Author Archives: wanderingwelshie95

I am a qualified nurse who has worked in the NHS for the last five years. Pre-covid, I would travel whenever I could, whenever I had a few days off together. For the past two years, I have not travelled at all (like most if the world) but now I have quit my job in order for me to travel freely for awhile. I have always been passionate about travel from a young age and was lucky enough to have gone abroad with my family as a kid. Here I will write about my experiences and observations in various places.

Valley of Butterflies 🦋

12/5/22

Today, I made my usual breakfast, ate quickly before heading out to meet a guy that worked on a super yacht. I had expressed interest, after deciding with Nancy that perhaps working on a boat is the life!! I met up with Diego (post night shift for him) and we roadtripped about.

First, we headed back to Lindos, since Diego wanted to see it. This time, we viewed the acropolis from afar, from a bar on the opposite side, so that we were looking at the acropolis and the sea behind it. After an aperil spritz, we headed to a beach. We chatted and drank cocktails (pina colada for me!). The day flew by and at some point we decided to eat. We ordered a few bits to share – hummus, Greek salad and fajitas, which Diego was not afraid of despite being Mexican! 🤣

After dinner, we went in search of a sunset spot. We headed along the coast away from Rhodes town (or so we thought) and eventually picked a nice quiet beach, with a nearby fort and with mountain views as well as out to sea. We walked past some abandoned cave dwellings and scrambled up a me rocks before sitting looking out to sea. As we headed down and got back to the car, the sky became crazy!! It was gorgeous. On the road, we approached Lindos from the wrong direction! At some point, we had ended up turnibg around completely and using an inland road by mistake! Ahahaha, classic! We headed the hour or so back to Lindos. By the time we got back, I was pretty much ready for bed. I ate some more vine leaves and slept!

13/5/22

Friday 13th, unlucky for some. I sure hope it wasn’t unlucky for me since I’d decided to book a flight for that evening! Finally, I would be headed to Georgia!!

I had big plans for my last day though, I wanted to hike. I got the bus to Butterfly Valley, where I was told there were no butterflies, but that it was pretty. After an hour on the bus, I arrived along with a shed load of other tourists!! I hoped it wasn’t a scheme to make all the tourists use the quietest bus route or something! I paid the entry and wandered on up, through the woods, following a stream with everyone else. It was pretty busy to begin with, but as I got to the top of the 2km path, the path widened at a cafe. There was a route on the right that looked cuts, so I went there. I realised it was taking me out of the park and out of the valley to a monastery. I had a gander in the monastery grounds. There was a monk sitting in the sun reading a book (I guess the bible?!). The view out over the island to the sea was spectacular! I paused to take it in. Then I made a plan, since Butterfly Valley was too small for me to spend a day inside it. I got out maps.me and planned a route. I would skirt around the monastery on footpaths and then climb up a ridge to a panoramic view marked on the map. I had brought a packed lunch and my trusty LifeStraw with me, so all was well! I scrambled up many a steep and slidey path and enjoyed some incredible views over the island and out to sea. I also saw a few butterflies up here. I saw not a single other soul!

After an hour or so of scrambling about, I reached a road, where a guy had set up a stall to sell honey. He smiled and asked where I was going in Greek. He told me the name of a village (the one with the panorama) and then said ‘not far’. He waved me off. I eventually found the panoramic view, but bce it was not exactly where it was on the map, and there were both signs. Bizarrely, I was the only one there for most of the time. I had my lunch sat on a rock admiring the view and my be couple very briefly came and left when I was munching. You could see both sides of the island from this point since the island is long and relatively thin and there were woods on the long sides. It was beautiful. I stopped a cafe on the way back, mainly because I needed to fill my water, but I also got an ice lolly. I sat awhile before heading back on the main road, so as not to miss my bus back! On the way, a car passed me and then stopped in the middle of the road. A pretty ginger lady leant out her window and asked if I was okay and if I needed a lift. I thanked her and said I was okay. I carried on back to the Butterfly Valley Park. A while later, I saw the ginger lady again and I think she was glad to see me back in civilisation!! I went to see the lower part of the valley and sat by a waterfall awhile before catching the bus back.

On returning to the bus station, I checked airport times, headed back to the hostel to grab my things and then returned to the bus station to buy a ticket to the airport. I sat in a cafe opposite the station, ate a Greek salad and rang Gi. We had a nice catch up for nearly an hour before I went to catch the airport bus. I was going to Georgia!

Rhodes’ ruins and rueda

9/5/22

I arrived to Rhodes in the late afternoon and got a bus to the town from the airport. Then I ditchedy stuff at the hostel and went straight out to a salsa class. It was Cuban and we did rueda for half of it. All the Spanish terms were very rusty for me, so I was the hazard of the group! Afterwards, I headed in search of food. I watched sunset from the harbour and wandered around the old town, until I had been down many a street, and eventually followed the sounds of live music to a bustling taverna. They found me a table and I ordered a vino and mixed Greek plate. It sounded super touristy but all the different parts sounded delicious. I drank wine while I waited for my food. The waiter was concerned that I was on my own – this played to my benefit as he brought me a free glass of wine! I enjoyed the music and ate and drank leisurely. After awhile, a Greek guy, Lefteris came to sit with me. We chatted awhile before going for a wander around old town Rhodes. It was pretty nippy at night and I wanted to head home – either I could walk the twenty minutes quite cold or I could get a ride with Lefteris on his motorbike and very extremely cold for a shorter time. I chose the latter! It felt very nice to be flying through the cobble streets within the walls of the old town on the bike. We said goodbye and I went to bed.

10/5/22

Since Cyprus had been more expensive than I was used to, I had decided to buy breakfast ingredients from the shop. I prepared my cheese and tomato on fresh bread and sat outside in the sun. I joined some other girls (all solo travellers – woop, woop), and we got chatting. I had no specific plans and in the end I went round the old town moat and then up on the walls with one of the other girls, Gemma. Afterwards, we grabbed coffee and cake before heading back to the hostel for a boat tour. It had been sold to us as a boat tour nearly at sunset and with a snack and since Gemma was going anyway, I figured why not join?! 🤣

In the end, it was a gals trip – two Brits, two Canadians and two Belgians. There was also an British family on the boat. We had taken ciders so we cracked them out on the way, chilled and chatted. It was very beautiful. We stopped halfway to swim near some caves. It was exceptionally cold!! Afterwards, we warmed up with red wine and our snack – some apple and orange pieces! We headed back, showered and then headed out to dinner, us Brits and Canadians. I had a banging pizza (no shame!). We re-met the Belgians to try and find a night out! We went to a bar that had been recommended to us. The main room was closed so we sat outside. The music was alright but we were basically the only people there! We had a drink (a margarita for me, obvs) and a free shot, before trying elsewhere. There was nowhere else it seems! We sat in a square awhile and watched a couple of men jetwash a sun umbrella for quite some time before heading back towards the hostel. There was a bar near the hostel that was meant to be okay. The bar looked alright, but it was no place to dance, so Sophia and I called it quits and headed home!

