Pokhara: A Marathon Day

Along with a marathon day comes a marathon post. Consider yourself warned. If you make it to the end of the post I imagine you are either

1. A grandparent

or

2. H or N around age 17 (curious about that time you always hear about when you parents dragged you all over Asia before you could even remember it).

If you don' t fall into categories 1 or 2, then you must be a person who has enough interest in Nepal that you should stop reading my blog and just plan on coming to see it for yourself someday.

Okay, here goes nothin'!



The day started out taking another scary ride on more scary mountain roads. Only it was in a taxi driver with our taxi driver friend J.B. driving.



After the taxi couldn't drive anymore, we hiked.



We hiked up like, a thousand steps. H was carried most of the time, but he liked to climb on the big steps. The small ones were too boring for him I think, and then he'd ask to be carried again.

Funny boy.



Our destination was a village called Sarangkot: a place famous for it's views of the Himalayas. People say that it's best at sunrise. And to those people I say "Hi, I have two children ages 3 and 1... would YOU like to come and get them up at 4:30 am?"

I didn't think so.

People also say the place is famous for paragliding. And to those people I say: "Hmmmm. Interesting thought!"



So we went about 10am.



The weather was hazy today, but still the view was amazing.

Noelle slept the whole time. Someday she'll regret that.

Or not.



After hiking for over an hour, we took a rest here.

Know what else we were doing here? Waiting for the paragliding man to arrive with his gear to take a certain someone paragliding. Which someone you wonder? Let me just say that Mikey isn't crazy about heights...

WE DECIDED I SHOULD DO IT!!!!!!!

Oh.My.Goodness.

We decided this was definitely one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Carpe Diem!

Well worth my personal savings, I thought.



So we hiked up some terraces back to the takeoff spot. H was on my back in the Ergo Carrier (looooove the Ergo Carrier)...



And N had her own personal carrier also. A friendly guys whose name we can't remember.



Here's the takeoff place.



I am going...



...up there...



... and down there!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!



Tom got me all strapped in and gave me some instructions.



Getting ready...



Running...



And hitting down and getting drug along the ground.

Oops.

Didn't quite go as planned. Not quite sure what happened.

No problem.



Try try again.



Liftoff!!



Off we go!!

I didn't have the camera with me (obviously), but I can tell you that it was amazing!! It was quiet and cool and we caught a warm tunnel of air that took us faaaaar higher than the takeoff point. Then we went out over the lake and spun around and around and then landed in a pasture.

No dragging along the ground during landing.

Thank goodness.



I rode the truck back to the office at the bottom of the mountain and met my fam!

I did it.

I can't believe I paraglided in the Himilayan Mountains.

I'll ask is again... "Whose life is this that I'm living?!"

Aaanway...



At this point we were informed that the whole city will go on strike tomorrow. No cars can be on the roads! So we decided to forego afternoon naps and just continue on to do as much touring of the city as we could today.

And so since our day was only half over... that means this post is only half over.

I give you permission to stop reading if you want. Your eyes are probably glazing over and I don't want to be responsible for your broken keyboard when your head falls into it cause you fell asleep reading my marathon post.

I won't be disappointed.

I will understand if you close this tab and go check your gmail.

Promise.



But if you want to keep reading, you can see this charmed snake and the look on my boy's face.

Ha!



And you can see this restaurant where we ate lunch.



And you can see how my girlie insisted on eating her lunch. Leaning backwards over the couch with her fork full of pizza in her hand.

If you don't know what I mean by insisted, then you don't know my girlie.

She has her own ideas.

She is Miss Independent.



While we were eating a funny thing happened.

It got all wet outside again. Huh.

Which brings me to a correction. Apparently it's not monsoon season yet as I stated in yesterday's post. It's PRE-monsoon season.

Although I'm not sure that it's much different for this family that lives in the desert.

But I needed to get the record straight.

Anyway.

We called J.B. up again, discussed our list of destinations and settled on a price.




First stop was a Hindu temple.



Where there are actually many smaller Hindu temples.



And other various Hindu things.



Behind us there should have been a breathtaking view of some Himalayan mountain peaks.

Instead it's a view of haze.

Bummer.



Next stop: The River Gorge.



Bought cheap tickets first.



Then saw the gorge, which is a... ya know... gorge. A really deep, thin place between rocks where water runs.

