She said, it's now never. I got fighting in my blood.
I'm tiff.
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Here she is everyone, It's Karen Vaughan. She's back. Karen Vaughan, our favorite regular guest. How are you mate?
I'm good? How are you?
Where have you been? I've been more waiting for you to get back here.
Well, I've been in a poll. Look at my look at my visual for anyone. If you're just listening on the audio, you need to go to YouTube and have a crack at this. But been in a pol I.
Guess I'll have to put this episode on YouTube. Then now you said that you're bastard.
I'm getting paid by YouTube. Now you don't have to put on YouTube. I've got a beautiful picture of the Himalayas behind me.
Oh god, oh what a place, What a place. You're going to have to tell me about your your trip?
Yeah, of course I will. What do you want to know? Do you want to just start your start there?
Go bad?
I want to start there.
I want to hear all about it because it feels it feels like so long ago since I was at the Himalayas, which was not in the pool for me. But god, what a beautiful and massively impacting space.
Yeah, but now I live with you. Agree that there's a real energy, a real deep energy.
Yeah it was yep.
Yeah, and you cannot. I don't believe you can go there and not be moved by it.
Yeah. And even if you don't feel the energy, the magnitude, holy shit, you know it's just well anyway, so right, where do I start?
So?
Actually, all right, so where do I start? I got jealous of you when you it's been on my bucket list. Well, when I say my bucket list has been on my Oh that'd be nice to do some day, if ever, I could dinner. You know, it was when one of those are things. But then you were talking about it and it sparked and re sparked me, you know, it lit me up again, and I thought, why the hell haven't you been, Karen? What the hell has stopped you from going? And then I thought, actually nothing, I just
I just don't know. Neple's one of those places that you feel is a bit big for you as a individual. This is how I feel. It's like it's a bit it's a bit big, it's a bit mountain, it's a bit snowy, it's a bit you know, trekky. It's not my kind of thing, and I'm not a trekker. And
then I started to I was. I was on a zoom court, not a I was on a zoom call with this sister group that I have from a retreat in Balley and and one of them was doing this leaded meditator leading us into meditation, and she said, put on a big pair of boots and take five big leaps and where do you land? And the first one was in my paddock, and the next one was like I was in I was in Nepal, And next next one I was doing. Yeah, I remember anyway, retreats in Nepal.
I can't remember anyway. But but Nepal was like the second one. And I thought, and so I just me being me, and you know me too. If I just decide on something, throw throw my boots in and all and promise people ship that I don't even know if I can deliver. So so I put in the crow. After I got off, I said, you know, my big thing was Nepal. And I think, oh, I think I'm going to run women's retreats in Nepal because I do
them in Cambodia. So I thought, well, what the hell is just transferring to another country and as well as Cambodia, And so everyone in the group's like, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming. So that it's like everything I do in life. People say I'm coming. Then I'm like, well, fucking now, I'm going to do it anyway. So I just decided, fuck it, I'm going to do it. Now. Let me tell you this bit. This is the best bit.
Right.
I knew nothing about Nepal. I didn't know where to start. So now I'm not one for years and chat gpt to cheat, you know, and say, claim work is mine, but geez, I love it for ideas. So I punched in there, I want to run a women's women's retreat to Nepal. Give me an itinery, you know for eight day itinery? And it did, and then I was like, then I wanted to find tune it. Oh well, well what will I do there? You know, how is this benefit beneficial to women? And blah blah. Anyway, it ended
up giving me. I did have to find tune it a bit, but it was so there you go. If you want to know where to go for holiday, just ask chat tell you what it wasn't. It wasn't bad at all. So when did Catman do?
So?
I ended up going with my sister because I you know, my sister and I have always been close, but we've become much closer, you know. And I said, you want to come to Nepal with me? She's like, oh, yeah, what do we can do? And I said, don't know, and we're just going to go check it out. So wen do Catman do? I won't give you a you know, I'll let you ask some questions in there at some point. I won't just give you the whole bloody truth.
I'm just sitting back mate. Actually, I'm just going to grab some popcorn.
Shed like a story. Tell you that if I remember, when I get to the end, I tell you now. Oh you know, I run my Confident Leaders group and there's one woman in there, Kathy. Oh you know Kathy.
She's the best.
Shout out to you, Kathy. She makes me laugh so bloody hard. And she does this mimicking of cradling a bucket of popcorn and then she just keeps putting her hands come out. Then she said, I just love sitting back one listen than to dramas she had them. And the more she laughed and mimicked her chewing popcorn. God, she's funny. Anyways, you enjoy your popcorn. Sorry, I completely digress. Anyway, we get into Catman Do and we got to ride
from the airport. And I know, even if you haven't been to Katman, if you've been to Katman Do, you'll be saying yes if that's what it's like if you haven't. We were down all it's a mazes just like Amazer Labyrinth. Do you know? Are we going down on his dark elyways? And I'm like far out, I hope he's actually taking as to where was bos were going, and we end up in this beautiful little it's called the hotel Thrive, and it was like an It's this incredible, beautiful oasis
in the middle of a dusty city. Camando is actually city of wood, that's what it means, and everything is carved of wood. Is absolutely beautiful. But next morning we go out and we only got as far as the first intersection. And I mean when I say intersection, it's like these little roads that are no bigger than your bedroom door, just about you know, and that wide motorbikes and push push bikes and people and carts and god
knows on. We just stood there. I was readier for the motorbikes and my sister was like, oh, this isn't this is no. I don't trust his traping one. It was it was just like like a star, like a how can I say it, like a wheel and you're at the hub of the wheel and all the roads let off like spokes. That's incredible. Actually, this young guy comes up and he's he's saying, you know, do you want I'm an artist, do you want to see my aunt?
