After a month and a half in the beautiful mountains of Mc Leod, it was time to go. A nice dinner on Jimmy's balcony with the new friends I made, with more gifts, a burgandy and orange lama (teacher) bag colors of the monks robe, a notebook, a wooden rosery offered by the computer students, and a special gift from Choeyang, I left for Nepal.
The trip started with a 4 hours bus ride to Pathenkot, and a 30 hours train ride to Gorhakur. The train was 6 hours late, so the Israeli couple
I was with spent the night sleeping on the floor of the train station amongst the many travellers also waiting. The train ride was a sweaty, crowded and dirty one. As the sweat drips leaving marks on the skin, the landscape moves from flat agricultural land, to the brick makers, and the green fields. "I love you"s and other sweet words mix with the landscapes, passing and changing like dreams of once upon a time.
Arrival at 6 in the morning in Gorakhur, a transit city for travellers going to Nepal. Busy and dirty, we catch a ride in a jeep to Saunali, the border city. After changing some Indian Rupees into dollars and signing at the Indian immigration table, we pass to the other side, where we fill out the papers a nd pay for the Nepalese visa, 30 $ for 2 month and a photo id.
As soon as the border is passed, I smell a familiar sensation: freedom, wilderness and the untamed. It reminds me of Mexico, as i remember the pleasure i had each time I entered mexico years ago. If the little I saw of india did not yet touch my heart, Nepal right away makes me feel at home. A 9 hours bus ride through amazing mountains, rivers and green lush hills will take me to Pokhara. Whispers of past love come in and out, passing as they come, as if from a previous life. Love never disappears they say, it merely transforms. During the bus ride, tired, sweaty and smelly, I am reminded of why I travel and the sense of utter bliss which wild open road can take. Alone on the bus, jumping and bumping from the road and turns, I breathe liberty and awe at the chance to travel the world.
Arrived in Pokhara, night time, I choose one of the many guest house hustlers waiting for the tourists. "Not all at once" i say in the loudest tone of voice I have had since the begining of this trip, "You" as i point to the one on my right. A short bike ride later, I am in a room on Lake Side. After a well deserved shower and change of clothes, I go for the first restaurant i find.
The almost 3 days of travel with a few bananas, some coconut and corn bought on the bus, and the pack of lycheese juice the monks had offered me had made me hungry. I sit and enjoy a Nepalese dhal and rice, chatting with a Chilian man travelling through Asia. A good night sleep will do me well.
Morning wake up to a glorious view of the lake, surrounded by high mountains. The moosoon starting, it is low season. The tourists are few, which gives a nice hommy feeling to the town. The nepalese feel very different from the Hindus, a mix of hindouism, bouddhism and ancient rites floats in the air. Religion is not overbearing, it is here a way of life. Nepalese seem comber than Hindus, not trying to sell something at every step you take. The women are freer, some young men are tatooed wearing 80's music tshirts, no one pays attention to you, or so little.
After a couple days at my hotel, I move to the Pokhara buddhist center, where on friday a retreat cession of 3 days started. Before the session, a young french couple from Toulouse which I had met at the Paris India embassy, Hari, the tattoo artist, a nepalese and i walked to the Gompa on top of the mountains. It was raining, and the leeches were out for a picnic. Having not planned the walk, the leeches loved my uncovered feet, nesting in between my toes and making leeches jam.
3 days of meditation, lectures, yoga and discussion with a wonderful teacher. In the class, Michelle, a 24 year old woman who just finished a year teaching english in Vietnam, and Aspen a serious and very quiet Buddhist 27 year old taxi driver from Norway. Baba (fictitious name), a french man stops the cession after the first class. The teacher, getting the courses introduced asks each of us: what is religion? What is meditation? What is religion? What is god?
After the first class, Baba and i have a conversation, and he seems offended at the question: what is god? "I dont know what is god!!! " he exlaims!! I mention how valid i find the question.
If we want to talk about certain subject matters, the first logical step would be to define what we mean when we use the words we use. I found his reaction quite funny, especially since he had been dealing with the world of psychedelic therapies for a few years, which usually pretend to deal with the spiritual aspects of life.
"Just as in Samsara, so also in Nirvana too.
Except Samsara, there is nothing else that once could call Nirvana"
Tara teachings.
The 3 days were a wonderful and inspiring time. Now over with, I will stay at the center and enjoy their library, full of buddhist books, especially Tibetan ones. When we can, in the morning, Michelle and I do a sitting meditation and then yoga in the gopa, making for a fresh day. She reminds me of a dear friend of mine, Racheal, and since you are reading this, i send you big kisses.
I finally got myself a cover up for an old tattoo with Hari. I now am wearing a blue lotus as well as a lovely buddhist garden inhabited by a few animal friends.
Tonight, i am writting on Michelle's laptop, as she was nice enough to let me use it. Sitting in my little room, with music from her Itune, I sit in peace, surrounded by the never ending sound of the many crickets and insects of the emerald hills, aunts crawling on my legg and the geckos singing their songs. The heat is heavy and humid, getting ready for tonight's rain which will echos on the thin metal roof. This using a labtop in such an environement gives a whole new sensation to the experience, which makes me think that travelling with a laptop would be a great way to travel and do some writing.
Next step will be Kathmandou, where I should meet up with a friend from Aarhus and his girlfriend. Until then, Buddhist lectures, talks with the locals I meet, tourists and the center's monk Ven. Losang Yeshe. This morning we went to the Tibetan refugee center where we met with the foundator monk of the Pokhara monastery Choeding Rinpoche. Now an older man, he sat there exemplifying true compassion with a smile and laughs, spoking to us about Patience as being the antidote against anger, and the value of practicing a good heart.
On this hot and muggy night, i send lots of love to those reading those words and those who are not.
I thank my mam and my grandmother for having financially allowed for this trip to happen, my dad for the plane ticket and his help, Odden for having been the prime motivator of this journey, the wonderful people I meet along my path and the many others who along the way have made this possible, and thank you to those leaving comments as it is very nice. Sorry if i do not reply to some mails, but as any of you who have travelled in non tech internet time can be limited.
"To realize the Ultimate is not to abandon the mundain but to learn to see it with "the eye of wisdom""
Madhyamaka.
Love,
Sally