India and Nepal Adventures: November 2014

Right now, we’re hanging in the Thamel of Kathmandu trying to enjoy our last two full days of our trip. What a bitter, sweet feeling. In this blog post, I have written about our past week in Pokhara as well as some concluding remarks from our India and Nepal backpacking adventure.

Thank you for reading these posts

Before I officially begin writing about the past few days, I want to thank you, the followers of my blog, for taking the time to read about our journey. I’d especially like to thank the people who have complimented me on my writing style because it means a lot to me. I know at times I ramble and sometimes my writing doesn’t make sense, but I appreciate you putting up with the nonsense and somewhat being a part of this journey with us for the past three months.

Pokhara

Like I mentioned in the last blog post, Pokhara is a beautiful city that features a large lake surrounded by hills. The city itself is actually quite large but we only stayed in the touristy area along the lake. The best way I can describe the touristy area of Pokhara is that it is like areas of Florida, with shops and restaurants facing the water, but has a Nepali twist of course with the car honking, and the occasional annoying people who say “madam, look in my shop.”

There were three main highlights to our six days in Pokhara: canoeing on the lake, paragliding, and “happy hour.” One day we decided to paddle around the lake one afternoon and this was quite relaxing. I was able to play music from my phone and I especially loved it because I really enjoy canoeing. On a different day, we decided to go paragliding which was a bit pricey, but we were told that it would be worth it in Pokhara. This was an awesome experience to float above the city with an amazing view of the mountains, the lake, and the surrounding hills. My guide was especially awesome because I learned that she decided to become a professional paraglider at the time when she was married and had a two-year old son. Despite her family’s disapproval, she went for it anyway because she loved the feeling and she is also one of the only (if not the only) female paragliding guide in Pokhara.

Stephanie coming down from paragliding

After paragliding

With the city having a touristy, somewhat Florida-like feel, it also put us in the mood to sit back, relax and have a chilled beer or cocktail while viewing the sunshine over the lake. Conveniently, the place was littered with “happy hour” specials so we were easily able to relax how we wanted to. “Happy Hour” is in quotations because many of the specials were very long with some even being offered from 12:00-8:00. We found this quite comical because we’re normally used to happy hour specials only lasting two hours or so. During this relaxation time however, we were able to read a lot, soak in the scenery, and of course chit chat about various things – mostly reminiscing about stuff over the past four years in our friendship.

Humbling Hills and Mountains

Like all of Nepal, the best part of Pokhara are the surrounding hills. And when the clouds clear a bit you can see the peaks of the Himalayan Mountains poking behind the hills. Being from the flat land of Michigan, it was awesome to see the mountains that seemed to be so close.

Annapurna III Mountain - View from our hotel

One of the reasons people love Nepal so much is because of these hills and mountains. I think it’s because they are so large, luscious in green hills or snow-capped mountains, and are therefore humbling in a way. I think this is because it shows how incredible the earth is in that it took so long for these hills and mountains to form – which began way before humans even existed. To me, it puts things in perspective in a way where it makes me further realize that humans have been on earth for such a short time in comparison to earth’s existence; and for that reason, we should respect the many beautiful elements of the earth that have taken such a long time to form. I’m not sure if I wrote that in a way that makes sense, and it may be one of those situations where you just have to be here to know what I’m talking about.

Concluding remarks from the 13-week adventure

What??? It’s already time for me to wrap things up? It feels like time has flown by and it reality hasn’t fully set in that it all ends in two days. But whether I like it or not, it’s time to do some major reflecting regarding the past 13-week backpacking adventure.

Here are the things I learned/realized during this time traveling:

· There are many likeminded people to me in this world

Like I said in the last blog post, one of the best parts of this trip is meeting such awesome people from around the world. Through many different conversations with these awesome people, I have realized that there are many people in this world with similar values as me. When at home, this is sometimes difficult to remember because I can sometimes get dragged down by what is portrayed in the media and further acted upon by the people at home. But I feel rejuvenated to know that there are people from across the world who do not want to listen to the media nonsense and rather do their best to try to improve the world. I want to say I knew this before this trip, but it really does feel nice to witness this first-hand with the many new friends I now have.

