Pokhara, Nepal

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We arrived in Pokhara after a very comfortable “tourist bus” ride for about 7 hours. The tourist buses are about 10x the price of the local buses, but the seats are much more comfortable, and there is only space available for those with assigned seats; well worth the extra money.
Pokhara is a beautiful laid back lakeside town, which has a lively tourist downtown area filled with more hash smoking, yoga practicing hippies with dread locks. I can’t bear to overhear one more story about how they are on a 6 month sabbatical before they start med school.
We headed to the Gurkha museum, as Pokhara is home to the largest recruiting British recruiting center in Nepal. The Gurkhas are Nepalese soldiers fighting for the British crown. They are considered the fiercest fighting force in the world. The museum highlighted the Gurkha achievements up through current day Afghanistan. They are famed for carrying a large heavy curved knife called a khuukri.
Prospective recruits must go through a series of rigorous tests to include running 5km up a hill carrying over 50lbs in a woven basket on their back. If they are accepted they will earn over $1600 a month, receive a pension after 16 years, and can become a British citizen. Our Sherpa, Jeevan, told us that all young boys dream of becoming Gurkhas in this country, and he himself tested unsuccessfully 4x, the maximum amount of tries. I was lucky enough to have seen some Gurkhas while they were serving in the Iraq war, and remember being told what an incredible asset they were.
I love caves, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to go to “Bat Cave” on the outskirts of town. Admission was .25, and it was teeming with tourists, mostly young Nepalese squealing and making ghost sounds inside; good to see teens are obnoxious everywhere.
Bat cave is home to a roost of allegedly thousands of horseshoe bats, but I only saw about a dozen. There were absolutely no efforts of conservation here, and there was trash littered about its treacherous steep pitch black trails without any handrails. I wonder if the bats smartly relocated, of if their numbers are dwindling like their North American cousins. At the end of the tunnel you can scramble up a steep slippery wall, and slither out a tiny hole. Locals believe that anyone who can make it out the hole will be cleansed of their sins.
We finished the night off with dinner and a local cultural show featuring traditional Nepali song and dance, and our first of many plates of Daal Bhaat. The seemingly only dish Nepalis eat. It is a flavorful lentil soup with rice and curried vegetables.

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Photos

Lakeside, Pokhara

Cleansing my sins

Water buffalos hanging out streetside

Comments

[Krishna]

Volunteering at the The Love Company Orphanage Ow!
My experience at The Love Company orphanage in Pokhara I really enjoyed volunteering at this orphanage. I stayed here for two months. My duty as a volunteer was to play with children, walk them to school, help them with their English, hug them and be there for them in the first place. The children were always very happy and motivated to learn new things. They enjoyed playing games both out and inside. They are really happy when some volunteers are around, they really enjoyed their presence. There were fourteen children at the orphanage while I was there. At the beginning of my stay, the children went to school so we walked them to the school and helped them with their homework when needed. Then we had free time so we could meet other volunteers, go to a café or visit some nice places. In your free time you also can go trekking (depends on season), paragliding, sightseeing and many more. After a few weeks, the holiday started, so children spent most of the time at the children home. That was the great opportunity to interact with the children more. I really liked spending the time with the children, it was a fantastic and a life-changing experience. I would recommend this programme to anyone. It was a great experience and I enjoyed every second of it. It is also very rewarding since you can see you really have made a difference and helped the children a lot. They give everything back twice and you can see how happy and satisfied they are, even when you just hug them or laugh with them. Also, spending two months in Nepal was a perfect opportunity to get to know other culture and a foreign country. Especially Pokhara, where the orphanage is located, is a very beautiful place which most tourists visit and it is near the mountains and lakes. There are many beautiful villages nearby, too. To sum up, the time I spent at the Love Company was great, I absolutely enjoyed it and would come back any time. The children were really happy and I also loved the area where the orphanage is situated. I would very much recommend it to anybody who is thinking of going, it is really worth it and you help the children so much. If you have any questions about volunteering at this orphanage, feel free to contact me, I will answer all your questions – [e-mail]