nepal

I’m at a cyber café – again! But this time the owner just came by, told me the internet was down and helped me to save everything. I’m in Nepal. It’s clean, friendly, easy and beautiful. And yet, I can’t wait to get back to India, but that’s another story. I’m fully here now. One thing that’s changed in my months away is that I’m genuinely more relaxed; ridiculous though it may be, it’s been hard won. On the other hand, I can hardly say – hip hip hurray and pat myself on my spiritual back. I’m in Pokhara, a world famous beauty spot. Pokhara surrounds a big lake, with low mountains rising almost immediately and on a clear morning like today, the Annapurna range is in view. At 5:30 this morning I was rewarded with my first view of Fishtail, a strikingly beautiful 7,000 meter mountain, just far enough from the Annapurna range to jut sharply into the sky with nothing else nearby. It's slopes are so straight and so steep that there is a law against climbing it. Not only has no one made it yet, but no one has even survived the attempt. Apparently the ground shifts during the night. It's only when our lives are in danger that nature can exist as it is. Fishtail is safe from our garbage, our egos and our greed. Not much else is.

I’ve always wanted to come to Nepal. But my traveler’s arrogance was strong. Nepal was too touristy, too established, too well known. I needed hard travel and I sought it out. Ironically enough, when I finally realized ease was well, easy and that difficulty is not always necessary for enjoyment, only then did I find myself in the truly most difficult, nearly impossible situation of all. Living in India, in a city with virtually NO facilities or infrastructure for foreign tourists, living completely dependent on the kindness and trust of new friends and somehow, slowly, building myself an amazingly rich and challenging new life.

Nonetheless practicalities required a visit to Nepal and how cool is that? After a shockingly blase period, I became quite excited about the trip. I decided to come with an Indian friend. Kathmandu is a cheap and easy playground for the Indians, not requiring a passport or visa, plus Indians pay Nepali prices and foreigners must pay 3-10 times more for everything. But I don't know all this yet. I’m thinking about Buddhist temples and nature; my friend’s thinking casinos and discos. Always a surprise in store, including the fact that through some connections, my friend arranged a very inexpensive 3 night stay at the Hyatt Kathmandu, a gorgeous, elegant and classic resort and the premier hotel destination in Nepal. I must admit it was a great relief after the heat and difficulties of India just to relax and indulge and affordably live a luxury life for a few days.

Kathmandu’s crowded and polluted, but not like India. There's a big tourist area called Thamel and everything is available there. I've spent days now, just thinking - this is so easy, it's so easy. It's been a good trip. One evening of drinking and gambling and watching the amateur dancing show was a blast, the second time was a drag. They wouldn't let me into one of the most sacred and beautiful Hindu temples and that had been the top thing on my list, but after recovering from disappointment some very successful and cheap shopping took place getting things I've very much needed. The visa requirements took up much more time than necessary because I was not prepared, surprising myself at my poor planning, but then letting go after only brief self-torture. A mixed couple of days but then we took a short flight to Pokhara and the beauty of this place immediately restored me.

Pokhara's an interesting place, a world class resort, but still simple and mostly upscale backpacker's style. The Indians call it a mini-Europe and for them, it's very expensive. It's a dollar based economy, which is quite effective because prices seem reasonable when quoted in dollars and outrageously high when quoted in rupees. At first my friend and I are shocked at how much hotel and food cost. But he needed to go back to India after only one day here and I've stayed on, just relaxing and enjoying and not bothering to think about prices. I have to be here, it's as close to a job as I have right now! So if my task is to have a good time while here, I can handle it. The streets are clean, the food is excellent and the variety a total treat. I realize I've had not one good restaurant meal in India and in the past 2 days, I've enjoyed delicious Chinese, Italian and Korean, all much better than the average in U.S. Plus someone told me about a small Tibetan hole in the wall, that the tourists don't know about, and I had the best momos I've ever had for $1.

And tomorrow I'm going trekking - for 5 days, with my own personal guide. I need the mountains!