The rest of the week KTM to Pokhara

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Sunday - April 3
Up at 5 am to be ready to leave for the airport (again) at 6 to do the Mt. Everest fly-around. There are 3 of us going. Now that I am a seasoned domestic flyer in Nepal I lead them through security, airport tax, check-in, etc. We are in the departure area where I go to a book concession and ask for 4 postcard stamps. I later find out (after posting the cards) the guy assumed I was, guess what, Japanese, and sold me stamps for Japan mail. You folks at home may never receive those postcards. Our flight is delayed an hour and we begin to worry the skies may become too cloudy. We are on a small prop plane with 1-2 seating, although the aisle seat on the 2 rows are not occupied, so everyone has a window seat. We take off and head for the mountains. The Himalayas come into view and the flight attendant runs up and down the aisle naming the peaks as we approach and pass them. Then she begins sending the passengers, one by one up to the cockpit so unobstructed photos may be taken. We three are the last to go up, but the timing is perfect as Mt. Everest fills the camera lens. Non-stop grinning and yelps of joy. It is truly an amazing experience. The captain swings the plane around so we see the backside of Everest, as well, and on our way back we pass over the highest lake in the world. Back at the hotel Helen and I decide to join Yas and Nancy on their guided village tour. Our very patient guide, Kranti, orders up a van so we all can fit and we take off for Bhaktapur, one of three medieval city-states in the Kathmandu Valley, which also happens to be Kranti's home. Bhaktapur's is famous for intricate temples and palaces set in 3 major public squares. Many old wooden mansions maintained and restored over the past 200+ years make the city look truly medieval. Kranti 's home is around 250 years old. In potters' square thousands of unbaked pots are lined up waiting for firing and I give a potter who is at his wheel 100₨ for a photo. Kranti invites us to his home for a taste of Bhaktapur's famous yogurt. We meet his mother and brother. The home is narrow and tall, about 5 stories with a rooftop terrace. Next we visit Pashupatinath, Hindus' most important temple and sight of daily cremations. There were 4 happening when we visited. Across the Bagmati River are Shiva shrines where sadhus hang out and are willing to pose for photos for a small donation. I could not resist and took a photo with two friendly ones. We headed for our final spot, Boudhnath, where the great Stupa is located. Many Tibetan refugees live in this neighborhood and there are Tibetan monestaries located here. We return to the hotel in time to dine with others at the Nepali Chulo restaurant serving Newari food in a former palace with Nepali tradiitional dance performances. Then back to the hotel to wait for the last 4 team members to arrive.

Monday - April 4
Packed and ready to leave around 9:30 am. A team bus arrives and we leave for our tour of Patan, another medieval city-state in outer Kathmandu. Kranti is again our guide. As opposed to Bhaktapur and Pashupatinath, as non-Hindus, we are allowed to enter some of the temples. Perhaps because he is Hindu, we are not taken to the Temple of a Thousand Buddhas (Mahabouddha), but we do see many old wooden temples and the palace of King Yoganarenda (late 17th century) who is fabled to return to his palace as long as the bird atop his statue remains. Palace windows are kept open in anticipation of his return. We also visit another Tibetan Thangka painting school. After lunch in a restaurant overlooking Durbar Square we head for the airport and our 25 minute flight to Pokhara. Amazingly, the Yeti Airline flight attendant manages to serve us candy, peanuts and soft drinks in between takeoff and landing. Our team bus picks us up and delivers us to the Panorama Hotel in Lakeside, Pokhara. The Panorama has its own generator for the load shedding periods and wifi! This will be our home for the next 11 nights. Jane and I find we are still very compatible roommates and begin to act like high school girls during a sleepover. We are both hopelessly addicted to our computers, hopelessly in love with our grandchildren and afflicted with identical quirks and conditions associated with aging. Hopefully, the hotel walls are thick enough so we won't keep our neighbors awake.

Tuesday - April 5
First morning in Pokhara. After breakfast in the hotel we board the bus for the worksite in a small community about 15 minutes ride away. Part of the route is along the Seti River gorge. When we arrive we are greeted with small bougainvillea sprays and red smears on our foreheads. It assures that we will look very weird after a few sweaty hours of work. We are divided into 3 teams and assigned to the 3 homesites. Two of the families are building small 9x12 one-room structures, while the third is adding on a 9x12 room to an existing one-room home. Foundations have been completed and we begin by hauling cement blocks to the sites. Each homeowner has his/her own pile of blocks located some distance from their site, but close to someone else's site. For some strange reason the piles of blocks were not delivered conveniently but spread apart along the small dirt road, so that each trip to deliver blocks is equally difficult. Anyway, it means we'll always be able to find something to do. Main jobs at each site are mixing cement or hauling blocks. We have lunch at a local restaurant we reach by bus. Our work day ends around 4 and we bus back to lakeside Pokhara and our hotel. Dinner is at the Boomerang Restaurant, which also includes a small traditional music and dance performance.