11/5/22

Had my trusty breakfast again before heading out with the gals (Gemma, Sophia and Gabby), the two Brit, two Canadian combo! We got the bus to Lindos, a historic town with acropolis next to the sea. It was a beautiful place! We walked up to the ruins, opting not to take a donkey!

Afterwards, we headed to a beach we had eyed from the acropolis just round the next bend. It was insanely pretty! Bizarrely, after we had sat down, we became surrounded by a valleys family, all three generations of it! One of them had a glorious looking drink, so I asked them what it was and ordered the same!! We stayed at the beach a long while, chilling, chatting, swimming and mermaiding! Then we packed up and walked back up the hill to get the bus. Sadly, we had just missed one bus, so we bought snacks and waited. By the time we got back it was pretty late so I bought snacks from the shop (vine leaves and chocolate!) and went to bed!

Papping Paphos

7/5/22

The day after the wedding! Today I was ready for a wander. After breakfast (and after waving Vee and Noona off), I had a mooch down the coast path past a few other fancy resorts, past a tiny but very cute Greek Orthodox church and along to some watersports kiosks. I sat on a boardwalk looking out to see awhile before heading back to meet Nenay at the pool. We had a good ol’ catch up and in the end, everyone congregated together and we chilled and chatted. Folk with all inclusive wristbands kindly got drinks for me and the girls that were staying in the hotel next door and we stayed poolside til around 5pm. Then, I grabbed my rucksack, saidy goodbyes and headed to get the bus into Paphos town. On arrival, I walked maybe half an hour up hill to reach my hostel. The hostel was in a beautiful part of town past some very wholesome looking restaurants. I ditched my stuff and headed out for food. I got a recommendation from the owner and went to a place with great halloumi wraps. Then I Netflixed in bed.

8/5/22

Today was a ‘let’s see Paphos’ day so I headed out towards the Tombs of the Kings, stopping for a lovely breakfast (with halloumi, obviously), named Paphos Benedict or some such thing! I walked through the bus station, past many beautiful coloured flowers and to the tomb site. One of the tourist officers welcomed me so warmly, asking where I was from and once he realised I was Welsh, the stories flowed! He used to dance traditional Greek dancing and was asked to dance in a festival in Llangollen. They would’ve been pleased to go, but sadly they had already agreed to dance in Australia!! After telling me the story, he handed me a leaflet on the tombs and wished me well – a happy chap!!

The tomb site was rather large and rather hot!! It was not actually a tomb site for Kings, but for VIPS and wealthy people of the third century AD – pretty old!! I walked round for a good few hours before escaping at the bottom corner onto the coast path. I stopped at a beach for a sarny and chips and a sunbathe before heading on, to reach Paphos marina, complete with tiny, old fort. The marina was bustling with tourists and restaurants, but didn’t look too old. I was keen to try and find the old town. I headed away from the marina and stopped by a long forgotten amphitheatre which was marked on the map and was in amidst a residential estate. I climbed through a gap in the fence and stood on the rough ground, looking up at the amphitheatre and down at a pile of numbered but given up on columns. It felt very much like Rome – too many ruins to give time of day to them all! Paphos had decided the amphitheatre was irrelevant, but it was pretty impressive nonetheless!!

Afterwards I was pretty tired so got the bus back to the hostel, even though I had to wait ages because it was Sunday. On returning, I stopped for a smoothie, grabbed an extra layer and headed out for dinner. I fancied going to a local taverna that I had passed by the day I had arrived. I sat inside, since outside was too cold (Greek island winds are vicious!), and ordered mussels in a tomato sauce. It came with heaps of bread, and I ordered olives. The olives too were vicious, the very strong, black ones – I ate them all regardless! Afterwards, I headed to the place I went for breakfast to meet Livia, a girl from my hostel who was away for the weekend, from studying International Relations and Arabic in Amman, Jordan. I admired Livia (British-French) for braving a year abroad in a country so different from home, and learning a language with a whole different alphabet!! She was experiencing reverse culture shock in Cyprus, same as I had in Dubai after being in Somaliland so long – so many bare legs, shoulders and midriffs, the world had gone mad!! We chatted, tried (and failed) to order a second drink – the barman had been on since the morning and had given up at this point – and then headed home!

9/5/22

Livia had told me she had been to the old town the day before so I thought I’d have a little mooch about before my flight. I got a coffee and pastry breakfast in a cute caf across the way from the hostel before heading on towards old plazas. It was very pretty, but pretty abandoned. I stocked up on goods in a nearby bakery ready for the airport and headed back to get the bus to the airport.

I was far too early for bag drop at the airport so sat on the floor near the check in desk for over an hour blogging before I could go through security. Too many nearly missed flights has made me leave lotssss of time for airports now! 🤣🤣🤣

Nenay gets married!! 💖

4/5/22

After flying from Nepal to Dubai, I them had a nine hour stopover through the small hours to endure before my next flight to Lebanon. I managed over half the time just wandering round, drinking chai and waiting endlessly, before I caved and paid over the odds for a lounge. I had breakfast, a gin and rested in a comfy chair. On arrival to Lebanon I was told that although it was a self-transfer that someone else would go and collect my rucksack and recheck it in again. This sounded both convenient and nerve-racking – what were the chances my bag would arrive in Cyprus?! Personally, I was glad because the UK gov travel advice said to avoid all but essential travel to Lebanon, but if I didn’t leave the airport free zone, it didn’t count, right?! After a quick forty minute flight, we arrived in Larnaca, Greek Cyprus which is so close to Turkey, its not surprising there’s been issues in the past!! Since it was relatively late, I had already missed the last bus to Paphos, so I got one to Limassol, which is half way between! Eventually, I checked into my hostel after wandering around the wrong block of flats for ten minutes or so and hit the sack immediately. It’d been nearly 48 hours since I’d slept!

5/5/22

Since I was unexpectedly in Limassol, I was determined to enjoy my time and have a day exploring the city before I headed to Paphos for Nenay’s wedding. When I woke up, George, a guy that was volunteering in the hostel offered me coffee. He brought it to me while I was still lying on my bed, which was very luxurious! Afterwards, he said he would make me breakfast as I was about to head out for breakfast. It was a great breakfast with lots of halloumi (welcome to Greece!). After seeing how glam the gals going to Nad’s wedding we’re on insta, I decided that perhaps flip-flops wouldn’t do for the occasion and I would just look like a crazy backpacker! A Russian-Ukrainian guy who was living at the hostel long term offered to take me around a few shops. He drove me to a mall (big shopping centre – I’m not American yet!) and after being slightly terrified that we wouldn’t make it there in one piece (due to insane speeding), we wandered round a few places. There were too many stilettos, and nothing that caught the eye so we left. We headed back towards the hostel at breakneck speed, even with my complaints, and went to the local High Street. There, I found a suitable pair of nude, not too high, not too low, not too wobbly and not too clumpy pair of heels! I went to ditch the heels at the hostel, chatted on the terrace awhile, before going for my tourist mooch.

