Pokhara

13 April 2009

Hello, Marie-Claude here!

Right now, I am sitting in the wombat in an overlander campsite, 5 km out of Pokhara. Jonny is dealing with a little battery problem, and I’m updating the website. This is a powered campsite, but the power isn’t on all the time. 4 hours on, 8 hours off. Of course, I went to have a shower the minute the power went off, so had to have a cold one. I’ve had my fair share of cold showers by now and don’t mind, it’s just that when you look forward to finally get a hot one and get cut off... Oh well, at least I’m clean and can actually run my fingers through my hair!

I was sick for 3 days, but am finally getting better. For the second time in Nepal, I woke up felling stomach sick and had to rush for the bathroom. The only problem was that this time, I had an incredibly high fever. Jonny was worried and took extra good care of me...and then he fell sick. We spent a day and night in bed with a fever rushing to the bathroom and drinking rehydration salts... It’s no good when we’re both sick! It’s bound to happen though... Tomorrow will make 6 months that we’ve been on the road. Perhaps this was our bodies’ way of telling us to stop and rest for a few days.

While in Pohkara, we have been blessed with good weather and amazing views. Before we were sick, we had the chance to go to Sangarkot, a great view point not far from Pokhara. When we arrived, the Annapurna chain (with 2 peaks over 8000m) was clouded over, but we were patient and stuck around. Apparently they had not had a view of the mountains for days and days, but it was clear in the morning. We had just missed it, but were hopeful the clouds would clear. In the evening, we could a great view for the sunset. After a romantic pasta dinner with a Himalayan view (and mango juice in plastic wine glasses) we slept right next to a view point. We were woken up at 550 by a local yelling “SUNRISE. SUNRISE” We hopped out of bed, got dressed and went up the hill. It was so worth it! The entire chain was clear and cloud free! I was mesmerized! I’m so happy we camped at that spot and got to see the sunrise over the mountains!

We have decided that we are not exactly “trekking” people at the moment. We don’t have the money, the time, and frankly I think we’re a little lazy :) I got everything I wanted out of sitting in one spot and taking in the view for hours and hours. I even took out my guitar and sang to the mountains. (I maintain that’s what made the clouds clear, by the way.)

We’ve been in Nepal for two weeks, and have to leave by the 16th. We got what we came for: Momos, a taste of the Himalayan range, and our visa for Pakistan (Don’t even get me started on the visa for Pakistan...The office is open only 8 hours a week, the process takes 3 or 4 days not 1 or 2, it costs 78USD for a Canadian citizen and requires a letter to be written from the Canadian embassy which costs 50USD, and you need to sit in for an interview!) We were planning to drive all the way across Nepal heading west, but we met an overlander who has been on the road for 12 years who advised us against it. He has done it and says it needs minimum 4 days. In Nepal, things are always a little unpredictable, you don’t know if you’ll cross and 80 truck road block, a political march, a large fire, or closure of roads at certain times in national parks. He said that it was best to go south back to India, and that’s what we reckoned we would do. We’ll head straight to Dehli to deal with the Iranian visa (which we’ve learned from our experienced friend can take up to a month! yikes!) We hope to see Agra and the Taj Mahal.

Other than that, Nepal is quite a beautiful place. It can be a little unpredictable at times, with its road blocks, protests, traffic jams, and power cuts, but the people are welcoming. I will stay up to date on the political situation in the coming years, because it really feels like a big change is coming...

Marie-Claude

ps I’ve been eating plain crackers for 3 days...you know what would be amazing? Poutine....or a nice baguette and brie....or sushi....or onion soup... or smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers, or a nice vegetable lasagne....or chocolate cake, or cheese cake or any sort of cake (except perhaps rice)....mmmmmmmmmm