Hindi Christmas

  Pokhara, Nepal
December 25, 2014

It has been a wonderful Christmas and Birthday and it all began with a beautiful sunrise in the Himalayas and some Christmas tunes in the background! Yay!



Oh, I forgot to mention, last night while Bill was taking photos of the sunset, he saw a jackal! He snapped a quick photo of him, then he took off (The jackal, not Bill)  



The staff at Gorkha Gaun surprised me with a Birthday cake - a very moist pound cake with a whipped cream icing and oranges from our trip to the village yesterday. It was so charming to have them get so excited and sing Happy Birthday for me. We cut the cake and shared with everyone. What a lovely Birthday celebration!



We had another surprise upon our departure Cake for Everyone!. Sheila presented us with beautiful garlands of marigolds and decorated our foreheads with a vertical line of tilaka, in this case a bright pink powder, which is similar to what you would receive on Ash Wednesday.



Shayam drove us to Gorkha Bazaar (village or market) and through all of the winding streets to the top of a hill. Bimal gave us a tour of the temples and palace of the former King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the one who conquered/united Nepal. The palace is located on a very high point and as a result is relatively quite small.



The first stop on our tour was a spot where there were the footprints of a Guru or the King. We are both unclear who it was now, but it was neat to watch two young boys complete a small ritual in front of the site.



The palace of King Prithvi Narayan Shah has been reconstructed to it's original architecture - red bricks and ornate wooden carvings with gods, goddesses and animals around windows and doors Overlooking the Palace.



Inside the palace grounds there were a few temples. The temple dedicated to the god Guru Gorakhinath was considered very sacred and non-Hindus were not allowed to enter. Outside one temple people sacrifice chickens to honour Hanuman Guru. Outside another temple people sacrifice goats and buffalo - it is dedicated to Kalika, the living goddess. Another temple had an eternal flame.



We walked down the other side of the palace to see the monument for the king who was renowned for mediation and justice. This was the site where people came from all over to allow King Rana Bahadur Shan to give rulings over their issues. The monument has recently been reconstructed since it was previously destroyed by the Maoists.



Further down the stone path there was a small temple where the living goddess would come to stay during her menstruation. A statue of Ganesha was outside the temple, as he protected her while she was here Room with a View.



We had a nice walk partway down the hill where we met Shayam, who drove us to the newer palace which is now a museum. It is closed today because of Christmas, so we just wandered around the grounds before dropping Bimal off at the road leading to Gorkha Gaun.



I had taken some gravol, so I slept for most of our 90 km, 3 hour journey to Pokhara. We were taken to Atithi Resort, but our room was not ready when we arrived. We met Dipak who first took us to have some lunch at a restaurant with a view of the lake and fields where children were playing cricket, football and volleyball. We could also see the paragliders drifting overhead and a couple actually landed in the field. We had a local pan-fried tarayko fish and butter chicken.



After lunch we explored Davis Falls. It is known as Davis Falls because in 1961 a couple went swimming near the falls, then were caught up in a flash flood. Mrs Davis was swept away and killed, so the people have name the falls in her honour At the Palace. It is also known as Devil Falls, because of the spirits of people killed here are lingering in this area.



We opted to skip the visit to the cave today because the place was swarming with many school kids and families. So, we headed back to the hotel and discovered that we were put into a tiny room with two single beds near the restaurant. The door was wafer thin and we could hear lots of noise coming from the hallway. We tried to switch rooms, but they are full, so we will have to stay put until tomorrow.


We met up with Dipak again around 7:30 and we went to dinner at Moon Dance. It is a beautiful spot and TWX surprised us and is buying Birthday and Christmas dinner for us. Bill had the roasted boar and I had the boar stew. It was very good. We met the owner who is a former Sherpa and was previously married to a Canadian. He used to work in Toronto and his son is currently living in Toronto, so we had a great chat with him. We finished our meal with another piece of cake!


Back in the room, the resort has also prepared a Birthday cake for me! Wow, I am definitely getting spoiled today!


Pictures & VideosOffering at the Palace / TempleNice SendoffComments!Breakfast Birthday CakeThe Gorka PalaceMore Impressive CarvingsBirthday GirlBirthday Dinner