I headed to the marina at first to discover it was very pretty, but filled only with wealth and no life. I headed back round to find a local square with a really old church in the middle – bizarrely, it felt much like Covent Garden to me, with every sitting around in a square. I wandered through before picking a place for ice-cream (pistachio and white chocolate no less!) in another nearby square! Then I headed back to the hostel to grab my things before getting the last bus to Paphos. George, the guy who made me breakfast offered to drop me at the station and off we went. Sadly, people drive like madmen in Cyprus, so there was loads if traffic built up due to not one, but two crashes!! We watched the last bus leave for Paphos from the wrong side of the traffic barrier. Since George was Cypriot, he also was able to drive like a madman!! He took a shortcut and chased after the bus. Then at essentially, a motorway roundabout, he pulled in front of the bus, put his hazards on and got out the car to speak to the bus driver! The driver said there was another bus from the station soon so we headed back, zooming along! The bus from the station arrived, and while it was a different (and cheaper – what a win!) company, it was also going to Paphos! I thanked George and headed on my way!

The sun was setting as I arrived in Paphos town. I got a taxi to Nad’s hotel as I had had a last minute cancellation from the apartment I had booked because of ‘plumbing issues’. This I was not convinced of, but I was unable to stay regardless and Nenay kindly said they could squeeze me in with her family! I met Vee and she showed me the room and then I headed down to dinner. I jumped on Nenay and then went to grab food. I saw Hanna at the buffet and she gave me a crazy welcome!

Afterwards, Vee told me lots of people were going out and I could go out with Adam and Gareth. It was the night before my besties wedding and I was going out with the man that was giving her away no less. What could go wrong?! We ordered drinks and it went downhill from there! Had a great catch up with Adam and got to know Gareth while doing too many tequila shots, which Adam so wisely avoided! The night ended with me being sick before getting in a taxi with Adam, Gareth and one of Oli’s (the groom) mates. It was not a great day for Sarah!! I was less of a hot mess and more, just a mess!

6/5/22

It was wedding day! The wedding I’d taken three flights for, and I felt horrendous! Vee got me up and told me to go get breakfast before it closed! This was a good idea! Then I lay down awhile before getting a grip, showering and getting ready. Vee, Noona, Adam and Hanna left with the wedding party and I got ready. The rest of us all got a later bus into the countryside. Everyone looked fab!

The venue was picture perfect! We were all wondering how on earth Nads and Oli had found such a cute place in rural Cyprus! The ceremony was beautiful and I cried as predicted! Nenay looked amazing and the music and family and everything was just so lovely! Afterwards there were many photos with some drinks and then a pause before dinner. The courtyard where we ate dinner was so quaint and beautiful. The speeches were great with Oli’s and Vee’s being very cute. Then came drinks, a photo booth and dancing, including some traditional Greek dancing!! I chilled mainly with Liz, who it was so lovely to see again after so long, her man, Will and his mate Chelsea. It was a beautiful day!

Art, tapas and home visits

1/5/22

After arriving in Kathmandu just before 05.30 on my night bus, I got a motorbike taxi back to Yog Hostel, where I had stayed before. Since I’d kind of skipped dinner, I was starving so I walked about around Thamel until the first cafe was open at 6am. On my wanders, I saw a guy selling samosas at the side if the street. They looked delicious so I got one and sat next to the other three people that were tucking in to them, sitting on mat. They were rather nicely dressed and I quickly realised that they were still out from the night before! (Guess I’m old now!!). Then, once the cafe was open, I got coffee and breakfast and chilled awhile.

When I returned to the hostel, who was coming out from reception but Stephen, who was searching for breakfast!! I decided I may as well head back out for a catch up and another coffee since I had no other crazy plans for the day. After coffee in another cafe that I’d been to before, I returned to the hostel to read and eat momos on the roof. Then I took a nap in my room before heading back out for the afternoon. I wanted to go to a nearby monastery for sunset since it was recommended, so I got a motorbike taxi there and climbed some steps up to it, only to find that it was permanently closed to tourists (the same as the Red Mosque!). Aaaah! Why are things recommended if you can’t access them?!

Nearby the entrance were three other people milling around. I got chatting to them and we decided that since we couldn’t go in the monastery, we would go to a rooftop cafe to enjoy the views over the city as the sun set. The three of them lived in Dubai – two were Indian and married to each other, Bivan and Rupa, and the other, Mohammed, was their best mate, a Jordanian guy. Afterwards, they went back to Thamel and I headed to my favourite stupa, Boudhanath for dusk. It had such a calm and spiritual vibe, I loved it there! I got there and walked round the stupa once, before heading to a rooftop tapas bar that I had been eyeing up since the last time I came to the stupa. I got a great seat, drank wine and waited for my tapas. They were playing great music and I also people watched. The two couples in front of me got chatting and it turned out one couple were newly weds – an Indian Nepali arranged marriage – while the other had ‘met’ online and had been chatting for months, but this was the first time they had met in person. She was Vietnamese and he was American with Vietnamese heritage! What a story! After my scrummy tapas (man, I had missed potatoes!), I headed back to the hostel to sleep. I had been considering going out with some of the hostel gals for drinks, but in the end decided against!

2/5/22

I went out for another glorious breakfast of waffles and chilled there a longggg time with my book. Then I wandered towards the Palace, before realising that it was one, expensive, two, requiring masks, and three, you had to leave all your possessions at the front desk including water!! I decided against and headed back into Thamel via a mall. I messaged the hostel girls and went to meet Lena 🇩🇪 and Maya 🇪🇸 in a cafe. We chatted and ate, before heading off in search of an art exhibition. We went to one, which was fairly small before walking back across Thamel to another one. By this point, it had started raining REALLY hard and we had to pause to take cover in a shop!! The shop people were very nice and not annoyed at all that we were just using their shop for cover! They gave us seats and we chatted while we waited for the rain to stop! When it stopped raongi quite so hard, we scurried through the flooded streets, holding our trousers up out of the puddles and trying not to let our flip-flops fly off when the puddles were covering the tops of our feet! We followed a sign to the gallery, walking through a few floors of building site before reaching the exhibition and adjoining cafe.

After going round the exhibition, we chilled in the cafe. I got hot rum punch since I was so darn cold and wet and we relaxed, ate momos, ordered more drinks, ate more momos! Maya, brought an Israeli guy, Abi, back to us from the hostel and he told some people he had met at the airport. We ordered desserts and then the airport people left and Gil and Ben joined us. It was a cute last evening in Nepal for me, while it was some peoples first evening!

When we returned to the hostel, Ben, Gil and I decided we were not done, so we headed back out to Sam’s bar for another drink! We chilled there awhile with a guy Gil had met originally in India and had just bumped into on the street (small world ayy?!), before heading home.

3/5/22

Today was my final day in Nepal, which also meant it was going to be my final rabies shot day, since I didn’t fancy trying to sort it in Europe! After a speedy ish breakfast, I headed back to Silverline Hospital by mototaxi and went straight to pharmacy to buy my vaccine. Then I sat outside pharmacy and did my last shot before disposing of my sharps in ED and going to meet my sixteen year old friends at park we met in.

