Thursday 12th April 2012…
Well we have just returned from Polkhara and it was AMAZING!!!!! We got there last Thursday we had to leave for the bus at 7:00am and then we got there in the afternoon it takes 8hrs to get to Pokhara from Kathmandu we stopped off for food on the way like we did when we went to Dharan but the places were lovely that we stopped I think its because a lot of tourists come on this journey unlike Dharan. There were quite a few tourists on our bus and we saw lots on the way. Once we got there a friend of dads came and picked us up from the bus stop and took us to our hotel. It wasn’t the poshest of hotels for instants there was a bath first one I had seen since I been in Nepal but I wouldn’t of taken a wash in it as it was black I don’t think it had ever been cleaned hahaha!!! We stayed in the part of Pokhara called lakeside, as there was a beautiful lake right next to us, lakeside was like the Thamel of Kathmandu it was where all the foreigners come and tourists so it was lovely!!! When we got to our hotel we went and put our bags in our room we had a wash and then had a little rest its funny how sitting on a bus for 8hrs can make you so tired!!! Then in the evening we went and found a Thakali restaurant it’s a Nepali restaurant that serves Nepali food we sat on the tables that were on the floor, this restaurant then became our local when we was at lakeside hehehe!!! After dinner we went back to the hotel to bed. Then Friday we got up early in the morning and went to the top of the hotel to see the view it was beautiful you could see the mountains and the lake was lovely it was a bit misty so you couldn’t see the mountains really clearly but it was the wrong time of year but the view was still amazing!!! Then we got ready and went over the road from our hotel to have breakfast this was a little café that was run by a lovely Nepalese family and again this became our local and dad made friends with the family like he does he gets chatting haha!!! Then after breakfast we went down to the lake and went for a looooonnnggg walk around the lake this was my training for my trek that was coming later on in the week little did I know that I don’t think anything could of prepared me for that hahaha!!! We walked round the beautiful lake taken lots of photos of all the lovely views!!! You could see all the Para gliders coming flying about from the tops of the hills and I wanted to have a go!!! We stopped for lunch at a nice little café along the lakeside which was nice apart from I ordered a strawberry icetea and it came out like warm strawberry milkshake don’t think the chef knew exactly how to make icetea haha!!! After lunch we hired one of the rowing boats and dad took his fishing rod although him and his fishing rod don’t get along very well as he tried fishing a few times in Pokhara and before when we went on the picnic with the House of Hope and he hasn’t caught one fish yet think his better off at golf hahaha!!! After the boat ride we went back to the hotel and then out for dinner to our restaurant. Then Saturday oh my goodness I went paragliding!!!!!! It was absolutely amazing!!! Dad came with me to the office that the company I was flying with and waited with me whilst I waited for the minibus to take us to the top of the hills. When we left dad had to wait at the office for me but he could see me sometimes when I was flying!! On the journey up to the top oh my it looks higher when you actually get up there!!! I met my pilot well the man I was flying with his name was Sam he was Nepalese but could speak good English and made me really enjoy my flight. We put the equipment on and when we ran off the hill it was scary at first but oh my goodness when we went up it was amazing I loved it and we went higher and higher and higher we reached 2210ft we reached the cloud line!!! It was beautiful to see all of Pokhara he started to do this spinning thing we didn’t go upside down but I didn’t overally enjoy it hahaha it made feel sick so we had to stop that but other than that little bit it was the amazing landing was easy to u just lower and then he tells u when to put your feet down and you walk it was unreal!!!!! After my paragliding dad went to try fishing again and again he failed and didn’t catch anything hahaha!!! After that we went for dinner and went to the hotel and got ready for the next day heading off for our trek!!!! Sunday we got up early and went for breakfast then dads friend came and picked us up with our rucksacks and we headed off for our trek in the car hahaha no we had to get a lift to Nyapul a village and that’s where a lot of trekkers start off so there were quite a few there all going aswell which was nice. We started off it was lovely the views were fantastic and it was nice and warm walking along (I realised how warm when later as I got really bad sunburnt shoulders that have only just stopped stinging and that’s why I had to wear dads tshirt on the way home haha). After a while we stopped for some oranges there was a lady selling them along the path. To reach our destination it took us 9 hours overall but we walked for 7 hours we had to stop as it started to rain really bad and hail stones bigger than the size of peas that sting really bad when they hit you!!! After a few hours of walking we reached the part where we had to go uphill as we had to reach the top of the mountain and oh my goodness that’s when it really was a struggle it was unreal I have never felt anything like it there was a few points where I could of actually cried and felt like I was going to die and couldn’t physically go any further but I did it and we got there. When it started to really rain we stopped off at this little house that was a bit like a café but not haha it was the only house in the forest for miles so we stopped there for a couple of hours whilst it really rained and we had some noodles and cups of tea and there we met a boy was the same age as me but he was going back up to the village to work. It was a sad story as he had just lost his baby at 6 weeks she was premature so he had some time off with his wife and was now on his way back to work he worked in a hotel in the village we was walking to so when we headed off again he walked with us. When we started to walk it started to pour down again so we got absoloutly drenched through to the bone and the hail