Help Nepal

DEC, the Disasters Emergency Committee is a coalition of 13 different aid charities.  If you want to donate money to help the Nepal earthquake crisis or any other crisis it's best not to just blindly donate money, check where your money will go to first and how it will be spent.  Often aid money goes through the wrong channels and is misspent, wasted and eaten up in admin which is what happened with the Haiti earthquake appeal, that's why a coalition of charities might be best to ensure funds are dispersed more effectively.  As far as I can see DEC looks like an appropriate organisation to donate to.  You could also consider the Oxfam appeal who are building a multi stage plan starting with providing clean water and sanitation to those who have been displaced.

Not forgetting several other humanitarian crisis in the world such as Syria, Sudan, Gaza and the island of Vanatu in the South Pacific Ocean which was devastated by Cyclone Pam last month.
You can spare £10 or just a fiver right?  What's that?  a bottle of wine?
I have today donated £12 to the Nepal appeal with DEC and £8 to the Vanatu appeal with Oxfam.  I doubt I'll even notice, I'd only fritter it away otherwise!

oxfam.org/en/emergencies/cyclone-pam

monks and monasterys

Weds 23rd
Back in Pokhara
Tibetan refugee camp and monastery
Wow! and interesting day taking in lots of different places.  We got back from Sarangot, had some breakfast (Tibetan bread drizzled with honey is our new addiction) then hired bikes to get us about for the day.  Bikes were 250 rupees for the whole day so didn't bother haggling the price.  We cycled the dusty roads along an obstacle course of pot holes to old town Pokhara where I naively expected  to find quaint traditional streets a bit like Kathmandu old town but after cycling around trying to find it we realised we'd already seen it.  There's not much in the way of attractions and landmarks but its still interesting to see local life away from the tourist trappings of Lakeside.
I ate some dodgy food from a little fly infested cafe near the bus station, a samosa and some lukewarm chickpea curry, its a miracle I'm still alive to write this!  The meal cost 30 rupees so for 24 pence i could afford to eat there everyday for the rest of my life and never work again although this calculation is made much easier by my significantly reduced life expectancy.  Becci wisely didn't fancy anything and went hungry all day.
Next we cycled on to a Tibetan monastery, it was a uphill all the way and quite difficult riding with a bike that only has high gears which randomly change when riding over bumps.  On the upside we both have a bell on our bike which keeps us amused all the way there, tring! tring!  We reached what we thought was the monastery we were looking for, it wasn't but turned out to be a good find.  As we reach the gates a young student monk in red robes lets us through and then guides us round the monastery's school.  There's no other tourists here whatsoever so we feel lucky to see all the genuine goings on behind the scenes,

World Peace Pagoda

Thursday 17th - Pokhara - World Peace Pagoda
boat trips - 1,  cost of meal for 2 in rupees - 135,  yeti sightings - 0.5
Thought I spotted a yeti walking through Lakeside East today, an unlikely sighting which did turn out to be a false alarm, just a very hairy man who's probably just got back from a long trek and not shaved.
Had a great day today.  Started with a rowing boat across the lake to get to a steep trail through forested hills leading up to the World Peace Pagoda.  About 45-60 minutes to hike up there and the reward at the top is an impressive white Pagoda with a huge gold Buddha and amazing views looking down to the lake and Pokhara on one side and paddy fields on the other side.  Took a different route down to take a longer walk right round the other side of the lake.  Some small children stoped us on the way down "hallo! chocla? chocla?"  we didnt have any but they liked having their photo taken so they could see it on the screen and all burst out laughing.  We stopped at a town at the bottom and had some samosas, pokhoras, curry and chapatis - very tasty so we asked for more, including some drinks the bill was 135 rupees (about £1), so cheap I thought it was a mistake at first.
Went to Devis Falls next, a big powerful waterfall hat has carved a deep vertical hole in the rock.  On the way back to lakeside we took a walk through some rice fields where we found medieval fairytale like scenery complete with workers harvesting by hand, thatched huts, schoolchildren skipping by and a little red temple on a ridge overlooking the fields.  The path then leads us to a high rope bridge over the river which swung about when we walked on it, Bec didnt want to walk over it but sorry Bec its the only way across!
Dark by the time we got back, spent a bit of time haggling in the tourist shops for a backpack for Bec to use when trekking, had momos and curry for tea then bed to get rested for trekking tomorrow.
(blogged retrospectively from diary)

Pokhara

Wednesday 16th.  Bus to Pokhara
Yesterday I rang some prayer bells at a shrine somewhere in kathmandu old town, praying to the god of this particular shrine is said to be beneficial to your eyesight.  Excellent I thought, took a moment to mumble a little prayer and rang the bells.....
I woke up this morning relieved that I hadn't disposed of all my contact lenses.
Up bright and early to get the 7am bus to Pokhara.  Had to wake up Rat the guesthouse manager so we could pay our bill, oops maybe I should have settled up yesterday.  Bus journey takes around 7-8 hours, its a bit uncomfortable with the road being so bumpy but the magnificent scenery more than makes up for it.  Arrived in Pokhara and the manager from Hotel Nirvana who I had emailed in advance has come to pick us up from the bus park, Its probably partly to make sure that the gaggle of hotel touts waiting for the bus dont steal his customer but maybe also because he's a nice man.  The hotel is good and we have a room on the 3rd floor at the top "with mountain views" which I imagine would be lovely if it wasnt so cloudy, seems a bit silly to be paying extra for it but maybe we'll wake up to blue sky and mountains in the morning.  One thing we do have though is almost warm water, so what? you might think but it was impossible to shower in the ice cold water in the last place (normal due to powercuts etc.)  aaaahhhh a slightly cold nearly warm shower, lovely!
Went for a wander and got