Once reunited with Liza and Kanxa, we headed first to meet Kanxa’s older sister. She was a few years younger than me, but had a husband and her own business selling booze. Each day after school/college, her younger brother and sister came to chill in her shop with her for a few hours – normally business was slow. While we were there, we chatted, drank tea and the girls painted my nails! Liza was very precise but Kanxa less so, so Liza was not happy with the standard and redid Kanxa’s work!! 🤣🤣 After awhile, we went to Kanxa’s home in a block of flats. They had a shared kitchen and bathroom and obviously separate bedrooms. We chatted with her older brother and said hi to her mum and dad again before heading out into the countryside by bus to meet Liza’s family. Kanxa and Liza are best friends, but Kanxa had never been to Liza’s house before so it was an adventure for us all!! We drove through a couple of small towns before getting out to farm land and more rural village life. Where Liza lived, they had a huge house in the village, with a tiny temple (more like a shrine) at the bottom of the drive and mountains all around them. Liza’s grandfather was a farmer and had plenty of land – he paid people to work the land for him. Her mother was a tailor and had her own studio at the front of their house and her dad a business man. They also had a cafe which Liza’s grandma and mum also seemed to run with Liza’s help. We helped skin already boiled potatoes before going on a walk while our food was cooking (the three of us, plus Liza’s cousin Bonita). We walked down a lane that went to a popular meditation centre for tourists and then on to some farmland. We picked berries off the lane, which were delicious, before we headed back to eat.

We ate spicy potatoes with some sort of dry rice crisps and a fried egg. The potatoes were glorious! They made mine less spicy which I wanted to protest about, but when I tried the ‘proper’ version, I thanked them for making mine less spicy because it was pretty vicious just in one mouthful! After dinner, we went to the roof, took some snaps before Kanxas and I headed back to Kathmandu. I was in many a family photo before I left and was invited to stay with them for a night next time I come to Nepal! Liza’s grandma said that if she could speak English, she would ask me many things! She was a warm, friendly lady.

On returning to the hostel via local bus, I showered and prepared for the airport. I got my last mototaxi of Nepal to the airport ready to hit Europe!

Sounds of singing bowls

28/4/22

I was officially getting into the feel of Pohkara with its relaxation. It’s a place to enjoy doing nothing – dolce can niente (the sweetness of doing nothing) – you can have a slowwwww morning drinking coffee, go for a stroll along the lake and then pick a bar to sip a drink in. That was my plan for the next few days more-or-less aside from going paragliding and maybe fitting in another kayak. Gil and I had agreed we would go paragliding together and I asked Maya, the lovely receptionist at the hostel how it works. She organised our trip for 11am and we chilled on the roof until then chatting with other hostel folk. At 11am,we went to wait in reception, but frustratingly, our pickup didn’t arrive til nearly 12 noon! By this point we were both hot and bothered and I was hungry!

We set off with a full minivan only to be picking up multiple extra people on route. I was too hungry so while they were waiting (in the wrong place) to pick up more tourists, I ran to a snack shop! I bought a biiig bag of Cheetos and ate the lot! Then with sixteen people, in our nine person minivan, we headed up the hill. It was a cramped and bumpy ride and I was happy to unfold myself when we arrived at the top of the hill.

We walked down to a flatter area where there were some parachute laid out. I was feeling a little nervous and yet there was no safety briefing, only the phrase, ‘look at the horizon, not the edge and keep running’ – how reassuring!! We watched a few people take off, and one guy sit down, probably because he was look at the cliff he was about to plunge off and not the horizon as instructed!! Then it was Gil’s turn, where he flew with no issue, followed by me. As we started walking down the hill (before switching to a run), we took off so my running legs were peddling air!! We were flying, and it was oh so gentle! I climbed back in my seat and relaxed enjoyed the freedom and the view of the hills, the lake, Pohkara, and its surrounding villages. It was beautiful! Towards the end, I asked for tricks, which was an extra option and we swung back and four and spun in a circle and I laughed and laughed!! I was surprised that I managed to land on my feet – I started the peddling the air early and somehow I landed well! I ordered a fresh mint and lemon at the cafe before we all piled into the minivan and went back to the hostel via many a drop-off!

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and blogging in a coffee shop, before heading over to cheese and wine night at Stephen’s. On route, I decided thay I should probably eat something since I had skipped lunch. I followed a sign to ‘THE BEST TIBETAN MOMOS IN TOWN’ down a side street. I ordered my kothy (half steamed, half fried) momos and devoured them thirty minutes later when they arrived. Then I headed on my way, down the lake towards Stephen’s. I didn’t even get out the alley, before I was distracted by vibrant blue and turquoise beaded necklaces. They were much like Rhimani necklaces that I would spend £20 on at home, but they had Buddhist prayer signs on them. After some consideration, I asked the jewellery maker to remove the Om sign from the necklace and bought it for £2.50 – what a bargain!! Then I headed along the road with no more messing about!

I arrived when Stephen was just finishing a game of chess but the cheese and wine were at the ready. The views from the road of top terrace were very pretty, with Disneyland reflecting in the black lake. We chatted about all sorts before calling it a night around 11pm. Stephen walked me down the lane in case there were any wild dogs hanging on the shadows, and then I headed home.

29/4/22

After another pancake breakfast (win!), two girls from the hostel were going to a singing bowl session in the town. I decided to go with them and quickly got ready while they waited for me. It was an interactive singing session with a singing bowls for the first half and we all had to sit like Buddha and sing om, ah and ooh in rotation. For a girl that had never done meditation or singing bowl therapy before, but had been in Cardiff and the Vale’s County Choir for a number of years, the singing was rather stressful for me. The lead was initiating each note with a noisy nasal breath in, and then everyone else joined in after (late). You basically sang each note until you’d ran out of puff, but instead of voices united as one, each person was being their inner Beyonce styling each note, either gliding up or sliding down as they ran out of breath. It was quite the experience!! I can say though, that the singing bowls themselves make a beautiful sound, very relaxing. The second half of the class was much better. We were invited to leave our Buddha poses and lie down to meditate to an array of singing bowls being played to make a beautiful and unique tune. It sounded wonderful and I enjoyed lying their in a daze (or meditative trance, who knows?!).

After class I walked along the lake and went to The Juicery, a much recommended cafe bar for a drink. I read and blogged until it was a respectable lunch time and then ordered food. By coincidence, Stephen was sitting behind me and once his friend left, he came to join me briefly. Afterwards, I headed back along the lake to the hostel. Someone had told me there was a working guitar in the hostel and I was keen to play it on the roof, while most people were still out for the day. It took me awhile to set up my phone with scrolling chords but then I played a good few songs, before the barman put music on, blaring through the speakers. Guess he’d had enough!! A nice lady, along with a couple of my friends told me it sounded nice so hopefully I hadn’t been torturing him too much!!

More people came to the roof and we all sat round, chatting as the sunset over the mountains. You could even see some of the Annapurna range at times! Gil offered to make shashuka for a few of us, to which me, a German girl, Lena, and her French holiday romance said yes. Lena, Gil and I went out to get ingredients before we started chopping in the kitchen. It took quite awhile to chop everything and Gil was quite the chief in the kitchen – everything had to be just so – but it was worth it in the end when we ate delicious shashuka! Afterwards, Gil and I did a Snickers run and then I went to bed to watch Netflix.

