Destination – Nepal – Pokhara – are you sure there’s no mountain high enough?
Now, off to Pokhara. We get up at 6Aam leave at 6.30 to catch a bus at 7 for a 7 hour trip. Again, the bus is old and crappy, not even a hint of suspension. Once we get there, Pokhara seems to be very nice. We stay at the Trekkers Inn Hotel and have a great room with mountain views from panoramic windows.
Pokhara’s Phewa Tal lake is nice and picturesque but we don’t really think it is paradise or heaven on earth as people sell it. It is a nice lake with the Himalaya mountains as a backdrop, with loads of tourists, shops and cafes. It is pleasant enough to hang around for a few days. We walk around a lot and try all the nice food. The shopping will be left for Kathmandu, the quality and prices seem to be much better there.
We climb up to the World Peace Pagoda, it’s hard but we make it. Just to confirm what I knew all along, I hate climbing mountains and/or rocks with a passion. I love walking, swimming, boat rides, up for almost anything, really, but not climbing mountains/rocks. Paul, on the other hand, is really keen on doing a 4/5 day trek (it is why people come here after all). So, after a lot of talking we decide that Paul will do the Ghorepani/Poon Hill 4 days/3 night trek and I will do a meditation/yoga/Buddhist philosophy course.
Well, as Paul says, this is a “can do" holiday.
So, I go to the Monastery and everyone else in the group is in their early 20’s. It’s a nice group. The yoga part is quite ok as I’ve had some recent training in Goa, the “teachings” are also good and the levels of the discussions are all right. It’s a different experience being invited to question religion in a religious place, obviously not really encouraged by a lot of other religions. The Lama is an American man, knowledgeable but a bit opinionated, not quite the listener. Meditation on the other hand is really hard. Concentration, stillness, it’s really difficult. It goes against everything we’ve been practicing our entire lives. They talk about the “monkey mind” (you try to concentrate and your mind keeps jumping everywhere) and I feel I have half a dozen monkeys with a thousand fleas each, jumping in my mind. The hours are very long, from 6.30am to 8.30pm and we feel totally drained and inadequate at the end of the day. And yet, somehow, I really enjoy the experience. Let’s try to keep still a bit more.
