Hello everyone I’m still in Pokhara in Nepal, relaxing, writing and loving life.  It’s been a week of recharging the batteries, eating incredible food, and just enjoying life in a place that now feels like home to me.

 

In terms of interesting things to write about in this blog entry, there is not a ton as it has been a mostly relaxing week in which I’ve wandered around town and done a fair bit of writing and editing.

 

In that regard there is one thing to mention that I’m proud of.  I’ve finished my first edit of Disappearing Eyes book 1 Into the Flame, and as of today have started the search for Beta readers.  People who are willing to take the time to read the book and ideally fill out a questionnaire about it, or even better have a conversation with me about what they liked and didn’t like. I’m hoping to get lots of different opinions so that I can then use them to do another edit before sending it off to publisher’s editors and agents this summer.  If you have the time please either leave your email on my facebook status about it or send me an email at luke.robinsongrant@gmail.com  and I will send you the document in both .doc and .pdf  form along with a copy of the questionnaire to fill out after reading.  I’d suggest not looking at the questions until after you’ve read the book.  If you start reading and cant get through it, that’s fine but I’d love to know why, so I can improve it.  Please don’t be afraid to criticize, this book is far from perfect, and I’m looking to make it better.

 

Two days stand out from this week that I’ll talk about in depth.  Friday and Sunday.

 

Friday I set out to try to walk around the other side of the lake but ended up getting lost in the alleyways of the city and just sort of embraced it wandering through alleys and then finding my way to a main road and walking for an hour or so between town until I reached, completely accidentally, a place called Devi’s falls. My Penchant for waterfalls kicked in again and I went exploring at these fairly impressive waterfalls; which are named after a Swiss woman who died falling down the falls (I took this as a warning not to hop too many fences).

 

They were beautiful though unfortunately fenced off and the falls themselves disappeared underground rather quickly. I did see some pretty awesome spiders there though and learned that tourists from India love taking my picture, or grabbing a picture with me, especially short and skinny men who seem to find my height and girth entertaining.  It was a little awkward but good fun.  At any rate, the highlight of the day came after the falls when I crossed the street, walked through the small town and descended into some pretty impressive caves.  The caves held a naturally formed rock formation turned temple that resembled Shiva, some weird and disturbing statues, awesome unique stalagmites, and best of all a stunning view of the falls from below from within the darkness of the cave.  I spent 45 minutes standing there under the rush in the darkness with the light emanating from where the cave ended and just kind of drifted through thoughts which was relaxing and needed.  I left the cave and enjoyed the long walk back to Lakeside which featured amazing views of the mountains, and a rather interesting political rally.  The election is tomorrow and I’m interested to see what the town is like during it.

I’d be nervous having my nipple out so close to venomous snakes.

A very sexual statues

Down in the cave there were a few of these

View of the falls from inside the cave.

The walk back home

Big spider at the falls!

Coming back to Pokhara.

The other highlight day was yesterday, Sunday, when I woke up and had a delicious breakfast then headed down to the lake and rented a boat on my father’s advice.  It was good advice.  I spent the day paddling around the entirety of the lake and enjoying the solitude, tranquility and work out of paddling around the lake and checking out the shoreline.  I was ready to bring the boat back but decided at the last second to keep going to the other end of the lake despite my aching shoulders.  (it was a big boat for one person to keep moving all day)  Boy was I glad made that choice though as about 45 minutes later I noticed some trees moving and quickly paddled over to find a family of monkeys.   I saw nine up close but there were more back in the trees.  (frustratingly camera died about 5 minutes after finding them) At any rate I spent the next hour hanging out with them watching them Eat, Fuck and fight.  One of the babies crawled out and came within touching distance of me in my boat, unfortunately mum did not like that and quickly moved to back me off, which was quite terrifying as she looked ready to jump into my boat and attack but I calmed her down by backing off a bit.  It was incredible as I was alone with them for a full hour before they retreated back into the forest and I continued on my way, witnessing a Nepalese man hunt some sort of decent size bird with a sling shot from a crazy distance.

 

I brought the boat back as the sun faded below the mountainous horizon and, getting my land legs underneath me again, walked back to the hotel, met up with some friends met here from England and shared a delicious dinner along with their Australian friend and then enjoyed a wonderful conversation until it was time for bed.  A day that comprised all the things I love about travelling, natural beauty, new and strange animals, solitude and tranquility, new friends, good food, interesting exchange of ideas. Definitely a highlight of the trip so far.  Here’s some pictures from the day.

Great breakfast at Maya’s!

My boat and the mountains.

Birds the man was hunting with  slingshot.

Monkey Business.

A thoughtful pose.

Climbing and Eating (Not pictured: loving) A good life for sure.

 

 

Anyway short entry this week, the election is tomorrow and I’m trying to make myself get it together and leave Pokhara, either to go try and trek up to Poon Hill, or go down to Chitwan National park.  I need to make a decision and start moving again, now that I’m rested up with my batteries recharged, it’s time to see a bit more.  Anyway, please do let me know if you think you can read my draft, the book is targeted to young adults but I want any and all feedback I can get.  Thanks so much,

 

Luke

 

Song of the Week:  Sputter by The Academy Is…

 

I really wish this band had never broken up, the singer releases good solo stuff, but its not quite the same.  This song always makes me a little sad but it’s one of the last they released and I wanted to share.  The singer William Beckett is also the guy who have me the idea of doing a song of the week thing.  So Hate him or love him accordingly.

 

 

Reading Log:  A Storm of Swords  George R.R. Martin.

 

I’ve been writing and editing too much to read much lately, only during meals if I’m not with travel friends.  Still, this book is starting to grab me.