You know, all this and stuff. So he took us back to this like a like an art cave, and we met his master, and he does he's a Buddhist artist, and they go up into the Himalayas and for weeks to paint paintings, do you know, And they're only the art. Only the masters are allowed to paint certain things, you know, like mandulas and like particular mandelas and everything else. And it takes ten years to become a master. So we did that, and then he and we bought a painting.
Each said, I wouldn't have known that.
Do you know what?
If we just stood there and tried to work our own way around cam and do one, we'd be lost, never find that out. But then he took us around. He showed us all the temples and it was just bloody fabulous. And I think that sometimes we travel and we don't want to talk to people, you know, we kind of like do I trust people? Do I know?
But we would never have found that, you know, he enjoyed it, and we've got these beautiful paintings that were done by a Buddhist master artist and there's just bloody fantastic. And anyway, that was about x me. I stayed there one night, and then we went out to Penauti Village or Penaughty Village. And it's one of the things I asked chat GPT is about women's you know, like give
me some stuff about women. And there's it's called Community Homestay Network and it's really big in Nepal and I don't know if it's anywhere else, but it's definitely big in the pau And all these women open their homes like some have got husbands and some haven't, but the women run it. They open their homes for you to stay it, you know, and it's great. I mean, it's not going to say it's luxurious. It certainly isn't very basic, but you eat with the family, you cook with them,
it are far out. It was magnificent. So we spent three nights there with Mina and she took us around the village to to her friends pass who couldn't speak English. But we just sat there and had tea cups of
teas and it was just bloody magnificent. And I'll tell you what, I'm really tough because she doesn't speak English and she's got a couple, two daughters and a daughter in law who do all the translating, and one of the daughters said to us on the last second, last day, Mum wants to take you up to Namba Buddha Temple, which was the highest point we got to it, which was about eighteen hundred meters, and she said, Mum's never ever done that for anyone. She said, she always sends
one of ours. And so she got us a little tiktook with a female driver. Shit, no, shit, the hills are like about whatever that is, but very very steep, and we went up to this temple. It was just bloody beautiful. I absolutely would say if you're going to Nepal, go and spend a couple of days or you know, at a at a community home stay and with a family far out, dear, it was amazing and we can come back twenty of this or you're gonna ask me a question, won't you.
No.
I just well, I'm just thinking like it's reminding me, it's taking me right back there and that that energy you're talking about. And I remember the last day sitting at the home like we were. We stayed at the Christia something temple Chrishna Temple in Nagar and I'm sitting there, you know, and the food they cook is exquisite but so fucking basic and the way you appreciate it. And I'm just sat there and I thought. I remember thinking,
I don't want to go. I'd stay here by myself with this family, like I'd let my friends could go home, and I could stay here indefinitely and appreciate every moment and like.
I'm a foodie, you know, when when.
It came lunchtime and we had when we're on the mountain and we had to unpack our lunch box and there would be a like a shit sand We'd like a literally like a sandwich. You'd get it primary school, like do you shit Cole's white bread? And a piece of plastic cheese and some you know, and it was there was such gratitude and I loved it. And it was just like if this gut served me in Australia,
I'd throw it at somebody. But because you've got so much awe around you, because the people are so connected with you, it changes.
It changes you. You're changed in that moment.
I agree, Harry, I agree.
Tell me more.
Right then we went to It's just so good, except so my initial thought was I'm going to go over there and see if it would suit a women's retreat. Body. I I'm an art about that a lot. And it was all right at first, and yeah, but then if we stay, how would we all stay in a home, stay and be you know, different homestays and be close to each other, and a lot of questions. But then we went to Bandapur and you know, only because acause
Chatchi he told me do. But as I was talking to you know, Nepolice people, they were saying, oh, band a p that's the most beautiful town in Nepal, just absolutely beautiful. And it's this really old village I'm going to guess, and I'm guessing five six hundred years old, I don't know, you know, like and it was still
functional building. Some of the doorways are like crookeder there's leaning over and that, and it's all these little cafes and it's they've blocked off the main street so that you you drive and it goes all the way up this hill like, oh my god, a long way up and then tiny little windy road all the way up. But when you get to the top, cars a und aloud past the entrance of the town. So it's all just pedestrians, do you you know, And oh my god,
what a what a what a place. And we stayed in this place and and I kept looking out going, oh god, look at those clouds and just you know, that sort of thing. And then that night we had a thunderstorm. We stayed in this place. We didn't have power, two nights, we didn't have any old water. Would I wouldn't recommend it a luxury, but anyway there was. It was fine.
And then we had a thunderstorm the first night and then I was standing outside looking and I went, that's not clouds, that's the humalayas were snow on them, you know, and it was like, oh my god, you know, and it was just like this amazingness. It was just incredible. And the next morning we see it properly, you know, it wasn't shrouded by thunderstorm and everything else, which by
the way, made it beautiful. And we went up to that there's this solo monk and that one of the real things I wanted to be in this Bandapoo is there's this Buddhist temple up on the hill behind the village, and it's one solo monk thereby himself, do you know, And he's trying to extend it so that hopefully more more monks will join him. But we went up to look for this temple and there's a lookout and I said I might as well have a look at the lookout.
