Nepal and India are different countries.

Nepal and India are very different countries, going to a new country always surprises me, I wouldn’t have thought that Nepal was that different to India, it’s right next to it, you just hop across a land border that isn’t very strict, the first place I went too could actually have been India, but now where I am looks very different indeed. Where I am now is one of the most beautiful places i’ve ever seen.

After Lumbini I went to a town called Pokora, which was beautiful, but it was quickly becoming something bland as the local people more and more get them *ker-ching*! cartoon dollar signs in their eyes at the influx of tourists. I guess since i’m a tourist i’m half to blame for these places changing. There are so many hotels in Pokora, and so many shops selling tourist trinkets and clothes. Also I got a shave in a barber shop and they tried to charge me 400 rupees for it, since the type of tourist that goes to Pokora doesn’t question so much when presented with a price, I did question it, I shouted at the guy and gave him 50 rupees, he hung his head and accepted it without argument. I wonder what would happen to places like Pokora if the tourists stopped coming, I have seen such a place, it was in Sumatra in Indonesia, Lake Toba. It was full of desperate people who had put too much money into their tourist shops and hotels, they were desperate for your custom, running out into the road when they saw you coming, even when I was coming towards them on a motorbike. Putting all your eggs in one basket springs to mind, a possibly temporary basket. Still, I stayed in Pokora for one month, the main thing that kept me there was a free wifi signal in my room It was great to catch up with many friends and download a whole bunch of new movies. I feel like I didn’t stay a day longer or a day shorter than I would have liked, I stayed there the perfect amount of time. I interneted, I juggled and I drew, I was very content.

A buffalo (Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. The previous sentence is actually grammatically correct, anyone understand it?). And the next picture is from Lumbini, where I stayed before I went into the vipasanna retreat, all that time ago.

A couple of kids who wanted their picture taken, this was in Lumbini also.

This is the centre of Lumbini, near where lord Buddha was born. On either side of the canal all the way along it are buildings from each Buddhist country, all representing their form of Buddhism quite peacefully together.

There’s me on the bus leaving Lumbini. And some kids along the way.

Here are two beautiful scenes from Pokora. In that second picture you can see a bamboo thicket, it looks like a bunch of green dreadlocks sprouting out of the ground, surprised me when I first saw bamboo like this.

This is Ashok, a friend I made in Pokora. He was cycling round Nepal spreading the word of Jesus, he was rather niave but he had a good heart. And there’s me, this is the best picture I got, since Ashok was taking it, he would look through the view finder but I don’t think he knew why he was, since he clearly wasn’t paying attention to what he was seeing in there. I’ve witnessed a lot of local people doing this type of thing with a camera, just pointing it towards what they want to take a picture of and then they hope for the best.

Me and Ashok rented a scooter for a day, drove around to see the sights of Pokora, Ashok had a wash in this small waterfall, and the sun burned my hands as I rode the scooter.

This is Davis falls, its called Davis falls as a lady called Mrs Davis from Switzerland (or maybe it was Sweden) was swimming in the river further up and suddenly heavy rain further along caused a surge in water and it washed her down the falls, they found her body some miles ahead a few days later. The waterfall drops down a hole in the ground, going through a cave complex before coming out again somewhere else.

I like these pictures, one focused on the frog, one focused on the reflection.

This is the exit from a cave system in Pokora, you enter the caves through an easy entrance, walk and stumble along a very slippy uneven passageway, then you see light above you and your expected to climb up and through a very small gap to get out, it wasn’t easy and further back in the caves I had overtaken a fat Indian lady who was slipping and falling a lot, if she could even lift herself up there is no way she would fit throught that small gap, im sure she would have had to turn back, to leave through the entrance in shame (although in India its not that shamefull to be overweight, the guys like it apparently).

