Begnas Tal

Today we visited a lake that is near Pokara. We originally planned to do a long hike, but soon discovered that the trails we were looking for had vanished or possibly never existed at all.
We found a boatman who spent a few hours paddling us around the lake and led us on a hike through an interesting village village and a forest to see a smaller and more remote late. It was a quite lovely hike through a very thick forest that was full of constantly singing birds and wildflowers (which weren't singing.) There were also lots of wild fungi, a particular interest of mine as a naturalist. The lake itself was beautiful, and there were views of the Annapurnas. Great day!

Our boatman was a pretty sweet guy. He is 16 and helping to support his family when he isn't in school- he does a lot of boat rowing. He had today off from school because it is Nepali New Year, which happens to almost coincide with the Western New Year this year. He sang us Nepali folk songs as we traveled along. Again, he has a hard situation - he showed us a huge scar on one leg that he got from a bad fall. I am glad we could give him a bit of income; I have no idea of what the Nepali health care system is or what it will be in the future.

Part of the bus ride home was a wild experience. We missed our stop and had to take a second bus to our district. At one point it seemed like they were just trying to see how many people they could get on the us. At one point people were standing in the open doorway and holding on to the bus frame for dear life. (We had seats, fortunately.) Everyone did arrive at their destinations alive and well - but WHEW!

I haven't mentioned this, but we are really eating well on this trip. We get wonderful Nepali and Indian meals for less than $3 a piece. We had Indian tonight - it was quite delicious and very different from the curries and other hotly spiced dishes you get at Indian places in the US. I wouldn't know how to describe it, bit it was yummy!

That's it for now. If any Californians are reading, Please let us know what is happening with the budget hassles in our fair state. And anyone who is reading, give us a YO!

Take care, PG