30/4/22

Today I wanted to kayak again for sunset, but it clashed with another ‘shakra alignation’ class that I wanted to try out, so I went kayaking in the morning. The plan was to go early enough that the sun would not be too hot but obviously that didn’t happen because I’m too slovenly! I went around 11am, passing a sleeping stray dog, who someone had left a pile of dog food next to, on the way. I did a two hour circuit of the bottom half of the lake, past Disneyland, down to the landing strip for the paragliders and then back across the lake towards the Peace Pagoda. I stopped halfway for an iced coffee. It’s always glorious to arrive somewhere by boat, to clamber out and ‘dock it’ (drag it out of the water in this case), knowing that you’ve got to a destination off your own back! On the way back, I realised I was against the current so had to paddle harder!

After returning the boat, I wandered along the Riverside and picked a nice spot to chill. I ordered a margarita (or two!), listened to the music, people watched and read. After a few hours, I went in search of food before my singing bowl class. I got another puri tarkari, but sadly it wasn’t as good as the first one. By then, it had started absolutely hammering down with rain, the sort where it bounces back up to your knees after hitting the floor. I ran the two hundred metres to the meditation place and arrived absolutely soaked. A towel was passed around all the cold sopping folk before the class began!! The class was more relaxing than the first one – you could lie down straight away and they had singing bowls for each note: do re mi fa so la ti do! It was very relaxing and sounded beautiful. Sometimes they held the bowl they were playing over your chest and you could feel the note vibrating through your rib cage – it was bizarre but made me feel alive I guess! Afterwards, I headed back to the hostel, via a cafe for coffee and cake, before going to sort my stuff ready to get my night bus!

Back to civilisation!

25/4/22

So today we got up a little early to ensure we could get another hot spring sesh in before we walked back over the super long bridge to get a jeep back to Pohkara. It was coming for 09.30, so we hot-footed it down to the hot spring for 08.00 so we could have an hour enjoying its gloriousness before we left. After a glorious Nepalese breakfast, where I chatted with a Malaysian lady that had lived in Cardiff (Llanishen!!) for the last eight years, working as a social worker, we headed down. Stephen ran, I followed walking and Joshua left a good ten-fifteen minutes after me and arrived about five minutes later – lol! Guess I’m a slowcoach going down! We all chatted and chilled before heading back up. I left first since I hadn’t packed and maybe took long. I bossed going back up those steps, not even stopping once for a breather! Noone came close to catching me up which was nice! Cardio has always been better for me versus bravery on steep slopes downwards!!

When we left the guesthouse, we could see donkeys heading towards the bridge. The rule is that if a donkey is on the bridge, you must turn back, since its so narrow its inpassable. Stephen and I didn’t fancy turning around, so we ran across the bridge! When we were three quarters of the way there, I was tired, the bridge was sooo long! Our running also made the bridge bounce much to Joshua displeasure! 🤣 We stopped for a drink while we waited for the others (Joshua, a guy from Brighton, and a couple from Belarus). Then we got a jeep all the way back to Pohkara. It took well over an hour, and I was actually impressed with how far we’d walked to have such a long journey! The road were very bumpy and with cliff edges at times, and yet there were still aggressive bus drivers at various corners!! On returning to Pohkara, we all went our separate way. I stopped for a coffee in a small coffee shop while the others headed direct to their hotels. When I got to the hostel, I showered and chilled.

Then I headed out in search of food! On the way, I dropped by dog torn skirt off at the tailors to fix! At the cafe, I ordered tarkari puri, a kind of split pea and bean curry with my favourite airy bread – it was sooo delicious, and the woman was friendly. She was eating snacks (like freshly made bombay mix), and gave me some to try. It was really yummy too! Then I headed into Pohkara town, which I had only discovered on my walk from the jeep to my hostel! I sat in the garden of a German bakery and watched sunset over Pohlara’s Fewa Lake with a coffee and a cinnamon bun – what more could you want on returning to civilisation?!

Afterwards, I wandered down the road and discovered a place with an aeroplane by a bar. It reminded me of the one I had gone to with two of my friends in Hargeisa, Somaliland, so naturally, I had to go in! When I got in, it was an empty Queen themed rock bar. There was a man and his guitar on the stage performing, but there was not a soul listening. There were no normal cocktails available, only Queen themed ones, so I ordered a milk tea and gave the musician my attention! He was very good at guitar and good at singing at least half the time! He came and spoke to me in the break, and encouraged me to sing with him – I did not! After an hour or so, I headed out and met Pablo, an Italian tinder man for a drink. The bar he suggested was very popular and aside from margarita being mysteriously blue, it was a good bar! There was a full band here and they sang all sorts before they finished up and it switched to a DJ. After awhile, we braved the danced floor, did a little salsa and a little regular wiggling! It was a fun night, and I guess my one and only ‘night out’ in Pohkara!

26/4/22

Today was pancake day in the hostel – yaaaaas! After breakfast, I chatted with Northern Ryan before going to pick up my skirt on the way to meet Stephen, my hot springs pal, for coffee. He was a medical statistician for a London university before he quit his job to travel for two years. He was nearly halfway through and he planned to make up by retiring two years later! I thought this was perfect logic – travel more while your fit and healthy and work a little longer when you’re not going to be wanting to spend your time on a twelve hour bus! We chatted awhile, and then decided it was lunch time. We went on a curry hunt, before ordering a right spread! It was glorious!

Afterwards, I headed back towards the hostel and joined Pablo for a mojito in a nearby bar. We watched the sunset over the lake, before heading to Disneyland, the local fairground, which Stephen had recommended to me to go to, after a drink! We headed for the ferris wheel, which should have been called Ferris Wheel 2.0, since it whipped round very quickly and jolted you in much the same way as a waltzer!! It was fair to say it was not a relaxing ‘let’s admire the view’ sort of ride! It was hilarious though, because as you got to the top, you felt as if you were going to fall out every time!

After the wheel, I tried to convince Pablo to come on the pirate ship with me, but he was having none of it, so instead we walked along the lake and got tapas and sangria. The owner took our order and spoke Spanish to Pablo, so I had no idea what was going on! The food was divine though and the view of the lake very serene. Since we’d gone out the night before, we kept it chilled and headed home after tapas. Pablo was one of the many travellers I had met who was heading to India next, and I was a little jealous! He would be heading off in the morning! We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the hostel.

27/4/22

After a weird breakfast of muesli with strong honey and a ‘cinnamon roll’, I chatted to Gil, who had just returned from the Mardi Himal trek, and then Ryan before watching Netflix awhile. Then I headed back to Fewa Hospital for shot number 4/5. I got a taxi to take me and wait for me but once I had collected my shot from pharmacy, there were patients in ED for the first time, so instead of waiting, I drew up and gave my own shot in my leg. I ditched the sharps in ED’s sharps bin and headed back to the taxi. By the time I was back in Pohkara, I was very hungry so I ordered a chowmein (mainly because everyone else had been eating them since I’d been in Nepal!). Sadly it was a bad one, but I asked for extra chilli sauce and demolished it regardless. Afterwards, I headed to my local coffee shop to sip coffee and blog, before Gil came to meet me. We were going to meet Ryan and go kayaking for sunset!

