Plains Sailing 2

To Pokhara

I was up first, keen to get to Pokhara today, knowing that Harrison had reserved a room for me tonight in his guest house, and knowing that it’s a long bus journey.

I headed over for some street brekky, and sat on a bench to eat some parantha and chole, with my back to a high wall that fenced the park. As I was eating, a large monkey suddenly flew from the top of the wall onto my table. I knew he wanted food and I reacted quickly, and grabbed my metal breakfast plate off the table.

But he was quicker than me, wasn’t he, bugger, and he just grabbed the rest of my half-eaten parantha right off the plate, and disappeared before I could say, “you cheeky smelly bastard!”

So I was forced to have a second breakfast, inside a little chai stall. Poor me.

Puri (the bread), jalebi (the slightly sweet and oily woven pastry next to the bread), and potato chole. Bloody delicious. Street food kicks arse around here.

Eventually my friends emerged from their caves and ate, while I had my third chai of the just-beginning day.

Yoni, Inna and Jul, on our local bus from Lumbini, heading back to the main north-south highway.

So we ended up at another local bus station, only to discover that we’d missed the last bus to Pokhara. The woman told us we’d have to wait till the evening, and take an overnight bus then.

But we refused to accept defeat, and just wandered onto the highway. By the biggest stroke of luck ever, there was an old bus parked there, which happened to have been hired by a bunch of college students to take them directly to Pokhara. Luckily, there was room for the four of us as well.

So we actually got a bus that ended up being much faster than the normal local bus (as it didn’t stop at every single tiny settlement on the way), and was cheaper as well.

It didn’t take long and we were out of the plains and into the hills.

Sunningday

It’s been forever since I sat down to write.

And it’s really nice to sit here and do it again, warm sun on my back, at a little Nepali eating place here in Pokhara, watching the world go by.

I haven’t actually been alone for ages. Yoni, Jul, Inna and I have been hanging out together for over a week now, exploring Pokhara and the surrounding districts, jamming, cooking, eating, trekking, and, of course, spending hours and hours and hours chatting and getting to know each other.

What a blessing it’s been for all of us. We’ve all become super close.

Yoni and Jul are the gentlest, most lightly-treading people ever. Genuinely sweet, caring, warm and open, they have a beautiful love for nature, animals, and for music and culture. Yoni's also a great guitarist, we've been jamming the whole time.

Inna, a Russian Jew, emigrated to Israel with her brother and parents when she was only 8 years old, and spent all of her childhood trying to distance herself from her cultural roots, so she'd fit in with all the Ashkenazi Jews in Israel, those Jews with European roots. She suffered major discrimination and bullying as a result of her background, even though there were plenty of people like her around.

Between 1989 and 2006, around one million Soviet Jews migrated to Israel, as a result of the then President Michael Gorbachev's decision to open the borders, and allow them to leave. Another 600,000 migrated to the US and Europe, mainly to Germany (of all places).

These days Inna takes pride in her background, and the four of us travelling buddies realised we all actually have Eastern European or Russian backgrounds going back only one or two generations. And I still wonder where I get my Jewish nose from. When I was in Israel and in neighbouring Arab countries some years ago I was often mistaken for a Jew, which had its big pluses and big minuses, depending on where I was.

Pokhara itself has changed a lot. When I first came here, thirty-ish years ago, it was a small town, with some low key guest houses and homestays within spitting distance of the lake.

Today it’s a small city, and it now extends forever up the valley, although the area of Lakeside and Damside, where we’ve spent most of our time, is still pretty quiet and low key - as long as you avoid the busier Hallam Chowk area, the more ritzy zone.

Also, the peak tourism season’s ended here, as it’s getting too cold for people.

There’s hundreds of cafés here, catering for every culinary desire imaginable. The cafés for Westerners are overpriced, (although you can get some amazingly healthy and good quality Western-style food here), but you can also find the cheap local eating houses, like the one I’m sitting in now.

Here you can get a cheap Nepali thali, or Thakali food, consisting of the usual dal, rice and vegies, but with deliciously spiced extras, chutneys and pastes. The great thing is that lots of the vegies and leaves have been harvested from the forests around here, they’re organic, and super healthy.

There’s always new things thrown in, things you’ve never tasted. They’re delicious, unique, and you known damn well they’re good for you.

The Thakali people, btw, are from the mountains, traditional traders who bought and sold their wares along Himalayan trading routes. These days they’re concentrated mainly in the Pokhara and Kathmandu areas. They use millet and buckwheat, as well as rice, as a staple, and make the most delicious healthy savoury millet or black-wheat “pancakes.” It’s a common breakfast food for them. I’ve had them a number of times now, at various places, and it’s really become my favourite brekky ‘round these parts.

I first arrived in Pokhara over a week ago, after that forever train and bus journey all the way from Pushkar in India. I’d first travelled east, pretty much halfway across the widest part of India, and then headed north, first to the Nepalese border at Sonauli, and then all the way up the mountains to here.

I knew that Harrison, a beautiful man I met in Rishikesh, would be here, and he reserved me a room in his hotel. It was relatively spenny, but it was worth it. I had my own bathroom! It had hot water!

I haven’t enjoyed either of those delicious luxuries in quite some time.