Holy shit, it was just this unbroken view of the Himalayas is covered in snow, and I was just like, yeah, shit, it's like he could touch them, do you know. I'm sure we were still a couple of kilometers away from it, you know, a time, but it was amazing. Then we saw when I saw the monk, and oh my god, he blessed our beads and gave us tea and tea and pick your best cup of tea. Oh my godfather, I don't know what they do with their tea over there.
Tea and milk and sugar, cheese, cross, honey, lovely, And it was just magnificent. We went back up to that temple the next morning to see sunrise, and it's big mountain and the sun just cracks its way around the edge of the mountain and then starts to light up the humalays in light up the snow. Ah Jesus, there were so many of those moments that were just like there was surreal, you know, and you could literally this might be woo woo for some people. I don't give
a ship and a state anyway. You can literally feel your soul buzzed.
You know.
It was just like wow. But I tell you, but there's this one thing though, because I'm imagining taking you know, eight women over there and getting a minibus and you know, and so we drove from Penaudi village to Bandit one hundred and thirty kilometers not far, is it, tiff if you live in Boody Country, Victoria one hundreds of kilomeus took us eight and a half hours.
I was going to say, that's on roads there, that's.
Darnees and buses coming at you on THEREI mountains, landslides and yeah, monkeys, ah, you name it. And it was like, oh, you you know, and you don't really stop for a toilet. We did. We stopped for lunch and Jesus, you know, no, put it this way. I don't think a bus full of sixty year old women or fifty would go, oh that's a good squat hole, let me have a crack in that. I think the road, I think the road journey is probably not the best for a women's retreat,
but that was great. We stayed a couple of nights and go shout out to Mina was the woman I stayed with him Penadi and shep far at you beautiful. And Babita we met in Bandit Poot and she made all those Nipolie clothes. I should have won one of my Nepalese tops on. I should have done that for you, just for the energy. I bought so many clyent Nepalese tops. I love them. I used to wear them long time ago.
I haven't found me for ages. And I saw this little kid in a little outfit and a little Marone outfit, and I said to my sister, the kids only about three. I so I want I want one of them. No, I got all these buddy fantastic clothes. And Babita, who owns this little shop there, she's just a beautiful, beautiful woman. And the you know, all the kids begging for chocolates, all the kids everywhere Gonney chocolate, gone chocolate.
Anyway. Oh god, I sound like.
A kid in a bloody lolly shop. Don't know, and I don't know, I don't know. Why for some reason, there's a lot of there's a lot of Indian tourists, and the Indian women were very attracted to Susan, my sister, like they all wanted to have a photo with, you know, and all the neple Lee's women were attracted to me. It was a very funny thing. But this family said they haven't and a couple at a cafe in this this family, I think they're Indian, come past and they
just wanted to take photos with us, you know. And the mother was she got to a point taking a photo with us that she was laughing so much that it was like joy just bursting from a gut to you, you know.
It was.
It was amazing. Do I sound like a kid in a china shop? I do? Or in a lolly shop?
I do? Don't I my face from just smiling with the excitement of it all. And then we went to.
After that, we went to Pokra, which was about a two and a half hour drive. That wasn't far away. There was about fifty bloody guys, but anywhere everything takes so long. The road was mildly better and we stayed in at that time, we stayed in a five Star Resort with it. I'm going to try it all, you know, to see if I'm going to bring women here, what what's going to work and what's not And like poker. At first, when we first got there, I found it a little bit sailsy and pushy, do you know, whereas
whereas there's none of that in the other places. I just didn't find that. But well, I think it was because I was tired and grumpy too, don't you know when you're you know, you've been in the car and if you're just pissed off and it's like, nah, it's I'm just enough enough, already enough of the car banging me bloody bones around. And it turned out quite nice. It was right on the lake, and one reason I wanted to go there was because there's a well it's
on a lake and it's utterly beautiful, you know. But there's this little island with a Hindu temple and I thought, oh, that'ud be so nice. People say, get a rowboat, go out to this temple. But what I discovered learned before we went, so I knew about it. On a Saturday. They have animal sacrifices out there and they take out chickens and ducks and baby goats and all that shit to sacrifice to the gods, which for a religion, don't get me wrong, not bag and Hindu. I'm just saying
that this doesn't sit with me. To worship animals, you know, and be vegetarian you know, and all that sort of stuff, and then to sacrifice things like baby goats so that God will be kind to me. I kind of find that. In fact, that was my biggest challenge. Actually, let me tell you the next bit, Bega, then I'll come back to that, because I was really challenged by that part
of the religion. One of the guys who was the what was he the food and hospitality manager, said, oh, I can get you a car and a taxi and you know, you can go up to the Sheiva temple right up the top. And we went up. When they say you can get a taxi up there, Ah, yeah, the taxi takes your part of the way and then you've got a high, cup bloody mountain for about half an hour before you get to it, which we didn't know about that, but we still made it work. And
that was just incredible, this beautiful, big Hindu temple. It was massive and straight with a view straight onto the Himalays, you know, just beautiful. Then we went to the World Peace Stupa, which is a Buddhist temple, and the same same thing is you have to hike up a hill bloody half an hour to get to it, but still with a view of the Himalays. Oh my god, it's majestic.
And then he says, you know, so he says, go to the Shiva Temple, go to the World Peace stupor go to Mahendra Cave and then go to the Diva Falls. And so we thought that was our that was our itinerary for the day. We went to Mahendra Cave and.
