Crossing Phewa Tal

As you might have heard me mention in passing, swimming in Phewa Tal (lake) is one of my favourite pastimes here in Pokhara. I tend to swim out away from the shore and bob about languishing in the water and gazing at the light sparkles bouncing of the surface of the lake. I find it mesmerising and it is my time for quiet contemplation. And high up on the ridge, the ever-present stupa, the Peace Pagoda, sits like a beacon of peace and stability. I like to swim out far from the shore, not only to get away from the curious eyes of passing men on the cliff above, but because I enjoy the feeling of being immersed in the water, surrounded, feeling like you are in the middle of lake. As I swam out further each day I had the urge to keep going. I started to wonder how far it was to the other side. I’m not particularly fit or athletic but I can stay in that water, floating and swimming for a long time, so figured I should be able to manage swimming across. But I wanted someone to accompany me with a boat, not just for safety peace of mind, but so I could have my stuff on the other side and also not have to swim back as I was sure that swimming the nearly 1 km across would be more than enough. I had no idea of how far it actually was or if I was able to swim that far as I have never really swum lengths or exercised in any real sense of the word.

My friend, Patrick, who has joined me swimming on occasion, agreed to come out in a boat to cross the lake with me. The morning had been sweltering but as the afternoon rolled in, the sky became overcast, cooling the day. Patrick appeared saying he had found another willing boater so we should go before the weather turned again and it started raining.

I couldn’t walk to the beach dressed only in my bikini and swimming top (I swim in a tank top) so I asked Patrick and Duda to come and collect my stuff from the beach with the boat once I was in the water. I watched from the cliff as they went to get the boat on the other side of the small bay. I wanted to time it right so that they were en route to pick up my stuff and not too far behind me. I was brimming with nervous excitement at actually embarking on this challenge I had set myself. It is not so far, but as many people know, I am not so fit either.

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As it was Saturday there were more kids than usual at the little beach where I swim. Young boys stared as I quickly took off my sarong and plunged into the water. It was a strange feeling, leaving my stuff and knowing I wasn’t coming back. I did a slow breaststroke, wanting to pace myself and the guys in the boat had a leisurely cruise, overtaking me, making jokes about snakes or how much further I had to go and then going ahead a way and chilling out in the boat. At one point it started sprinkling (not that I noticed) and for a second I thought they were wanting to turn back – understandably, getting stuck in the rain in a boat is not an appealing prospect, particularly the kinds of torrential afternoon lightening storms that we have almost every day – which would mean I would have had to stop half-way, but the trickle never evolved into the usual downpour. I’m not sure if my little prayer to the rain gods had any effect or not.

The journey seemed to go on forever and although when I looked back, the cliff where I started did seem far off, somehow, the shore and the red lodge I was heading towards didn’t seem to be getting any closer. My arms kept going but after a while, my neck started to ache. But eventually I made it. My wobbly legs could barely stand up on the slippery rocks. The guys had moored the boat at the landing point for the restaurant lodge on the hill above and after sitting on a rock for a minute just soaking in my small sense of achievement, I made my way round to them. I changed and we headed up to the lodge for a bite as I had certainly worked up an appetite. Munching on chow mein and half a beer on a bench table looking out over the water I had just swum across was a very satisfying experience.

As the sun was starting to go down we headed back to the boat and although I had promised to row back, Duda was in the zone and took us the whole way while I reclined at the front of the boat. Which was just as well as my arms were jelly. It was a great feeling as I had been so excited to do this and felt a wonderful sense of achievement that I had actually done it. I was and am very grateful to Patrick and Duda, for the company, as in addition to giving me that safety cushion, they made the experience a real pleasure.

The next day my friend Emily arrived in Pokhara. She had been cycling from Kathmandu but was a bit under the weather so had not been covering as much ground as she normally would. It is about 200 km of winding, steep, uneven roads full of beeping trucks and motorcycles and she was planning on doing it in two days. Which sounds like a lot to normal people but to her it is just another day. She is travelling on her bicycle from New Zealand all the way back to the UK – occasionally making use of other modes of transport, obviously over oceans and the odd train or bus here and there as necessary.

I met her in south India in Mudmulai National Park, where we were both house guests of a most hospitable and charming gentleman by the name of Johnnie (of the Jungle). We kept in touch so arranged to rendezvous in Nepal. When I told her I had swum across the lake, her eyes sparkled and she said that sounded like a fine thing to do. Of course, we are in different leagues when it comes to fitness challenges (this is a girl that cycles 42 km to get the beginning of her 5 day trek which she is planning on doing in 3 days), so it comes as little surprise that she did in fact, not only swim across the lake, but swam back too! And this is just a morning stretch before she had breakfast, went into town to sort out her trekking permit and then went paragliding… all before noon! She wrote, “I felt nicely exercised afterward.” Check out her blog, which has all sorts of interesting details and pictures about her journey, and the distances she has covered on the adventure. She is also raising money for Oxfam.

One of the many things that I appreciate about my life at present is the people I meet who are on their own adventures. Everyone has a different perspective on their place and time in foreign climes and is getting something different out of their experience. I am in awe of Emily and the journey she is on. When I even think about how much energy and the level of fitness she has, it makes me tired. For me, my swim, a nice walk, a good stretch, maybe a leisurely bike ride or a boogie, that is about as much as I can usually muster, but it is those differences that make life interesting.