66.01 Nepal: Pokhara: A walk on the wild side: 'Comfortable Chaos' on our first full day in the city plus the fabulous Machhapuchhare Mountain.

The magnificent Machhapuchhare Mountain, 'Fishtail', offers greetings (23,077 feet).

Jen negotiates the traffic and comes out 'sailing' plus a wonderful smile.

  It’s not a quick flight from San Diego to Kathmandu. The journey is even longer as the rest periods at the airports are substantial. Each time we fly, we marvel again at the amazing capabilities of aircraft. To lift and carry itself, passengers, baggage, fuel and supplies while providing beverage and food service, bathrooms, entertainment, etcetera, over periods touching on sixteen hours is miraculous. Imagine if we spent more time respecting and admiring what is good around us rather than tearing at each other. I suppose the high altitude makes me dream. Anyway, allow for forty hours, or more should you choose even longer stopovers. 

   San Diego, San Francisco, Hong Kong and then Kathmandu, arriving in the evening 2 days later ignoring time changes, a quick ride to an airport hotel, settle down for a couple of nights and off to Pokhara. A person might think we are fond of Nepal since this is the second trip in less than 4 months. 

  Our afternoon, after arrival and unpacking, included the exciting task of acquiring vegetables and visiting our favorite vegetarian hamburger joint to enable us to have a decent dinner as Jen was ill-equipped to provide her usual wonderful cuisine. Touching base with the proprietor was wonderful. A quick few words, beaming smiles from all parties adds something special to the simple things in life. The following day, as we strode close to our ‘vegetable lady’s’ store, it took a second to reconnect, notice she was no longer ‘with child’, and struggle to communicate in probably a new language comprising much emotional signs but once again, smiles that could not lie. Who would have thought such occasions could be so uplifting. After all, we’re not talking about an ice-cream store. Seriously, the occasions when we communicate with many of the people over here (and elsewhere, too), provide the world with additional beauty (for us.) 

  Day 2 commenced with a walk that became extended which can be viewed below, in the City of Pokhara, that has it’s own charm. It also has much else that one would not appreciate in a western city but that’s what adds to the charm as well as to the chaos. 

Our second visit of the trip, this time weighed down with a backpack full of vegetables.
Flag Day in Nepal...actually it's always flag day, although we arrived at the time of celebrating the Western New Year, making things a little more intense. Part of the Annapurna Mountain Range prominent but can't compete with flags.
Getting rid of the flags which could be construed as 'blasphemous'.
The haunting Machhapuchhare Mountain (the following day, see end).
Adding a slither of Phewa Lake into the mix.
A peak opposite Fishtail, one of our hiking opportunities.
For the festivities, a new innovation: The annual Chinese-Nepalese Red Dragon Friendship Boat Race. (Definitely not a political connotation, huh!) And the winner is 'Friendship'. We did hear one Nepali rower utter, "Some of my best friends are Chinese". Probably should return the cynicism to my backpack. 

Along the route we stopped into a restaurant/hotel we had noticed on an earlier visit. A steep incline to the establishment provides a lovely view of the lake and surround. Nepal's uniquely shaped flag in the background.
Jen has unexplainably developed a fascination for motorbikes and scooters. There's no understanding the aging process. Behind her are two amused youngsters thinking as I do, perhaps.
Out of nowhere on a clear day, a cloud seeks to block part of Annapurna.
'Fishtail' at dawn from another position. The Hotel le Glamour is on our route for the next day's hike.
Cheers, 

Jenni and Jeffrey

And on the next day, following hiking in mist for nearly 2 hours, the sun broke through slowly and we witnessed some remarkable scenes. A taste follows below: 

From deep in the fog, after another great battle to exert its dominance, the great Machhapuchhare icon, rose like a phoenix from the ashes (well, snow this time) and again established its rightful position in this mountainous region in time for the new year.
A couple of pictures above, we mentioned something about Hotel le Glamour. Well, here it is from a different angle which we passed on the return hike and had the good fortune to even catch a glimpse of Fishtail, too. At that stage the mist was returning. Lucky guys.

The reason we did not see much on the way up to Methlang. ('Le Glamorous Hotel California' in a stupor as Jen passes by.)

64.29/30/31/32/33 Portugal: Geres: Concluding a visit to the country including amusing aspects of trails PR5/6/7: Lake Canicada, a Futbol Field and 'House on a Prairie'. A mix of multi-hikes and a message for Mario.