Wednesday - April 6
Today we had a little excitement at the worksite. At the hotel, Nikita informed us that homeowner #3 has to relocate his home, as it is on the spot where people rest on their way to and from the river. Many of us appear to be more upset than he is when we arrive. We begin work on the other 2 homes and also start moving material to his new site, further up the hill. All of a sudden There is a scuffle going on at the new site. The new neighbor is upset that the new home is being staked out too close to his garden. Apparently, he ripped out the stakes then a loud argument ensued. The #3 wife began beating him with a stick and a couple of idle young men, who have been hanging around, one of whom reminds me of David Spade's comic persona, begin pummeling him as well. One of our team members tries to intervene and our GV coordinator and Nepali volunteer are rounded up. Ram, the volunteer jumps in between and he also gets the stick. Finally, the situation is calmed down and it is learned that neighbors on both sides had signed agreements this morning regarding the plot. We are reminded rather vividly that when one has very little any encroachment is highly incendiary. Later, the neighbor is quite contrite, apologizes and all appears to be settled. Work goes on as house #3 is dismantled stone by stone, block by block and rebuilding begins in the new site. Needless to say, most of the work involves trudging up and down the hill toting blocks and rocks. Dinner is on our own, but half the team ends up at the Moondance for pizza.

Thursday-Friday - April 7-8
Work schedules are now rather routine and no excitement to speak of, except at the progress being made in the construction. We have learned or been reminded how to build walls, plaster walls and pour floors. We are getting stronger with our weight-bearing workouts. Some on the team are still falling to digestive ills, so for Friday Boots decides to make our lunch at the local restaurant. As in previous builds she takes over the kitchen and brews a delicious vegetable soup. The restaurant provides papadums, french fries, greens and fried chicken. Another dinner on our own, takes us to Once Upon A Time where eventually half the team ends up again. Because we have such huge lunches, I am just having soup and momos. Buddha's birthday is celebrated in May, the country of his birth, guess we not only got the country wrong, but the date also.

Saturday - April 9
No work today and the hotel does not serve breakfast until 8:30 am, so we can sleep in a little. After breakfast we are taken to the Gurkha Memorial Museum. The Gurkha regiments were formed initially to defend the East India Company and to keep the British Empire on Nepal's good side. They have a reputation as fierce fighters and the Gurkha motto is, "It is better to die than be a coward." They have been defending the empire all over the world continuously since 1815 and current service includes being U.N. peacekeepers in Afghanistan. Gurkha service is a highly sought-after career and thousands apply for the few hundred recruit openings. Pokhara is the recruitment center. They recently won a long-fought struggle for pay and pension equal to the other British armed forces. We return to the hotel and have a bout a 3 hour break for lunch until our scheduled Phewa Lake cruise. A few of us decide to try some new place to eat. We waited for at least an hour at the Lovely Indian Restaurant and only one plate of garlic potatoes managed to make it to our table. Jane and Ramsay go to the kitchen and nothing is happening. Now we remember having noticed earlier a couple of the restaurant staff leaving and returning with shopping bags, as well as consulting the menu twice. We wonder if they're googling recipes. Because of our boating engagement, we had to leave. We had similar bad luck at the next restaurant where we only managed coffee and cake. This has become a rather pathetic progressive lunch. Returning to the hotel we notice the sky darkening, not good for a lake cruise. The team walks down to the pier and thunder and lightning appear across the horizon. There is some doubt as to whether the cruise will go on and some of us decide to forego the trip altogether, opting for some quiet time back at the hotel. When we arrive at our room, we discover one of the windows has been blown off its hinges. The screen is intact. I find Krishna, the bellboy/waiter and he looks in and says, "What did you do?" The manager comes to inspect and says, "This is why you should have kept the window closed." Jane and I have obviously been bad again. How were we to know that gale force winds would whip up right after the scorching morning? Boots has pre-ordered dinner here at the hotel and we will be quietly celebrating a birthday and wedding anniversary. Even though one of life's rules is, "never eat fish in a land-locked country," the fish at dinner is delicious and our dessert of black forest cake is divine. Then off to our rooms and early to bed for 5:30 am departure to a Tibetan refugee center and temple service. I try to charge up the laptop, but the outlets are all uncooperative. Internet on our floor is also non-existent, so I am forced to read. Later the outlets are suddenly powering up and I may be able to finish charging this laptop. Internet still unavailable.

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