Heading Home, Poon Hill Trekkers

After our great trek we headed back to Pokhara for some rest, sightseeing and shopping. On Friday 17th we, Kylie, Dean, Jason, Dot, Julie, Matt, and myself travelled by minibus to Kathmandu. The trip was quite an eye opener. Because we hired a bus we did not have to endure a slow uncomfortable trip in a local bus, we also had a chance to see some more of the real Nepal and more of the poverty. On the road side in some places were sheets of poly fabric flimsy making a makeshift shelter as mothers breast fed their children on the road shoulder or were cooking on a kero stove. There were a number of serious car and bus accidents on the road side including the shell of a truck that 2 had dies in a number of days earlier. We also had a great vista of the valley(s) between Pkohara and Kathmandu as the road winded its way up and down the river valley.


We arrived at our hotel in Thamel about 2.30pm after a trip through the industrial outskirts of Kathmandu where bricks and cement blocks were made. At that point I was thinking I did not want to spend another 5 days in a city with so much pollution. That afternoon Dot left the team to join her Intrepid group to travel through India. On Saturday morning the rest of the team took a flight around Everest had breakfast at the hotel and headed to the airport for home.



Over the next 5 day I had a chance to venture to 2 fair trade shops at Lazimpat and talk to the staff about fair trade and the current political situation in Nepal and buy various item, Pashminas etc, for family. I also travelled to Patan by bus to hunt down a really beautiful cast bronze bear and cat for gifts. Patan is the centre of the cast bronze craft in Nepal the main items cast are Buddhist and Hindu sacred items and some erotic items which some tourists seem to buy.



I also spent hours walking through the narrow winding streets (lanes) past Thamel the tourist area. Once you leave Thamel the tourists disappear. The architecture is a mish mash of crumbling traditional old buildings, new and partially completed buildings. The lane ways wind through the city with markets, stall, and sellers competing for any free space to set up and sell their products anything from garlic to hair clips and fruit juice. The sound of loud high pitched vehicle horns, the heat, the throngs of locals, the smells of garbage, and the polluted air which can be really hard to breathe can all be overwhelming at times and more so when you have a chest infection.



On Tuesday I ended up in a Pashmina shop while the owner was showing his wares to 2 Australians who were talking of buying a number to take home. After about an hour he pulled out the most expensive pasmmina in the shop. The best quality, it was transparent, and so thin, and had intricate hand embroidery all over which he said took 2 women a year to complete. He was asking US$ 5,000.00 . The next day I ended up buying an embroidered cashmere shawl for a much smaller price.





On Wednesday I headed to the airport for my flights home (which I was unable to check in online)



posted 25th April by John