Nepal 2.0 -WATER-

We started our day in a very IDIOTIC way…

I Woke up 5.30 to pack my stuff so that we can be on schedule for "The 6.15am breakfast" followed by "The 7am Van to Pokhara", The Schedule was arranged by the Travel Agency. I reached to the hotel restaurant at 6.15am to find breakfast was still being prepared and the waiter told me it will be ready in 10mins. So I go jalan2 around the hotel garden for 10 mins, and then return to the restaurant

10min after 10min after 10min, finally breakfast server at 7am. *Ah Cha Timing* is always like that; 45mins late is nothing in Ah Cha Land.

A fren told me that it's normal for Ah Cha to come 12pm for a 8am appointment or maybe not coming at all. I had deal with lotta ah cha in Dubai and they are exactly like that, irresponsible!

10 minutes can mean anything from 30minutes to not coming at all. In chinese "Catch Ghost also Agreed", meaning they will say yes-yes-yes but never do!

0ne of the most extreme stroy I heard from a fren was that once his fren, an Ah-Cha wanna meet up with him.

2pm - Tan suppose to meet up with Ah Cha.

4pm - 2hours pass but that Ah Cha still not there, so Tan called that fellow up, ah-cha replied "On The Way"!

5pm - Ah Cha face hasn’t arrived yet, so Tan called again, Ah Cha replied "10 minutes"!

6pm - Ah Cha still no where to be found, Tan called again, Ah Cha Replied "Let's meet another day!"

Most of Nepali are actually ah-cha, that's why they arranged the timing according to ah cha time.

We took off from Hotel Himalayan at 8am, exactly an hour late or we still on time if ah-cha time is taken as benchmark. It was the first time I seen an elephant on the street, amazingly urban elephant.

When going downhill along the "highway" towards Pokhara, we met Nepal's Lance Amstrong, better, stronger and also took a passenger, 60km/h! I done this before in Sandakan hill, very exciting but this Nepal Kampung Highway got lotta potholes.

The road is so tight, two vehicles can hardly pass the same spot. Usually the distance between two passing vehicles are less then a feet.

After 2.30hours of travel, we reached the spot for River Rafting, which was scheduled so that those princesses don’t feel ass pain for sitting too long in the van. The so called River Rafting Centre was nothing more than row of kampung houses, it more of a personal business for Captain Shankar!

I don’t mind if it’s a small or big company but I do mind wait-wait-wait! Shouldn’t he get everything ready before we reach? After all we reached that spot around 10.30pm, which is fucking late for a Nepali! I didn’t pay all those fucking money to wait! So more so to wait under the h0t sun which I got more than enough in dubai!

There were lotta toilet and those were magnificient toilets, remind me of my younger days in Grandpa place.

one shall make use of his time instead of just complaining like a woman!
as a construction man, what interest me most is structure.
Roof full of Rock-weight to prevent those Zink Sheets from flying away, that's Innovatives
Open steelbars ready for future vertical expension, that's good planning!!!
There are lotta hanging bridges along the river and what is most amazing are those trolley use for transporation across the river.
I didn’t manage to pix those trolleys but its an amazing because everytime I saw someone use it, I felt like watching a stun!
I was pretty bored when the crews pumped up the those plastic boats but I'm pretty sure the princesess were pretty excited watching the super fit nepali guy jump-pumping in brief! After the 2boats were fully pumped up, we were given a brief about rafting. I dint give much attention as I was told the rafting programme is more like a picnic. we must had waited for around 45minutes for the whole setup. Oh! This country need some real management…

So off we go into the river… row…row…row the boat… I feel more like boat romancing in the lake than rafting although we dressed up like tekwando exponents with the head protection and life-jacket. we even manage to snap a few photos as we romance along the river… learn a few nepali words from the captain and teased all those nepali women along the river bank. This rafting was as easy as ABC, most of us were wet but that's only because we play water throwing with the captain and the other boat.

The captain said the next part will be hard but I saw the other boat passed easily, so I thought it was some scarecrow tactics by the captain. we were told to row hard, I did row but not very hard because I was still trying to sychonize with eric rythmn. suddenly the captain shouted us to squt inside as it was taught during the brief, so did we.
I was pretty sure then, he was just fooling us around just like he asked us to row fro and back for nothing. a second later, I was thrown outside the boat and into the water. for 5-10seconds I was under water spinning without control push by river current. there are nothing I can do, I drank some river water which tasted like soil. I was spinning so fast, I wasn’t even sure which direction was for the surface. I knew I wont die but I don’t want to knock fainted and get a mouth to mouth first aid by the moustahce captain shankar.