Lake (and dam and beach with trees) Canicada, a main focus for us on this trip.
This is the structure that attracted one of us, loosely titled "The Doll House".
This is the 'futbol' field that became a landmark for us, too. (Us two.)

The 'Doll House' from another position.
A scene from a rocky movie.

'Futbol' field from a higher and different angle.
'Futbol' from a mountain across the way. No issue from neighbors should fans scream and shout.
'What are we going to do with you, fellas?' Jen thought of calling a taxi. They stayed with us for nearly 2 hours. (The trail intersects the road in a few places.)

Our Dear Friend Mario, 

  “We wrote about you at the beginning of our trip to your motherland, Portugal (blog 64.01). We mentioned how much we miss you in general and that we are depressed knowing that you will not be joining us on our trip through Portugal. When we were together, you suggested that we should try hiking in the north. You were never ‘pushy’, that would be out of character, but you were proud of your heritage and the idea of meeting in your country was overlooked by us. Jen was keen to visit Portugal and to that end, she devised what turned out to be a fantastic period, particularly the 6 weeks in Geres, an area in the north, just below Spain. 

  “I felt, or rather hoped, which might be a trifle arrogant on my part, that wherever you were, you might have peeked down occasionally and followed our progress. We did progress as we discovered some gems in the country. We will admit, although we traveled the length of the country, we spent most of our time in the north, always outside big towns and cities, as is our custom and a much lesser period in the Algarve. We found the locals to be most friendly and helpful once approached. They also drive their vehicles rather fast but then we are slowing down a little. As an aside, we met Paula in a small super-mercado when we approached the cashier and wondered whether she spoke English. As you know, Mario, it’s a pity Jenni does not speak the language. Paula answered our query in a full-on Rhodesian-Zimbabwean accent. As is our experience, there are no finer people than those born in that country. We spent frequent short periods conversing with the delightful young woman of middle-age—says something of Jenni’s years. Paula is also of Portuguese extraction. 

  “Mario, we wish you could drop us a hint of where you are and what you are getting up to, what you are doing. Is it at all possible to communicate with our souls or perhaps visit us in a dream? That would be incredible. I might add that there wasn’t a day that passed when you were not in our thoughts. I caught myself pointing out aspects of Lake Cincada to you, a truly beautiful body of water. On some of occasions at the various lakes, we witnessed incredible sights, particularly reflections. How appropriate it was to see such beauty as well as reflect on the meaning of life and the period once life ends and a new beginning commences or does it? 

  “We’ll end off now as you are probably a little tired of my whining, nagging about lack of communication and my too late comments about missing you. You’re right. Why didn’t I take the opportunity of setting up a trip while you were still living down on Planet Earth. I’ll end off by saying that in the last twenty years we have learned, and I might add, to a degree practiced the concept of ‘Carpe Diem’. But I blew it when it came to you. For that failure, my life will always have at least that regret. Nevertheless, I am most fortunate to have been touched by your goodness, generosity and kindness. It’s concerning as I have some doubts whether I reciprocated to the same degree. 

  “Mario, give us a nudge, a tap or something, Dear Friend,…we miss you. 

   Love, 

   Jenni and Jeffrey 

'Play misty for us'.
The sheen of Lake Canicada one morning.
On another occasion, varying coloring at our great favorite.
If you go down (or up) in the woods today, you're sure of a wet surprise.
Plus a breakthrough of some color.
We continue to climb and lo and behold, the 'Doll' house seems smaller. Go figure!
While Jen prepares for brunch.
One of us goes hunting for something to smear on our rolls...bread rolls, that is.
Jen would have skipped breakfast had she known of the gap to negotiate.

While her partner stood on a high perch seeking a watering hole.

Smart thinking because water appeared suddenly; he no longer had to pretend he wasn't showing off.
From height it became difficult to identify our favorite icons.
And different coloring at the lake.
It would probably not be a good time to ask whether there was something bothering her 'ladyship' besides a further 1.5 hours to reach home.
Let's close with a varying water surface and that special bridge we fussed over, including reflections, earlier.

A few more with which to conclude a trip to Portugal. 

Tucked deep in the woods...distinctive and classy without being too 'gushy'.
Superb.
Does color connote happiness?
Love a double mountain.
Spent a reasonable amount of time in darkest Africa...I mean deepest Portugal.
A time to halt reflections and deal with reality across the Atlantic.
Cheers, 

Jenni and Jeffrey

'Unable to let go of Geres...give us a moment.' " Hmm! Only Geres???" Without the long lense, the reflection created off the water appeared to be a solid wall. Had to wait for the photograph for confirmation of reality.
From a different mountain, we realized we were viewing the 'Swing Peak'. It helps to be 'awake and aware' on the odd occasion.