It is in.
Well, actually I think it's man. I might be saying the wrong cave anyway, I started with an M. And it's in the near Pokra and Pokra and we went there and we knew it was a cave that was a temple. Well we didn't know and didn't expect, and I got very pissed off. Be honest, here, some of the Indian men were just because they come and visit
the temples, were just fucking rude. Do it, just like really fucking horrible and not everybody, but just and I'm not being racist, but it was just like an entitlement,
you know that. And I'm a man, and several times I tried to buy tickets and you know, stuff like that, and they were just push in front of me and elbow me in the face, you know, just and get And by the time we got to these caves, I was a bit pissed off with it, you know, and so I started standing up for myself a little bit and not didn't go against me, but still didn't bloody help do you know, still still served him first. But I sort of was really agitated about it by then.
You know, I'm like, you, man, you know, your assholes don't fucking do that. You know, just because I'm a female, you don't get to bloody just pushing and you just don't get to.
Do that, you know.
And clearly, I'm not going to punch someone in the face in a strange country, not that I do that anyway, but you know what I mean, Clearly I'm not going to start a fight and bloody Nepal. But we got our tickets and it was you have to go down all these spiral stairs and into the cave and with everyone pushing, like I'm talking hundreds of people pushing into your back to get to this cow statue, which was
you know, worshiping part. And then after that you go down more stairs into another layer of cave to the next bit of the temple. And we got into this cave and everybody's pushing. I'm talking hundreds of people going down the same little stair well, and you just went with it, you know, and they're chanting, and that didn't bother me. But it was quite a um can I say about the chant It was kind of like almost hypnotic that they didn't even know they were where they were.
It was like they're like that left their body and they were just sort of which is wonderful, but not when you're in the middle of it, not when you're in the middle of getting dragged down these stairs and everything else. And then we got down there and I looked up and thought, it's stunk. It was mil dewy and mossy. Fuck it smell black mold. Was buddy gonna kill me? And it's stunk. There was water just dripping
all over the floor. The floor was slippery. People were just pushing and then I went a little bit further into my catastrophic thinking and went, fuck earthquakes, landslides. I'm under the mountain here, I'm in a cave with hundreds of people. Can't breathe. I said to my sister, we're out of here. We're not going down to the second level. We're getting out of here. And then we had to fight back through everybody to get to get back. It
was awful. And they've got all these shops around the entrance and they're real, real pushy, say you know what I mean? And I just said, I can't do this, Diva falls. I just can't, you know, like I've had enough enough. So I think I sort of grumpied myself out of a good day, do you know what I mean. But the first two temples up on the all they were bloody fantastic.
Yeah.
And we got a cable car. Oh that's right. And then we wanted to see the sunrise and we went to the reception, said what time do we how can we see sunrise? How can we get this? She said, oh yeah, bus comes up four am. Oh god, this is funny. The bus comes at four am. We'll get a shuttle bus.
And so.
She booked us a bus for four am, and so we're waiting in the lobby at the hotel five star, five star, well, you know, we wouldn't call it a five star, but anyway, it was for there waiting for a shuttle bus. Next thing she goes, go go, it's coming run out of the front. Who had to run out onto the road if one of the public buses came. Yeah,
and it was full, absolutely all of people. So I'm sitting on the gearbox box, you know, the fun others send up some blokes me half way up the bush and I'm trying to hang on some blakes shaking my hand and I'm like, Jesus, I need that hand to hang on to the side of the blade. They were around the corners and when they drive, they just like drive, yeah, we're going, We're go. And I liken it to a four year old boy from driving a go cart. You know. God.
He took us up to the up to the cable car and we we we saw the sun right, Oh my god, that was that was spectacle. That's where this photo is behind me, but not that anyone can see it because you don't put things on YouTube, and you deprive people of great scenery.
But well, you send me a bloody picture of you in front of it, I'll use it as the caver image.
Yeah, oh yeah, okay, I think I have one. I don't know.
So.
So it was incredible that that was utterly incredible, was worth a four am start, was worth it, worth the driving the bus like afoorteen year old go cart driver. It was bloody, it was bloody great. And by the time when we came home Catman dou Airport, I'm not I'm not going to give it any praise. There's nothing I can say about it that's good. And you know, still she bastards and you know, I was just like, I was so glad to get on the plane but
from the airport, the airport was shipped. But wow, and that's about it in a nutshell. But now you can ask me anything, tif I will allow it.
Mate. What a bloody ride? What a ride?
Yeah, that's what it was like.
Yeah, what changed you or what did you feel that you didn't expect to feel there or when you came home?
