Pokhara

What a fun city!  Unlike Kathmandu, you can actually walk alone along the streets of Pokhara  without fear of never finding your way back to your hotel.

What to do during our three nights there?

Of course there were temples to visit.  This poor rooster seemed to know his minutes were numbered. Yes, Hindus still do animal sacrifices.  But maybe he’ll get lucky and be reincarnated as a cow.

The next temple could only be reached by boat.

What made this visit special were the sweet boys collecting money for the Red Cross.

“50 rupees, madam?”

“Okay”, and as I’m reaching for my money I hear, “100 rupees, madam?”

“But you said 50”

“Okay madam, 50”.

He had such a sweet smile, I gave him 1,000 rupees, the equivalent of $10.  THAT guaranteed me a photo shoot with the entire group, who then insisted upon taking MY picture.  My sweet negotiator is the one in the middle.

Next up, a visit to the Parakhawking Project.  Please do a YouTube search to learn more  about the vulture and hawk rescue project.

Believe  it or not,  this beautiful creature is a vulture, who, if you decide to leap off a mountain, will fly  with you, locating the  updrafts, thereby  guaranteeing you’ll have a spectacular flight..

Unfortunately, he was molting, so he has been grounded for the next few months.   What a disappointment– I was SO ready to sign up!  So since parasailing was not an option, what else could I do with my free afternoon?   Oh so many options…how to choose?
Who could resist this menu of services?  Certainly not I!

As tempting as it was to come home with dreadlocks, I decided to be a little less adventurous and settled for a manicure. It WAS an interesting experience.  I’d never had my cuticles pushed back with a coin before.    And the choice of polish was greatly simplified when there are only three  colors, all with sparkles.

It sorta made me wonder what my hair would have looked like if I’d chosen a dye job.

The  best part was my manicurist dried my nails by waving a magazine back and forth over my fingers.  Again, I thought of my hair…and what might have been.

After a round of shopping, it was clearly time for music.  Initially, we thought the Bollywood Dance Club had potential, until we gave their sign a more thorough inspection.  Let’s put it this way. Although we didn’t go inside to verify, we suspected the club might have fit right in with New York’s pre-Guliani Times Square or Boston’s combat zone.

Instead, we opted for Emon’s Rooftop Cafe.  We ended up being the sole (but enthusiastic) customers here.

Sitting on the balcony overlooking the street, sucking down a local beer, we enjoyed a rendition of “I want to hold your hand”, Nepalese style.   It doesn’t get much better than that!