Cheers Geres!

65.03 A Visit to Greece during 2017...recalling the past and its fascinating and enlightening adventures.

It can only be one city...Athens, by night. A nice angle and distance from the Parthenon.
My climbing buddy.
Looks like a storm...but what do we know.
Jen negotiates the steep paths, trails and fall-offs.
  In continuing our recall of earlier trips to various parts of the world, including local states, we are reminded of the exciting and meaningful trip to Greece. Then again, we could use the same wording, the same sentiment, for most locations. We have stated ad nauseum, we find the multitude of differing lands of the world truly beautiful, amazing and miraculous places. (Add one more to infinity.)  

  On our trip to Greece, Jenni reconnected with Jenny Lev, that’s a former school friend. We spent a little time on a couple of occasions catching up and understanding her path since leaving Northview High. As a bonus, local Jenny as well as Josette of Seattle introduced us to Vassi, a Zimbabwean, now a citizen of Greece. As we’ve mentioned frequently, the Zimbabweans are unique, a special people. Vassi, after meeting her and because of the regular communications she has with Jenni L, is the best of the best…truly a lovely person. We are fortunate for the interesting and decent people we have met over the years. 

  As an aside, we just reconnected again with two young men from Spain whom we met and spent time with during a trip to Romania. One of them, Lluis, is since married and now has a gorgeous son who at an age of a few months wears a striking bowtie. Serge, the other young man, strikes us as being a true gentleman. These wonderful occurrences, albeit short in duration, certainly add spice to life. Another quick snippet is that when we sat down for dinner together, Lluis warned us off salad dressing. We tried to explain to him that without it, there'd be little spice in our lives.  

We were most impressed with the class of waiters employed in Greece.
Sunset in Chora.
Ascending Mount Olympus, one of the highlights of the experience...besides the local waiters.
Jen decided to go surfing along and up the creek in Crete.
While he found himself hitting a brick...stone wall.
We don't do 'selfies' so I would think we were not alone. These days the memories are in need of a tune-up, so to speak.
The Greek Islands are even more attractive than we had been led to believe.
Not a bad wake-up call.
It was quite a job to get this crowd to pose but Jen turned on the magic.
Gerontovrachos Parnassos. We used to know what this meant but now it's Greek to us.
Refugi Amalos area. Some tough and rough mountains.
"Any more lip from you, Girl, and guess where you might spend the night...you cute thing, you." In retrospect, we noticed the 'headstone?'...oops.
Meteora: Every now-and-again, we find religion. 

Rooms with views.

We met a group of young Israelis on Mount Olympus (and a whole lot more later) and enjoyed their company. We suppose, everyone we meet is young. Special mention of Arik David, standing to my left.
A place to enjoy clouds, Maude, on top of the world.
On Gingilos: Cheeky girl, yet again.
Re-enacting the Marathon, 26 miles, two hundred yards of it...just completed a full two hundred yards.
Eventually, it all catches up with you. She gave one bit of lip too much and then collapsed from exhaustion...or was intimidated by the rocky climb awaiting her.
Love on the rocks (part 1).
Part 2.
Delphi across the canyon and up the mountain, after commencing from our hotel.
Delphi Region. We noticed cruise ships docking yonder.
Quite high and feels like we're in the clouds.
Coming down to cross the plains. (May not be true but reads nicely.)
Feeling a little edgy.
Climbing while looking for a place to relax.
"Oh dear! That's spoiled the rest of my afternoon." 

The funny thing is that we reached a summit and were quite shocked to find that things looked a bit odd. Then we realized that from the other direction, people drove up to a nude beach. Suddenly, our opening line was no longer apt. Reality!
Back on Mount Olympus.
Olympus shines.
Islands in the sun with 'Dolly and Kenny'.
"Yo", she shouted, "Which way down?"
We termed this the quarry hike. In context, everything is beautiful...still hope for Jen...in context, of course.
Intimidating at times but sure beats the marathon, thinks an envious individual.
Could that be the nudist beach? Someone is really overdressed...thank heaven. Still, should have worn longs as well.
I suppose it's time to slip on...out of Greece.
Cheers, 

Jenni and Jeffrey

Despite the positioning, or because of it, tranquility reigns...maybe rains, too.