Gratitude, A lot of gratitude, you know, yeah, a lot of warmth. I don't know actually I can say those two things, but I also had a lot of anger and which kind of don't go together, you know. I had a lot of conflict, to be honest, because oh yeah, I was going to say about hind You know, Hindu part of the Hindu religion is that the cows are so acre and in Pokra, cows were just walking in the shops or they were sleeping on the roads. You had to drive around them, you know, just walking up
the town. No worries that. I love that. But everywhere else they were tied you know, through the nose and on very short ropes, and when I'm saying, like less than two foot of rope, you know, tied to a pole. And they would they would come out and be tied to these poles in this like maybe three meters by three meters kind of patch, you know, and they would just sit there all day. I didn't see any water,
you know, there's there's hay. They'd gone. Hey, But then they went into a shed in the afternoon, so they brought out into the sun every day, which that's I don't know. See I'm big on animals having shelter, but anyway, whatever,
some people might disagree. And then then later in the afternoon, they put them back in this little shed and to close the doors, but they were tied to poles in the shed, and I, you know, patched this little calf, and I spent a bit of time with this little calf, and all I wanted to do was just cuddle into me this and I reckon it's the first bit of
love it's ever ever got. And I was really deeply conflicted, you know, really in a lot of pain, and thought, how can you on one hand revere you know, cows or cattle, not all cattle, because they eat the buffalo, eat the yeah, buffalo, But how can you on one
hand do that and then sort of not knock. I don't know, maybe that is what they how they care for them, But all I could think was, why can't you put a little fence around and just let them roam free within that area, even though it's a tiny area, you know, just not be tied up by the nose through this this rope through the nose. But anyway, that was one thing, and then there was a lot of dogs that actually looked quite well, do you you know, like to be honest for dogs at the street dogs
that's the best in the world. I've ever seen street dogs. They looked okay, and people seem to care about them to you know, just everyone was not no one well basically there was no beating and no you know. I only saw one really awful dog in Van der Purn that had a terrible skin condition. There were tons of Golden retrievers. Mina had a Golden Retriever God Simba. It
was I loved, but lots of Golden Retrievers. But when I was in Panaudi, we went down into the old village and I was patting all the dogs and I'm sure people were thinking, don't do that. You don't know anyway, I'm not just still rare. I was a bit careful, you know, just making sure they looked like they were a bit sane before adding a rabid dog.
You know.
But this one dog, he was absolutely majestic and a stunning God. He was a beautiful dog and looked almost dingo. He just there was something about him. I had this presence that was just incredible. And I noticed he had three like scars on his leg that were just like, look just healed up and real deep. I'm talking big, probably a centimeter wide, you know, and maybe six centimeters long, big gashes, three of them, and I took a photo with him, cuddled him, he kissed my face. You know,
we loved a little scratch. It was just beautiful, shared this beautiful moment. And then I walked away and I hear him. Not even twenty seconds later, I hear this sickening crack and this dog just scream. Oh my god, I've never heard a dog scream like it. And I turned around and it was that dog. And there was a woman sitting on the footpath selling no no, I
don't know what. She had, vegetables or something. I didn't look enough because I actually wanted to killer in the moment, but she she had a metal pole and she had hit it that heard on the leg that all the all the three wounds had opened up and they were bleeding, and and it was carrying its leg like its leg was broken, you know, And I was I can't tell you.
I was.
Now, I'm not saying people in Nepolo crawled dogs, because they're not. This this one that was the only well maybe scared or something, but this is the only instance of cruelty that I saw like that. But I was so conflicted, I like, I wanted to pick up that stick and just whack her. You know, I was so fucking angry I wanted the dog just looked at me, and I just felt fucking sick. I felt like, you know, oh I said, was that, I'm so sorry. Do you
know I couldn't help it. There's nothing I could friggin do. Actually, now I've spoken to people who are vet vets and vetnases and that kind of stuff. There is actually a black there's a magic powder you can get. It's like a black puffer powder, you know, anyway, and you can actually just puff it on and it's and it heals up wounds. So next time I go to any of those places, I'm taking some so that the least I can do if I see a dog in that that's in, you know, I can at least put some bloody out
puffer and accepting. It's called black magic or something like. I don't know what it's called, but anyway, I know I found it, and so in future I'll be able to do that. But I was really sickened by it, and I asked Shrezanna, who was Mena's daughter in law. I said, do you how do people in Nepal feel about dogs. You're about dog cruelty and she said, no, no, no, we don't do that. We don't hurt dogs. And said that woman just did and she said, yeah, I know,
maybe scared of it. Maybe it's she said, it's not okay. People in the pool don't think that's okay. And I said, and she said, we have a big dog festival and they do which they do in October to celebrate dogs. So, you know, on one hand, I was sickened by it, never wanted to go back there again. This is in the in the moment, you know, just really cranky. But then then I thought, well, shit, you know there are
fucking assholes in Australia too, you know. Don't don't just be thinking it's people there, you know, And I've I know some cruel bastards, not friends, but you know that are just as bloody cruel And look what we do to our in our meat industry, do you know. Hey, On one hand, I'm saying, you know, you shouldn't have bloody ropes through noses and time to two foot two foot bits of thing, but we're just as bloody cruel. So I had a lot of I had a lot of conflict I'm gonna tell you. And I don't think
it was Nepal. I think my psyche was ready, do you know, to have some challenges, and I just think it happened to be Nepal. And yeah, but I did, like from then on, every dog I saw, I made sure I gave every dog I saw some loved, you know, just so they knew someone cared. But yeah, I was kind of like that, real deep love and gratitude, but also anger and fury and conflict, and started questioning religion A lot. I like Buddhism a lot I born. If you would say born Christian, I would don't know if
I'd even bother to say that. But you know, I don't follow any religion, but Buddhism I like, and because of its kindness. And but this all this business with all these Hindu temples and that, and everybody sort of pushing you out of the way and just caring about their own, you know, you know, Lord Shiva, whoever they brain to give me protection, give me money, give me success, give me give me me, me, me, me me, you know.
