Any man who reads too much and uses his brain too little falls into lazy thinking habits. Logic will get you from A to Z. Imagination will get you everywhere. ~Albert Einstein
Another morning in Pokhara. My plan for this morning was to visit the World Peace Pagoda. It is a 90-minute walk to this Buddha Stupa. There is a Stupa walkway towards the Pagoda. In the beginning, I walked along some streets in town before I went into the countryside. Then, it went relatively steeply uphill. It was more arduous than I thought. It reminded me a bit of walking the Camino in Spain. But it was worth doing it. I needed to rest sometimes. The view was stunning.
From one viewpoint, there were some benches, and I sat down. A young Nepali man started talking to me. We had a long talk; he was very educated, just 22 years old. He gave me tips on what to do around here in Pokhara.
Near on top, there was the first Restaurant. I rested for a while and had a chai. Walking more up there were more Restaurants. And then the Pagoda was in front of me.
There were some cushions around the Stupa, so I sat down and meditated for a while. It was quite good as people were more or less silent here. This is not a matter of course in Nepal or India. The young man I met before said I could get a bus down to Pokhara if I don’t feel like walking anymore. I was looking for the way down and I found it. I was walking down the steps and saw a Cafe where they are selling and offering organic coffee. The coffee to buy was quite expensive, I can buy it for the same price in Hamburg in the famous “Speicherstadt Kaffeerösterei”. The coffee they offered me to drink was a small cup and was not worth drinking. I had better coffee downtown. I paid 140 rupees (90 cents). When the woman asked me how I liked the coffee, I told her it was too thin and not very tasty. It feels good to tell the truth instead of being the nice guy. It is in many places here in Pokhara, they are overcharging for low-quality food. I went further down and there was the road where most of the people arrive to visit the Pagoda. I was waiting for a bus. The bus was packed with people, we drove down the serpentine road. I was looking at Google Maps to find where to leave the bus, and the rest I could walk. When I paid, he asked for 150 rupees, the young man at the viewpoint said it would be 50 rupees. For 150 rupees, I could have taken a ride on a bike with inDrive to my hotel. These people are cheating you wherever they can. He said it is a very dangerous road! It is not that paying 65 cents more ruins me, but it has a bad aftertaste, after daily experiences like this one feel exploited. I have to be careful not to throw all Nepalis in one pot, there are nice people as well.
It was already late afternoon when I was back in my hotel. I fell asleep after a while. Late evening, I got hungry and left for dinner. I had some Vietnamese food this evening, overcharged and of low quality.
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