stones were awful but it all added to my experience and we made it which was the biggest achievement and I felt so good when we reached the village even if we were shivering and freezing cold and then when we got there we discovered that all the dry clothes in the rucksake were wet to haha I had to wear dads clothes!!! The village we got to was called Ghandruk it was right next to the mountains and the view was well worth the trek up here even if it did take us 9 hours to reach and we stayed in a hotel called Trekkers Inn it was a lovely hotel. We had a shower and with cold water though as there was no hot and then we had dinner which was lush I was starving from all the walking!!! After dinner we went to bed and I was so tired!!! On Monday morning we woke up really early and went to the hotel next door to sit on the patio because the view there was incredible it was a bit hazy so you couldn’t see them clearly but you could see the mountains good enough and it was unreal it felt like you could nearly touch them!!! Then for the rest of the day we went for a walk round the village and visited a museum. It was so funny because everyone thought dad was my tour guide and didn’t believe that he was my dad even on the way here on Sunday we had to show my Nepalese citizenship so many times otherwise I would have had to pay lots more money so it was lucky that I had it. Then for the rest of the day we chilled out at out hotel just admiring all the views and preparing for tomorrows walk haha!!! Tuesday we got up early and we had breakfast and got ready for our trek back today. We was right at the top of the mountain and so we needed to climb down to the bottom of the mountain then across the river and then up the otherside and along the mountains in and out the big bends then down then up and down it sounds easy but oh my goodness it was hard!!!! The first part of the trek though going down the mountain and up to the next village they said at the hotel it would take us 3 and half hours but we did it in 2 hours we were so proud of ourselves hehehe!!! Altogether we walked for 9 hours today and that was taking off the short breaks we had we walked for miles!!!! Again there were times that I felt like I couldn’t go any further but we did it and it was amazing. One funny moment was when we was walking along and a buffalo was at the side of the path and it was looking after his baby and the buffalo looked so angry and went to charge for dad I have never seen dad jump on a wall so quickly I was a bit behind so dad told me to jump the wall to walk past it. Dad did explain to me later that night that he had had a bad experience when he was younger with a buffalo charging at him because they are so unpredictable so I understood his phobia hahaha!!! After a few hours of walking I got blisters on my feet so I had to put plasters on and then walk in my flip flops and socks attractive hahaha but it was so much better well less painful was hard to walk in socks and flip flops though especially uphill at one point there was not slabs to walk up so I was sliding back down dad had to push me up hahaha but then again walking downhill wasn’t that fun in them either I nearly broke my ankle a few times hahaha!!! So we walked and walked and walked the views were amazing again and we walked from the village Ghandruk were we stayed and then went to a village called Landruk to Tolka to Deurali to Pothana and ended at Kanre. Most of it was up and down hill today so our legs were killing we was nearly at the end and dads knee packed up he couldn’t put any weight on it he had to get a wooden stick to help he walk the rest of the way it was such a shame as we was so close to the end but we still made it!!! Dad said he was proud of me today for walking so much the trek we did today tourists do it in 2 days and we did it in 1!!!!! When we got to the end it was such an amazing feeling and was so happy with ourselves for completing it!!! We had some noodles at a little shack that was at the end and we asked to wash our hands. They said there’s a drum out the back we went to wash our hands and they had just killed the chicken and cut it up to sell all the guts were inside made my tummy turn hehehe!!! After we had eaten dads friend had come picked us up to take us back to the hotel it was an hour drive back to the hotel it was amazing though and so glad we did it and I did it with Big G!!!!! When we got back to the hotel we had a wash and a rest and then went for dinner oh my goodness my legs were killing they are still killing now I can hardly walk hahaha!!! I slept well that night even with dads snoring haha!!! Wednesday we went for a day of sightseeing we went around in dads friends car. The first stop off was as Solemi didi’s mum and dads house to quickly visit them and then we went to see dad’s old boarding school. We went and met one of his old teachers and they were talking about the old days hahaha then we went for a quick look round the school dad was showing me his old block where he lived bought back lots of memories for him haha!!! Then we went to see a waterfall called Devis fall it’s a huge waterfall and its called that because years ago there was a couple frim Sweden called mr and mrs Devis and they were having a wash in the water fall when the dam flooded and washed mrs Devis under her body was found 3 days later so they named it after her. They have to close it in the monsoon time because it gets flooded. You can see down into it from one side of the road then you go the otherside and you can go in the cave and see the bottom of it. The cave is 100m underground it was really cool a little scary though to!!! After that me and dad went for lunch at a Japenese restaurant haha in Nepal but was lush then we went to visit another huge lake just near the outskirts of Pokhara and then drove back to our hotel and then in the evening we went out to our local for a bite to eat and then we went to a bar called Busy Bee with the son of the family that own the restaurant opposite our hotel. It was really good it was full of tourists and they had a live band there that were brilliant singing kings of leon etc. Then we went home to bed!!!! Today we left Pokhara and had the 8 hour bus ride back again so my days in Pokhara are over it was an amazing experience and memories that I am never ever going to forget I loved it!!!!! Xxxxx