And when I was in the Buddhist temple before that in Banditpur, all I was asking for and this is all I ever asked for a liddle candle, and I'm asking for, you know, world peace, and you know, whatever I can do, show me how to do that, you know, give me the whatever I need to make sure I can contribute to world peace. And to me, that's maybe I'm just being Maybe I'm just being self righteous. I don't know, but I don't under I think if you're going to do that, you, if you truly care about stuff,
that wouldn't you be asking for bigger than yourself. Wouldn't you be asking for? So I got conflicted by that. Well do you know that, how can religion be so selfish? You know that people they keep it's their own success and they'll push anyone out of the way just to get their own success. So I'm not bagging any religion. I'm not bagging any individuals, you know. It just was just my own in a conflict that. Yeah, it took
a real beating to be honest. So on one hand, it's exciting, fun, beautiful, loving, and then I had some real I had some real challenges to be honest.
I remember before I went to India feeling challenged because a few people that had been and been to Delhi specifically, were telling me about how it was, but also I just kept the message I kept hearing for better or worse, whether or not that was their intention, but was you're a Caucasian female, and you won't be safe, fair, and you won't be respected. And so I found myself feeling quite angry and unwelcome before it had even gotten there. So when I got there and my entire experience was
the exact opposite to that, it was incredible. But yeah, it's a polarizing place. I remember, you know, you're confronted by the very, very poor and thett and it's very The.
City's just filth, just filthy.
And I remember walking through Old Deli and seeing three rows of people squatting like they like on their feet, but squatting like fully onto the ground in positions that we can't get to in our western world, but three
rows on both sides of this small little street. And the I'd gone for dinner with a guy from India at my hotel the one night that I had stayed by myself, and he took me to this beautiful restaurant in Old Deli and he walks down there and he said, do you want me to buy them food, and it was this restaurant that cooks plates of food for them and you can go and pay for a certain number of plates and that feeds the homeless people that are waiting in the lines.
Wow, who were seeing things like that?
I remember they have these free hospitals as well, so you can go and be cared for in these free healthcare and free hospitals. So it's got some really confronting aspects where you just you don't want to see what the reality of what is some people are living like. But also there is a really beautiful, generous richness.
To it as well that I wasn't aware of.
It's crazy, Yeah, it's very It is polarizing. Yeah, polarizing, I think is a great Nepal wasn't like that definitely?
That was Delhi?
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, that was right in the city of Delhi. Did you say it Delhi at all?
No? I didn't go. I just flew straight to I went to Singapore, then to cat man Do. Yeah, and we flew. We drove all the way over to Pakara via multiple towns, but then we flew back from Pokra to cat Mandu. So I didn't know I didn't go anywhere near India other other than it's very close to the board. I did, very close. But yeah, it's funny, isn't it. I think it's life changing. And I don't think it's a bad thing to be polarized. And I don't think it's a bad thing to be confronted or
to be to have conflict and to question yourself. I don't. I think that's a really good thing. And so as much as there were things that I didn't like and you would have been the same things you didn't like, the opportunity to see them and be confronted and be conflicted and to be angry and to be empathetic and to be upset and to be like the emotions are just just staggering, you know, the speed and the depth
of the emotions. But what what what are we on this earth for, you know, to be to be comfortable and sheltered and live in a world where you know, we expect everyone to be like us? Or are we here to to grow and become even I think we constantly on a spiritual growth and an emotion emotional intelligence growth journey, and I think you can't grow. I think it's called growing pains for a reason, like I think pain causes growth, and would I was I pissed off?
Fuck?
Yes?
Would I was? I cranky at Katmandu Airport, yet never come back here at the end because I was so shitted off with everyone by then and men spitting on the ground. I'm gonna say that in the poll the men spit on the ground, and I did. I did not like that. By the time I got to the airport, I was sitting at a row of seats waiting to check in, and there was a water machine, you know, a water dispenser running, and all fuck I counted, I counted, worked out to be two hundred people every hour were
coming up to this. I didn't count for the whole air I just didn't average. I'm coming up to this thing. But they would drink it, and then they would spit. They'd lift the bin lid right next to me and into the bin, and I was like, can you imagine, like I'm just I don't there's nowhere else to set and oh my god. And then and then they get the bushy people trying to one body shop to buy food. It was awful food and trying to buy it, and I just, oh my god, get me on that fucking plane.
And I don't care if I don't care if you feed me plastic cheese and a sandwich, just get me out.
They were the best plastic cheese sound just to ever.
Happy with that.
But by the by the time I got home and had to sleep, and you know, and you know, settled down the next day and looked at all the clothes I bought, and so when I spend a few hours taking them up to for my stumpy little arms and all that sort of stuff, by then I was back to fondness, did you know?
So I think.
I think when we travel like that, we have to take into consideration what tiredness does for us, you know.
And I just.
Ask yourself, am I too tired to process this? And if I am, let me, let me make a decision tomorrow that sort of thing. Would I go again? Absolutely do. I think it is a women's retreat, and maybe maybe I need to do some more pondering on that. But it'll be flying. It won't be driving, because that's just
way too way too tough through the mountains. But I'm definitely going to do a leadership retreat, and hopefully every year and so I mean as Son is actually a guide goes up into the him eyes and he's actually been voted in Nepal's Best Guide to Be. So it was sort of luck that I landed there. But he's he's he wants to work with me to take leaders over there. And I think that would be good because
I think be extraordinarily touch challenging. But to go up into the mounds, but not too high, like I needed about two thousand meters or three thousand, so not where you get altitude sickness, you know, not to that level. And like maybe hike with not much, not much of a backpack, just a day day back.
