Pokhara, Nepal to Kathmandu and Back West.....

With the Annapurna Circuit completed in 10 days I was caught with 9 days before my flight from Kathmandu on the 21^st April. Rather than heading to Kathmandu. I decided to remain in the far more tranquil tourist filled town of Pokhara.

Having finished the trek and arrived at Snow Leopard guesthouse, where I'd left my backpack and unnecessary items for trekking I was welcomed with a no rooms available sign, so I grabbed my pack and began searching. It wasn't long before I was settled in to a lovely room at the Mount Annapurna Inn guesthouse five minutes walk from Pokhara Lakeside.

Agreeing to stay put for 6 nights I was a afforded a fine room at a rate of 500 Nepalese Rupees (£3.35) per night. With an attached bathroom, piping hot water and WiFi it was just what I was looking for. There was also a nice balcony area, and open roof top to practice yoga and meditation. This suited me just fine. The family that run the M.A.I. were very lovely, which is always a bonus.

I bumped in to friends I'd met on the trek, and a lovely Italian guy who I'd met over breakfast a little over a month ago in Varanasi, India. The day I bumped in to Barbi he invited me to dinner with his friends, it was a nice couple of hours. 'Meet us at the Methaba Turkish restaurant at 7.30pm.' It was a bit of hike from where I lived, but I managed to get there for spot on 7.30pm, By 8pm no one had appeared. I ordered some food, then asked was there another Methaba on this road. Apparently there was, about 200 yards further down the road. This was a 'branch' of the main place. What were the chances. I wandered to Methaba main to meet the guys. I was sat by a lovely lady who who lived in Hawaii on The Big Island. We got chatting, then as always on to Amanda. She was quiet, and listened empathetically. She then went on to tell me she was waiting for results of a second opinion on a lump she'd found in her right breast. This lady is 42 years of age, the same as Amanda when she passed away. We kept in touch. She has since found out the lump was cancerous, and has chosen to have a full mastectomy with reconstruction. I asked what she intended to do. She told me, 'I'll just carry on enjoying life, doing what I'm doing.' She has chosen not to have chemotherapy or radiation.

Good luck in all you do 'J', live life fully and fearlessly like you have been.

A couple of younger guys joined us later on. One lovely (gay) fella and his pal Cameron. As it turned out Cameron happened to be from Fairbanks Alaska, exactly where I'm headed. We chatted and chuckled briefly, but it was time for me to head off, I was tired and wanted to be alone. As I left, I overheard the nice gay guy say to Jade, 'I like that man' followed by some other nice comments, followed immediately by Cameron saying 'I don't like him, not at all. He's competition for the ladies.' I afforded myself I little chuckle! He was unaware of my story.

I shouted back, 'I can still hear you all.', they laughed.

Nepali New Year's Eve, 14^th April was spent with a couple of girls I'd met on the trek. We dined with a few others, had a couple of beers, then headed to watch a live band. Nice night.

Whilst having breakfast the following morning at 'Kiss Kush', (my every morning breakfast haunt in Pokhara), a celebration of colour began in the street. People were flinging brightly coloured powders over one another. Minutes later, the road, the cafe, the menus, the tables, the food were all caked in the lightest covering of pink dust..... Kiss Kush on the corner by Cafe Concerto, well known for it's great pizzas serves a fantastic, hearty and delicious breakfast for 220 rupees (150 nrps to the £1). It was known as the 'Heavy Set Breakfast'. It included spicy fried potatoes, onions and tomatoes, with a sliced wholemeal baguette served with butter and jam. A tea of choice (ginger and lemon) followed by a large bowl of fruit, muesli and curd (I traded my two eggs for a larger bowl of the muesli each morning). With this breakfast I need not eat until evening.

New Year's Day Celebration outside Kiss Kush.

Another breakfast morning, whilst checking emails and sipping ginger tea, I spotted Dr Doug, my Australian friend from the Annapurna Circuit. I chased him down to say hello. Doug asked if I'd managed to get to the pass on Amanda's birthday, he was genuinely pleased for me, and even more pleased that I hadn't died achieving my goal. He went on to kindly offer me a ride to Kathmandu in travel party's private mini van on Friday. He knew I was headed back in a few days. I grabbed the opportunity, which meant I'd be leaving Pokhara a day earlier than planned.

I'd spotted a couple of shops selling beautiful organic hemp products. Rucksacks, handbags, small bags, wallets, guitar cases, dresses, trousers and hats.... I wondered if they would sell in the UK. All the organic hemp items I was looking to purchase were made by a
workshop supported and funded by the Women's Skills Development Organisation in Nepal, so there is also a nice ethical message behind the provenance and production of the goods. Whenever Amanda and I looked to purchase goods from India in the past, the treatment of the workers, the standard of the working conditions and the provenance and quality of the products was more important than big mark ups.

