One of Those Absolutely Perfect Days

It's not often you can see the words that are found in the title of this blog. But it really was an absolutely perfect day from the beginning of the Optimist conference in Nepal to the end of the day and a last cup of coffee or iced tea as the case may be.

The Optimists in Nepal really do know how to put together a conference. There was pomp and circumstance and traditions were upheld. Representatives of each of the seven clubs in the country provided the conference with an update about what their club has been doing to positively impact the lives of young people in their area.

I had the privilege of presenting a workshop on effective communication skills and will present a second one on Saturday with regard to leadership. Most of not all of the 60 participants at the conference were eager  and willing to learn. They want to become better people and better Optimists and my sense is they will continue down that path for months and years to come.

The conference adjourned for the day around 2 PM. This left a little time to see some sights around Pokhara. We walked down dozens of stairs to go at least part way down into one of the deepest caves in Southeast Asia. The only issue was going back up the stairs but I was able to make it without too many pulled muscles.

The he next stop took us up switchback type road to an area where cars were parked on the side of a mountain.... and there were more stairs. I didn't remember to count how many there were but my legs will tell you there were quite a few,  After a six minute climb,  we found ourselves face-to-face with the World Peace Pagoda.  It is a place held in reverence by many because of the statue of Buddha which sits near the top of the pagoda. And as you can see from the photo, the area  provided a fantastic view of the city of Pokhara.

The day ended with a stop at a coffee shop.  And while there was some coffee and some food what really made the day was the conversation. Even though I sometimes could not understand a word that was being said because my hosts were speaking Nepali, you could tell everyone was enjoying themselves and the opportunity to share conversation with one another. And the Adirondack style chairs made it that much easier to kick back and relax for a few moments.

Day to the conference is Saturday.  These are exciting times…