Pokhara and Chitwan - Nepal

From Kathmandu I took a bus to Pokhara, to see the lakes. I was super lucky to have a good seat companion, an Australian girl who, to me, looked like Nicole Kidman --she even told me many people had told her about her resemblance with the actress! Well, after a long trip, we made it to Pokhara, and naturally, she wanted beer, so I kiiind of had to join her :) For no particular reason, I wanted to see all Pokhara, so I chose three different hotels to see every corner... the first one was very close to the bus terminal, close to the famous Pokhara lakes I wanted to see so much...

The second hotel was at the farthest end, where the lakes 'start', and my hotel happened to be the coldest place at night. The funny thing was when you wanted to use the restroom at night, because that meant going downstairs, jumping a fence with a lock in it, and literally freezing your butt! (no, no pic of this, hehehehe).

The thirsd hotel was right in the middle of the town, so great for walking to the lakes...

And yes, I know I should have been outside aaaall the time, but somehow, after the hardest part of my volunteering in India, when I got to Pokhara, what my body needed then was to rest and to liiiie down and reaaad...so that's what I did when the days were too cold: I would 'watch' some old movies on TV, order some cheese pizza, drink some juice, and lie down to read and read for hours. It was heaven! Here's a nice story: at the first hotel I ran into Javier Moro's book: Pasión India, one of the books one could 'borrow'....but I was SO into this book, that I could not put it down until I finished it... in Chitwan! where I respectfully returned it ... just at a different hotel, but to my defense, I stress that I did return it, to the same kind of place, in the same country :)

The wait had been worth it: seeing the magnificent Pokhara lake, day after day, made my week!

From Pokhara, I had the chance to either go back to Kathmandu, or make a stop at Chitwan...

Chitwan was very pretty! lots of land decorated by yellow floweres, little huts made of hay, and beautiful children wearing their traditional clothes, which protected from the cold at night. Smiley kids! I stayed at the Butterfly Hotel, very nice place!

Of course, once in Chitwan, there was no time to waste, so I did what one was expected to do: look for elephants! not that I like-like riding animals, but once in Rome.... I met a girl who spoke Spanish because of her mom, who was from Panama, so all we did was laugh from the beginning until the end, because th guides kept telling us we would see all kinds of wild animals and it wasn't until the jungle became veeeery quiet that we heard a rhyno, and we actually got scared! again, only to burst in laughter like little kids again! One thing is sure, though: that was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen on top of an elephant!

Chitwan ...that one unforgettable experience...