Neighgbors, Eating, Peace And Love

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The first thing I noticed upon entering Nepal is how unlike India it feels. Actually the very first thing I noticed about Nepal was nothing at all. I unknowingly walked three full blocks into the country before realizing I had overshot the border and had to go back to get my visa. I finally found the border police post only to realize I didn't have the obligatory passport photo for the visa. No problem though. I was calmly given directions by the officer to a photo shop in town and told to return with the picture.

Nepal is one of the most calm and relaxed countries I have ever traveled to. That, or maybe it's just the contrast to northern India, just over the border, that's so striking. While the cleanliness and cuisine are a little different than in India, the single biggest difference for me has been what Nepal lacks - the complete and total sensory overload experienced round the clock when traveling in northern India. The local Nepali use the word Shanti to describe their way of life, which roughly translates as peaceful or tranquil. So far I have only traveled through the foothills of Nepal, but just the foothills alone size up to mountains I have seen in other places. Even here villages are often very isolated from neighboring valleys, resulting in 63 languages spoken in a country smaller than many US states.

I am currently staying in Pokhara, a resort like city on a lake in a mountain valley. Pokhara is near the base of Annapurna, and within 30 kilometers of town the altitude rises by over 7 kilometers. It's pleasantly warm here, but not brutally hot, and bananas and oranges grow here because of the low elevation. I am staying at a local farmer's place about an hour's walk from town in a bungalow surrounded by cornfields and rice paddies. My basic plan is to stay here for a week or two and do some short day hikes to build up the strength I lost when I was sick. After that I plan to do some trekking up at higher altitude. There are hundreds of trekking outfitters here in town and hundreds of people leave everyday on the more popular hikes, so overcrowding may be more of an issue than isolation when out hiking.

Also, now that I'm here in Nepal I'm going to try to make the blog a weekly event. Here in Pokhara hi-speed internet is readily available, but elsewhere in the country there is no internet at all.

take care everyone

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Photos

Near the border
It was about three blocks after this that I realized I passed the visa immigration office

View back
Looking back towards my guesthouse on the walk to town