Chapter Five: Nepal at Last: K-K-K-K-Kathmandu and Pokhara

  At last, I get to write about Nepal.  India was amazing; Nepal was ethereal.  I have been changed forever because of my experiences there.  But we’ll start with the first two days in Kathmandu…

    The only things I knew about Kathmandu came from songs like Cat Stevens’ and Bob Marley’s songs of the same name.  I had a vague idea that the Beatles had spent time there during their Eastern enlightenment phase.  My husband and his buddies spent time here three years ago, and he had shared many photos and stories of this beautiful land.  And of course, the recent Dr. Strange movie features the home of the Ancient One in Kathmandu.  I’ve been a devotee of Dr. Strange for years, so – Kathmandu definitely appealed to me.

   We took a shuttle from the airport to the Kathmandu Guest House, a beautiful compound of four or five buildings around a courtyard with gardens and an outdoor dining area.  Armed guards saluted guests as they came and went through the East and West gates.  Our room overlooked the courtyard, with a balcony wide enough for two chairs and a little coffee table.  We quickly settled in and enjoyed an Indian buffet dinner with live music before turning in for the night.  I was still recuperating from Delhi Belly and needed a lot of sleep.

   The following day we met our guide, Hari Thapa.  Rob had trekked with Hari on his earlier trip to Nepal.  I would later learn what an honor and privilege it was that Hari came down out of the mountains to shepherd us around Kathmandu. He is a legend among trekking guides, and was President of the Nepal Trekking Association for ten years.  This is a guide who has seen elusive snow leopards, or “cloud leopards,” as the Nepalis call them.  Crowded cities are not his natural habitat.

   Our driver took us all over the bustling city, careening through ancient, tiny streets to take us to various holy sites.  We visited the Monkey Palace, and the Buddhist Swambhunath Stupa, which is the oldest stupa in Nepal.  

Next we went to  Pasupatinath, the Bagmati Aarati where Hindus cremate the bodies of their loved ones. 

 We were awed and amazed by the Boudhnath, the largest Buddhist stupa in Nepal.  

We ended our day at the Kathmandu Durbar Square, a magnificent collection of temples, and the Museum of Nepal.  It was Holi Day, a major Hindu festival of colors during which people throw colored powder on each other and party to commemorate the beginning of spring.  Our first dose of color came at the first big temple…and continued all day.  

By the time we returned to our hotel in the early evening, we were completely doused in Technicolor powder!

    The next day we drove to the Kathmandu suburb of Patan.  The Patan Durbar Square has some of the best preserved historic buildings in Nepal.  

After another short guided tour, we explored the wonderful museum, then had tea and coffee in the delightful museum restaurant in a patio garden.   Later that morning we then drove to Pokhara, the gateway to the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas.  The town sits on a beautiful lake beneath the mountains.

There, we stayed at the Hotel Marigold owned by members of the Adhikari family whom Rob had met earlier and who also arranged for our trekking guide and porter.  I was still getting over bronchitis and Delhi Belly, and spent much of that afternoon in bed. Our room was on the fourth floor, and had a rooftop garden outside the window facing the lake.  I was so weak I watched the lake from the bed, through a mirror on the door.  It was a beautiful but cloudy, peaceful scene which I needed desperately to help me rest up for the trekking to come.  Rob went downstairs and joined the friends he had made three years ago.  The family was celebrating a recent engagement.  I took my rice and tea in my room, hoping against hope that my aches, pains, and bronchitis would vanish before the trek.

   The next morning, we went out on the terrace to enjoy our tea and coffee.  I was dumbstruck by my first vistas of the Annapurna Mountains.

We packed up and took a walk around scenic Pokhara. Rob and our guide went to an outfitter to rent sleeping bags for the trek.  I again spent as much time as I could resting, praying that I would be up for the days to come.

Stay tuned for how I was able to rally, find the strength to continue, and achieve my ultimate goal - trekking in the Himalayas!