After many discussions with both shop owners I decided to split the business between the two of them. An afternoon spent up to my eyeballs in calculations, literally buried in percentages to see if it was viable option, left me teetering on the brink of pulling out.

Due to the quality of the items they would be considered expensive in Nepal compared to all the cotton and jute items on sale. Many lesser retailers here in Nepal sell hemp items that actually use jute, a much cheaper quality material, therefore a cheaper option overall. The quality of the finishing is hugely variable here in Nepal. The old adage of you pay for what you get stands strong.

My calculations taking in to consideration, bank exchange rate charges, retailer charges for use of a card, the packaging and carriage from Nepal to the UK and finally customs taxes, meant the cost of each item increased by almost 60%. More than I'd initially anticipated. This is without additional selling charges such as stall rental or eBay charges etc. It's a risk, but I hope it works. I'd like to do something like this every year.

The ride with from Pokhara to Kathmandu with Doug, Helen, Murray and Jan was far more comfortable than the public bus would have been. There were a couple of accidents enroute. A head on collision between a bus and a truck which looked very messy. And another small bus lying on it's side.

For a country built on a history of meditation like India, patience seems to have gone out the window. They've gone in the opposite direction completely. Overtaking is a game of chance. If the driver feels there is nothing coming around the corner towards them, they go ahead and try a risky overtaking manoeuvre. A head on collision means the driver's hunch was wrong, and that the vehicle coming the other way was going a little too fast to allow the driver to take the appropriate evasive action.

On reaching Kathmandu I realised I had a little under £8.00 a day in NRPs to get me by until my flight departed in three and a half days. I set myself the 'Kathmandu Cash Challenge'. This meant I'd use all my Nepalese Rupees without incurring further charges for withdrawing cash from the ATMs. Could it be done? I reckoned it could.

I found out via FaceBook that Lucas (from Chile), a friend who I'd met in Gokara at the Shankar Prasad Foundation (where the money had been raised for the playground) was currently in Kathmandu. We arranged to meet up. He was staying on one side of town I was on the other. We pretty much spent the last couple of days together. We ate an incredibly delicious little place called, The West Indian Tandoori and Naan House. A tiny, dark looking place located as you exit Thamel and head in to Kathmandu via the main road. There is a street on the left. Follow it for a couple of minutes, the Naan House can be found on the right. It's easy to miss. The chapatis and naans were cooked fresh in the big clay tandoori oven located on the right as you walk in. Food is ordered, then served, then a few seconds later come the fresh Indian breads. Great to watch. The Chilly Paneer is one of the most delicious dishes I have ever tasted. Value wise it's tremendous. Anywhere between 75p and £1.50 for a curry and a couple of chapatis or a naan bread. I loved to watch the family prepare the oven and the bread mix in the morning. This was actually how I spent my final morning.

I'd been suffering a pretty raw sore throat for a couple of days and realised I'd had very little fruit or veg in weeks. I knew a cold was trying to get a grip. I headed to the market and purchased a fine array of fruits and began having huge fruit salads for my final three mornings. One apple, mango, orange, 2 bananas and a third of a huge papaya each morning.

After the second morning of huge fruit consumption my throat cleared up. Boom! Raw power!

My last full day Lucas and I had arranged to meet in Durbar Square to head to the Monkey Temple. I rose at 6am and headed to the square to take some early morning images. I popped my Canon on the tripod, and that same old message appeared, 'No Memory Card'. I'd done it again. I took out the backup camera, the Olympus Pen 5 and got shooting. I didn't capture anything marvellous, but witnessing the early morning worshipping rituals of the local people was nice.

Worshippers at the Statue of Kaal Bhairab

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Child Running Amongst the Pigeons.....

Boy, Cows & Pigeons....

Child rings bell at the statue....

Morning Market Durbar Square....

Woman makes.... things...

Morning in Durbar Square

I met Lucas and we walked half and hour out of town to the Monkey Temple. If you've seen temples in Thailand you need not see Kathmandhu's Monkey Temple. It's beautiful, but that said, it's another Buddhist temple. For a 'monkey' temple, there were very few monkeys.

On the way back we decided to jump in a 'Micro'. A Micro is a mini van with a few seat in the back. Our one had 16 seats. By the time we got out 20 minutes later there were 33 passengers in the back. It was insane! It literally was like tinned sardines!

Monkey Temple Steps..... 35 degrees celcius.... and so many steps.  

From Kathmandu to Vancouver:

My final morning I rose at 7am, ate a huge bowl of market bought fruit on the roof of The Radiant Hotel where I was staying for the princely sum of 400 rupees per night, packed, then headed to the West Indian Tandoori and Naan House for a curry breakfast. I watched the family prepare their bread mix and get the tandoori oven going.

The Tandor...

Mr Pastry Hands tried to pick up the bowl over and over again with no success....