Cool, huh?



Next stop: Devi's Falls.

Or Devil's Falls.

Or Davis' Falls.

Depends who you ask or what sign you see.



Bought cheap tickets first.



Then saw the falls.

This is the top.



This is the rest.

You can't see it well.

This must be terribly boring.

Sorry about that.



Snack break.



Still raining, by the way.



And we're getting scolded by the locals cause our kids are kinda wet. No bother... we're rather accustomed to getting scolded by locals. But never for kids being wet. Usually for kids being in the sun or in the dust.

Aaaanyway.



Next stop: Gupteswar Mahadev Cave.



First we bought cheap tickets.



Then I took this terrible self-portrait. H is so happy in the backpack, in case you wondered. And I must have burned a gazillion calories today carrying one child or another on my body the whole time.



The caves were as you would expect caves to be. We had to duck a lot and H thought that was fun. I only bonked his head once.

Sorry, H.



This was the bottom of the cave and the bottom of the waterfall we saw earlier. This picture is awful. Sorry.



And here are the rickety steps we risked our lives on to get to the bottom of the cave.



Then we came home, took hot showers and the kids ate mostly crackers and cookies for dinner.

Don't judge. We were tired.

It was a fabulous, amazing, wonderful marathon day. And I have no creativity with my adjectives anymore.

I need sleep.

But before I go to sleep I have a lot to thank God for...

I Love...

Coach rides! I do. I really do. There is no sarcasm here folks.

I loved coach rides when I was 20 and traveling around Europe and I love coach rides now with two kids in Nepal.

I love coach rides.

We spent most of the day on a coach riding from Kathmandu to Pokhara. After yesterday's exhausting overnight flights I wasn't sure about all day on a coach. But I had no reason to worry... it was great.



However, it's not for the weak stomached or those scared of heights. Or those scared of windy mountains roads on which many large buses and trucks pass each other at the most inopportune times which causes you to grab onto your children and your seat for dear life.



Exhibit of passing. Oh my.

Hello? We're RIGHT HEEEEERE!!! Aaaack!



And here is a super long traffic jam that looks like it delayed us much longer than it did.



And here is a cute lady who wanted me to take her picture.

Please note the goats on top of the bus.



Another great thing about today's coach ride is that they were not short on stops.

This is stop 1 at some gorgeous snack/tea place.

AKA... a great place for kiddos to run around and explore!



Or do Sweet N's favorite thing... which is to find a wee step just her size and sit down.

And stand up.

And then sit down.

And then stand up.

And then sit down.

I think you get the picture.



Then we stopped for lunch (included in the ticket... nice!).

Check out the view!



And the food. My first rice and dal. Mmmnnn. I like rice and dal.



Don't judge this girl by that face.



They also had noodles, which means she was happy too!



We arrived, settled into our tiny, but perfect-for-us room at Hotel Meera.



So simple. Love it.



I did became a little nervous when I saw that they provide candles and matches.

That can't be good.

Turns out that the power is cut for MAAAANY hours a day. But there is a generator that runs two lights in the room and two outlets. That's all we need!



Dinner was here.



We quickly chose this restaurant when the rain started POURING on us.

Did you know that it's the beginning of monsoon season?

Ha!

I didn't know either!



H loved the rain. He probably would have rolled in the puddles if we would have let him.

We didn't let him.

Today, at least.

Never know what tomorrow may bring...

Overnight

Overnight flights are not fun.

Like, at all.



But we made it.



After way to much middle of the night wakefullness from this fella





and this girlie,



we finally had some snoozers.



There were a lot of empty seats. Great!



Short layover in Dubai = McRoyal and fries at 6am. I have no shame.



During the second flight, H ran laps.



A lot.



Then we saw this.



And this. Amazing!



Why, thank you for welcoming us!



"Foreigner" This is my identity.



H has spent 90 percent of his waking time today pulling and pushing around this blue suitcase.



Self portrait.



After a long time getting through the airport we followed this friend on his motorcycle to our guest house.

Nepali roads are different then I am used to.

That's all I have to say about that.



The kiddos were a wee bit tired.

Their Mama was too.



The weather is cool and dreary and rainy and wet and fresh.

It. Is. Fabulous.



Rain, of course, called for some puddle jumping. That's a good way to end a long day.

