Leaving Pokhara in 5 hours - praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry shouldn't be so negative but this place hasn't got much to offer unless you like a good trek - which me and Annie found out we most certainly don't!!
We booked ourselves onto a 3 day trek when we arrived as I felt we should and we had a few days to kill before we could leave Nepal and get back to India. The night before we were due to trek we also decided to check out the local Busy Bee cafe as we heard it played good music. And hell yeah it did! The band - who i don't know the name of - ROCKED OUT MAN!!!!!! The drummer and bass player had nailed the rock star look with crazy hair and poses and the singers had amazing voices. Done a bit of Marley and the rest is a bit of a blur but me and Annie danced our socks off - proper groupies! Loved it!!! Left the bar at about 4am after harassing most of the people in the bar and went to get some kip before the start of our trek at 7am.
3 hours later dragged ourselves to the trek shop and asked if we could get a cab to the where we were going and the dudes said yes - happy days : ) Took a 20 min trek from where we were dropped off to our lodge for the night and crashed for 4 hours before spending the afternoon playing cards and hanging out with Ram our guide. Amazing views from up there in Sarangkot and the lights of Pokhara at night looked like a sprawling metropolis from another planet . . . Ram also told us how difficult it is for Nepalese woman (in the Hindu religion) to be free - he had met a girl and had to meet her secretly for three years before calling it off as her parents did not want her to marry him. The boys are very free here but the girls aren't so it makes it difficult for both sexes still - seems the only option for free boys is to marry free Westerners.
Had an early night in preperation for trek the next day only to wake the next morning in a big rain cloud - no views, no nothing! That was it - Patsy and Eddie threw the towel in and got a cab back down the mountain. Christ - and I seriously consider climbing Mont Blanc one day?!?!?!?
Cab ride was the nearly the death of me and Annie though - Friday te 13th and all that?!?! The car started to really speed up around the corners as we came down the mountain which felt a bit odd but when we started to drive at speed towards the edge of the mountain me and Annie did grab on to one another in fear! The car started to feel like it was going to tip over on its side as we drove up a big embankment near the drop then Ram opened his door as if to jump out when finally we came to a stop against a big pile of sand which workmen had left on the side of the road. Got out of that car legs a shaking and thanking my lucky stars we were still alive as it emerged the brakes had failed on the way down!!! It was only thanks to some Colin McRae driving by our driver that we hadn't gone off the side of the mountain or took out some innocent bystander.
The whole village came out to look at the commotion and done alot of tongue sticking out which i think means 'fuck!!' u were lucky!! The crazy dogs up there also put on a spontaneous dog fight for us - if it wasn't going to be death by car crash it was going to be death by rabid dog bite!!!
Honestly though - felt so lucky and think the blessings from monks and the amazing people around us has meant we are still here today!!!
Have just been chilling in room watching VH1 classic 80 videos and pining for Mcleod Ganj - head back there today and think we will base ourselves there for next 3 months. Plenty to see around there - Manali, Shimla, Ladakh and all the lovely things there too!! Monks, english classes, Bhagsu waterfall, Mcllos . . . . . . GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!
PS If anyone was wondering why I wasn't in that monastery I kept going on about - me and Annie lasted 2 hours before walking! Discovered there was 3 day meditation at the end of it and decided NOOOOOO! Complete silence for 3 days didn't sound tempting and I just kept thinking that I could be learning all about Buddhism in Mcloed with Super Monk and others and still enjoy a Kingfisher and a chinwag in the evenings . . . .
Love you all - Jo can't wait to have a good old laugh with ya when i get back! Katy, Dyl, Eli, Robyn I just wanna hug you all - count down is on now!
