Relaxing in Pokhara

There was nothing special on the agenda today.

This was good because it turns out that there was a strike called in this part of Nepal for the day. Despite repeated attempts I couldn't work out who was striking over what but the end result was that the only places officially open were hotels and restaurants. The taxis and buses were on strike as well which meant that, as most people can't afford a car and use a taxi, the roads were deserted. And best of all, there was no constant tooting of horns.

Mukti had promised to take us (Carol and Sylvia :)) to a ladies' co-operative that specialised in making Nepalese goods. The co-operative is run by Women's Skills Development Organization (www.wsdonepal.org). This is a non-profit organization and income generating program for (currently around 350) economically disadvantaged, disabled, abused, widowed, divorced, single and outcast women in rural Nepal. After watching them dye yarn and turn the yarn into cloth, Carol and Sylvia went to shop. The showroom was full, and I mean full, of items made by the co-operative. They bought [insert list of gifts here] for as many people they could think of, plus a bag for us to ship home some cold weather gear we wouldn't be needing in Borneo (thanks again Carol and Steve). Mukti assured us that all the money we spent would go directly to the ladies themselves.

The walk to and from the co-operative was a little strange. The roads had been taken over by the people. Everyone used the road to walk on, kids were riding their bikes and there were games of cricket. Even the wildlife seemed to reclaim the road - the usual cows were everywhere but there were also water buffalo, lizards and some ducks and ducklings sheltering under an idle bus. None of this would be possible on a non-strike day.

[As a side note, if we had finished our walk on a strike day we would possibly have had to stay where we were for another day as not even the Toyota van was meant to be on the road.]

For the afternoon we went to one of our favourite restaurants/bars. They had a real coffee machine and if we provided the soy (from the supermarket across the road) they would make Carol a soy latte. While there the rain started again and it eventually turned into another torrential downpour. Some of the side streets became rivers and the gutters were overflowing outside the restaurant. We did the only sensible thing and ordered more beer while we waited for it to stop.

The evening was dinner with Mukti and Hari. Hari is to accompany us on our trip back to Kathmandu and make sure we get to our plane on time. Mukti was staying at Eagle's Nest for another week or so before flying back to Australia where we have agreed to go to a Doggies game together.