Pokhara - The Easy Life

Well we spent a total of 2 weeks in Pokhara as it was an easy place to hang out plus couldn't face anymore crap bus journeys! We ended up hiring a motorbike to get around and managed to ride up a local hill top (Sarangkot) to get some stunning views of the Himalayan mountains surrounding Pokhara (Mount Fishtail and the Annapurna range).  The roads are hard work - dusty, rough as hell and with plenty of cows, dogs and nutty local boys thrown in to make things interesting!

We hired a canoe boat on Phewa Lake and did our best Hawaii Five-O impression plus made a camp using discarded bamboo poles in a small bay area (who needs Bear Grylls!). 

We visited a beautiful lake - Begnas Lake and sat watching a curious mongoose from a lakeside cafe. We explored a bat cave and watched mad people squeezing through a tiny exit hole (we didn't because it stunk of B.O and were afraid of getting stuck!). 

On our last evening which was a Sunday, we decided to check out a local metal band gig in town at the Rolling Stones Bar.  Only 300 rupee each entry (just over 2 quid) so in we went to represent the whitey community (everybody in there was Nepalese!).  The bands were really good - mainly death metal but great guitar playing.  Funny to see them all head banging and jumping about in the mosh pit. The beer was really dear - cheapest can was just under £4 and pretty yak. We stayed for a couple of hours then back to the room to pack up for our bus journey early the next morning back to Kathmandu.

Bye Chitwan, Hello Pokhara!

Mon 15.5 and time to leave Chitwan. We booked a Mountain Overland bus this time which was much more comfortable although the road back over the mountain was still rough. It took about 6 1/2 hrs to get to our next stop - Pokhara.  Our hotel was meant to meet us at the bus station but guess they forgot so we jumped in a tiny taxi for a short hop to the Global Inn.
We arrived dusty and tired to be shown a double room with ensuite bathroom - seemed ok until we started to unpack and ventured into the wardrobe..............  Daz - 'What's that? it look's like a cockroache?' Kath - 'Yep, you're right but hang on there's another one, no two, bloody hell it's a roach hotel inside the wardrobe!!' We set about squishing the buggers with our trusty guide book - luckily they were abit sleepy and easy to kill.  The hotel manager was embarrassed and quickly offered us an upgrade on a room on the next floor. So much better with good views of the hills and mountains surrounding us.
So far so good - we've braved the rapids on the river when we went white water rafting.  Just us and 2 Swedish guys plus the guide in our raft although one of them was abit of a doofus so we got stuck on rocks a few times. One time the boat starting filling with water really quickly and we were bricking it but our guide was a pro and got us out of trouble.  We loved the rafting but Kathy's shorts couldn't handle it and we are now using them as a floor rag! (PS Not pooped but ripped!).
We've spent a day visiting the World Peace Stupa at the top of one of the hills - got a boat across the lake (some crazy Nepali girl with 1 oar and an arm like Arnie!) then braved the God knows how many stone steps (odd placed rocks not proper steps!) to the top which took about 1 hr. Great views but bloody hot and hard work getting up there.
We've had a few thunder storms with impressive lightning and the storm the other day was like a hurricane had hit us. The road outside the hotel became a muddy river and the trees bent in the winds then we got bloody hale stones! Crazy but we survived sheltering in our hotel room - glad I bought our Poundland rain ponchos now - even if they're not fashionable at least we're dry,

not a bad view from our bedroom

road to river in 5 minutes

Chitwan Big Game Hunting(by Daz)

Down from the Himalayas, bidding farewell to the Yeti and down to the steamy jungle of Chitwan. Getting the hang of things here now in Nepal. never been a fan of the squirty up the bum water attachment in the bathroom but after a dodgy Thali it seemed like a good idea when me and the throne became good mates for 2 days and that cooling refreshing squirt of water became my saviour from attaining the obligatory sore sheriffs badge. It's a rite of passage thing when you visit these parts of the world. The good news is me and Kathy are looking ripped after our crash diet in the tum tum department.

   Anyway, distracting from my toilet humour, we ventured with our guide 'Whatshisname' onto an early morning canoe down the river. 'Look' says the guide 'a crocodile' he exclaims. I quickly swiveled my head to reveal a pair of gaping jaws above the water line 2 foot from my face! Luckily it was a a breed (Gharial) that preferred fish to skinny white tourist so I survived that encounter. 

