Bday in Pokhara 12/17
Slept in a cush bed and it was so warm, no sleeping bag, and a fluffy pillow. What?! Andy had the hotel set up breakfast on our personal terrace. It was sunny and the lake was shining. We had mushroom omelette, rösti, watermelon mango lassis, fruit, and a latte. It was a lot of food but I did my job and finished. It was funny getting so much attention from the hotel staff. The waiter waited by us to finish, the manager came up and talked to us, we took a pic w some girl from the hotel. I had no idea this was going down so I was in my PJs not looking excellent.
We rested and finally made it out around noon. We stopped by an art store and got some pics, we stopped by a cashmere store and got some scarves. The owners of the stores were sooo happy we bought from them. They all talked about how the earthquake and now the fuel crisis is really impacting them and the tourist industry. It's so sad. We did barter a bit, but definitely didn't take advantage of them, they are in a rough spot.
Andy was on a mission to buy two plastic chairs all the locals sit on. This isn't something foreigners buy. We were walking toward the market and a dude was selling stuff from his bike and he had 3 chairs. We bought 2, the dude was stoked. The best part was as we were carrying the chairs, all the locals' faces lit up. We got lots of thumbs up, "those are good strong chairs", "are you buying or selling", people nodding w their approval. It was hilarious how much attention we got. I guess that's not an everyday occurrence, they were very proud.
We stopped for Andy to get his beard trimmed and man, did the dude do a great job. The dude trimmed his beard w scissors, saved his neck and temples w a straight razor (yeah weird), sprayed water on his face and hair, put lotion on his face, oil on his head, massaged his face neck head and shoulders for 10 min, and busted out the special aftershave from a box. All of this for $3! I want a shave! A $2 tip was well deserved.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for some snacks and Ghorka beer and enjoyed the rest of the sun. We packed our new chairs w the warm clothes we no longer need so we can ship it home.
Andy suggested we head to the hotel bar for a drink. Then he suggested we take the drinks upstairs, but not to our terrace, the one below. It did seem odd but whatever. When we finally went to our terrace, half of the hotel staff and managers were waiting for me w a table covered in flowers and a bday cake. They lit a candle and sang happy bday and took pics w their phones. It was cute and funny and odd all at the same time. The staff here are so sweet and giving us tons of attention which we aren't used to and don't care for, but they are so nice and adorable. You can tell this isn't stuff they do everyday as their surprise coordination isn't the best. Such a lovely surprise bday.
The martini and chocolate cake didn't do me any good so the rest of the night will be chill. Time to enjoy the last of this fabulous hotel before we go back to $3 a night hostels. What a fantastic bday!!
Pics check it: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/cleatus_cobb/