Jules' Quote Picks

Cynthia Kersey has been writing about Unstoppable People for over a decade and found that living an unstoppable life always involves giving. People who give and are involved in a purpose that is greater than themselves are the happiest people and live the richest and most meaningful lives imaginable...

(Thank you Abang Zu for sharing this...)


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

We Flew To Kathmandu And Caught The Himalayan View! - Part 8 : Pokhara Continues...of Caves, Mountains and Carpets!

Our Nepal story continues...

My last entry, Part 7, was Esfahan's Karangan in "Perbualan" format, which went on to talk more about our sunrise in Sarangkot trip.

This Part 8 and subsequent parts that follow, will continue with Esfahan's Karangan in "Jurnal" format.

Since he started his "Jurnal" writing from "Hari Pertama", I'll also include it here, which includes the time we arrived in Nepal, Bhaktapur and the first 2 days in Pokhara, from before Sarangkot, which I had already written in my previous posts.

His "Hari Keempat" content will continue from where I left off in Sarangkot...

(Esfahan's words are in Bahasa Malaysia while my add ons are in English).


Esfahan's Karangan Dua : Percutian Saya Di Nepal ~ Jurnal

Hari Pertama

Kami sekeluarga bertolak ke KL Sentral dan menaiki tren transit ke Salak Tinggi. Di Salak Tinggi kami menaiki sebuah bas pula untuk ke LCCT. Apabila kami tiba di LCCT, kami berehat sebentar dan makan tengahari. Selesai makan, kami menuju ke kaunter servis. Kami mendapat "borading pass" dan menunggu di dewan menunggu. Kami kemudiannya diberitahu kami boleh menaiki pesawat. Di dalam pesawat kami dihidangkan makanan dan minuman. Selepas makan, kami tidur, tetapi sebelum itu saya sempat membaca majalah terbitan AirAsia yang mengandungi sebuah artikel tentang Nepal. Selepas 4 jam penerbangan kami tiba di Nepal. Apabila keluar dari pesawat, angin dan suasana di sekeliling berasa sangat sejuk berbanding Malaysia. Kami mengambil bagasi dan menaiki van untuk ke rumah penginapan kami di Bhaktapur. Rumah penginapan itu dipanggil Krishna House. Selepas menyimpan barang di bilik, kami bersiar-siar di pekan Bhaktapur yang tidak jauh dari Krishna House, lebih kurang 10 minit berjalan kaki. Selepas makan malam, kami kembali ke Krishna House dan tidur. Sangat sejuk di Nepal, terutamanya di waktu malam.


Hari Kedua

Selepas bersarapan, kami bersiar-siar lagi di Bhaktapur Durbar Square. Bhaktapur Durbar Square adalah salah satu daripada tiga buah pekan utama di Nepal. Di sini kami membeli cenderamata seperti selendang yang diperbuat daripada bulu "yak", sejenis lembu gunung. Kami makan tengahari di sebuh restoran bernama Palace Restaurant. Apabila malam menjelang, kami kembali ke Krishna House. Malam ini lebih sejuk daripada semalam, lebih kurang 4Celsius.


Hari Ketiga

Pagi ini kami bersiap untuk ke Pokhara pula. Selepas sarapan kami menuju ke lapangan terbang domestik. Selepas 25 minit penerbangan, kami tiba di Pokhara. Di lapangan terbang Pokhara kami dijemput oleh seorang pekerja The Mountain House. Selepas mendaftar masuk ke Mountain House ini, kami bersiar-siar di pekan Lakeside Pokhara. Cuaca di sini tidak sesejuk Bhaktapur, lebih kurang 15-21Celsius di waktu siang. Selepas makan di restoran Fewa Paradise, hari pun menjelang malam dan kami pulang ke Mountain House. Suhu di waktu malam di Pokhara lebih kurang 10Celsius.


Hari Keempat

Kami bangun pada jam 4 pagi untuk ke Sarangkot, untuk melihat matahari terbit. Di Sarangkot, awal-awal pagi sangat sejuk, lebih kurang 4Celsius. Di sini kami dapat melihat Banjaran Annapurna. Selepas Sarangkot kami kembali ke Mountain House untuk bersarapan dan berehat sebentar.