Little buns ready for the rollin'

At 10am I walked 10 minutes in the ever warming morning sun to Rani Pokhari to catch a 'Micro' to the airport I was told it would cost me 20 rupees. A taxi would have been 500 rupees.

The micro ride was perfect. It wasn't overloaded and I had a seat for the 20 minute journey.

I got off at Gaushala and walked 15 minutes to the airport.

I'd managed my Nepalese money perfectly and was left with 90 NRPs on arrival at the airport.

I headed to a cafe to spend the leftovers. Typically the prices had risen. I was at an airport. Coffees ranged from 250 rupees to 400 rupees.... Nepalese tea was 100 rupees..... I asked the girl on the till would she consider making me a Nepali tea for 90 rupees rather than 100. She smiled and said yes.

How lovely!

Whilst sitting waiting for the flight I met a guy originally from Northants in the UK. He had been living in Tasmania (off Austrailia) for 18 months. He really sold me on the place! It's now made the Australasia leg of my places to travel.

As we sat chatting I spotted Dr Doug. Their flight was half an hour before mine. I grabbed him and pulled him over to where we were sat. Doug and I talked about our travels and also Tasmania. He has a daughter living there. Doug asked if I'd managed to stay within the 'Kathmandu Cash Challenge', I told him I had, just! Doug said he still had 400NRPs remaining and would be more than happy to purchase me a coffee. I laughed. A lovely and generous man. I took him up on his offer and enjoyed a black coffee.

The flight to Delhi, a mere 2 hours was uneventful, just the way I like my flights.

When I arrived in Delhi airport I immediately headed upstairs to departures to check in. It was only 4pm. My flight wasn't until 0130am at night, nine and a half hours away. The nice departures lady turned me away saying I could return about 9pm. I headed back downstairs to the arrivals area, then outside past the security police on each door. I considered heading in to Delhi for a bite to eat. I'd saved 700 Indian rupees from my earlier Indian travels for this part of the journey. The equivalent of £7.00. Having gone outside in to the blistering 37 degrees heat I decided I was better off in the cool airport. The old security guy wouldn't let me back in to the arrivals area. I tried to tell him this is where departures lady told me to wait a few hours. He refused telling me I needed to walk to the other end of Delhi airport than use the lift to take me to departures. I tried to explain what had happened, but all was falling on deaf ears. Then I told him that I'd walk for 5 minutes, go upstairs, speak to 'departures lady' again (who was lovely and smiley) and be standing on the other side of this automatic sliding door in 6 minutes. Still 'No'. I tried to explain again as his buddy came over to see what the fuss was about (I was becoming frustrated with him). I asked why I couldn't just go back through the door rather than taking a long walk around, up and down. I tried to do it without using the words, insane, unreasonable or stupid. In the end I used all three of these words as I stomped off on my airport trek. I met 'departures lady' again. She laughed, told me not to go outside or the same would happen again.

When safely back in the arrivals section I struggled with an emotional battle. I fought to resist the huge temptation to venture toward the doors to see my friendly awkward security police who a few minutes earlier had denied my re-entry in to arrivals area, they were now on the outside of the door.... I managed to distract myself sufficiently through the use of a vegetable pesto panini and a large piece of carrot cake from Costa Coffee. Once I'd finished gorging on airport food I found a quiet space rolled out my sleeping mat, inflated it, and got comfortable. I meditated for a long time, experiencing quite a few tears with regards to Amanda, then finished a book I'd been reading on and off over the past few weeks.

Before I knew (OH YEH!) it was 9pm and I fancied a change of scenery so I headed upstairs to departures. I checked in and went to spend my final £2.50 in the upstairs Costa Coffee on the same sandwich and an Americano Coffee.

A few hours later I was sat on ANA (Nippon Airlines) flight 9139 to Tokyo.

I'd managed to secure an emergency exit seat, for extra legroom. A tiny, Japanese girl in her early twenties had secured the extra legroom next to me. As I sat beshide her she appeared uncomfortable and agitated. As the Captain put his ship in to reverse and we began to roll along the run way I watched her reach for the sick bag. This wasn't a good start to an 8 hour flight. Poor lady. The hostess unbuckled and came to her aid. Her onboard power puking was something I had never witnessed on an aeroplane, especially one that hadn't left the tarmac. It was incredibly loud combined with full on heaving and wretching. As the hostey offered her a second bag (the extra space was obviously for sick bags, not leg room) I could see she was looking pale and green. I wanted to rub her back, but thought it may be deemed inappropriate. The hostess re-buckled having tended to the girls needs. The girl continued to cradle the little plastic container of water in one hand and paper sick bag in the other. I noticed the cup was empty. I reached around to catch the eye of the hostess who'd grabbed another cup in preparation just before she'd buckled up. A quick 'charade' to demonstrate the need for refreshment and before I knew it I was holding a full cup of the cool clear stuff. I passed it to the green lady sitting beside me.