We signed forms, stocked up on Somersby ciders (yaaaaas!), before heading to the Lake. Gil and I were in a double and Ryan a single. Once we’d lowered ourselves into the boats without anything going overboard, we headed out in the lake. The steering was quite hazardous! Somehow me and Gil ere stuck in a vicious circle. Regardless of how much we paddled (or didn’t), we couldn’t escape or circle of doom. Ryan began doing laps around us and after realising we weren’t going to get anywhere quickly, we set up a raft in the very middle of the lake, both boats held together. There, we chatted and admire the mad sunset view! Once the sun was nearly gone, we paddled back to the shore withuch concentration! On returning to land, we walked in circles again, to the main road and back to the lake side to meet Colin, Ryan’s sixty-something friend from Yorkshire – he has a great accent! We chatted and had a few drinks. Gil and I tried the ‘death by chocolate’ cocktail, which consisted of mainly vodka and chocolate ice cream I think!!

We left Colin to have a final beer and headed to Naan House to grab a curry before bed. I of course had paneer butter masala, with the best sauce ever, and a super fluffy peshwari naan. Then Ryan left for his hotel, and we headed back to the hostel.

Mardi Himal hike 🚶🏻‍♀️🚶🏻‍♂️

22/4/22

Today was day two of my Mardi Himal trek and we hoped to make it from Forest Camp up through Low Camp to High Camp – it was only around ten kilometres but with a fair bit of climb (over 1km up)! We set off after a breakfast of eggs and tea, having been waved off by our guest house lady.

The views were stunning over the valleys either side of the ridge and there was an abundance of rhodendron trees once we were completely out of the woods. We passed by a group of Nepali guys, one of which was a Ghurka (a Nepalese segment of the British army). He had come home to go on holiday with his school mates, and in that time they had chosen to trek together. We passed by various people and chatted on the way. There was a hardy old French couple who were on our tail the whole way and in the end overtook us a time or two! I reminded myself that they had probably hiked loads in the Alps and had strong Alpine legs! There were quite a lot of French hikers including some people heading down the mountain again. The general consensus of people coming down was that Base Camp, the highest point non-climbers can reach us not really worth it as it is the same view as the slightly lower viewpoint. Another girl also said it was insanely cold up there and she had to turn back for safety reasons. While it would be nice to go as high as you could, we would see what it was like when we got there we decided.

We stopped in a cute cafe/guest house with beautiful views of the valley and the flowering trees. There was a super cool Texan guy on there, with the cowboy hat on (I kid you not). This was his fifth time hiking Mardi Himal and he had started in the 70s! He said it had changed loads in the fifty years and that originally you had to bring a tent and all the food you’d need for the whole trek, as there were no facilities at all. Incidentally, they did not bring enough food at all and were very hungry after a day or two!! This time he was taking it slowly, doing an hour or two of hiking each day, before choosing a nice guest house to relax all afternoon in. His guide/sherpa had great tips on where to eat apparently! While we were eating – I ordered tuna cheese macaroni, because you can’t eat dahl bat forever – a storm came! The winds picked up and the rain hammered down. We really hoped it would pass. Both the Texan guy and his sherpa were worries for us!

A little while later, the wind settled and the rain calmed down and we headed back out onto the elements. We headed up a step set of steps and continued on. Eventually, we made it to High Camp, with its no hot water, no Western loos, no WiFi, but occasionally insaaaaane views of the Annapurna mountains and Machapulchre, nicknamed Fishtail mountain for ease!

Once again, we took wet things off and settled in around the fire. The two Israelis from Forest Camp, Joni and Eli, were also staying here, who Joshue had met before so we talked with them. A little later, a South Korean girl, So Yung, a solo traveller, who Joshua also knew, arrived with a pair of friends, Spanish Daniel and Indian Sandip – they had met in Goa a few months before! We watched the sunset around us from the living room. Another couple arrived a little later, they were Nepali and kept a little to themselves but joined in sometimes. Before dinner we all sat around together, nine people with seven different nationalities! It was rare to be the only Brit! We ate dahl bat before I ordered a hot chocolate and headed to bed.

23/4/22

The early night was necessary as today we woke up to 03.00 alarms to prepare to start walking at 03.30. This was so we’d have two hours to reach the viewpoint climbing around another 700m before sunrise, so we could watch sunrise from the ‘top’. Joshua and I set off with the two Israeli guys. We were all equipped with torches – mainly head torches though sadly mine had died, so I used Joshua’s spare torch! (I think my head torch got tired of lighting too many showers in power cuts in Sri Lanka to be honest!?). It quickly became apparent that the Israelis were very snappy walkers! I would like to think it was because they had walking boots not trainers, but it definitely was not just that – they were fit and fearless as well as their grippy shoes!!

We headed up in the dark past many a cliff edge and up many a step. The floor became icy and quickly my trainers became useless and the floor was so slide I was soooo glad to have two poles! We past some mountain cows and made it up to the viewpoint. The view of the mountains were insane in every direction! It was also insanely cold when you weren’t walking and I went from two layers to six to watch sunrise! I went in the teashop and ordered a milk tea for me and the Israelis and I huddled around the fire made of sticks in the tea tent with the group of Nepali mates we had met the day before.

I walked a little further up to get a different view and the floor was soooo icy! I had left my poles at the lower viewpoint and so I struggled up and wondered how the hell I’d get down again! The views were beautiful. After a while, I struggled down the ice and got back to my poles, before heading down the mountain again. I was exceptionally slow and nearly everyone overtook me on my way down due to a combination of shit shoes and being scared of falling! I walked down with an Indian family from Mumbai – not sure why nearly all the Indians I’ve met are from Mumbai! They were a nice bunch with a fourteen year old going up to people in their thirties.

When I arrived back at the teahouse, Joshua and the Israelis was already eating breakfast. I joined him and ordered an omelette and pancakes. I took a short nap and then we headed down back to Forest Camp. We stopped on the way in Low Camp and had lunch. Both the Israelis and the Nepali couple were there and we wolfed down pasta. Then we headed down to Forest Camp. We decided to head on to Landruk which was meant to be another two hours or so away.

We headed down a path through the woods and walked down some disintegrating stairs on a cliff edge. Since we were soooo tired and had been walking for ages, it took us another four hours ish to get down. We made it down just as the sun was setting, passing a lot of sheep with their farmer on the hillside and then another farmer shearing his sheep in the village – he even let me hold a baby lamb which was sooo cute!

We moreorless staggered into the guesthouse, set out stuff down and I went to get a tea. Then we showered, admired the madddd view, had dahl bhat. Then we staggered up the stairs, clawing at the banisters, to go to our rooms, and I made use of the WiFi and watched Netflix in bed!

24/4/22

Today we lay in and didn’t leave until 10/10.30, which is super late for hiking. We were headed to the hot springs on the Annapurna trail, but somehow took a longer route going via another village and scrambling across three waterfalls in quick succession as well as past many a cliff edge. Apparently there was a simple low level river route which took half the time and sadly we missed it! We crossed a couple of very long bouncy bridges which were pretty funny since Joshua was not a fan! Eventually we made it to Jhinu village. We continued straight to the hot springs, going down down down to the river side.

