Sunday 12/02/17

It got a bit cold last night, but nothing that I lost too much sleep over.
We woke up at about 6AM, packed up, and got on a bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara (8 hours).
The bus ride wasn't too bad; the mountains were pretty, we met some kids a few years older than us that were from Australia, and Ben and I sat in the back of the bus so we could "sprawl out" (even though it sucked because it was bumpy, haha).

Monday 13/02/17

"Welcome to Pokhara" street art

Tuesday 14/02/17

Our guest house has a kitchen that is available to us, which is very nice and convenient.
I made us a romantic Valentine's Day breakfast of eggs, then we went to the skate park.  I picked some flowers while Ben skated.  When we went home I showered and organized some of my things.

Wednesday 15/02/17

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a cough.  Marko calls it 'The Kathmandu Cough": he says the air quality in the city is so bad (most everyone wears masks that cover their faces), that you develop a cough.  He said that every time he goes there, even if it's less than 24 hours, he gets a cough.
"If the locals were masks, don't you think you should too?"  -Marko

Thursday 16/02/17

Neither of us slept very well last night (due to multiple bathroom trips).
Ben threw up multiple times and we both have diarrhea.  Not sure what from, to be honest.  We pretty much laid in bed/slept all day.

I went for a short walk by the lake and picked us up some fruit and bread.
Not sure why we're both feeling so icky.

Friday 17/02/17

Ben tried to get the top part of his ear pierced (helix piercing) this morning.  It looks a little bit odd (red + swollen) because the hoop was too large to close?  Hahaha

I watched Ben skate for a bit then we hiked up to a big statue of Buddha, which was very cool. A guy there told us to light some incense (he gave us each a stick) and to say a prayer to Buddha.  Neither of us are very religious but I thought it was a nice spiritual moment.?

Saturday 18/02/17

I didn’t sleep very well last night, pretty restless for no real reason?  When I woke up and felt kind of ill. I took a nap and then went to the skate park with Ben for a little bit.

Monday 20/02/17

This morning we woke up and ate breakfast (rice + dal).  My bed was uncomfortable, so I didn’t sleep very well. We stayed for their “opening ceremonies“ which  included these two kids that (awkwardly) danced for probably four minutes straight to music that was being played off of somebody’s phone. It was actually super funny, but no one was really laughing?

Tuesday 21/02/17

I got breakfast alone this morning.  It’s kind of funny; Ben goes to Cafe 17 every morning, because the wifi is fast, and I go to Flying Spirit, because the owner is a humble guy and makes good food for a cheap price.

Ben and I went to the ear piercing place again, because his earring fell out because it was too big to close when he first got it.  His ear was kind of swollen and it seemed painful.

Wednesday 22/02/17

They forgot to give me some ointment for my bite, so we went back to the hospital and picked that up.  Then cruised over and got our Trekkers Information Management System card (TIMS card), which was about Rs.2000 ($19.30).

Thursday 23/02/17

This morning I got some breakfast with Tom at Flying Spirit.  He says it's his favorite cafe too!  Said his uncle is the guy who owns it.  He said it's his actual uncle (his mom's brother), unlike Kusum who is his "brother" (not related brother?).

Friday 24/02/17

Had some fruit for breakfast and then hung out with Ben at his cafe.  He realized all of his money was missing?!  While he was looking for it, I went out and got some souvenirs for friends back home: endless knot T-shirt for my friend Tim, a bracelet for my friend Brooks, a ring with Buddha Eyes on it for myself, and one with the letter B for my friend Bailey.

Ben found most of his money; some was in his coat pockets and some was at the bottom of his bag.  Still a bit that is missing...?  We packed/organized our things for the hike; we leave tomorrow.  I think I am all ready.?

Sunday 05/03/17

This morning we had a light breakfast of coffee and toast while the tire of the Jeep was being fixed.  Finally, we were back on the road.  2 hours of bumping around later, we arrived in Besisharar! 