As the pilot accelerated toward take off I could see both her little Japanese hands were required to steady the bag and it's contents. I swiftly took the water from her hand which immediately shot on to the sick bag providing the extra necessary support. Once we'd reached cruising altitude the seatbelts were off and so was the green Japanese girl. I don't know what they did with her, but that was the last I saw of her. I stretched out my legs and arms, this was like business class.... Probably. I went on to enjoy a delicious meal washed down with a couple of little bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon whilst enjoying three movies. Nippon Airlines are great. Hostesses were always smiling and attentive. It was a great aircraft with good food.

At 1.15pm Tokyo time we landed.

A three hour wait soon passed due to free WiFi access. If only UK and European Airports offered such services. But there are too busy thinking about their profits. Well done Tokyo!

The following 8 hours were to be spent with Air Canada. No emergency exit seat this time, and a very packed aircraft. I caught 2 films, mainly due to exhaustion. I decided three would be pushing my levels of concentration at this point, and chose to watch a couple of half hour US comedy shows followed by some music.

We landed in Vancouver at 9am..... Vancouver time.

After a couple of interrogations by immigration, then the immigration police as to what my plans were whilst I was here and who I knew, where I was staying, how I knew the people, what date my return flight was (which I answered 27^th July from Seattle) which I haven't booked or even looked in to yet, I was on the Sky Train ($9 Canadian Dollars!) for a 10 minute journey in to Vancouver to find my CouchSurfing Accommodation.

Skytrain.... Eh.

For those of you who don't know about CouchSurfing it's a community where people allow you to stay at their homes for nothing. Just kindness and generosity. I offered to cook or do little jobs if they needed them done. Three kind ladies all offered me a place.

I settled on Jennifer, not literally.... I've only just met her, that would be considered inappropriate CouchSurfing behaviour! Jenn has two little boys and lives on 12^th Avenue. She lived in Jersey for a few years.

It took me twenty minutes of walking to reach her home. A key had been left with a neighbour. Jenn had told me to make myself at home. I'd never CouchSurfed before so it felt a little bizarre being in the home of someone I didn't know. Making myself at home has never been a problem though, so I popped on the kettle to make a quick cuppa, grabbed a much needed shower and jumped in to bed.

It had been over 40 hours since waking up in Kathmandu. I'd left Nepal around midday on the 21^st April. The calendar and the the clock both denied this truth, trying to tell me it was only 11.30am on the 22^nd April..... Somewhere along the line I'd lost a lot of hours!

I didn't want to mess up my sleep pattern any more than necessary, so I opted for a couple of hours rest, rather than a big deep sleep.

I woke to the sound of Dylan & Liam who were with Anne, Jenn's Liverpudlian child minder. I had no idea of the time. I got up and introduced myself.

'What's the time?' I asked. 'Almost six' said Anne. My head had hit the pillow and had remained heavy for a total of six hours.... The Sandman had well and truly caught up with me!

Farrah, another CouchSufer from Montreal arrived back. She said Jenn was meeting her for a quiz night at a pub down the road, there would be other CouchSurfers there, and would I like to join them. Of course, that would be great I thought, even though I still felt shattered. My clothes remaining unlaundered, and although I was clean I felt overgrown and scruffy.

When we arrived Jenn was yet to appear. We sat with Cynthia and Andrew, a late fifites couple from North Vancouver who were waiting for two team member friends to arrive. They asked us to join their team. We did. Jenn arrived a few minutes later.

It was a lovely night. I enjoyed the finest beer I've tasted in many months. The dark flavoursome Angry Scot was served in a large pitcher. The beer appeared as a prize, our team had come in second place, out of 18 teams! We missed out on the win by two points. Great effort.

Cynthia placed a large round delicious looking dessert on the table between myself, Jenn and Farrah and told us it was a gift for joining their team and helping them come second. I'd answered quite a few of the questions, which even surprised me! We agreed to meet next week for a repeat performance, thought I doubt we'll do quite as well.

It's been a nice start to the Canada/Alaska adventure. I'll spend 8 or 9 days here in Vancouver, get caught up with things, complete a few articles and then begin the trek to Alaska!

At the request of a few friends I've decided to continue the travel blog. I was going to start a new one.... But I think I will continue here on 'Completing Our Journey'..... After all this journey will probably never be complete for me. After India/Nepal coming to an end I've realised that emotionally I'm in no better place. I continue to miss Amanda as wholly as I ever have. I continue to feel deep set emotional pain on a daily basis, but I've decided to just keep going. I do feel as though I have to bully myself from time to time.... It would be easy to just head home.... But at home my emotions would be the same.... All the people I really care about are with me here via this blog, via little messages on FB or emails. I do miss you all. But I must continue with what I'm doing..... I think.... Whatever that is.