The springs were right next to the rushing river and it was so nice to sit in the warm and look at the river running past us. Not long after we got in, a storm began. There was thunder and lightning and then the rain came, which quickly changed to hail. We were under attack!! We all stayed in the springs and hid our faces from the piercing hail. Then, it cleared and went back to normal. A British guy recommended a guesthouse to us and we left.

We hiked back up to the top and stayed in a bustling guesthouse with a great view. I shamelessly ordered pizza for dinner and then had a battered Snickers with custard. I chatted with Joshua and the guy from the hot springs, Stephen. After dinner, I headed to bed.

Pootling, pedalling, pagodas and pancakes – Pohkara

19/4/22

I arrived in Pohkara around 4pm and walked the twenty minutes to the hostel. I checked in and headed out to n the pouring rain for a mooch – no good stating inside after a long journey even in the rain! I strode out enjoying the weather, before finding a nice cafe to sit in and eat. I read and blogged before heading back to the hostel.

In the evening, I went to sit on the roof with quite an international crowd – the were Brits, Dutch and Germans (obvs), but also an Indian, Canadian and South African. The South African girl had never tried a Snickers, and I always fancy one, so we went out on a Snickers hunt. After that, I retreated to my bed to Netflix. (The Snickers was shockingly not a hit!).

20/4/22

The hostel did great breakfast so pretty much everyone gathered to eat it together. There was a tentative plan to get a boat as a group to the opposite side of the lake to hike up to the Peace Pagoda on top. I had morning shit to do, including getting my third rabies shot and sorting my hiking permits so I said I would try to be done in time to go on the group boat trip.

I walked through narrow lanes, alleys and past farmland to get to the first ‘hospital’. As is always the way here, the first hospital was not a hospital, but a small un-manned pharmacy! I continued on, with the thoughts of wild dogs to the next hospital. The hospital was very organised and I went straight to pharmacy, collected my shit before being jabbed in ED and leaving within ten minutes. Then I headed to the tourist office for the permits. They needed loads of information (and money), but I managed to fill it all in and get my permits. Afterwards, I got momos at a local caf before trying to walk back along the river. I bumped into four girls from Sheffield Uni who had turned back from the river path, saying that it eventually stopped. We chatted awhile before they bundled into a taxi – one of them was sick. I took the walk home.

We were due to meet at 14.00 so I managed to sneak in a cheeky coffee before that. Then we gathered at the hostel and headed for the lake. We got a massive pedalo, which would fit at least twelve people – we had eight! I started pedalling with another guy and we switched out half way. When we reached the other side, many knots were tied to secure our boat, before a local guy decided (I think unfairly), that they were not good enough and he re-did them himself. We hiked up a lot of steep steps, though a couple of rural villages, past many a barking pooch and some very cute goats to the pagoda. As I reached the top, who was standing there, but Alex from Sri Lanka!! We got chatting, along with her boyfriend Tom and they came around the temple with us. The pagoda had a chilled vibe with beautiful views over the lake and hill villages. You could see rice paddies at the far end of the lake too.

We headed down the mountain two more, since Alex and Tom had hiked the whole way round instead of boating, I said they may as well come down and get the boat with us. Everyone who had not pedalled already did so, and we arrived back before the storm did! We wandered towards the hostel before realising that pretty much everyone wanted food, so we hlturned around and went to a local restaurant, Nepali Kitchen. It was tasty!! I collected my rented hiking equipment on the way back from the restaurant and packed afterwards with advice from two Swedish guys that had just got back from trekking. They even gave me altitude sickness tablets. I felt prepared and much reassured. I slept early.

21/4/22

Today was the day! It was both pancake day at the hostel, and the day I would leave for hiking. I had pre-packed my hired small rucksack for trekking and my normal travel rucksack for storing, and then called a taxi to take me to the bus station. Ben rushed to pack as he wanted to share the taxi with me. From there we found the correct bus to the start of the trek, bagsied our seats and went off in search of snacks (and suncream). I bought plenty of biscuits for the trek and we had a milk while we waited for our bus to be ready to leave.

We set off up the mountains, through gorgeous rural villages. Maybe an hour after the bus left, we realised that we had gone past Phedi, where we were meant to start out teek luckily, we could start from another point, Kande, and also luckily, this was slightly shorter, which was just as well since we were starting at 10.30, which is very late when compared to a typical trekker. The bus broke down a few kilometres from where we needed to be but after waiting twenty minutes, we were committed. We waited another ten and it was fixed – on we went.

We headed off the main road following signs to Australian Base Camp. I’ve no idea why it’s Australian, but it wasn’t big or impressive at the top, but was a lot of steps and a lot of effort to get up to! Ben and I rewarded ourselves at the top with momos and veg pakora – mmm! Then we continued on another hour or two until the parting of the ways at Pittam Deurali – Ben planned to do Annapurna Base Camp, which took around eight days while Mardi Himal, which I planned to do, took around five.

Ben headed off left and I right. I passed many a donkey before reaching a crossroads. Both ways were signposted as the Mardi Himal trek so I picked the left one with buffalo blocking the path, as supposed to the right one with a lot of steps 🤣. Although they were both signed originally, my path quickly stopped with its reassuring signs and it wasn’t marked on the map. The arrow was not pointing to where I wanted to be. Despite being a little stressed, I continued on. I do not like turning around, and normally things work themselves out. After another twenty minutes I still wasn’t convinced. I took a breather in the woods, with many a mosquito and had biscuits and water and gave myself a pep talk. Then I carried on. Shortly after the pep talk, I arrived at an abandoned village which I walked though and after another fifteen or twenty minutes I reached a small shack with a man and a boy. It was a cafe and I was very excited to be in civilisation (of sorts) with fellow people! I enjoyed a sweet milk tea and more biscuits before continuing on. I still had an hour or so to go and while I had enough time, there wouldn’t be loads of daylight to spare.

On my way, I past a very friendly family of goats, one of which came very close to me and nuzzled my leg – cuteeeee! Just before 5pm, when I was arriving to the edge of Forest Camp, the place I would stay overnight, the rain started in a dramatic crescendo. Soon the rain had become hail and while I thought I had packed my coat in an accessible pocket, it turns out it was not accessible and was in fact at the very bottom of my bag! I emptied everything put as quick as I could and shoved it all back in again. Then I half ran the last two hundred metres or so to the camp. I stood in the doorway of a guest house while the rain poured, chatting and enquiring, before deciding that the guest house was a little quiet. The owner assured me that there were two other people staying, two Israelis, but there were not out and about in the living area so I walked to the next guest house for a nose.

The living area of the next guest house seemed cosy and warm. The fire was burning and it was toasty inside. There were three Nepali friends there, one with their husband as well as another solo traveller from Singapore, who I think was as happy as me to see a fellow soloer. I ditched my bag and laid out my wet thing on front of the fire and we got chatting immediately. I ordered a masala chai and dried off before having a hot bucket shower with a teapot or two of boiling water – it was surprisingly glorious! I changed into my warm pj’s and waited for my Dahl bhat. Joshua and I ate together and the dog Luna went between her family, the Nepali friends and is. Afterwards, I had another tea, before heading to bed.

