What I'm going to give you now is a combination of them all but in a concise a way as possible for something who loves a good waffle.
Scotland it was great to see you, and black pudding it was great to eat you. Although I failed miserably with seeing people; those who I did see it was great to see you and those who I didn't quite manage to see I'm really sorry but a mixture of having no money and being really busy /. million and one....o you get the point. Arse should be involved somewhere in that last one but I think more for talking out of it. The gist is that I love you all.
It was strange coming back; I had more fears returning than I did when I originally arrived. I like to think we are only scared of what we don't know / understand, or our irrational fears. For those in the know, remember; there are no tigers. But I knew what to expect and and was more nervous of it than when I simply didn't have a clue what to expect. I am to a degree destroying my argument but when you have no idea what to expect what can you be scared of. I'm sure you get the point.
Like everything though, I had faith and it just came to me. I love the universe, it has my best interests at heart. I met some lovely people on the plane and had none of the boredom and loneliness of first two nights in Kathmandu like I had had eight months previously, actually it may be seven months but for the love of me I can't work it out. I won't go into too much detail but everything worked out perfectly and as I have thought to myself on more than one occasion in the last few days; 'Universe thank you and I love you'
It's the first morning I love the most. Not when you first wake but when you first role over and open your eyes, remembering exactly where you are. When you feel the heat, smell the aromas and dirt in the air, and hear the new noises of your new environment with your fresh intact morning senses not yet acclimatised to their new surroundings. That's got to by my favourite part, I just love it.
I'm going to update a little now so this may not be interesting to some but hopefully will to others. My first night back in Pokhara, sitting in The Laughing Buddha, as if I would be anywhere else, and who walks in? Yes, that would be Sam. If you ever meet Sam, you don't forget Sam. He reminds me a little of an animal, a little animal. I don't want to say a rat because they have such a back reputation and I that wouldn't be fair on him. He's Sri Lankan when asked by people trying to sell him things and British to everyone else. He's been traveling India for the last three years and is already a lifer so is full of stories and plenty of dark black humour.He smokes, he smokes a lot. He is a character if ever there was one; so all in all, it was very good to see him and has meant a few interesting times in my first few days back in Pokhara.
The Buddha hasn't change. Mira and Imram still have the same constant illnesses they previously had, Prakash is still Prakash and Rheka is still cheeky, rude and friendly in equal doses. The look of utter joy on Rheka's face when she saw me and gave me a big hug made my day. The look of utter sorrow on Imram's face when I realised I'd forgotten all about getting him that bottle of Laphroig I had drunkenly one night promised him then subsequently forgotten all about destroyed my day. I hoped for a Rheka esc look of joy on Mira's face when I gave her the moisturiser she'd requested, this would be the thing that will turn my fortunes I thought, but after I refused to accept money for the present I was greeted with an Imram esc look. She apologised profusely, almost not accepting it. I left there feeling bad for not getting Imram anything and bad for getting Mira something. You just can't win.
I'm going to leave it with a little on my dear friend Krishna. He worked in Laila's, a dark dingy little bar with comfy chairs and thanks to my previously mentioned friend a constant supply of smokable substances if that was your thing. It's almost impossible to describe the man without the use of impressions; both verbal and physical. Using both you'd easily be accused of over-exaggerating but I assure you it would be anything but. His high pitched voice; his shrug of the shoulders and his 'Why like this bhaiya?' Over the course of the five months I was here previously he went from a sober character to being in a constant state of stoned and pissed. This sadly was a boy who could not handle the money his new career as a drug dealer had provided him. Admittedly he became more fun but I could still see it only going one way and unfortunately it went that exact way. One night quite recently he got himself into a loud argument in the street. The police got involved and after the inevitable body search, found hash on in. That wasn't a major problem but the nine kilo's they found at his home obvious was. His bhakshish (bribe) has been set at 100,000 rupees, which is the best part of a thousand pounds, a sum of money nobody round here has. He's going to jail for a long time, god knows what a Nepali jail and the daily bamboo massage's are going to do to him. I am genuinely sad about it as he was a character but more importantly in his own little way he was a good person.
In honour of Krisha Surname Unknown