Our driver didn't speak English very well, so we didn't know how we were to explain that 4 of us (guy with a sprained ankle pained full.  Bless his heart..and ankle) were paying half of what we originally agreed on.  Benny and I gave our driver Rs.1000 ($9.65) each and when he corrected us that we still owed him Rs.1000 ($9.65) more, I tried to explain that it wasn't cool that we had to spend the night in Syange because we were low on money; that's why we were paying him half of what we originally agreed on.

Monday 06/03/17

This morning I FaceTimed my mom and dad, and my friend Adam while I ate at Flying Spirit.

I returned my boots but was a day late, so I only got Rs.525 ($5.07) back 

In reality, I was just too tired and forgot to return them.  But I tried to explain to the guy, "I’m sorry I did not return the boots yesterday.  Sunday is my day of worship and I try to refrain from worldly things, for religious reasons" (not necessarily true to myself, but my family).  He said that it's not his fault I don't do stuff on Sundays, and he wouldn’t have cared if I had returned them.  Again, I tried to argue that Sunday is my day of worship, and although he can do whatever he wishes to on Sundays, I choose not to and he should respect that.

He wouldn’t have it, so I excepted my Rs.525 ($5.07) and walked away frustrated.

Tuesday 07/03/17

Today Marko gave Ben a “helix piercing”, which is a piercing at the top of his ear?  It’s a little dog earring that we found in a shop nearby.

Before we left on our trek, Marko introduced us to his friend Peter Curd, who just opened a bar in Pokhara called The Blind Tiger!  He explained the story behind the name to us: a "speakeasy" was a place that would sell alcoholic drinks in the 1920s-30s (during the prohibition era; when alcohol was banned).  People also called them Blind Pigs and Blind Tigers.  He said he thought Blind Tiger sounded better than Blind Pig, haha.
He's a really cool guy: got lots of interesting stories, life advice, long hair, and a good attitude.  When we asked him where he's from, he said it's hard to answer: he was born in Australia and lived there until he was 14 years old (+/- a year or two?), then he moved to England until he was 18 years old.  When you're growing up, years 0-14 obviously play a big roll in who you are as a person, but so do the later years of 14-18.

Wednesday 08/03/17

This morning Ben skated at the skate park and I read Lolita.
After an hour or so, we went to Peter's and hung out with Marko, Ceara, Karol, Peter, and Isis.  I read in the sun while everybody played cards and some other game that was kind of like tic-tac-toe but with animals?
I talked with them for a bit, then Ben and I went to Aozora for more fried yak cheese (it’s called a cheese full set on the menu).

Thursday 09/03/17

This morning I had an egg and noodles for breakfast and went to Flying Spirit with Tom just to hang out and talk with him and his friend.  He told me about his 3 girlfriends, from China, Australia, and London.  He says the Australian one wants to get married soon but he told me, "I don't want to get married until I'm 40 years or something because I want to get experience with many women".

Friday 10/03/17

It pretty much rained all day: it was very pretty and peaceful.  I kind of just hung out around ours.  Ben took a nap and I went over to Peter's.  This lady called Georgia came over and showed us her new dog that looked like Kristofferson from Fantastic Mr. Fox.  She just rescued it from a village up north.  It was pretty shy, malnourished, hesitant, and probably cold.  It curled up and took a nap below my seat.

Saturday 11/03/17

Woke up and went for a walk around town.  I recognize a lot of shop owners on the street and they recognize me too, because we'll wave to each other, some I'll even stop and chat with.
Ben was at Peter's when I came home: he, Marko, Ceara, Georgia, this kid called Alby, his mom, this guy called Nick (from England), this guy called Timmy (from Kuwait), and Peter were all hanging out at The Blind Tiger.
Not doing anything specific, just kind of hanging out: Timmy had a guitar and was kind of playing/singing.  His music reminded me a bit of Jason Mraz, which was ironic because he said he really liked him a lot!
I think our trip is coming to an end soon which makes me very sad, especially because we are making all of these friends right at the end.

Sunday 12/03/17

This morning I saw Bipana drawing a picture of Le Petit Prince, so I jokingly asked her if she was drawing me and she said, "yes this is for you!"  She asked to see some photos on my phone for inspiration on what else to draw, so I said yes.