   Disembarking the canoe we were taken by 'Whatshisname' into the steaming jungle with his trusty assistant guide 'Idontgiveashit' where the heat had built up to a sauna style 40c and we were dripping sweat like your 1st job interview but were rewarded with 4 rhino sightings (2 having a brawl) monkeys, red beetles , flying peacocks, various deer, and a steaming pile of tiger pooh. After 3 hours of trekking through the jungle risking our lives being stalked by a Bengal tiger we eventually made it back to the canoes to cross the river again just before I collapsed with heat exhaustion and died to become tiger fodder.  Hairy ride back across the river in a canoe full of orientals with brollies - kept moving making the canoe rock but luckily we didn't go for a swim with the crocs! 

  Summary of Chitwan - chilled and beautiful but very hot, some thunder storms, lot's of elephants and very enjoyable!  Shame the bus journey to it is so bloody torturous.

elephant bath time

bad boy rhino brawl

mugger crocs sun bathing (for yummy tourist)

Kathmandu To Chitwan

Tues. 9.5.17  Time to leave Kathmandu (had enough of the craziness & pollution!) so up at 5am, out by 6 and herded on to a tiny minibus by 7. It was raining so hanging around to get on a bus was a pain. We weren't expecting a minibus but went with it - cautiously watching our rucksacks being pulled onto the roof bars and covered with a tarp. The journey was torturous - about 9 hrs with a lot of the way driving on roads full of mud/puddles/potholes/rocks. Every time the bus hit a hole the driver would exclaim 'Allah' which must have worked because we didn't break down!! We also had to sit next to a big Russian guy who was getting rather hot/bothered - he didn't talk much/no smiling and kept demanding the sliding door was opened when we were stuck in various queues of traffic as he was cooking in the bus (along with everybody!). We got to Chitwan by 3pm and were very glad the accommodation people were there to pick us up as arranged. Our accommodation is at Eden Jungle Resort and it's beautiful - lush gardens and individual lodges around the same. Ours has a double and single bed, tv, fan and bathroom with a working wall mounted shower! Our first evening we ventured out for a walk and got fed/watered in town - a balcony restaurant so we could look down on the elephants being ridden in the street below. We treated ourselves to some well deserved cold beers and went back (in the dark with our torches) to our lodge to get over the journey from hell. We love Chitwan!!

Kathmandu (Still here!)

Well after completing our 1st day here, things seemed to be going ok. That is until we decided to do some light washing and Daz managed to flood our room. Water everywhere and the cleaning ladies took ages to come to the rescue and just looked totally bemused at our mess! Oh well. Second little mishap was when we decided to help ourselves to the linen cupboard for a fresh towel and I (K) had to hide in there when the hotel guy suddenly appeared. Daz kept him talking outside but he ended up opening the door to find me pop out - the look on his face was priceless. We got abit of a ticking off and had a right laugh about it after. So far we've seen the monkey temple (Swayambhu) which took alot of step climbing to get to and Durbar Square (it was 1,000rupees/about £7.70 to get in each but we ducked down a back alley to avoid paying!!). It wasn't worth the charge as mainly crumbling buildings (poss. due to the earthquake in 2015). It's challenging to walk around as alot of alley like roads with so many bikes/scooters/cars etc. that you have to watch your back and front. The other thing is it all looks the same so trying not to get lost is difficult. Anyway, we are here till Tuesday then braving a bus to Chitwan so hope the Nepalese roads are kind and we get a calm driver!!

Kathmandu, Nepal Day 1

After a rather whirlwind couple of days travelling - we left Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal Thursday evening, we were absolutely knackered!  When we got here the heavens opened up and the evening was mainly rain/lightning - most unusual as the rainy season hasn't even started yet!
Our hotel is centrally located in the Thamel area and the room is large but very basic - my (K) first shower was hovering over a bucket with a shower head in hand trying not to flood the floor of the bathroom! As for the sockets well they are really dodgey and glad we had our gaffer tape to fix this (see Glenn!). We've had a busy 1st day - after visiting the Indonesian Embassy to look into our next Visas we got lost trying to walk back from the Embassy but managed to score a cheap, cold ice cream on the way. It's on a par with India for pollution, crazy traffic with looney tunes 4 & 2 wheel drivers zooming all over the place as well as suicidal stray dogs and even cows walking in the road.  We managed to find a nice restaurant (called Yak's) for dinner (hope it's a stomach friendly one!) and treated ourselves to a small bottle of Vodka & mixer for a chill out back in our room. Day one over and we're still alive.....

Well this is it - today was our last day at work and now comes the last few days of tying up loose ends, packing our stuff away in boxes and slowly emptying our home of our belongings.  It's daunting that just a few months ago this trip was just a discussion and now it's a looming reality! We are both feeling excited but composed because there's still a lot to do.  I still don't know how all the stuff I have piled up is going to fit in my bags - a suitcase you can sit on but a rucksack?!! Whatever happens, all my knickers, chopped up bars of coal tar soap and hair brush are coming with me..............