· Natural bodies of water are very therapeutic to me

I knew I loved being near water before this trip but I didn’t realized to the extent of this love until this trip. From the lake in Udaipur, to the Ganges River in Rishikesh, and especially the lake in Pokhara, I felt a wave of “calm” float through me just at the site of these bodies of water. I also seemingly couldn’t stop talking about how much I loved talking about it to Stephanie and then would smother her in stories from my experiences at my family’s lake in Michigan from the past 22 years. My experience sort of growing up on the lake in Michigan, along as my time on a swim team when I was younger, oh, and also the many summers spent at pools or water parks, has fostered this feeling I have and it’s interesting to realize now.

· I better understand why people have a strong desire to have their own children

Four months ago, I had no desire to have my own kids and if anything, I would adopt kids. However this trip has allowed me to take a step back regarding this whole thing and I think I have a better understanding of why people want to be parents and how they can be consumed in their children’s well-being. Before, I thought having kids was a bunch of nonsense because why should I feel that I need to bring something into this already overpopulated world? But now I have a new perspective and I can’t quite describe it…but it’s different. Don’t worry though, this doesn’t mean I’m rushing to have kids by any means. Hell, I’m way too selfish to have kids right now and I definitely don’t even want to get married any time soon. All I’m trying to say is that it all makes more sense to me now.

· I want to continue my career as an engineer

For the past year or so, I’ve been toying with the idea of pursuing my career in a different area other than engineering. This is because I wasn’t sure if engineering was actually a good fit for me because I also like the “big picture” sort of management and do not get excited about engineering equations and whatever. But I think I actually do enjoy the field of engineering because I really enjoy figuring out how things work and also thinking of new ways for things to work better. I think my “big picture” mindset will also be a huge asset in my future…where ever it ends up going. So I’m super stoked about my upcoming internship with Bridges to Prosperity in Nicaragua for six-months and we’ll see where life takes me after!

· My family and friends are incredible

I would not be who I am today if it were not for my incredible friends and family, many of whom have also been sort of mentors to me as well. I feel like I’ve mentioned this before in other blog posts but I really am thankful for these amazing people in my life. I often reflect the various milestones I’ve been through in my life and the people who have helped me along the way and I am amazed each time with how privileged I have been to have such amazing people in my life. My mom, sister and grandma have especially been rocks throughout my whole life and I couldn’t thank them enough for the support they have given me – even when I was a “sass monster” at times. I was also lucky to gain a group of awesome friends during my last few years in college and they became like sisters to me. Stephanie, Heidi, Taos and Ashley are such amazing people and I am grateful for their existence in my life. And there too many other people to mention too! I feel like I would be typing for the next three hours if I continued so I guess I’ll just stop here. But thank you everyone, seriously!!!

Various Comments

· So long, hairy legs. Because I was not here to impress anyone, I didn’t shave my legs for 13-weeks. I was mostly curious to see what it would be like and I’ll be honest, I really didn’t like it. I felt like a barbarian. But luckily my self-discipline won this case and I lasted the whole time so I feel accomplished. Today however, it all disappeared during my first leg-waxing session and although it was the worst pain I’ve had in a long time, I’m glad it’s over and done with. The waxing session followed with a deep-tissue massage which also made the experience a lot better.

· So long, Nepali eye candy. The majority of Nepali men are very beautiful with their diverse features. Many also have this interesting sort of “swag” and Stephanie and I have enjoyed seeing so many beautiful people. Nepali eye candy, you will be missed, but I’ll luckily see you in nine months or so! American boys, I expect you to step up your game by the time I come back.

· Spain, here I come! Stephanie and I leave Nepal on Friday, have a long layover in Delhi and then fly to Amsterdam together, from there we will split for the first time in 90 days where she will return to the Mitten and I will go to Spain for a week to visit my friend, Ben. I won’t continue the blog during this time though for two reasons. 1. The name of the blog is “India and Nepal Adventures,” not “India, Nepal and Spain” adventures. 2. I don’t want to. I hope to soak up my short time in Spain and I don’t feel there’s a need to write about my short time there.

· China feels like such a long time ago. I almost forget that I was in China for five weeks prior to this trip. That was also an awesome and interesting experience and it reinforces how lucky I have been these past few weeks to experience such different places

· The “things not to do while abroad” list…everyone’s aware of this list: don’t go in dark, unfamiliar areas, don’t trust strangers with your belongings, don’t get tattoos, don’t get piercings, etc. Luckily, we were smart with all of these things except one…five weeks ago while in Rishikesh, India Stephanie and I both got two cartilage ear piercings. I was too chicken to tell anyone at home because I was afraid it would get infected sometime during the trip and then I would hear a big “I told you so.” But thankfully, we haven’t had any problems and now that we’re coming home, we might as well let it be known.