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At 0445 the alarm went off. Urgh I hate mornings, and I really hate early mornings! I tried to be quiet so as not to wake Steph, but the alarm woke her too, and despite feeling rubbish and full of cold, she decided to get up and come along too. We met in the lobby and no surprise that we were hanging about waiting for Molly Brown. Raghu phoned up to her room where it seemed she was still in bed having not received her wake up call. I actually think she had booked it for the wrong room as Lesley had cancelled one to hers that she hadn't made. I would have been tempted to go without her, as the saying goes, you snooze you loose, but we waited until she blustered onto the bus without an apology for keeping us all waiting. Did you expect anything different?!
The bus drove us up to Sarangkot which was a long winding narrow road until we got to the viewing point at the top. It was already quite busy here, but for NR100 you could go onto the shop roof which was less crowded and get a coffee, so
most of us decided to do that. There was a man who had set his tripod up right at the top of the steps and was shouting at people walking up them to the roof as they were getting in the shot. Honestly, some people think they're the only people in this world, what a stupid place to set up your tripod anyway!
Slowly the sun started to show and the peak of the mountain 'Fish tail' among the Annapurnas became clearer in the distance. It was so vast, it was almost like something off a post card. It was a really peaceful moment and I thought back to 12 years earlier when I'd met a guy in Aldershot called Anthony. We'd gone out a few times, but nothing really came of it. We stayed in touch, and remained friends and saw each other in town now and again which was always nice to have a catch up and see what was happening in his life. For his 23rd birthday I bought him what I thought was a daft little present really-a pack of cards called 50 things to do in a lifetime. I remember sitting there laughing and
reading them with him, at all the things we had done and still had to do. We turned over the ones already accomplished and wondered when we'd ever do the rest. On one of the cards was written 'experience a beautiful sunrise'. right now on this morning standing on the roof of a shop somewhere in Nepal, despite the clouds and possibly not the brightest of suns , this to me was it. I don't know why or how or what made me remember those cards after all those years, but looking at the Himalayan peaks, I thought of Anthony and hoped that in his lifetime, he got to see a beautiful sunrise. He died in Iraq less than 2 years after that birthday aged just 24. Years later when I met his brother, he fetched his kitbag from under the stairs that had remained unopened since before he'd deployed to Iraq. Amongst the flamboyant shirts and CDs (some of which were mine-the little thief!) various magazines and photos, there was that pack of cards I'd bought him. 50 things to do in a lifetime. His brother gave them back to me to keep, and I vowed to dig them
out again once I get home.
My sentimental moment was broken by the unmistakable booming accent of a Yorkshireman. Molly Brown was talking to a couple (never missing an opportunity to tell people all about Canada) and I knew they were from my neck of the woods. Bradford of all places! We chatted about the weather (as Brits do) and they were telling us all about Kathmandu where they had just come from.
Shortly after we split into 2 groups, one to get the bus back and one to do walk down to the bottom. I along with the Aussies, Harry and Lloyd, Shakira and Chris opted to walk. The scenery was lovely, despite the massive piles of poo along the way, but Harry couldn't resist a photo opportunity of crouching over said pile and shouted the caption 'I'm leaving India behind!' He did make me laugh.
8km later through farms and forest, we reached the bottom, and walked around the main lake in Pokhora, which was quite serene. We stopped to take photos and out of nowhere this little girl flung her arms around me-she was so cute, but unfortunately her grandparents
who she was with wanted money. I feel so torn in saying no, but like I've said before, you could stand and give all your money away within 5 minutes and there still would be a million people queuing up for more.
We found a cafe at the bottom of the road our hotel was on and I ordered an omelette and a latte for breakfast. I managed to find a cheap laundrette which worked out to be no more than £1 for a medium sized bag that would be ready to pick up by that evening. Daryls brother Rhys had bought me some trousers for Christmas which were so comfy and had been a godsend this trip (thanks Rhys) but I'd worn them to death so a wash was definitely on the cards.