:)

Tomorrow, we're on a bus for seven hours to another city...

Good night.

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

There is a good chance this is the most overused song when it comes to flying somewhere. Well, maybe that is true only for the people who were into movies when the movie Armageddon came out.

It's fun to sing this lil' ditty when your bags are packed and you're ready to go, but unfortunately now that I read the lyrics in their entirety I realize none of it really applies...

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go (Well, this part is true.)
I'm standin' here outside your door (No, I'm actually about to stand outside MY door all ready to go.)
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye (Um, just had to wake up my kids to make them say goodbye? Does that count? Sorta?)

But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn (Nope, it's late night)
The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn (Friend waiting with his car, no taxi)
Already I'm so lonesome I could die (What does the word 'alone' mean again? I seem to have forgotten...)

So kiss me and smile for me (Hug, maybe?)
Tell me that you'll wait for me (Wait for me where? when? why?)
Hold me like you'll never let me go (Okay, that's just weird)

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane (TRUE!! TRUE! This is the true part!!)
I don't know when I'll be back again (Kinda true?! We have a week in mind, but no exact date for our return)
Oh, babe, I hate to go (Who is calling me babe? Mikey? Then I'm okay with that. Someone else?... not sure.)

So... even though we all (?!) like to hum this tune when we are preparing to travel, now I have shown you that the song doesn't really apply unless you are some sad, lonely, heartbroken person who seems to be torn away from her lover.

Bummer.

Maybe we should all stop singing it. It really is rather depressing.

Wait! Don't stop reading this post. It really is going somewhere. We really are going somewhere! HA!

The purpose of this post is coming.

My point is to tell you that our bags are packed and we're ready to go... we're leaving on a (or eight!) jet planes!

Eight planes until we find ourselves in the U.S. of A.

I have plugged ears, backpack strap burn on my shoulders and spilled milk on my jeans just thinking about it.

If you know us well or have read my blog for long you know that one of our favorite things is to see someplace new and to visit friends (or strangers who will quickly become friends) in all kinds of places. So we're doing it again. But this time it's uncharted territory. It's outside of our general comfort zones of Europe, Africa or the Middle East... we are exploring the largely-unexplored-by-us territory of ASIA!!!

Mikey has been to India a couple times, but that is the extent. I'm a little nervous about Asia. I don't know what to expect. We don't speak even a mumble in any of these language of the places we're going, we're not familiar with the transportation systems, the culture or *gulp* the food! Am I gonna be eating strange sea creatures for the next few weeks?! I don't know!!!!!

We are once again, blessed and honored that this trip has been provided for by none other than God Himself. We watch our pennies all year to be able to stop someplace place on the way home, and this year God seemed to have pinched many more pennies than we could! (Ignore the bad theology in that previous statement.) Between frequent flier miles, incredibly cheap airlines (a big shout out again to Fly Dubai!!), amazing generous ex-foreign-exchange students (more details later!!) and help from the NGO Mike worked for for the past year... this trip is costing us so little. It's really incredible. I praise God for it, I feel his love in a tangible way (He knows our love languages, eh?!) and I cry if I think about it too much. I once again feel like it's just a gift from Him. I humbly receive it, acknowledging what an absolute privilege it is to be able to see so much of His world with Him.

We're also blessed, still, that Mike can continue much of his work from the 'road' and we are really excited to pick the brains of some like-minded people doing some of the things internationally like we hope to do in the coming year! We sincerely love learning from those who have gone before us!

SOOOOO we've made all the necessary preparations (or at least I think we have!) and we're almost out the door.

My biggest worry is my daughter... who I am certain is fully related to my son, yet exhibits very little of the same calm, cool, chill demeanor that he did at age 16 months. Lord have mercy on us. Literally. This is my prayer when I think about the journey we are about to embark on with our 3 year old and specifically, our 1 year old. She's a piece of work. I love her to bits and teeny tiny pieces... but I wouldn't use the word 'chill' or 'compliant' to describe her. You get my drift?

Aaaaanyway.

You probably want to know what stop 1 is? Here is a hint: There are mountains that dwarf the Rockies, there are cooler temps (50s to 80s... brrrrrr) and there is possibly some head bobbling, but I'm not sure about that.

Did you guess?!

It's Nepal!!! Ready or not, here we come!!