IRELAND APRIL'17

I had only a short while in Ireland after flying back from Nepal 7th April.   A bit of a rush between van inspection, road tax, packing and a visit by Sherry and John who stayed at the Landmark Hotel.  Sent in my taxes to O'Connor and hope they'll get done.  Terry filed the American taxes for me bless her heart.  Jacinta and Tony drove over and stayed a night in their camper so we all had fun at The Thatch after dinner at the Oarsman.

BODENATH

No visit to Kathmandu would be complete without a visit to the glorious Bodenath Tibetan temple.   This visit happened on a wet and windy day so there were not as many circumambulating and praying.  It's mesmerising and beautiful.   Almost all of the surrounding shops are selling Buddhist prayer flags, prayer wheels, beads, scarves, objects made with Turquoise and Coral, incense burners, robes and every object pertinent to Buddhism.   The people arrive here from all over Asia and everywhere there are monks and that distinctive Tibetan face and dress.

POKHARA NEPAL

It was so nice to get away to Pokhara with it's wide streets and lake.  I found a hotel named Millenium for $8/night and it was nice with a balcony and terrace although unfortunately the weather wasn't nice enough to use them . Only saw fishtale mountain for a few minutes.   Met a few nice women especially Monique Duijler who was full of life and fun.  Had a nice boat trip over to the island, took a bus out to the Tibetan village and had some walks.  I wanted to try a hike up to some higher villages but with no visibility there was no use . Enjoyed breakfasts on a terrace facing the lake, bought some Kashmiri scarves for Irma etc.

Breakfast spot

On the way to island

Tibetan village

Tea break for Tibetan women

KATHMANDU

Travelled to Bangkok via bus and it took hours to get from the southern bus station to BS Residence near the airport .  It is close and the price was good for BKK .   There are deluxe rooms there that are not 4 floors up.  There's no lift.
Next morning off on convenient flight to Kathmandu.   Happy to be with Nepali people again but the state of the streets is even worse if possible than five years ago.  Everyone needs a mask now and clouds of dust are rising.   I met with Anita one night and she showed me her favourite places like French Bakery and Hole in the Wall pub plus the Tandoori Restaurant.   Frequented all of them a lot.  It was still cool in Kathmandu .  TASHI DHELE is under new management though Tshering and wife are still living in that courtyard.  Not much atmosphere.  Rooms $7/night .  Small chap named Rickesh running it for the owner.   To my disappointment the Celtic Pub is no more though I managed to meet Mary and others on Paddys Day at the Irish pub.   The nice Sat market has moved but is still very good.

Ready for Paddys Day

Anita on rooftop

Holi

Sat Market

Met several nice people in fact most Nepali are most kind.  I especially liked Roshdip who went out of his way several times for me and brought me out to dinner plus coming in taxi to leavBe me away at the airport when I left.  I had many chats with Biplav, the intelligent partner in Hole in the Wall and also Achoo in Artmandu pub where there is local music most nights and is furnished with throwaway tires, boxes etc

Artmandu Pub/restaurant

Roshdip

Biplav in Hole in the Wall

BOLLYWOOD

Supporting a water supply for a village, Frank Sethi and friends put on a very lavish Bollywood party every year.  This year I was able to go since it wasn't held in Oct as usual but postponed until Jan because of death of the King.    We got a group together with Concetta, Paul, Jacinta, Tony and Dau.   A grand night with Indians out in all their finery, good food and dancing

PRACHUAP KIRI KHAN

AGAIN I haven't written in this blog for a long time mainly because the battery in my Mac does not last any time at all so I rarely carry it anymore.   This will be just a brief summary of travels since last notesin CM
After packing up in Chedi View I flew down to Hua Hin for the night and continued via train the next day to Prachuap Kiri Khan where the sea breeze cooled the hot temperature.  What a marvellous train station

 The several hour train ride cost 19 Baht.

The guest house, a bit of a splurge for me, was great.  Very colourful with a cheerful, kind landlord Vasin in House 73.  A quiet place and easy to get around on a bike out to the beach via the air force base where there are Lemurs and their babies.  There's a big terrace on the roof where we gathered each evening for aperitivo's with Jacinta and Tony.  The beach is long and almost empty.  Deck chairs are available for 20 baht a day

MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY CM

A charity tea in 137 Pillars, an exclusive boutique hotel.  Sally and Dominique organised it for Skills for Life teenagers and they went to so much trouble to create a true Alice in Wonderland experience.  Unfortunately drinks were quite expensive on top of the fee for the tea and there wasn't much mingling so Jacinta, Tony and I were the only ones at our table.  It is a lovely property with a gorgeous swimming pool that has a wall of vines.  There was crocquet, raffles and games of chance

John and John

Sally as a very hot rabbit

swimming pool

Mad Hatter Dominique with Alice and Professor