I emerge from the water about 10m away from the other boat, they throw me the rescue rope and I grapped it with all my might. Oh! What a relieve. I started to look around for the others and I saw capt. Shankar, eric, pink and lian on our boat about 50m away from the boat I was clingging to. I saw eric specs still with him so I assumed that they didn’t fall into the water.

mean while I am still inside water with my hand holding to the safety rope along the side of the other boats. The crew onboard still looks very nervous, my guess was that they are still others in the river. One of the crew tried to pull me up from the water to no avail bcoz I am too heavy lol. I drifted in the water with the boat for about 10minutes before they manage to pull me up. I saw Jess being pulled up to the boat I'm on with teary eyes, she is the last one rescued.

At the end nobody lose their life, we lose two unopen 0ne-litre mineral water, Jess' pair of Nike slippers. We recovered Eric's pair of slippers, Eric's half full bottle of water and our camera safe inside the water tight seal cling to the boat.

me & jess climb back to our own boats and proceed with the rafting. capt. Avoid surfing the waves again as Jess broke down.

I learnt that, our boat capsized and I was the first one thrown out as I sat infront of the rising side. Jess & Lian briefly trapped under the boats that scare the shit outta Jess but Lian is stronger. the capt. Turn back the capsized boat by tiying himself to oneside of the boat and standing on top of it then jump into the river in the opposite direction. Eric, Lian & Pink were the 1st one to be rescued.

These 3teenagers are the one who pulled me out from river.

Do you know why our life is always Half-full or Half-empty (depends on how you see it)? Because a full bottle sink and a half-full or half-empty bottle floats, that's why we cant have everything in life so that we can life on.

Is hard to get angry after such exciting adventures, although we gotta wait again for capt shankar to prepare lunch for us. Pink like it, its all ORGANIC and it being prepare fresh! LOL!

I felt like Zoo animal when all the villagers come and look at us, so we give them some food too. One is so cute, look like Tarzan!
Contrary to the desert where I came from, Nepal has unlimited Water resources but they still need to bath in the public. Count your blessing, men!

As a City-zen, we cant take natural water because it's full of micro organism which our digesting system can take it. Iodine was used as antidote for the lunch water, sometimes I feel ashamed comparing myself with all those villagers because our body has grown weak by all the luxurious in the city.

The whole lunch things took us about 1.5hours as Nepali like it slow and easy. Continue the journey after lunch, a typical Nepali Bus will be fully loaded. Fully LOADED!
Really packed like Sardin, even for a long journey... AMAZING how this people can live in such a crowded community!
We stopped over at a empty petrol ksiok to pee. Due to changes in Nepal Political Landscape, there are problems getting fuel from India. When news that a certain Petrol Station has fuel, the que can be as long as 4KM! How blessed are we in Msia although the FUEL prices are sky high now.
found a Nepali shit inside the toilet and it doesnt sting like ours because Nepali eat organic food! LOL!
We pass by a Nepali Stadium where the Semi-final of Nepal Cup was being played. Football is Nepal no.1 sport and yet they stadiums are only as good as our kampung field.

we reached Pokhara about 4pm, there is big lake there and lotta trading going on around the lake, mostly to cheat tourist? I guess...Checked in The Bahrari Hotel, bath and business resume as usual thanks to... The free Ipod Touch from my company... wakaka, such a cool gadget!
I found shuttlecock's feathers inside my trousers pockets; it must be there because I always picked it up from the court to prevent slipping. Candles? Matches? Seems like a SM dens to me :p
Spotted a very big Snail about 10 to 15cm long, in fact this is the biggest Snail I ever seen! A big way to start Pokhara-ing!

After 30min nap, we went to have lunch at restaurant the driver recommended, a True Nepali Food. So WAIT again, although the driver order for us at 5pm, we reached there at 7pm, still gotta wait! It was peak season so foods prepared yet. Nepali foods are similar to Indian food. Eric love the food so much, he declare that's the best grilled chicken he ever had. He must be very hungry! LOL!

After dinner, we went to walk around Pokhara Street which is a tourist spot. I feel so Sabah in Pokhara because they have regular electricity cut. This street is long but not crowded as tourist season only start in 2weeks time. Yeah! We were 2weeks early to skip the "traffics" as we got enough of that in Dubai!

most shops have generator, just like Sabah generator must be one of the best selling items in Nepal. Pink and Jess went to cyber café, Lian and Eric bought some bags and later we went to drink in m00ncafe!!! m00ncafe is one of the most western like cafe in Pokhara!

Tasted Nepali, Himalayan & etc tea… all the same to me! Nepal teas are alright but not their coffee, tested a bit weird for me.
I spotted a Malaysian Flag among all this badges! kekeke...

We back hotel around 9pm to get ready for next morning 4.45am trip to see Annapurna Himalaya Range Sunrise!