After such an early start I went back to the hotel to chill out for a bit before the adventures of the afternoon got underway. Steph who had opted to take the bus back from sunrise in order to get a bit more sleep, was up and about and feeling better. She was on her way out to join the
first group of people to do paragliding. I was to go in the afternoon. Yes paragliding. Anyone who knows me knows I hate heights, but when Raghu asked us who wanted to take part, I put my hand up before I could change my mind. I watched Guy Martin do it on the TV the other week and he fell asleep, it looked quite peaceful, and you had a frame to hold onto so I felt better about that, and all I could think was 'if delboy can do it, so can I! (Think back to that class is only fools and horses episode) I didn't think at the time that it was Friday 13th, I didn't think at all, and concluded I must have been sleep deprived when I said I'd do it, now it wasn't seeming such a great idea. I hate heights, I didn't even like walking on that suspension bridge over that river yesterday. In fact read back a few blogs to the skywalk in New Zealand-I hated that, it was so high, and now I was going to jump off the Himalayan foothills.
I met the others down in the hotel lobby,
where Harry told me he'd already been! I was confused as we'd been split into 2 groups, one for the morning and us For the afternoon, maybe someone had dropped out. It turns out a different company had picked Harry up by mistake and told him he was definitely booked on with them. Confused-off he went, but wondered where everyone else was. The confusion got cleared up and they dropped him back at the hotel. 'The funny thing was' he told me 'was that this company was called Nirvana paragliding, and there I was on my own, thinking 'I'm not going to nirvana without my bitches!' So back in the fold he was, and we walked down to the Main Street in Pokhora to get our transport. It was here I heard the word parachute. I wondered what they were on about, it was that triangle frame thing we were holding wasn't it??!!
Turns out that was HAND gliding, and we were doing PARA gliding! Oh no, I didn't know if I felt worse for being such an idiot to get the 2 mixed up or that I'd be attached to a parachute-not really my thing...
We met the morning group in town who assured me it was great and they'd had a fab time, and there really was nothing to worry about. Steph was buzzing more from the fact that the guy she was strapped to was hot (her words not mine) and suggested I go with him for a more pleasant experience! I was actually hoping to get an ex Gurkha soldier, a little fearless powerhouse that had experience of British health and safety standards-yes that would reassure me. I wouldn't trust a Gurkha with my car, after supervising in clinic and seeing how they handle a dental scaler around gums like a Kukri knife to a steak I wouldn't trust them with my dental health. I would however trust them with my life.
We got on the coach to take us to the jump site and by this point I was thinking I would genuinely rather take a dip in the Ganges. I could feel my legs starting to sweat. There was a Nepalese guy driving and his passenger was a Swiss guy who had been working over here for a few summers. He wore oakleys and looked the part-there
was even a company sticker on the windscreen which reassured me again for some stupid reason. If they had a company sticker, I thought, that means it's more than a group of people throwing themselves off a hill with no health and safety checks-ridiculous I know, but little things like that made me feel safer.
The route we were driving was the same as we'd done earlier that morning to the sunrise point, except now it was day light and I could clearly see just how narrow and winding it was. It was more of a gravel path than a road and I was feeling more nervous that we'd drop off that before reaching the top. I've seen how the nepalese drive, I've been driven by my nepalese students on outreach clinics, gosh even my driving has been likened to that of a pissed up Gurkha but we were so close to the edge getting higher and higher, I'd be pleased just to survive the journey! We passed the viewing spot we'd visited earlier and kept climbing higher and higher.
Eventually we reached the top and was directed to a little Nepalese figure in
the distance. I walked over and shook his hand. I didn't quite catch his name as he spoke so quick, but he asked me where I was from. I told him UK, and asked if he'd ever been, hoping he would confirm by replying 'why of course, I've served 15 glittering years in the Queens Gurkha rifles' and my nerves would be reassured. 'No' was his answer. Oh well that was that then. He wasn't ex forces, but he'd better be good at this.
He talked me through what was going to happen and fitted me up with a harness. Before I had time to think he was telling me to run. I was to run forwards whilst attached to me he was running backwards and would turn as our feet left the ground. Run! He was shouting but my legs seemed like roadrunner, spinning round in a circle but going nowhere, the weight of the canopy wasn't letting me move. Run! He shouted again, and eventually the momentum caught and we were off. As soon as we left the ground, he told me to sit back into the seat and to lean back onto him. I found reassuring
comfort despite sitting back into Nepalese testicles,but my hands remained tightly gripped onto the ropes. I saw an eagle really close by and started to relax a bit. I thought of my friend Sam who only recently had spent 2 weeks in Tampa throwing herself out of a plane-people do things like this all the time! I was saying to myself, but for about the next half hour, my brain went something like this:
I'll have arms like Popeye after clenching this much-I wonder what muscles I'm using now (thinking back to a couple of weeks ago helping Daryl revise for his upper limbs exam) lets go fly a kite from Mary poppins , was quickly replaced by wind beneath my wings as the song going round my head, and I noticed how quiet it was up there in the clouds. I felt like I should make conversation with the guy I was strapped to, floating above Pokhora, but didn't know what to say. Do you come here often? Isn't an appropriate question in any given situation, especially now, so instead I asked 'are we ok?' Yes he laughed and I relaxed a bit more. What was
I worried about? Ah this is so lovely!