The way we did it, I mean we had we had horses take our stuff, so we had a day pack.
Yeah, but I wouldn't I wouldn't have the hall. I would just go two hours and then go back to And what I want to do is take a group hike two hours into the Himalayas, sit there, have lunch, and then have leadership conversations and deep I'm talking deep vulnerability, he really deep conversation, and then come back to that place and drive up to the next one and then
go another two hours. So you still go into different places, but it's not it's not the hardship of trying to camp and trying to do all that sort of stuff. But it's still enough to challenge you, you know, and still enough to and hiking two hours is enough to go.
I did this.
I did it, you know, I did it. I made it. So it's not really like a trick. It's just enough to go, fucking hell, I did this, and I suddenly humalayas you know, and I confronted my whatever, you know, my fears I have of talking about vulnerability. I confronted humility, do you you know that sort of stuff. And so that's what that's what I want to do. And I
think that would be perfect for that, you know, the energy. Yeah, so no no writing stuff, no theory, is no power points now that ship, you know, just just just kind of really deep, rich, vulnerable conversations. Yeah, yeah, that's my plan.
That's good mate.
Yeah, you've taken me right back there again. You've made me want to go back again, so like.
And yeah, it travels, and the tricky thing is.
The wanting to return to places but also realizing that was once at that place that wasn't even on my bucket list to go to Sema. And so when I think about wanting another thing that impacts me as much as that, it's like, well, you can't go to the same place because it'll I mean, that'll be beautiful again, but it won't be the same way because it's expectation.
Sometimes the expectation, and I just like to land somewhere and have no idea what's going to unfold, and you know, finding those experiences.
I remember.
When I went to Vietnam the year before with my one of my best mates, Courtney, and we were going to go every couple of years to a different you know, just a short kind of we wit did it through Intrepid, which are.
Great, by the way, they do great solo travel holidays.
And the one of the ones she picked out was Nepal and it was a women's retreat and they take you to I can't remember it exactly entirely, but they teach you about some of the women's practices over there and some of the stuff that they're trying to change for women over there.
So there was a lot will be that'll be.
The community's homestay network, I think, because that's what the that's what they focus on all that sort of stuff.
Yeah, yeah, I'll have to have it.
I'll have to look back through wherever she originally sent me the details, because I was like, oh, that'd be interesting because you're learning, so I like to learn something. I remember my favorite well, it's hard to say favorite now because I think India took the cake for me. But prior to that, my favorite trip was Kakadu in twenty thirteen.
We'd Save the Children.
It was their first Australian track and we went to places that you just couldn't You couldn't get the photographer that was coming where this couldn't get.
Through with the gear.
It was just wow, magic and we and they taught us about the culture, so immersed in the culture, but throughout just walking through there, we were also learning about Aboriginal culture and the land and families and we had a family day and the idea was their mission was to get more of the Indigenous children that weren't making
it to school, to get them to school. And I remember learning things like the reasons that the kids weren't making it to school weren't what you would assume they were, things like the family their washing machine had broken, and they were too ashamed to send their child in dirty clothes, so they didn't send them. So it was things like that, or you know, and just understand learning about culture and learning about things that change your lens of the world.
They were the most beautiful children we spent the day with I'm not deaf Boddy having a school yard of kids to amuse all day. But that was one of the best days ever. And I remember just going, these are the most beautiful children ever. They're so polite and they were so oh. I was just overwhelmed.
Wow, that would be fantastic.
Yeah, it really was.
And when I first went on when we went to Vietnam, my idea at that point was I wanted to go to Uluru because I wanted to seek that out again.
I was like, oh, I want another.
Experience where I see our land and I have a really spiritual kind of connection with where I am and I learn about culture. And then in walk to court me and said, now let's go to Vietnam.
Where'd you go to? Where'd you go to? In Vietnam?
We did a cycling tour through the north of Vietnam.
Wow.
Yeah, it was beautiful.
And we started in Hanoi, and then we ended up where's the that on the river? Like on the boat where the boats are?
What's that called? I can't remember. Everyone talks about it, but I've completely escaped.
How Long Bay?
Yes?
How Long Bay?
Yeah?
So and we finished there and it was great.
Like sometimes sometimes we're at homestays and sometimes we were at a hotel and it was amazing. There was this one time, right we're riding the bikes up this big hill. There was only one really strenuous stretch and we're powering up this hill and there's you know, the buffaloes.
They're just beautiful. It's amazing.
And we get to this buffalo and our guide goes me and Courtney heading, you know, like we're one and two in the pack. We're like, let's fucking let's go. And we get to this buffalo and he is, oh, it's the two guys. Is it's a boy, he's him?
Is it the boys that are aggressive or the girls?
I can't remember anyway, whatever, it's this one. Yeah, he might he might attack. And we're kind of laughing. And then we're not laughing and fucking looking at us and we're right on a cliff edge, like there's a cliff edge, and there's there's this fucking buffalo, and then we've shit ourselves and he had to get in between us and eat and he was kind of waving it along and it's kind of trying to go around him, and it's looking at.
Us and shit shitting, shitting bricks. I was like, I'm really scared and I don't know what to do. This is really scary. This is not fun anymore. Oh my god. So there was that because the rest of him are so beautiful.
They walk along like they're very proud of They walk along with their buffalo, feeding them, finding them grass, and I'm like, oh.