We now continue from my last blog entry about Sarangkot...

Selepas itu kami ke Candi Bindhyabasini, Candi Mahendra dan Bat Cave dan seterusnya Devi's Falls. Selepas makan tengahari, kami melawat pula Regional Museum of Nepal, di mana kami mempelajari tentang penduduk Nepal serta budaya mereka yang berbeza-beza mengikut kepelbagaian kumpulan etnik mereka. Selepas muzium ini, kami ke Seti River Gorge. Kami dapat melihat betapa dalamnya air sungai ini dan betapa biru warnanya. Ini adalah lawatan akhir untuk hari ini.


Bindhyabasini Temple... A beautiful view of the Annapurna from here too, simply magnificent!



Devi's Falls...We didn't get any pictures from inside the Bat Cave as it was too dark and wet, and the chambers were very tight with low ceilings, the Mahendra Temple was inside the cave...


Seti River Gorge...The gorge can only be viewed from this park; the river runs along right next beside the Regional Museum of Nepal too, where we caught a view of its beautiful blue hue. We didn't take any pictures in the museum...



Hari Kelima

Agenda hari ini adalah World Peace Pagoda dan International Mountain Museum. Selepas sarapan kami menuju ke World Peace Pagoda. Untuk mencapai pagoda itu, kami terpaksa menaiki tangga yang sangat panjang dan sangat tinggi. World Peace Pagoda ini adalah sebuah "World Heritage Site" UNESCO. Ia adalah sebuah kuil Buddha. Pemandangannya sungguh indah di sini. Selepas beberapa jam bersantai dan bergambar, kami ke International Mountain Museum pula. Di sini kami dapat belajar tentang ekspedisi ke Gunung Everest serta pendaki-pendaki yang sanggup meredah bahaya untuk mencapai puncak gunung tersebut. Banyak juga sejarah tentang Sir Edmund Hillary dan Tenzing Norgay. Mereka adalah pendaki-pendaki pertama yang mencapai puncak Everest, iaitu puncak tertinggi di dunia, setinggi 8,848 meter.


World Peace Pagoda...



International Mountain Museum...this place was AWESOME! We could have stayed here the whole day just to read up on all the writings contributed by various climbers from around the world. There are rock collections, climbing equipments and a Yeti! In the compound outside the museum there is a Mini Everest where you can live your dream of climbing the world's highest peak! This was definitely my favourite museum in Nepal :)




Hari Keenam

Pagi ini kami bersantai sahaja di rumah penginapan dan di pekan Lakeside Pokhara. Selepas makan tengahari kami mengunjungi "Tibetan Refugee Settlement". Ini adalah penempatan pelarian dari Tibet. Tarikan di sini adalah Jangchub Choeling Monastery dan Penempatan Tashi Palkhiel yang juga menempatkan pusat membuat permaidani. Kami melawat kuil tersebut dan seterusnya ke bengkel membuat permaidani. Setiap permaidani dibuat dengan tangan dan dijual pada harga yang tinggi. Kami membeli sebidang permaidani yang kecil sebagai cenderamata.




I LOVE all these carpets, I wish I could afford to have them all! The beauty of these carpets is that they're all handmade and each carpet made is unique, in a sense that none of the colour combination for each carpet design is repeated. They are made of Tibetan sheep wool which is firstly dyed before they are woven into twines. These twines are then woven into the carpets using knots. The traditional Tibetan design consists of the famous Mandala, which is often placed in the centre of the carpet; the endless knot, the rainbow, the dragon, and the conch. There are other motifs which one can google to have more info on, it's quite fascinating. It is said that carpets produced by the Tibetan settlements in Nepal are of better quality than those produced in the settlements in India, in terms of the wool used. In terms of design, they are generally the same. It is best to purchase directly from these Tibetan settlements as you are assured of the material quality and originality, and the price would also be more favourable. I am very happy coz I came home with a Tibetan carpet, small as it may be, it is surely a treasured memento :)


To be continued, with Esfahan's "Jurnal" from "Hari Ketujuh"... Stay tuned :)

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