About 5 days ago I decided to leave Pokora. Free wifi couldn’t keep me in this tourist hot spot any longer. The hotel manager of the hotel I was in had taken to drinking, when I first came he was sober, but a few weeks previous some friends of his came and he drank a day away with them, they left and he carried on drinking. He was a good guy, we had quite a few good conversations talking about worldly topics, he was quite smart, I never found out why he suddenly took up constant drinking, but he became a bit of a pest, like drunks can become. As soon as I had decided to leave I became excited, getting on busses, looking for hotels, exploring new towns. Great stuff. I didn’t know where to go though, I looked through my guide book but I had no idea. I looked at a map and saw a town called Gorkha, I liked the name so I decided to go there.

To get to Gorkha I caught the local bus to Pokora town centre, knocking back offers from the hotel staff to take their taxi, (200rs taxi, 13rs bus). Then I did a familiar walk backwards and forwards as local people directed me in all directions to the bus to Gorkha. It never ceases to amaze me how mood changing it is to leave a place, it always brightens me right up, not that I was feeling bad in any way, just when the bus set off I was very lifted, watching the scenery change out of the window. Nepal really is a very different country to India. It’s very green for a start, there are some green places in India, but a lot of it is dry and dusty.

After a very pleasant 5 hour bus journey we arrived in Gorkha, it looked a little busy, but it was small and quaint, such a change also to the touristy Pokora.

This is the view from my hotel roof in Gorkha. As you can see, Gorkha is in the clouds, reminds me of Silent Hill, that atmospheric horror computer game.

It feels very special being in the clouds like this, it’s because its the monsoon season, which makes me think of the people in India who told me that its the wrong time to go to Nepal as it is the monsoon season. If I didn’t come I wouldn’t have seen scenes like this! All seasons have their rewards thats for sure.

The main attraction of Gurkha is a temple on top of the ridge high above Gorkha town. To get there you walk up 1500 steps, past many beautiful little houses. In the temple which is called Gorkha Durbar they sacrifice animals daily, even though its a Hindu temple and normally Hindu’s are vegetarian, they make an expection for the Godess Kali, they slaughter the animals for her and then eat the flesh not wanting to waste it I guess. Whilst there I saw a guy behead a goat in one quick swish of a sword, and a saw 5 chickens get slaughtered, I then watched a guy butcher them expertly. I didn’t get pictures because they wanted 200rs to do that.

Some scenes from the 1500 steps to the temple.

The stone tablets in that first picture were next to Gorkha Durbar, dunno what they said, all in Hindi innit. And more beautiful clouds and steps.

School girls being taken on a trip to the top. And the chicken’s that later got got.

A beautiful hotel in Gorkha. And the local school.

I left the steps to Gorkha Durbar at one point and found this secluded beautiful house. And more of the steps that kept on going up up up.

I only stayed in Gorkha for one night, since I had decided to head onto a town called Bandipur that I had heard was beautiful, even though Gorkha was beautiful I decided to take the risk, they are only a few hours apart so I casually left Gorkha at 11am, arriving in Bandipur at around 3pm. And Bandipur turned out to be one of the most beautiful places i’ve ever seen. It’s a small village on the top of a ridge, its wonderfully green, tourist niave, in the way that they don’t wild prices for meals and guesthouses. There is no traffic, since the main street was never made for cars. It really is beautiful here, its where I am now. I’ve been here two nights and I feel like staying a lot longer. I’ve mainly been drawing here, eating local food, and last night an English guy who owns a hotel here got me to do a juggling show for the local children. I felt a little nervous doing it, I didn’t really know what to do for a show, i’m sure I bored them a little as I just put some music on and juggled to myself, I guess I should interact with them a little more. It was great though, to join in with the society here like this.

This is the view from the roof of my guesthouse. Magic place hey!

And that’s the Nepal i’ve seen up to now, it really is very different to India! I had no idea!

Look forward to your comments!

Where to after here? I’m not sure, maybe I stay in Bandipur for a few weeks, drawing and juggling