Pokhara, a lakeside town north of Kathmandu, was somewhere I always had on my list of places to go in Nepal, party because it's the only other place is heard of besides Kathmandu and also because I had heard great reviews from fellow travellers. Described as a hub for travellers and a much more relaxed place than Kathmandu, many people opt to start their trekking here considering the Annapurna ranges are super close by. That was my vague plan.
I took a 'Tourist Bus' as they are aptly named here, from Kathmandu to Pokhara for about $7usd and the journey of 200km would take us 7hours. We left at 7am and arrived in the afternoon some time, having stopped for breakfast, lunch and toilet stops along the way. This is what I got for 200rupees ($2usd)... And it was yummy!
When I arrived I took a taxi from the tourist bus park to my hotel, Hotel Lake House which I had paid a bit more for, to have my own room and space. Having promised hot showers and all mod cons, I was disappointed when I stripped off and made a commitment to my shower, only to be greeted by cold water. I took a very quick shower and headed into town where I roamed around the shops and admired the calmness of the place. I spent 2 nights in this hotel and spent my days inquiring about trips and treks in the locals travel agents, walking along the lakeside, picking up free wifi over lovely meals in the yummy restaurants and posting home gifts I had purchased for my family for Christmas. My days weren't busy but I seemed to constantly have something to do, plan or sort out. Being in a private room meant I wasn't meeting people, like I had in Alobar hostel in Kathamndu, I decided to change to a new hostel, a cheaper one and one which had a dorm room. I moved to Hotel Cherrygarden on my third day and planned to stay one night to not conit myself too much. I left my bags and headed out for some breakfast and that was when I decided to go to Chitwan instead of trekking expensively by myself. It turned out that trekking with a porter and guide would be way too expensive for me alone and so I decided to go to the National park for some safari adventures while I decided what to do. I booked a bus/rafting tour which was what I had overheard from a couple staying at my hotel, and it seemed pretty fun! Afterwards, I headed to Maya Bar where I grabbed a juice and took advantage of their wifi. Little did I know what the night would bring. After chatting to an Irish girl at my table, we decided to stay for happy hour, popcorn and sheesha. We chatted about angry high and everything until it got so late that we decided to head across the street to Amsterdam Bar where we drank weird cocktails and listened to a Nepali rock band sing U2 and Adele covers for the best part of an hour. Before we knew it, we had invited a Slovakian guy (living in Canada as far as I remember), to our table, and we chatted for a whole before carrying on to a local nightclub (the only one open to the wee hours)- Ozone bar! We spent a while dancing and mingling with the locals there before we headed back home, until I realised I'd forgotten where my hotel was. We all headed about 20 minutes out of town and when I comprehended that my hotel was definitely nowhere near there, Emily the Irish girl invited me to crash in her twin room.
The following morning my pounding head was interrupted by the sounds of 'Hansons, Mmm Bop' my alarm ring tone. It was 6am and I had to make my way 20 minutes back to my hotel to get picked up for my tour regardless of the fact that I had to repackage my bags, change and pay my hotel. It was hen that I realised I'd ran out of cash. I rushed through the streets with my sunglasses on- a signature hungover look- and hope Id get there on time. I stopped at an ATM which was closed and so I carried on and made it to my hotel in time to see the jeep waiting for me. I told then to wait 5 minutes for me while I ran into my hotel where I was greeted by the owner who in a dad like manner said 'you didn't come home last night', I agreed and off I went to freshen up. The owner wasn't happy when I told him I had no cash and declined my credit card stating hey didn't accept them, so he told me to sort it out with my tour guides. I told them my predicament and they just hurried me into the jeep. Feeling super nauseous, we drove down the bumpy road to the ATM where I grabbed some cash. A few minutes down the street when we stopped for some more people who didn't show up, I hopped out without warning and legged it to the store for some water and on the way back grabbed a freshly baked 50Rupee croissant to line my stomach that hadn't been fed in 24hours. Disgraceful!
My next mode of transport was the tourist bus to the starting point of my rafting tour which I had no idea where. I was squeezed up in the bus drivers cockpit behind the drivers seat with another 6 people all clinging on for dear life on these bumpy roads. I made some drunken small talk with some Japanese girls before I conked out. When we made our second stop for break, I began to get a familiar feeling, a negative one. I felt anxious and stressed, I could feel a panic attack coming on. The thing with panic attacks are that they make you panic even more so the key is to relax yourself, which definitely isn't as easy as it sounds. I pictured myself having to hop across all these people and get off the bus but after a lot of concentration and a quick shut eye, I calmed myself and hoped to make it to my destination in one piece.
