Woke up at 6am this morning and Ramesh picked me up to drop me off at the bus station. A 7 hour bus ride to Pokhara, where I will commence my next placement and I will be staying at the orphanage. Ramesh showed me my window seat on the bus, gave me a hug and wished me a safe journey and a great time in Pokhara. He is a very nice guy. After two hours of travelling, we made our first stop, I was confronted by large rice paddy fields - the scenic drive was very marvellous. I needed to use the toilet and to my surprise, I had no choice but to use the stinky squatting toilet - I felt so disgusted. The highway road we were driving on was extremely rocky and bumpy, and much like Bali roads - winding around and around, going up many many hills. The outrageous driving was something I had to ignore and I also managed to block off all the excessive beeping from the cars and colourful buses on the road. We passed many colourful Nepali buses, they all had Nepali music pumped full blast and the buses were decorated in full vibrant colours (especially the paintwork), with lots of colourful charms and flowers hanging from the windows - almost like a hippy bus.
Zoe sat next to me on the bus so we started talking. Zoe is from Shanghai with exceptional good English. She is also travelling solo and only travelling through Nepal as she is currently on vacation from work. There was another stop made for us to have breakfast. We dined in at 'Highway Garden Restaurant'. I played it safe and ordered myself a cup of Nepalese tea and vegetable fried rice. The serving was MASSIVE, especially for breakfast. I ate all that I could. Zoe was being very experimental and ordered anything from menu - a noodle soup dish. It was also very tasty.
We continued our journey on the bumpy bus ride. We both had a nap after such a big breakfast. The scenery along the road is dramatic. The highway dives along a series of deep river valleys, cascading rice terraces and rocky gorges. I think this is what makes the bus ride a tad interesting - the compensation of such splendid views. Another stop was made for lunch, Zoe and I were still very full from the big breakfast so we just chilled out, in the shade.
After travelling 206km, we finally arrived in Pokhara. I was told, I should not get off until it is the final stop. This I knew it was the finally stop, because we ended up in a big massive open dirt ground and everyone got off the bus. During the ride, we had a lot of pick ups and drop offs. Zoe and I exchanged numbers to meet up later. A gentleman approached me and asked if I was going to the Happy Home, I said yes and asked for his name. He replied "Min'. I knew I was in safe hands once again. It's amazing how they can guess who you are without ever meeting or seeing a photo of you. Min helped with my heavy luggage into the taxi and he told the driver where to go. He hopped on his bike and followed. Driving through Pokhara was very different to driving through Kathmandu. The road in Pokhara seems more peaceful and not as congested. Even the people, it didn't seem like it was a really busy town at all. It was a 3 minute drive to the happy home. Min showed me around the house, introduced me to the house mother - Kippolo and showed me to my room. It was a nice cosy room on the second floor of the building with a private bathroom and a westernised toilet. Phew! There is also another volunteer at the happy home, but she must of been out and all the kids are at school. I settled in for a while and contacted Zoe to meet up. This was fun, trying to navigate my way through a town I've never been in and having to look for Zoe's hotel - it was a challenge. Min directed me the way down to the popular tourist district - the lakeside. I headed for that direction and finally ended up at the lake, I tried to use google maps but the address I typed in didn't work, therefore I dropped into a travel agent and asked for directions. He didn't know where the hotel was but was kind enough to phone around to ask for directions. He even offered to give me a lift as it is about 15 minutes walk from where I was. I negotiated the price and off I went in the air conditioned car. I was dropped right in front of Zoe's hotel in which if I had walked myself, wouldn't of found it.
We found a nice restaurant along the lakeside and here we enjoyed our first 'Everest Beer' to celebrate our arrival in the country of the highest mountain in the world. The restaurant was called 'Hungry Eye'. They had an expansive menu serving from Nepali, Indian, Chinese and Westernised dishes. I ordered the chicken butter masala and Zoe had the paneer butter masala and of course served with cheese naan. My first meal in Pokhara was satisfying. I could of had another one. The flavours and spiciness were just perfect for me. I was really impressed.
After our late lunch, we took a stroll along the main lakeside strip where they had stores that sells trekking gear, souvenir items, bookshops and plenty of restaurants surrounding. We stopped in a bookshop and bought some postcards each. Postcards were dirt cheap - 10 cents each. We then continued and stopped by the actual lake - the popular Phewa Lake. There we saw lots of locals sitting under trees, kids playing table tennis, an old man trying to sell us mountain posters and people fishing from the lake. We arrived at the perfect time at the lake, just when the sun was setting.
The sunset by the lake was just amazing. We sat and gazed out to the lake for quite some time. Snapping away on our cameras. Phewa lake is a freshwater lake and is stream fed by a dam that regulates the water reserve, therefore it is classified as a semi-natural fresh water lake. It is the second largest lake in Nepal. (This photo was taken with my iPhone with no filtering)
I managed to navigate my way back to the happy home, it was slowly getting dark. When I arrived I introduced myself to Beatrice who is from Sweden. She was sitting down with the kids helping with homework. She filled me in with what the daily routine is like here at the orphanage. The kids were really adorable, I had Nishan come up to me and greeted me and told me what his name was - what a little cutie. These kids seem to have a lot of charisma and weren't shy at all. They asked to see my camera and started snapping away, their photography skills for 8/9 year olds weren't bad either. So we sat on the balcony for a while talking and helping the kids with their english homework, before it was time for dinner. I had a very late lunch and was still very full therefore I didn't join them for dinner. But at the orphanage, the kids eat dal bhat for breakfast and dinner. Lunch they get a little snack or rice cereal or if there are any left over breakfast, they will eat dal bhat.
After dinner, all the kids cleaned their own plates and cups, wiped the tables and placed the chairs upside down on the table. They also cleaned up all the food scraps from the floor. This really impressed me, to see how young they are taught responsibility. Beatrice informed me the kids love the TV, we sat in the TV room for a while. This is when Phurpu and Kiran came up to introduce themselves to me. I love how these kids are so polite with new comers. I feel very welcomed. Aayuus is the youngest child - he is 2 years old. He had only arrived in the happy home for about 2 weeks now.
It was time for bed. I went and said good night to the boys and girls staying on the same floor as me. We brushed our teeth together which was a nice exercise before bed.
Good night world.
XOXO
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