It's been a while!! Apologies to those who keep telling us to update but the internet in Nepal is pretty bad. So here it goes......
After 2 nights in crazy Kathmandu we got up early and walked to our awaited bus to take us to Pokhara. Guarding the bags already in the boot of the coach, through shear paranoia, was a 6 foot 4 american dude called Russell (more of him to follow). The journey was long and arduous with lots of stops along the way to squeeze as many ruppees out of us as possible.
We finally arrived in Pokhara and settled into our new home. (with russell in the opposite room).
Our first day was jam packed with lots of fun. We parasailed over the mountains and lake of Pokhara which was amazing and then rented a rowing boat and fishing rod (with russell).
We loaded up with winkles (Sophia found these!) and bread as bait, Ghurka Nepalise rum, and some lolly pops. We rowed to a tiny island in the middle of the lake, housing a sacred temple. We also took a dip in the water and and chatted away till sunset. As always, no fish were caught... But it was fun trying!
The next couple of days involved hours of trekking, a 530am start for a hike to a famous 'world peace pagoda' (Buddhist temple) which was truely calming and enjoyable. We also explored two caves and saw hundreds of bats. (of course all with Russell!). On the way back from the cave we were invited to a village house by a friendly Nepalise family, were shown around their small farm and sat down to drink fresh buffalo milk (with Russell).. Which actually tasted quite good!
We visited the Mountain museum which was full of intersting stuff, especiallly the history behind the first summits of all the ten 8000m peaks in Nepal (only fourteen in the world), including Everest of course. We also visited the Ghurka museum which was fascinating and very enlightening. Did you know the Ghurkas have fought in pretty much every 20th century war, and currently in Afganistan? They were also deployed in Cyprus in 1974!
Our next adventure was an amazing 3 day white water rafting trip. We me the team, gathered our gear, and drove to the Kali Kandakhi river where our journey would begin. We left with 3 rafts, and all the gear we needed to last 3 days, including food, tents and fresh water. Within 7 minutes of rafting we managed to ride straight into a large rock in the river and captsize, sending all of us into the freezing water, losing most padles and some shoes. I (sophie) was under the raft and saved by my hero, oresti!! After catching our breath and gathering our composure we set off again only to almost capsize again, but somehow managed to avoid it, thank god! After a few hours rafting we then set up our tents on a beautiful white sandbank without a sole in sight, and only the sound the river in the background, and mountains in the distance. We had a delicious dinner cooked for us, and slept well under the stars. After a yummy breakfast we set off on our raft again. This time we didnt fall out but a few of us did jump off of a small cliff into the water and we also did some cool body rafting. Along the way we saw 2 traditional nepalese cremations. They burned the body on the side of the river and scattered the ashes in the holy river that we were rafting in. Oh no, I'd swallowed quite abit of river water!!
During our lunch break oresti found a fishing hook, that had to be a good sign!! So later that day when we settled into our second camp, we went about making a fishing rod. We cut up a branch from a downed tree and plucked some string from an old net he found lying about. For bait, oresti found a caterpillar we named John Paul. The fishing began, and as you're expecting to hear, no fish were caught..... Poor JP ( and Oresti!).
Our rafting trip was so much fun and we met lots of great people from around the world. In total we rafted 75km and so when we arrived back in Pokhara we used the next day to chill.
After our well deserved rest we jumped on a bus to Bandipur, a picturesque mountain village lined with beautiful crumbling buildings. There were hardly any tourists there as it's off the beaten track but well worth the trip.
We found a little guesthouse and rented an amazing little room for £2 a night. We had amazing views of the mountains and sat looking out of our large window doors for hours, watching the locals tending to their harvest, goats and chickens roaming the hills and the sun rising and setting. Actually, that's pretty much what i did, while oresti went for a long trek (with russell!!) They went for a loooong trek up to a cave and I have heard that I would have hated the uphill walk which lasted a loooong time. I enjoyed relaxing, reading and writting in my journal. The locals were very warm and welcoming and we really enjoyed our stay in Bandipur.
We said bye to Russell (bit like the end of vegas marriage), and made the long journey back to Kathmandu. This journey would have not been worth the mention other than riding on the roof of the jam packed local bus, accompanied by a goat.
Needless to say the smell wasn't great but the views were amazing.
Our last 2 days involved shopping, Sheesha, and watching Man United go 8 points clear. Thanks Arsenal!
Today we found a well hidden 30m climbing wall in Kathmandu where Sophia uncovered an unknown talent, and with practice will become an awesome climber/ monkey!
We also learnt to belay each other and generally had fun with the people there and met a couple of professional rock climbers too. Our lunch was traditional Nepali Thali, which is rice and curry with vegetables.. Yum yum!
Next stop Laos, via Mumbai and Bangkok.
Thanks for having us Nepal x
