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Day 146 - 150
Another school holiday - Muslim Christmas. They're just making it up now.
Fabulous packages arrived again from the UK - lovely Christmassy stuff from little Hana Murray including advent calendars - you're so thoughtful! Fabby stuff from my friend Adu - lovely books for me, Fern and Rufus, a DS game for Clover (she ran around screaming with joy). Another amazing parcel from my in-laws, again full of thoughtful presents. What lovely people I have, I will never forget all this kindness.
Auntie Paula arrived and after a couple of days pottering around Kathmandu looking at temples we headed for Pokhara. A perilous 8 hour bus trip to get there, starting at 6am - we were told 6 hours - and to be greeted by a hotel that had had 'a mix up' and I had no room. Fuming we stormed around for a few minutes until I sat Auntie Paula down in a coffee shop with a large cake and went looking for an alternative by myself. I managed to quickly secure us the worst room in Pokhara for £6 a night and cheerfully returned. The manager took a shine to Paula even though she was in a foul mood, followed her around constantly trying to please her and asked for her address so he could write to her after she had gone home. 1 Glebe Street, London I think was the reply.
A quiet meal which poor Paula sobbed through - she is currently heartbroken - and then I persuaded her to come to 'Ladies Night - Free Cocktail for every lady' at Club Paradiso, hoping she might meet a nice 'lady'. A weak Screwdriver, 90's tunes and middle aged local men dancing in jumpers - it was astonishingly bad but it sure cheered her up to see how awful life could be. So we went home, read our books and put the light out at 9.30pm like a couple of old spinsters. Up early the next day for breakfast by the lake and then the 'hiring of the rowing boat' began. Paula wasn't happy as I rocked up, took a boat and happily got in it without a clue what to do or where we were going. She needs time to think things through. Anyway we bickered loudly and then she got in and off we went. 45 minutes later we arrived at the bank on the other side. A 3 hour hike (I moaned all the way) to the World Peace Pagoda - a beautiful sight. Paula had agreed to buy me a beer if I made it - and she was as good as her word. It was a really nice day in the end. The next day we were back early for a 9 hour bus ride back to Kathmandu for a couple of quieter days. Fortunately Paula found an Australian love-interest on the bus home so her staring and giggling at the Antipodean athletic goddess and me shouting 'my mate fancies you' kept us more than occupied for the whole journey.
I thought I would book a weekend of extreme sports for Auntie Paula as I know this is her favourite thing ever. Again we set off at 5am with fleeces on, flasks of coffee and beaming smiles - to be greeted by many over-enthusiastic European adrenaline junkies doing stretches and wearing t-shirts saying 'I ran the world's fastest 10k', 'I've done the world's highest Bungy' and 'I climbed Everest in my slippers'. Paula's face was a picture. The company we booked with, 'The Last Resort' are Nepal's finest adventure company and had a resort on the Tibetan border. Our friends from Australia came too with their daughter so we all set off in high spirits, the kids all particularly excited. 3 hours later and me, Paula and Fern were turfed out at the 'White Water Rafting' activity and the bus with Rufus and Clover and the Aussies trundled on to the resort. I had told Paula we were white water rafting on Nepal's fastest river but I don't think she believed me until she had a helmet on and was holding a paddle. During the safety briefing when the instructor told us all how to manage the death of another participant, Paula asked 'How often do people fall in?' 'Yes' was the answer. We knew English was going to be a problem but we set off anyway.
And it was fab! Fern had a ball and has discovered a love of river sports which I will happily indulge. We stopped for a lovely picnic by the river bank although Paula was a bit upset as they washed the fruit and vegetables in river water; she ate them anyway. After lunch Fern had to get out and walk for a bit as we went through 'grade 3' rapids which were deemed unsafe for my little girl. So she watched from the side as we battered through the pure white water - and headed promptly for a rock. The boat was thrown to the right - and Auntie Paula fell straight out. A nice Japanese man pulled her straight back in - I had cramp at that moment and couldn't help (actually I wasn't really looking). When I realised she had gone a panic came over me - 'well that's dinner ruined tonight I thought, she's going to have a massive gob on her and we're all going to have to go home'. But she emerged soaked, shocked and grinning. It was incredible, she shrieked! She did get a real fright but barely registered she was drowning when she was saved. So it added to her experience of white water rafting and assuaged her fear of extreme sports. She was a real brave wee trooper but I thought, if she wants to buy the t-shirt now after her scathing comments about extreme sports enthusiasts, I'm going to slap her.
It was dark when we arrived back in the resort and we were whisked to our tent. Not luxury, but extremely nice and the resort itself was beautiful. We had to enter the resort by crossing a wobbly suspension bridge 160m in the air so I screamed and shouted and clutched Fern all the way over. Thank god it was dark. Rufus and Clover had had a lovely day relaxing. Rufus had climbed a mountain looking for a friend's shoe and Clover had entertained little Bianca all day, to the joy of her parents. She was a bit cross when I turned up, armed with Maths textbooks as they were missing a day of school. Several sums later, the book and pen were hurled in the air and Clover had stomped off. Fern diligently sat and worked through hers with method and discipline. In fact when she returned to get it marked I had lost interest and was at the bar. Only kidding, Fernie, 100%! Then she sat on the grass reading Macbeth and I gave up. Actually we had an entirely alcohol free weekend as it doesn't sit well with our newly discovered joy of adrenaline-fuelled extreme sports. The next day we were all up early to watch Rufus do Asia's highest bungy and canyon swing through a narrow gorge. Despite my reservations about him doing something so stupid after his recent bout of ill-health, in true form - he did it anyway. And in spectacular style. He screamed like a big girl during the swing but had composed himself by the time of the bungy, where he sprang off in a swallow dive. And he did get the t-shirt. I spent most of the day panicking about crossing the bridge again to get the bus home - this time in daylight. A massage helped, my first in three years! I don't really like them though and should really stop booking them thinking 'this will be nice'. They're not nice. They're creepy and painful and I am hugely self conscious and I spend the whole time with thoughts and ideas and plans buzzing through my head and can't relax at all. Still I thanked the girl, paid her and limped off.
Brilliant weekend though, thanks to everyone who participated.
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