Often in Nepal, when the weather turned bad, the planes get delayed.
And our flight back to Kathmandu from Pokhara was no exception.
The morning visibility at 9am was like that... couldn't fly.
.. and we all took the chance to sleep some more while waiting in the airport.
Thankfully the delay only lasted one and a half hour.
And a slightly less than an hour's flight took us back into the welcoming embrace of Mother Kathmandu.
Epilogue to a simple Travellogue
Our trekking sticks kept.
Our cold wears stacked.
And to the bustling noisy crowded city of Kathmandu we were back.
Kathmandu, with her seeming haphazardness, is always a stark contrast to the serenity of the high mountains.
And as such, she forever will be a city that we would long for.
As we toured the grounds of the Ancient city of Baktapur, and circumabulated the Stupa of Boudanath, our minds kept wandering back...
To the past days we spent in this wonderfully flavourful country.
Our first experience in coming so close to a culture steeped in history.
And in being so totally immersed in her rituals... deep in the heart of the holiest Hindu temple in Nepal..
The joy and the laughter of the girls from being able to taste..
the highly sought-after Juju Dhau (King Yogurt) we were so lucky to come upon outside the Durbar Square of Baktapur...
The way the immaculately hair-dryer-blown hair fell nicely over the face of Q Jiejie,
as she drifted into her own reverie.. perhaps thinking of the past days of agony and of ecstasy..
of surmounting a height she had never, and of beholding a sight she could only dream of previously...
But now both a reality that had been ticked in the book of her life...
So much so that even the most celebrated Hindu temple Natapola of Baktapur behind her... faded into oblivion.
.. and as the tired family stood on the grounds of the Ancient City, how the more daring and adventurous sister followed me...
up the high steps of the Natapola to view the old walls from a high vantage point..
Her character so much echoed mine, in the way we would step out into an unfamiliar world and explore it to our hearts' content.
... and finally, after five years three months, how SereneXMM and I finally had the chance..
to return to the largest Buddhist Supa in the world..
... the one that took our breaths away that fateful few years back and planted a seed in the fertile soil of our hearts.
A seed that had blossomed into a tree to return to this lovely land.
[Don't know what's hiding behind this clickable image...]
To answer the question which was asked of me some way early into the trek: "Why did you bring us here to trek?"
I think, I finally have an answer, my dear girl, that is satisfactory to myself, though I might not have discovered it earlier myself~
I believe fate made us bring the children here,
so that we can bring out the naughtiest and most rebellious side of them,
and to bring out the BEST and the most positive side of them.
To allow the children to exhibit to both SereneXMM and myself, how they have metamorphosize to almost adulthood
in the way they reached deep within themselves and brought out the courage to face the unknown...
and in the manner which they urged each other on, and in many ways urged us the parents onwards too.
I have learned how resilient the young ones are.
Much more than we thought they could be.
And every day of the trek, we surprised ourselves in how they surpassed
our wildest expectations.
Parenthood ~ as much as the children are learning on the job, we parents are learning on our jobs.
I hope this little trip could light a spark
that may be the beginning of a fire for more..
a yearning to explore more of the Beauty of Nature in her rawest and wildest form.
And to weave this desire into the very fabric of their lives.
Because I trust that only by connecting with Nature, could human beings be more complete while living in this man-made world of today.
Finally...
I hope whoever stumbled upon this humble blog here have enjoyed in one way or another,
our little travel diary of how some of us climbed some small little mountains.
And it is in our hearts to wish that this little account, would be that little catalyst
that would start a process in some of the readers' hearts out there..
to embark on their own journey up the mountains..
.. on their own, or even with their children, and their families.
Remember, you don't need to be super-fit to trek in the lower mountains of the Nepali Himalaya.
You just need to open your minds, open your hearts.. and enjoy the journey.
And you shall be showered with the most pleasant surprises of your lifetimes.
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