Is that the place we took off from? Why are we going higher? Is it something to do with thermals?
What was a thermal again? Why didn't I listen to uncle Andy more when he talks about gliding and thermals? I'm glad my ass is a bit bigger-it's holding me into this seat? Now I know how my patients feel in the chair all frigid like rigor Mortis had set in, Ooh another eagle, Daryl would like that! What's all that litter in the lake, how awful, fancy dumping a load of crates in there (it was actually a fish farm) This is so peaceful, I can't believe I'm floating about in Nepal....
I had a go at steering myself (if that's what you call it and I was like pah, how easy is this?!) eventually it was time to land, and we glided in as gracefully as if people just pop in that way all the time-I even managed to stay on my feet. Sue was already at the bottom taking pictures, and we waited for the others to land. Harry gave me a great big bear hug
and said well? I had to admit I don't know what all the fuss and panic was about. It really was nothing to worry about, and I was glad I did it. Hell I might even do a parachute jump next time.
Back in Pokhora we had a quick turnaround before getting the bus up to the World peace pagoda which was constructed by Buddhist monks.
there were quite a few steps to get up and after the 8km walk this morning my knees were as creepy as old floorboards. I don't know how Molly brown managed to catch up-she'd enlisted the help of a cane by now but before she caught up, Chris wanted to take a group photo at the top without her in it. I felt sad that people were feeling this way, but can't say it wasn't self inflicted. We had a lovely view of Pokhora from here and took some good pictures and had a peaceful wander around.
Back into the bus we headed back down into Pokhora with Molly Brown telling us all about reading 50 shades of Grey which made me feel slightly queasy
at the thought of her reading a bondage novel. Chris lent over and whispered to me 'maybe she uses her cane for other things as well!' Which set me off laughing and tears were rolling down my face by time we got to Gupteshwor mahadev caves in the town centre. Shakira and I got distracted by the markets and I bought some colourful necklaces for Isabelle and a lovely bracelet for myself-Shakira was great to shop with-she was queen of batering!
As we walked down to the waterfalls, there was some fuss about finding Harry and Lloyd to help carry sue who was apparently in a heap at the bottom having gone over on her ankle. When she finally emerged with the help of Pearls cane, it was obvious she was in pain and had teary eyes-ouch.
Back to the hotel we had a quick turnaround again before heading out to Club Amsterdam for some food and a few drinks. Kieran had already gone out earlier with Raghu so I spent most of the early part of the evening chatting to Lesley, who was one of my favourites on the trip so far. Poor
Stef was still so full of cold but fair dos to her, she managed to stay out for most of the evening. There was a live band playing loads of classics like red hot chilli peppers and guns and roses, and one of my all time favourites I seem to hear when I'm away: wish you were here by Pink Floyd. Always very apt. It was happy hour so I made the most of the cocktails, and when I tried to drink my strawberry daiquiri through my cherry cocktail stick, I knew it was time to go....
Being me though, I didn't, and instead decided to use the remainder of my Indian rupees with Chanelle and Chris. The others were getting into the swing of things and headed to the dance floor (I wasn't quite that drunk) whilst we sat at the bar and chatted. Soon Molly Brown appeared from the dance floor asking if I'd like to come and meet some nice young English boys. Not really, I replied, seeing as I am English.... She seemed quite drunk and frankly I didn't want any part in her dance offs with 20 something's.
Eventually it was
time to go, so Chanelle Chris and I walked/ran/staggered back to the hotel. As my room was on the 4th floor, I was quite pleased that I was officially the last one standing. It had been a long long day, but probably my best so far. I had loved Pokhora and everything it had to offer.
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Dolls
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Same jeans on
I've had thesane jeans on for 4 days now haha that Sony always reminds me of u. At hotel in Marbella - food crap, don't worry I won't bring u here ! A few people hadn't brushed their hair at breakfast - thought of u for some reason haha u and your quirks make mr laugh. Looking forward to seeing u next month x x x