As If the day couldn't get any more stressful, during the white water rafting tour following the bus ride, I let go of the side of the boat, too busy paddling that I got completely thrown from the boat during one of the biggest rapids on the river. I ha rafted many times before but had never been thrown out like this and I will never forget how scary it was. The current dragged me and a young Chinese girl under over and over again, making us gasp for breath while trying to shout for help. All of a sudden she disappeared and the boat, which had tried to grab me and my paddle, got further and further away from me. With no way of swimming against the current to the side of the river, I just kept being dragged under by the rapids and eventually after a lot of struggle and a lot of mantras to myself, I made it to a rock which I clinched on to and made my way up onto it. The boat eventually came back for me but it didn't give me any trust in them during the rest if the journey. My worst nightmare is to drown and I'll never forget thinking to myself that this was it, this was how I was going to go. My heart raced and my life flashed before my eyes. I just about wet myself with fear, until it luckily found a way out. Grade 3 rapids my ass!!
My next mode of transport was the tourist bus to the starting point of my rafting tour which I had no idea where. I was squeezed up in the bus drivers cockpit behind the drivers seat with another 6 people all clinging on for dear life on these bumpy roads. I made some drunken small talk with some Japanese girls before I conked out. When we made our second stop for break, I began to get a familiar feeling, a negative one. I felt anxious and stressed, I could feel a panic attack coming on. The thing with panic attacks are that they make you panic even more so the key is to relax yourself, which definitely isn't as easy as it sounds. I pictured myself having to hop across all these people and get off the bus but after a lot of concentration and a quick shut eye, I calmed myself and hoped to make it to my destination in one piece.
As If the day couldn't get any more stressful, during the white water rafting tour following the bus ride, I let go of the side of the boat, too busy paddling that I got completely thrown from the boat during one of the biggest rapids on the river. I ha rafted many times before but had never been thrown out like this and I will never forget how scary it was. The current dragged me and a young Chinese girl under over and over again, making us gasp for breath while trying to shout for help. All of a sudden she disappeared and the boat, which had tried to grab me and my paddle, got further and further away from me. With no way of swimming against the current to the side of the river, I just kept being dragged under by the rapids and eventually after a lot of struggle and a lot of mantras to myself, I made it to a rock which I clinched on to and made my way up onto it. The boat eventually came back for me but it didn't give me any trust in them during the rest if the journey. My worst nightmare is to drown and I'll never forget thinking to myself that this was it, this was how I was going to go. My heart raced and my life flashed before my eyes. I just about wet myself with fear, until it luckily found a way out. Grade 3 rapids my ass!!
Tulasi River-1 Jade-0
As if it wasn't bad enough, we had another hour or so to go, and heaps more rapids before we reached the end. I decided to block out what had happened and not let the fear take over. Each rapid had me quivering but hoping bit would've be strong enough to capsize us like last time and they weren't. I made it till the end, soaked to the skin, freezing and with a newfound fear of uncontrollable deep water.
The next step of my mad day would be catching a local government bus to Chitwan which I hadn't realised was the plan until just then. After some yummy Dal Bhat (typical Nepali food) and a change of clothes, my guide took my bag and walked me down the street to catch the local bus. When it came, he uttered some words to the driver, wished me well and off I went. I had no idea where I was going or when to get off. After an hour or two of listening to heavy Hindi dance music blaring through the buses speakers, I was called to get off and was pointed towards a small blue mini van which would apparently take me to Sauraha, Chitwan. I hopped out, grabbed my dirty backpack from the roof and followed some random lady in red to the van. She put my bag on yet another roof and after squishing to the back of the mini van, we headed off own the dirt road. I was ordered to pay 25rupees for the ride which made no sense to me but I did anyways and hoped to be at my hotel sooner rather than later. I was in transit for almost 12 hours and with the day I'd had, if one more thing went wrong I didnt know what I'd do. Luckily with the help of some fancy suited young man who told them where I needed to go, I arrived in the warm aired national park of Chitwan, a shadow of the person I was the day before and ready for some replenishing.
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