Boom. Boom. Boom Boom Boom
At first, you’re not quite sure you heard it.
Boom. Boom. Boom Boom Boom
However, you’re suddenly aware it’s there.
Boom. Boom. Boom Boom Boom
Then you realize it doesn’t stop, nor do you want it to.
Boom. Boom. Boom Boom Boom
It’s haunting and you can hear it for hours later as you lay in bed.
.
..
…
Maybe I should start from the beginning. This weekend, I went on my first business trip and also, visited Pokhara for the first time. It was…an interesting experience. Starting off (late) from the College, I got my first pure glimpse of Nepal life outside the valley and I have to say, the rugged wilderness was stunning. Mountains towered over you, as the sun glanced of the greenery. You really feel like you are in nature (even though we were travelling in a car at breakneck speeds) and it was just a great drive through the valley.
After a two hour detour to Chitwan for petrol, we eventually arrived in Pokhara only to find it pouring with rain. Typical. However, we arrived at the Hotel Meera and got unpacked. Half the group went to see the stall and I went for a quick wander along the shops and then sat having a cup of tea overlooking the shopping area. After a day’s travel, by Odins beard did that tea go down well. Like nectar or, well, sweet, sweet tea. That night, we all went to the Busy Bee Bar, a pretty interesting bar with a great atmosphere and some great beer. Sharing various dishes, we had a good night with flowing drinks and good music before retiring for the evening.
So, the next day we got up and after a misunderstanding for breakfast, we headed to get the stall ready. Once it was ready, we waited. And waited. And waited. Long story short, the fair had maybe 100 students over the three days out of the 30,000 students promised. I won’t go into details but it was somewhat of a boring few hours…
Anyway! On Friday evening, we went to Davi’s Falls, a beautiful water way that cuts through various types of stones before dropping suddenly into a large cave. I may have scared everyone (accidently) by climbing up onto the lower rail to take a photograph…it seems that is frowned upon. Oh well, I learned quickly after a group of 5 people all shout ‘aaaahhh’ in my direction. The real highlight of the evening was entering the cave that held an underground shrine and then lead all the way to waterfall. Once passing the shrine, you come to a smallish cavern which holds loads of small stone structures, built by hand. The inquisitive little creature that I am, I found out that if you build one of these stone towers, it represents the house that you get when in Heaven. I only built a three storey house as I figured that I’m small and don’t take up much room.
The next port of call was dinner, drinks and a club. Starting off in club Amsterdam, we had another shared dinner and several drinks and I got to try Roxi: home-made Nepalese alcohol. That was an eye-opener. Especially when they called gambe and I had to down it. Interesting start to the night! After Amsterdam, we went to a club for dancing and more drinks. Oh my, it has been a while since I danced and dance I did!
(I'm dancing, I'm dancing - Cookie for the quote)
Finally, after the club closed, we moved back to Amsterdam for a nightcap and bed. Saturday, after a late-ish morning and the stall, we headed to the World Peace Pagoda. Just as we were arriving, it started raining. Heavily. I mean monsoon season heavy. Oh, and we were in shorts and t-shirts with only 1 umbrella. What did we do? We walked up to the World Peace Pagoda in the pouring rain and it was brilliant. As we got about half way up, I heard the faint drumming sound. At first, I thought it was my imagination but as I got closer, I realized that somebody was drumming continuously. It was haunting to listen to the constant drumming whilst in the rain. It truly made the mood special. As we reached the pagoda, the drumming got louder and louder: it seems that there is a small building where they constantly keep the drum going. Sadly, the views from the pagoda were clouded but just seeing the remote shrine was stunning, all the while echoed by the drumming. Whilst I’m not religious at all, there was just something in the air: the location, the rain, the drums. It seemed like I had went back in time and was just cut off from the real world. It was quite the experience
Coming down, we decided to have a cup of tea on the mountain edge, before sludging down again (I went barefoot as feet dry faster than shoes). I have to say, the cup of tea was certainly magical after my time at the pagoda. That may have been the dehydration though…
Sunday came all too quickly and alas, we were thwarted by our attempt to boat by thy dastardly rains! Damn you weather, damn you! All was not lost as we drove up to Sarangkot which a nice drive but sadly it was too cloudy to see much. Luckily, on the way down, it cleared up slightly to show the valley in full. I will need to head back when it’s clear and sunny, as everyone tells me you can see for miles.
Sunday evening, we then headed to some caves which were interesting and in the first cave, we managed to get confused about the exit and ended up clambering up some pretty slippery rocks before somebody pointed us in the right direction. I’m pretty sure the bats were laughing at us. The second cave was ok, though it did lead to another underground shrine which is an interesting phenomenon here it seems. After the caves, we then went and sat beside the lake for an hour (thank god it was dry) before the girls got mango juice, mangoes and lychees (straight from the tree) for us to indulge in. An excellent end to an overall excellent trip
And so ended my first business trip. Other than dinner on the Sunday night, then a breakneck trip back to Kathmandu at 6am, not much else happened. Besides, I’m way too tired to talk about much else. I do not like 5am…
Pick of the week
Indie Gala – Ok, this is short but sweet for the gamers amongst my readers. Indie Galas is a pay what you want bundle with various indie games and I’ve seen some brilliant indie games be included – Bastion anyone? Oh, and the best bit? Money goes to charity and you can set how much goes to the charity. I usually set up most going to the charities, with a little to the developers and the indie people but it’s up to you. They have limited time periods so get them whilst you can! Great games and helping charities, what more can you hope for?
Music of the week
Easy for me this week! Had a huge nostalgia trip this week, so I present to you one of my favourite bands of my youth (and still pretty high ranking): The Union Underground - Revolution Man
Ok, enough from me. I'm pretty exhausted and this was written quickly and poorly, so I'm sorry and I will be in top form next week! Woo!
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