Nepal , Again,And I Love It !!!!!!

Hello ,hello and ..hello after all this time!!!
Yes its been about 2,5 months since my last post,but,i have a really good excuse this time.!!I was away for a month and a half on my annual busines trip.Nepal and India.And though i dont really have that much free time now,since i have to put in my shop all the new stuff i bought,i thought of writting a few lines ,just to "clean" the rust of my fingers.

I was hoping that i will be able to post my impressions while in Nepal or India,but it was really hard to manage.You see,every year ,Nepal has less and less electricity.3 years ago they had blackouts 3 times a week,last year about 8 hours each day.This year blackouts were everyday for 16 hours!!!!!So,it was almost impossible to sychronise my free time there, with the "power on " time.

Nepal is having hard times ,people are trying to produce goods and sell them ,but without electricity this is really hard.Most of the time we couldnt order the items we wanted cause they didnt have enough time to make them.And since the only thing that Nepal has to offer right now is tourism,business is not going very well.There were times that you could see desperation in their faces,but since Nepal is ...Nepal,this desperation was not lasting long.Their faces were ready to smile as soon as possible !!

It will be decision time for Nepal,as some friends told me ,Nepal has to decide if it will "surrender" to India or China,cause alone there s no way surviving.
3 years ago they were trying to get rid of their King and bring the Maoists, now ,some wish that King will return,though now the King enjoyes the wealth that has "collect" through the years ,living now at his villas and getting more rich from his hotels.3 years ago there were Maoist guerrilas trying to knock down the king,now there are guerrilas trying to knock down the Maoists!!!.........


Other than this, everything was almost like last year,only this time there were so many policemen and army on the streets,it seemed like half of the country found a job in the army .But this is happening all over the world,i mean nowdays there are all kind of policemen and each year are becoming more and more.Is something we will have to get used to (i mean only if we want to get used to!!!).More police, more cameras, more control.State terror against "terrorist" terror.

Anyway,Nepal despite the noise and the pollution was great also this year.Even Sofia my wife, that freaked out a bit the first days,she finaly loved it.It was her first visit and the images were too strong at first,but 10 days later she was feeling comfortable with the whole situation,so we decided that she stays 5 days more from the original plan.
We went to see Bodanath and the big stupa,we went in the monasteries to watch the ceremonies,really wonderfull feeling,watching the young monks (ages of 8,10,12)trying to be serius ,but at the same moment making jokes and playing carefully so that the "headmonk" willnot see them,though he was able to see them all the time, but he could understand , they are also children.

We went to see Swayabonath, the monkey temple, with the monkeys crazy as always, with no fear for the visitors ,trying to grab and steal any plastic bag from the unsuspicius tourist.

We went to Pashupatinath, to see how they celebrate Shivaratri, Shivas birthday.The place was full of Sadhus, holy men,and the smell of ganja was all over the place.Is the only day officialy,that the use of cannabis is allowed, and the Sadhus are the official dealers there.A lot of them had plastic bags stuffed with grass and they were smoking and selling.

And Bagmati,the holy river that flows through Pashupatinath, the river that accepts the ashes of the dead after they are burned ,had nothing to do with holiness.The water was so less, and the dirt and the pollution so much ,that you were feeling sick just by looking at it.Some days later i had the chance to drive by this river for 2-3 km while it crosses Katmandu city,and it was the worst sight i ve ever seeen, mountains of garbage in it, dead animals floating,black water,and the smell....oh my God,the smell was so awfull....

And finnaly we went to Pockhara .Sofia ,as i, loved Pockhara and the hotel we stayed.Pockhara for us is the oasis after the "Katmandu Run".There is no shopping to do there,is just relaxing and enjoying the silence and the view of the Dhaulagiri-Annapurna-Manaslu-Himalayan range!!!Is the place were you can take really deep breaths, and drink the tap water.Going around with the boat in Fewa lake,or walking in the forest.
Our hotel is our small personal paradise in Nepal.I mean the place is the total definition of Feng Shuei.Just by beeing there you can feel so good you dont want to go elsewhere.The garden is wonderful with so many flowers and trees ,and since last year, theres also an olive tree from Greece that i brought as a gift,and thousands of butterflyes.Theres so much tranquility there, and in combination with the view,is the perfect place for relaxation or meditation.
The owners are a wonderful couple,Vishnu from Nepal and Harumi from Japan.This year there was also Harumi's mother, a sweet 85 years old Japanese woman,and their 2 beautiful daughters.


"To be continued"...:)