Lord Shiva & Lord Buddha

*Warning: this post has some feels

This weekend was big. My uncle passed on Saturday.

I got the message after walking around Pokhara doing some sightseeing. So when I settled down in a cafe with wi-fi I was slick with sweat, my body was possibly overheating and my feet were throbbing in my boots. But I didn't feel any of that when I saw that message.

Me and The Bont left homestay in the morning to walk along the lake and slowly made my way to the International Museum (usually a 1 hour walk but with my sightseeing it took ~2).

Amazingly I didn't get lost and only had to backtrack once!

During this first trek I met a man at the Hanuman statue who offered to sell me drugs.

Thank you strange man with the shifty eyes but I'm gonna pass.

I also met another volunteer (not with GVI) who was doing some mental health training with Tibetan monks. She was pretty cool and I contemplated asking if she'd like to come to the museum with me but I chickened out, worried I'd come across like Mr Shifty Eyes.

The International Museum was pretty awesome and I spent a couple hours wandering around. And guess what! I ran into the nice volunteer I met by the lake! We didn't spend any time at the museum together but it was still a nice coincidink.

Then I walked to Devi's Falls which was another 40ish minutes away. I met a couple of kids along a quiet street who asked me for money then followed me for a block. Won't lie, I was a bit unnerved. And I was fully prepared to smack a kid if they touched my bag! Luckily nothing like that happened. I think they were hoping I'd change my mind (yeah good luck with that!).

By the time me and The Bont finished looking at Devi's Falls I was rooted so we caught a taxi back to Lakeside where I could get a cold drink and where I got the news.

In the last 12 months we've lost my brother, my aunty, my other aunty and now my uncle.

It's hard to lose family, even harder when you're not there. I was able to find some comfort on Sunday though. I told the GVI Project Manager what had happened and he told me it would be a good idea to pray for my uncle at the temple and monastery we were visiting.

Both are located up high on one of Pokhara's many mountainsides. The views were incredible.

The temple of Shiva was first. For those who don't know it is a Hindu temple. The Project Manager is Hindu and Buddhist (like most Nepalese people) so he was able to help me pray, telling me how to hold my hands and where to pray.

I'm not a religeous person but I found some comfort in this. I prayed for my uncle and for my family and for myself.

Next we trekked down to Peace Pagoda (Buddhist monastery) and once again the Project Manager took me to the small monastery shrine (if it's called that) on my own to pray. Again I found some comfort.

We went back to homestay and I was feeling a bit better about the whole thing.

It was nice to have that support and it meant so much to me. So I want to say a big thank you to the Project Manager and to Lord Shiva and Lord Buddha.

Before I go I'm going to share a story about my uncle that makes me smile.

Years ago my uncle, I'll call Uncle P, was staying in Hedland with my Uncle C and Aunty H. Why he was staying there I don't know, neither is it important to the story. But while he was staying there my Uncle C and Aunty H went out to work and Uncle P decided to take their dog for a walk.

Well Uncle C and Aunty H get home from work and Uncle P and the dog aren't home.

They cook dinner and sit down to watch the news and still no uncle or dog.

Just when they're starting to worry there's a honk in the driveway. They get up and check and there's a taxi.

"Are you C?"

"Yeah," says Uncle C.

"This your dog?"

"What?"

Uncle C and Aunty H look in the back seat and see their dog.

"Yeah that's my dog. Where'd you find him?"

"P put him in my taxi and asked me to bring him home. Don't worry it's all paid for."

"Where's P?" my uncle asked.

"At the pub!"

Lord Shiva & Lord Buddha

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