I arrived by bus into Pokhara main bus terminal at around 4 am...the town was fully asleep and I had absolutely no clue about its infrastructure and lay out. I didn't know that the actual interesting neighborhood was called Lake Side and that it was 7 km down the road. So I started walking...as usual. (Taxis were absurd with their prices).
After some wandering around in the dark streets and finding a small bus to take me to the right direction of Lake Side, I finally made it it there. Walked some more around scouting for a guest house that was open at such hour of the night. Bumped into a baker with a big basket of fresh pastries, bought a yummy chocolate roll. And finally ended up in a beautiful guest house called Butterfly. Little did I know that it actually was the place where Angelina stayed when she arrived in Pokhara as well. Interesting coincidence...or not. ,:-)
Ah! At last I could resat and get some sleep. That public bus ride was no walk in the the park.
The next day, one full day of laziness, walking around in the rain scouting for cheap places to eat, and lots of napping, time passed quickly, and soon I was back in bed and sleeping, dreaming about the Vipassana course I was about to take.
My first course was so magical that I expected the second one to be similar. Like I have said before, expectation is my biggest enemy. Anyhow, I must admit that when I saw that 95% of the students were all foreigners, I was quite shocked and disappointed. Big mistake. What would that have to do with my experience? Nothing.
But the most incredible thing of my arrival at the center was to bump into Javier (who had ridden all over India with his Enfield Bike), the Mexican that we befriended with Angelina back in Kerala at Amma's ashram, months before. Such a small world, but made me so happy. So catching with him, we also quickly became good friend with an Argentine named Pablo (who had been bicycling 25,000km from Europe to Asia via Africa for the past year and a half). Funny how I have the habit and tendency to befriend Latinos before any other culture wherever i go. Even though there were quite a few French in the group.
This course was to be very different, not only because of the composition and size of the student body, but also because it was VERY cold!
Anyhow, I won't go over the whole course here as it is more personal and something that words of a page cannot convey without facial and bodily expressions. Just one little funny thing though: the very first nighty after diner, when we all gathered in the meditation hall for the course instruction and a first short meditation session, as soon as i heard the first tone of the voice of Goenkaji coming from the speakers, my very first thought was: "oh gosh! Am i really putting myself through this again!?".
Though I grew a lot of negativity during the course due to various factors, the last day, when we were finally able to talk to one another, in some magical way all the negativity got instantaneously transformed into feelings of such deep and intense joy and happiness. Seeing of everyone was impacted by the course made me so happy and made me vibrate so much that it was like a mini rush of adrenaline.
The next day, the last day of the course, was to be March 12th...my 34th, so perhaps that also had to do with it...having overcome yet another intensely challenging course and symbolically, ending it the day of my birthday.
My first course in Yangon, I met Angelina in front of the gates of the center. Magical moment! This time, I made lots of friends. Very good friends. Magical again!
So we all headed back to Pokhara, and to my favorite pizzeria to celebrate my birthday. It was incredible to see how everyone was still "high" from the impact the course had had on them. We all spent the entire evening talking about our experiences during the course. It was fascinating and so filled with passion. And the most incredible part was that though the diner was a birthday celebration, not a drop of alcohol was consumed, not even from the Latinos. Crazy!
The next few days were spent building up a strong friendship with Javier and Pablo, waiting for Holi to happen.
The day before Holi, I did do a paragliding flight...a little flirting with the heavens, like my 30's celebration in Puerto Rico. Interesting experience but far from being as exhilarating as skydiving or hangliding. And definitely overpriced.
Anyhow...holi finally arrived. Javier had already taken off to bike up to Jomson to check out Thorong La on a short and quick trekk. So it was Pablo and I, and to some degree the French gang from the Vipassana course.
For a first holi it was quite a crazy and colorful experience. Pretty close to what I expected. So no disappointment there. Hahahahaha! But it did give me an idea of how grand and spectacular it must be in bigger or more cultural cities in India. Next trip I guess...
The day after holi was when I had planned to start my trekk of the Annapurna circuit and when Pablo was to take off and head west to cross over back to India. But the atmosphere over Pokhara was so funny...all these people surfacing half drunk and half showered with color dies in their hair or on their skin. Quite funny. Pablo and I didn't want to join in on the different techno/house/rave parties organized the night before so we were quite fresh. Lol
And so as planned we both departed for our next adventure...both wondering what Javier was doing and how he had managed to celebrate Holi.
Hopefully I will get to see Javier and Pablo again soon. I really wish all three of us had gone for the circuit together. Could have been such an interesting adventure.
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