu in a place called Nagorkot as the views of the Himalaya were meant to be amazing. He had booked us into a beautiful hotel and as we were showed to our room which was great. We walked out to our balcony and we had a 180deg view of the Himalayas and we could see Mount Everest in the distance. This is the view from our hotel room!
We woke up early and watched the sunrise - Andrew actually braved the cold and went out on the Balcony, I stayed and watched it from the bed wrapped in the duvet with heating full on! I prefer sunsets as it it doesnt involve getting up at stupid o'clock in the morning.
Ever since watching the Michael Palin series "Himalaya" one of the places I wanted to visit was Pashupati, it may sound a bit strange as it is the place where dead people go to be cremated. We have found that in Nepal and India, death is not hidden as the same way it is in the West - bodies are burnt in the open for all to see.
Funeral taking place, Hari and Bishmu were taking us round Pashupati. He is a University Lecturer and this is actually the Dean of his College about to be cremated
As we wondered through the grounds of Pashupati a Buddhist wedding was taking place
Before we entered Pashupati we saw this cow and cart surrounded by people, as took a look closer it contained another cow with music blaring out and people touching the cow and giving it offerings of money - cows are sacred in Hindu religion but this was a cow with a difference - it had 6 legs!! At first I thought the cow was giving birth but it was just 1 cow with six legs - weird!
We found a lovely Japanese restaurant in Kathmandu called Momotarou which we visited a few times. On one occassion in Momotarou with met a Buddhist Monk, Stefano aka Italy Lama (originally from Italy but has lived in Nepal for nearly 40 years). He was a very knowledgable man and we enjoyed talking to him about his life as a monk so much that we arranged to met him him again, but this time at his Monestry.
Andrew at the Monestary
We went to a traditional Newari restaurant in Kathmandu with Hari and Bismu - the food was lovely which included Wild Boar and finished off with a rice wine shot (pure alcohol) which was revolting although Andrew managed to finish off 3 shots of it!
We left Nepal on 17th December by Plane (!!) to head back to Goa to spend Christmas in the sun, which was much needed as Nepal can be rather cold and our tans had started to fade. But Nepal is a beautiful place and we advise anybody to go there, it really is worth the trip, it has been our favourite place so far on our journey and we just loved it. I think that we will definetly go back in the future. Bye Bye for now!
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To make a change to tales of our travels, we thought we would give our top ten annoying things we have found on our trip so far.
We spent Xmas Eve in Tabla, the restaurant in our resort, the staff had decorated it beautifully - it felt very xmasy which was nice as xmas abroad is a bit strange
Andrew opening his xmas presents on Xmas day in Grandma's Kitchen, the place where we had our yummy Xmas dinner however eating a roast dinner in 30deg heat is pretty hard work and not one to be repeated
Andrew Santa Claus
Views from the Mariott at Panjim (Goa's capital city) we went across for sunday brunch which involved unlimited alcohol and lush food - due to Andrews illness he had to settle for the non alcholic brunch!
We went across to Panjim on the ferry to watch Avatar at the cinema but only in 2D which was a shame as it was brilliant and it 
The sunset at Betim as we headed back to Arpora from the ferry
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