Nepal: Pokhara and Back Again

Namaste!

Carol in front of our lakeside bungalow in Pokhara

As Christmas rapidly approaches, time is running short for Joe and Carol in Nepal. After our wonderful trek, we are missing the snow-topped peaks and crisp mountain air, but are enjoying slowing down a bit and doing alternative adventuresome things like: eating a three course meal, sleeping without wooly hats on, and having a hot shower.  To facilitate these types of adventures, we decided to hang out in the lovely lakeside town of Pokhara for a total of six nights and greatly enjoyed all the very relaxed atmosphere that Pokhara had to offer.  Aside from sitting lakeside at our hut reading, reflecting, chatting with other travelers and eating amazing meals at incredibly low costs (e.g. 1 beer + 1 soda +2 appetizers +1 massive steak + 1 pasta dish = $17), one of our favorite places becoming Once Upon a Time. We did also have a couple of small 'traditional' adventures while in Pokhara.

Carol and Joe on a hike above Pokhara

One worth mentioning was a hike up a nearby hillside to see yet another amazing panoramic perspective of the Annapurna mountain range that we had trekked through.  We could see Machapuchare, also known as the "Fishtail" mountain peak (at 22,943 ft high!) as well as other sky-scraping peaks and a lovely view of Pokhara from above.  While walking, we met a very friendly college-aged fellow named Brett who was from Santa Cruz, California (ironic as we were just talking about how the Pokhara vibe reminded us a bit of Santa Cruz), visiting Nepal for sight seeing and trekking.

Our other notable Pokhara adventure was a morning spent paragliding with Blue Sky Paragliding per Joe's suggestion!  As mentioned previously, Pokhara is one of the main paragliding hubs in the world and we spent several mornings eating breakfast at the Aurora Borealis Cafe watching loads of paragliders take off from a nearby hillside, soar through the sky for about 30 minutes or so and then land lakeside.  Some would even perform pretty incredible acrobatic tricks over the lake before landing.

In-flight photo contributed by Carol Stevick

Joe loves paragliding and even has his own "wing" at home.  I, on the other hand, had never been paragliding before but seeing as I have a very adventuresome plus encouraging husband, we decided to sign up for tandem flights (meaning being strapped onto a certified "pilot" and also meaning we didn't have to do a thing except not get in the way during take off and landing) and it was so much fun!

Carol coming in to land!

My pilot, Shiva, and I were both fairly light weight and were able to catch a cloud thermal and head upward to about 3000 meters high!  We got about 40 minutes of flight and every second was so much fun (and also quite cold up in the clouds).  Joe's Swiss pilot, on the other hand, wasn't so small and they beat us down to the landing zone by several minutes.

Brett, our Californian friend, fortuitously told us that there were actually TOURIST buses we could take back to Kathmandu for the same price as the LOCAL bus we had taken from Kathmandu a couple weeks prior.  Our trip back to Kathmandu on this tourist bus was much different: no blaring Indian/Nepali music, no psychedelic decorations, no Hindu idol or incense below the windshield, leg room and two stops on the way at restaurants for breakfast and lunch (chicken chowmein for breakfast is actually quite great I've discovered).

Carol and Julie at the KISC Christmas Event

Once back in Kathmandu, we met up with a friend that Joe went to high school and church with in  Olympia named Julie and her son Isaac.  Julie has been working as a teacher here at a wonderful primary and secondary school called KISC (Kathmandu International Study Center) for the past six months.  She was so gracious and allowed us to stay in her home and share with us about her experiences living and working here in Nepal, and even greeted us out on the street corner with Tibetan scarfs. She also took us on the grand tour of KISC and to an evening Christmas drama & concert that the school performed wonderfully.  It was so so nice to hear and sing Christmas carols, see Christmas decorations and lights, drink apple cider and meet Christians from around the globe serving in Kathmandu.  This morning we attended a Nepali church service (with English bullet points to help us follow along :)) which was also very wonderful.

One of a couple cycle trips through Kathmandu

Another aspect of Nepal that we haven't mentioned yet, but which is consistent with other places we've visited on this trip (such as Israel and Afghanistan for example): incredible religious devotion.  Nepal is about 80% Hindu and we noticed quite a bit of intermixing between Hinduism and Buddhism as well. We saw many temples, shrines and altars set up throughout the city and would frequently encounter men and women stopping to worship at various locations.  At Julie's place, twice a day we hear bells rung, people gathering and then songs sung.  Although our understanding of these rituals is extremely limited, we did learn a bit about some of the many many local customs, practices, and festivals which are fascinating.

In the presence of so much religious devotion, especially with our own upcoming celebration of the Messiah's arrival on Earth, we can't help reflect once again on how much more own own lives should be lived in continual worship and obedience to God.  This morning at our Nepali service, we were reminded that (miraculously and mysteriously) God's favor cannot be earned through rituals or sacrifices, but only through trusting in Christ's willing sacrifice for us at the cross. 

Blessings,

Carol