Somerville House Team A - Update # 3

A quick run down from Somerville House Team A over in Nepal
Namaste!
Don't worry, still alive. It's rather a miracle really. Last night we even had the luxury of sleeping in a bed, only having to wake up at 7.30 in the morning. Yes, life is great.

So today, after a much needed good sleep and shower, we ventured off to three sightseeing attractions before lunch. We started on a small bus, fitting 17 people into a 15 seater which drove us to the World Peace Pagoda (still in Pokhara). The bus ride was... well.... very interesting. Everyone really enjoyed the 3 point turn we took on a cliff side, and then driving up a road with gaps missing.... but no it was actually very fun. The pagoda was very awesome, there was a gorgeous view of the Pokhara lake from the top of the hill, and it was very nice seeing a sight that was very peaceful, especially after trekking up mountains for 9 days :)

After the pagoda, we hopped in the bus again, and drove to Guptashor caves which were AWESOME. We started by walking through markets which lead to the cave, which for some reason had lots of cowboy hats.. but anyhow we reached the entrance to the caves. After paying for our tickets, we all walked into the cave, passing by the hindu shrine and into a much smaller tunnel. Don't worry, for all those claustrophobic mums out there, we did get lots of photos to freak you out with :) After the tunnel, we reached an opening, and heard what to us seemed like the sound of people on the wild west ride at dreamworld, however we then realized it was just some crazy tourists who had just discovered what an echo was. After walking a little more, we reached the end of the stony section and to what was the beginning of an underground lake, which lead to the bottom of the Devils Waterfalls which we could see in the distance. Got some very cool photos, and Vidya spent 15 minutes looking like a dork with a head torch on because she thought she looked like a 'cave explorer'.

After the caves, we hopped back into the bus and drove to the Nepalese museum. It was very interesting, and very homey, as the museum consisted of pretty much 2 rooms with different artifacts of Nepalese culture. Still worthwhile though. We then ventured back into the bus and drove back to the man road of Pokhara, where we had lunch at an Indian restaurant. The food was ddeellicciiioouusss, we discovered the amazingness of Dosa, basically a fried crepe with potato inside, while other member's of the group tested their taste buds with spicy curry. We also tried a new plan of bartering, by eating heaps of garlic naan, the shop owners nearly had to give us a discount.. We like to think our theory worked :)

After lunch, we then had 3 hours to pretty much shop, shop and shop, and having a group of 16 girls, this was definitely time well spent.

We're about to go off and have our final restaurant dinner before we depart to our community project tomorrow. Hope everyone is safe and well!
The A Team