Wasting no time, I was off the weekend after they left exploring a some caves outside of Pokhara with Esther and Ross, a couple from the UK doing language and orientation in
Pokhara for a few months. We cycled up (literally, it was all uphill on the way there) to the caves, and enjoyed the chance to clamber around in the caves. The Bat Cave was, predictably, filled with many bats hanging from the ceiling sleeping. And both caves had fun passages to climb out at the end. More pictures here.
I went to the Gurka Museum on the way home. The Gurka's are the crack Nepali forces that are recruited by the British and Indian armies, and have had a major role in holding India for the Empire in the past, and have contributed in many of the wars of the past century. It was quite interesting.
The next week I went to the Mountain Museum, telling about the mountain peoples of Nepal, as well documenting mountain climbing exploits. I particularly like the fact that they had a photo exhibition showing what life in the Alps was like over 60 years ago, and how it compared to life in Nepal now. There were a lot of similarities about how people worked, and how they transported goods. The spring rains have started, and we got totally soaked walking home from the museum, as thunder and lightning crashed around us. The rains are good to have at last, and have cleared the air so that we have had some lovely views of the mountains lately!
Last Saturday, I went white water rafting with a group of staff from the hospital. I was the only person who had done this before (though I'd never done it in Nepal), and we were all very excited. Sita came too, so the first challenge, once we got to the starting point a couple of hours east of Pokhara, was to get her down to the river. Fortunately we had lots of capable staff on hand to help out. The rafting itself was good fun, with water fights between out two boats, and lots of bumps and splashing from the rapids themselves. The water was cold, so we were a bit disappointed the sun didn't stay out for the day, but other than that we had a fabulous day, and I've posted some more pictures here.
After the rafting, we had a late lunch together, and drove back to Pokhara in our minibus rented for the occasion. On the way home, the Nepalis started a singing game, in which the front and back halves of the bus were in competition. Whatever letter the song of the previous group ended with, the other group had to sing one starting with the same letter. They did sing the one Nepali folk song I do know, but otherwise I wasn't able to join in, which was too bad, as it seemed a lot of fun. They were able to keep at it for over an hour, which impressed me very much. I was enjoying it all, but also though how I couldn't imagine this happening on a work outing with a bunch of young professionals in Canada, somehow. Nepalis, on the other hand, are happy to sing (and dance, though not this time) any time, and love to do it.
The next day was my birthday, and I celebrated it with the other ex-pats. We had a great dinner with pot-luck deserts, and then played games. You see a whole other side of people when you are playing Pictionary with them...it was good fun.
Finally, my very pessimistic thoughts about the strike going on for ages at the end of my last blog posting, were already out of date. That day, the government sat down and negotiated with a whole bunch of the unhappy groups, and all strikes were lifted. This was a relief, as it meant goods and people could travel again. However, things remain uncertain here. Last week there were strikes over the college elections – the student parties are aligned with the political parties of the nation, so the unrest in the county is echoed on the campuses. One student was killed, and some injured in the protests. Hard to imagine university students these days at home caring that much about politics, either at a college or national level. And this weekend there have been more strikes because someone in one of the political wings was killed in the south of the country, and that group, and all the rival groups are up in arms about it. You never know quite what will happen next here. I am grateful to be in a part of the country where fewer strikes take place, and we are much less affected by the unrest. However, it makes life unpredictable at times!
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