How amazing. And he's like, yeah, this one's some. This one's not going to be amazing. I'm like, where is the fucking owner. He's like, I don't know, Jesus, he's somewhere, but you're just gonna have to be careful.
Love it.
Yeah, the best.
And also I remember the great thing about Intrepid is they're known for their great tour guides. And we were traveling through this little village and we stopped and this beautiful old lady. She was in her late eighties, I think, so she's older than the expected age of Yeah, of most Vietnamese people beautiful tiny.
You know, as they start growing down. So she's getting shorter by the second.
As we're speaking to her, I can't speak English, and she's got completely black. She was walking back it's lunchtime, and he goes, she's been out in the field since five five am doing the crops, and she had pitch black teeth, pitch black, and so he stopped her and asked her to explain why about the teeth, and they were it was like a mark of beauty and respect for the older women there. And she choose a particular leaf in order to stay in her teeth.
They were black.
Oh, well, like that were painted black. It was amazing, and she had this beautiful she walked up to my friend. My friend has a my friend. No matter where she goes, she has tends to have this connection with indigenous culture. She spent a lot of time in.
Up in was it Cairns, I think.
Or broom broom with Aboriginal children and communities, and the same thing happened there. But she walks, this woman walks straight through past all of us, straight up to Courtney, grabs her by both hands and looks into her eyes and she said something. She looked at him and he had to translate, and she was just she was just so.
I don't know what she saw, but it was just stotted by her.
Yeah, And everyone was like, wow, what's going on there?
Wow?
Yeah, And it's funny because Courtney's courts like, she's such a like she's she's loud, she's boisterous, she's funny. She's just like the life of the party, the life of the party. And then you get these things like that happened and everyone was.
Like, whoa, what's going on there?
What do we miss?
She's like, I'm fucking spiritual, I'm special. But yeah, it's moments like that, like they're just it's so good.
That beautiful travel good for the soul. Oh, I agree, you know what. Yeah, we've got to go to school. We're gonna learn the you know, the three and all that shit. But the end of the day, and we have to do it because we've got to work and we've got to we will survive. But I think you learn all your best education is through travel. Yeah, and you you grow, you're really it's a it's a different education. Yeah, I love it. I don't want to stop. But now I guess one day, my one day, my feet are
going to catch up to me. He Nana, leggs are going to catch me. But until they do, you know, fucking I'm moving.
It's you've got a long time yet.
Oh shit, I hope, So I hope. So I keep thinking one how long I've got left to travel? And you know, I'm hoping to get at least to get another ten years in. But you know, you don't know. I'm sixty two. You don't know what's you know, I'm noticing that every time I hit a decade, something else bloody starts failing. You know, So you don't know, like when you hit seventy, you know what's not working? Then
who knows? But I just think. I think for the people that say, you know, when I get long service leave, when I retire, when I pay my house off, I just think, no, I don't don't because yeah, yeah, in a I don't want to say this in a morbid way, but you know, people are dropping all over the place. I just don't don't get it. If you you want to be somewhere, you want to go somewhere, you want to experience something God, say go and do it, you know, just find a way to do it, because tomorrow may
never come. It just might not.
So get and do it, you know, and we become stories, like we tell ourselves stories. I can be a shocker for it, you know, like I have, I've thought so long with that.
Not enough, I haven't haven't got enough, I've not enough yet. I can't. I can't do it yet. I can't, you know, like we're not there yet.
That it's like, that's that's just just youve got to recognize when stories are stories and when then when they're not fucking real?
Yeah, and I reckon, yeah, no, God, no, that's all I was just going to ramble on about it.
No, but it's true. And I think if we're going to tell stories, wouldn't you rather tell a true story about an adventure that you had instead of tell bullshit story about why you can't do?
You know?
Where? We're bloody good at that, bloody good at telling ourselves. I can't. I can't I count. But well, how many, how many? How many heart giggles did I give you today? Thinking about this, like, it's so it's so good to relive real stories, isn't.
It except for the dog one.
No, I don't like that one. But you know what, it's still as much as I don't like it, it still makes me. It's still an experience I probably needed to have to build a better me, do you you know? And I think I don't know the reason for it. I think I need to, but I think you just well you know, no rain no rainbow.
Hey, yeah, yeah. Pain teaches us, Pain teaches us who we what matters to us?
M yeah, well pain and pain uncovers your values, doesn't it? By christy bloody shootout. When you're pissed off, you're wondering what your value? Think about what really fucking pisces you off? And you'll spontigure out your values. Jesus, Ah, you're the best.
Tell all my listeners how they can get more caring in their life.
Oh, thank you, you know the best. We have a mutual lover fest love fest to finish off if you're the best as.
Always. Yeah, we haven't told everyone where to find you. Oh yeah, that come on? I want more of Karen.
Where do we go?
Well, just I think go to my website Karen Vaughan dot com and well the Cambodi you retreat. That's with girls with Hammers dot com dot au. And I don't know. I think the best thing is just oh, LinkedIn, just Karen Vaughan. Yeah, and just you know, I've really even got really I've got really slack on doing newsletters. It's not slack. I just like hell, got no time, so
I don't do that. But if you want to connect with me LinkedIn or just through my website Karen Vaughn dot com, there we are nice and easy.
Thanks mate, Thanks for coming back on.
My pleasure anytime. Love chatting with you because we do the nuts and bolts and I love it. Yes, I cut you off, sea you next time. Thanks see everyone. She said, it's now never. I got fighting in my blood.
Got it, got it, got it, got it,