So Yoni, Jul, Inna and I arrived late at night, and Harrison told us about a jam up the hill, at Shanti Space, basically a hippy guesthouse hangout zone right up the hill in the forest on the edge of town, fairly near our hotel.

After dinner we headed up there, and there they all were, the Rainbow Crew, sitting around the fire, smoking chillams, jamming away. It was great. A chillam is an Indian pipe for smoking charras, cannabis.

There’d been a Global Rainbow Gathering in Nepal a couple of weeks ago, which is basically a huge gathering of like-minded hippies camping somewhere beautiful in the forest for a few weeks, in an electricity-and-money-free zone,

I’ve been to a few of them myself in the past. They’re amazing.

After the Nepal gathering, many of the people ended up hanging here in Pokhara. So I connected with some of them up the hill, and disappeared into the music (and into some pretty smoky worlds). I then found myself trying to climb down a very steep rocky hill in the early hours of the morning without a light, realising too late that my phone had died.

When will I grow up?

Luckily Portuguese Rita saved me. We had a beautiful connection, and I’m now officially in love.

Nah, not really, I wish. It’s a crying shame, but I haven’t seen her again, she was leaving the next day.

I’m also very happy to report I made it home on that particular night without any physical injuries, for a change. All I had were some pretty psychedelic dreams, which were quite the treat.

Phewa Lake from my hotel balcony. Pretty built up isn’t it. Back in the day there were just a few guesthouses close to the lake.

It’s still nice though.

Looking out across the valley. There were only gardens and rice fields here last time.

I finally got to meet Harrison’s girlfriend, Leron, from Israel. Or Lily, as she likes to call her travelling self.

Lily’s amazing. A dancer, actress, singer and teacher, she’s one of these people who’s so open that she completely changes the energy of a place when she’s there. She allows everyone else to open up.

We have the most amazing connection. I feel like I’ve known her forever, we had some beautiful conversations over the few days we were together in Pokhara, as well as some amazing jams, and some very deep and honest moments. She wears her heart on her sleeve, that one.

Lily and Harrison slackin it

Lily singing a tune with a couple of other Israelis for the first night of Hanukkah, a Jewish festival. I especially like their candelabra. The Hanukkah holiday lasts for 8 days, and you light candles in the evenings, make special foods, and basically hang out, eat, and appreciate each other. Sounds good doesn’t it.

Hanukkah commemorates the defeat of the Greeks by the Jews, way back in the Second Century BCE, and the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, after the mean Greeks had originally sacked it. Ransacked it even.

Given the shit that’s going down in that part of the world at the moment, everyday Arabs and Israelis are really doing it tough, so important festivals like Hanukkah have a deep emotional significance right now.

We lit candles on a few nights, and sang songs in Hebrew or Yiddish.

That night on the pic also happened to be Open Mike night at that cafe, and we had a killer jam. I sang a song I actually wrote in Pokhara about 25 years ago, called Minimise The Damages, which is basically about how being hurt in relationships can make it so difficult to trust again.

Strange that I get to sing it again all these years later, with it still having some relevance for me.

Downtown Pokhara. The main drag in Lakeside, Baidam Road.

It’s nice walking along the lake. Somehow that’s retained its charm, as the government hasn’t allowed it to be totally destroyed by development. Only partly destroyed. There’s a little Disneyland and a ferris wheel at one spot, no joke.

Boat builders at work

I heartly thank you.

As you head further southeast, to the “fish tail” part of the lake, it’s less developed and more beautiful.

One day we climbed the hill to Dechenling Monastery, a Tibetan gompa with a beautiful temple, and with stunning views of the lake.

Caféing with Inna

One night Harrison and a Slovenian guy, Michel, ran a Cacao Ceremony in a beautiful space close to the lake. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, how bloody cosmic hippy.

The thing is, it was beautiful. We all set an intention for our own lives, and spent some time allowing that to develop in our minds. Harrison guided us through a beautiful meditation, and then we sang a lot, and shared our experiences with each other. It was amazing.

There’s so many beautiful people here, all have unique and interesting stories to tell, and skills to share. It’s a treasure chest of sparkling humanity.

Eventually Harrison and Lily left, both heading to different parts of India, it was sad. I moved hotels, to a cheaper variety, and this is the view from my new spot, where Yoni, Jul and Inna are also staying.

Jul is a killer at henna. She decorated my hand and lower leg. And pretty much everyone else’s.

Henna’s traditionally worn by women in India and Nepal to beautify. But actually I've discovered that in some places in India they also do it on men during wedding ceremonies.

Yes, you can get great bakery fare in this town. Now that’s a treat. This was a regular supply point for all of us. Cheap cinnamon swirls and apple pastries.

And they say there is no God.

It’s Quite A Trek

Yeah, so of course I wanna get up into those hills. I’m sure that’s no surprise to you, if you know me.

I love nature, and I love hiking.

The Israeli crew wanna do an easier hike, so my plan is to spend a few days doing that with them, and then when they leave Pokhara to head elsewhere, I'll go somewhere higher, on my own.

That beautiful Annapurna range is calling me, loud and clear.

Yeah, those mountains are high, and it’s winter, and I don’t have proper high altitude trekking gear, let alone hiking boots.

So I’ll just have to wing it, and do what I can do❤️

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