More Nepal

From Chitwan we traveled to the popular tourist destination of Pokhara in central Nepal.  Pokhara's landscape is breathtaking as it sits aside a modest lake at the foot of snowcapped mountains in the Annapurna range (with nearby peaks approaching 7500m).  Unfortunately, due to cloud cover, we didn't see the largest peaks until our last day in town. Speaking of cloud cover, the morning fog here hangs amazingly low.  Awal and I kept our patio door open in our 2nd floor hotel room, and I awoke one morning to find a cloud creeping into the room. I didn't tell it to leave.

On our first full day in Pokhara, Awal and I decided to attempt walking around the lake.  Unlike most lakes in the states, this one didn't have clear boundaries.  In the distance, the deep water faded into rice fields before approaching the foot of a mountain. Either way, from our vantage point, it didn't look like much of a walk.  We set off for the far side of the lake, and after 2 miles or so, we made a friend.  A big black and brown dog with the markings of a Rottewieler, the hair and body of Golden Retriever, and the tail of a Chow ambled up beside us and followed as we walked.  At first, we thought he was just passing by and saying hi to some strangers, but he quickly showed that he was in it for the long haul. We stopped at a local shop to grab some water and he sat down at my feet, waiting for us to finish and continue.  Since we knew at this point he was our dog, Awal and I decided he needed a name.  After mulling over a few options, we settled on "Buster."  Accompanied by our new friend, we continued our journey around the lake which provided to be a bit longer than we anticipated.  Two hours into our walk we found ourselves in the middle of a rice field with no trail in sight. With no other options, we had to turn around and head back in the same direction.  As we were getting nearer to town, Awal and I started discussing our coming departure from Buster. He kept saying things like "I sure am getting attached to Buster...I don't want to make him leave." As for me, I had a cheesy Disney movie type scene in my mind where Buster is sitting at the steps of our hotel whimpering while I'm yelling "Buster...you have to go home...don't make this harder than it is! Go Buster...GO!"  Mercifully, Buster made it easy on us.  Suddenly, he darted up a hill (presumably his home) never to be seen by us again.  I'd like to think he misses us...

That night, we were pretty wiped out from the 4 hour walk (my hiking shoes were still soaked from our jungle hike 2 days before, so I made the walk that day in my flip-flops...a rough day for my feet), but still had the energy to head to a "Jazz Club" right down the road.  A large group of us from the trip went in and we expected live music to start at some point. I asked the bartender and he told me that there wasn't any live music, but if I wanted I could pick up the guitar on stage.  Initially, I jumped up to play a song with vocal help from my friends Becky and Laura.  Unfortunately, we received further "help" when a drummer and flute player suddenly appeared on stage.  I suppose this could have turned out well, but considering the drummer kept a beat as well as an 8 year old on a Pixie Stix binge and the "flute" player kept trying to steal my mic for his own frantic solo when I was singing the chorus, our noise bore a closer musical resemblance to a group of laughing hyenas getting hit by a truck full of tambourines than it did to "I'm Yours."  I stepped down and gave the stage to Awal and a few other guitar players in the crowd, and after a while the backup musicians stepped down and the quality of music took a dramatic turn for the better.  After 2 hours or so, the bartender told us he had to turn off the sound system but we could continue playing if we wanted.  By that time, Awal and several of the other musicians left, so I was about the only guy left in the place who knew a few chords.  We met a group of people on vacation from Israel, who had an insatiable appetite for music.  They kept saying "Play anything...just play,"  so I listened and played about every popular song I could remember.  Nothing like a late night singalong with Israelis in a Nepali club...

After our time in Pokhara, we drove to the capital city of Kathmandu where we stayed for 3 days.  This drive included a climb over and down a rather large mountain...a drive that's not for the faint of heart.  These roads are barely wide enough for trucks to pass and have no guardrail.  So if you're headed up or down and cross paths with a vehicle of similar size, it can make for a harrowing experience. I'm pretty well oblivious to that sort of danger, so I loved the ride!

Kathmandu is an interesting place. Like Pokhara, it serves as a base for many trekkers, only it's also the capital city of Nepal.  We stayed in a touristy location full of shops, bars, restaurants and Internet cafes.  For some reason, much of this place reminded me of a less developed bohemian Gatlinburg