Farewell to India and Nepal

I have spent exactly one month in the two neighboring countries. This one month has seemed like an eternity, especially when you're living without your typical comforts that a first world country can provide. Despite the lack of comforts and the countless "Hello my friend" or "namaste" greetings followed with an attempt to sell you something, these two countries easily go 1-2 as my favorite countries that I've visited.

Nepal has the most incredible landscapes you will see anywhere in this world with the friendliest people there to guide you. India has an anything goes craziness to it that includes cows grazing in the middle of urban streets, people driving on whatever side of the street they feel like and people hanging from buses or even tuk tuks on their way to work. After visiting and embracing these two countries, I've become greatful of the normalcy and standard of living in my daily life. 

If you're looking for an awesome travel experience, and I emphasize experience come to either of these countries. A good travel experience should make you uncomfortable at times, make you scratch your head and ask WTF at other times but it should also leave you with moments that make you stop everything your doing and wonder with amazement. 

I finished my trek and needed to escape the noise and fumes of Kathamndu after just 24 hours, so I hopped on a bus Pohkara. This bus ride lasted over 8 hours and is comparable in distance from Cincinnati to Columbus. So what is a 1 1/2hour drive in the US becomes 8 when you drive on only half paved roads full of tractors and have to make pit stops to pick up chickens, goats and furniture to deliver to the bus drivers pals along the way. I really wish I had a photo of the goat surfing on top of the bus.

The town of Pohkara is a quaint hippy town on a beautiful lake with plenty of restaurants and souvenir shops that reminded me a bit of Goa. I decided to do a Hatha yoga and meditation retreat on the outskirts of town. The yoga retreat had a set schedule where you woke up at 5:30 am to do some chanting meditation. This was followed by nasal flossing, where you poured salt water through your nose and snorted like a possessed dragon. Once your nose was clean, you performed morning yoga that was focused heavily on breathing. At night, you would do more meditation, a strenuous yoga session and candlelight meditation to clear your mind for sleep. After doing plenty of yoga in India and Nepal, I have to say there is a huge difference between eastern yoga that focuses more on breathing and stretching compared American yoga that revolves around exercise intensity.

The morning view from my room at the yoga retreat.

The breakfast, lunches and dinners were included in the retreat and were absolutely superb. Before each meal we said a prayer to cleanse the food, the utensils and any negative energy from the cooks. Some people were fasting, where on the first day you get two apples per meal and honey water. Day two would be one apple per meal with honey water and day three would be no apples and salt water. 

I was supposed to stay for three days, but the fixed schedule and my exhaustion from trekking we're draining on me and my energy and ended up staying only a day and a half.

Instead I went hiking up to the World Peace Pagoda and visited the local Tibetian refugee camp and it's monestary. 

Breakfast at Mikes Restaurant on the lake with the stupa behind the clouds.

The steps of the stupa

The view from the Stupa.

The monastery at the Tibetian refugee camp.

After a return bus ride, I hung out in Kathmandu and befriended one of the local street food vendors who let us eat in his house while he made veggie momos. 

And I visited the tourist attraction of Dunbar Square.