Templing hard in the ancient towns of Bhaktapur and Patan

17/4/22

So I had heard that today was going to be a fun festival in Bhaktapur so I got a Pathao motorbike taxi about an hour out of Kathmandu. There was a little congestion since the narrow streets were filled with musicians parading through the streets towards the old square. We squeezed past them eventually and arrived at the entrance to the square. I paid the entrance and a guide was quick to offer his services. While I’m not normally keen on guides, the site was massive and I thought a guide may be useful. I told him I would do it, but needed to get a cold drink first. It’s just as well I did – he told me the tour would be two hours but it went over that and only ended because I asked him to, since I was so hungry!! I went to a glorious rooftop cafe and had an iced drink! The views over the temple with all the musical processions were amazing!

Afterwards, I headed inside with my guide. He told me a fair deal of history which I’ve pretty much already forgotten! 🤦🏻‍♀️ He also told me that you can tell a Nepali style temple as the roof is tiered in the same way the flag is! 🇳🇵 So interesting! He also said that most temples were guarded by pairs of animals, always a male and a female to keep the energies balanced and that, each animal on the step above the last was ten times stronger than the previous. We went around many temples, passing by many different musical processions as well as cafes and an amazing looking hole-in-the-wall traditional caf. They had put cushions on the wall outside and when I went by, it was pretty busy. People were eating spiced potatoes and I wanted some.

We continued on our tour, heading past some floats which would be pushed and pulled in another festival day tomorrow, towards the river. This is where, in Hindu culture, people are burnt and then their ashes are scattered in the river. The river looked and smelt disgusting and I was once again shocked that it is seen as a must and a sign of respect to treat your dead in this way. I would be mortified. To me, it the equivalent of being thrown in the trash. I asked why they didn’t scatter ashes on mountain tops instead and he said that one, that was less accessible, but two, water is seen as one of the most pure and natural things in the world and should also be worshipped in its own way. He also said that a lot of people believed that if individuals mistreated the planet, then Mother Nature would hit back in the form of natural disasters. I thought this was interesting as many more natural disasters happen on this side of the world, and it seemed unlikely that everyone just accepted that people on the Asian continent were worse than on the European one. He said that Geography played some part too! So interesting!

After the tour, I was taken back to the potato stall after convincing the guide that street style food wouldn’t kill me. Everyone else seems to spend so long worrying about Western peoples’ stomachs, it’s really bizarre! I never worry, and so far this trip, I haven’t been sick once!! I ordered the aloo masala along with a big pancake style thing with a fried egg on top and a chickpea and bean sauce with it. It was all so delicious! Afterwards, I said my goodbyes to the guide and thanked him before heading back to the entrance. It was time to get a Pathao home. I ordered one, and bought a kulfi from a popular shop while I was waiting. I think I have cracked being a local now, since I sat on the back of the bike without holding on, and eating my kulfi!! The sun was setting over Kathmandu rushhour and it was surprisingly pretty!

I went for some momos at a local caf when I returned home to Thamel, before bumping into Dan, one of the Bristolians I had met the night before, along with another Brit from Cambridge, Zac. Instead of going for my planned coffee, I joined them for a drink. A drink turned into a few, and then the bar closed and we moved to a club. It was a very fun night. We made friends with two Nepali and two French girls who we went out with. We danced our socks of, me in a maxi dress, flip-flops and with my three dog tooth holes in my legs – it seems alcohol is a good analgesic! Time flew, and before we knew it we were heading home at 5am. By the time we were back at the hostel, it was 05.30 and I was meant to be getting the 07.00 bus to Pohkara. Disaster!! I thought it’d be a little grim to get up in an hour and I hadn’t packed at all, so I wrote it off! Lucky I hadn’t booked my bus! The hostel guy knocked for me at 06.50 and I thanked him but said I’d just book another night and go the next day!

18/4/22

Today, after being in Yog Hostel a good few days, I thought I’d finally try the rooftop. After a (much needed) full English breakfast, I headed up for a mildly hungover chill. I got chatting to a few people before Zac from the night before surfaced. There was a Dutch girl, Lisanne, who was in my dorm and a very chatty Israeli, Gil (like the fish, he says!). After awhile Gil and I headed out for a burger. Somehow, we got onto the topic of Israel and Palestine, which I was very nervous about, since whenever I have spoken to Israelis about it before they have always had quite radical views on such matters. Thankfully, Gil did not have such views and we had a good discussion before moving on to lighter topics. The burger was average – why it was battered?! – but the chips were banging. Then we headed back to the hostel.

Zac was still on the roof when we got back and he said he wanted to check out another nearby town called Patan. He said it was meant to have a chilled vibe and was nice to wander around. It was a bike/taxi ride away. I was in. I recruited both Lisanne and Gil and we got a taxi to Patan.

We arrived in yet another Durbar Square, paid a our tourist entry fee and headed in. There was a great looking cafe on the edge of the square, which Zac got snacks from and I got tea. We sat and watched over the square chatting, before wandering through the temples. I was able to share my knowledge on the male and female pairs of animals and how they are identified by their boobs!! From one of the temples, we could see the sky was turning orange, so we raced to a rooftop bar to watch sunset. Once you’re on a rooftop at sunset, its very hard to say no to a cocktail, so of course I got another margarita. The boys got mojito and for some reason they came with very provocative naked lady plastic stirrers! We left once the sun had gone down and walked through the main town as supposed to the old square.

There were many street food stalls and market stalls. Eventually, we found a very local cafe with glorious food. I shared to veggie curries with Zac, one being paneer butter masala if course and then I headed home on a Pathao bike since my leg was a little sore and the others went for a short ‘let’s let our food digest’ walk.

19/4/22

Today I woke early, left the hostel via a short cut down alleys, which was mildly stressful regarding wild dogs, to get the early bus to Pohkara. I had no ticket but just went down there to see if I could barter. I got a ticket for 700 NPR instead of 1000 NPR so I was happy. I put my stuff on the bus before getting a chai and waiting the 30 minutes before it was due to leave.

Since I was early, I was lucky enough to get the front seat, which meant I could dangley legs over the metal bar that separated the seats from the stairwell. I could stretch out. We stopped for breakfast in a typical Nepali roadside stop. The food room was tiny with four big pots filled with different goods. There was Nepali roti, which looks like doughnut, samosas, two different types of curry and rice. I settled for aloo tiki (spiced potato curry) with Nepali roti and a samosa. Despite not being too keen on curry for breakfast after all the days of pancakes and waffles, I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast and even went back to get more curry sauce to go with my roti. It was delicious! Afterwards, we set back off towards Pohkara.

The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful aside from the sharp corners on cliff edges which we often rounded at break neck speed and the fact that we often overtook on a blind corner – it spices up a ten hour bus ride I guess?! It was also apparent that there had been so landslides near or onto the roads but luckily for us, no ones we saw in action! We went through some beautiful countryside with tiered rice paddies, cut into the mountainside, like in Vietnam.