Advertisement
Published: August 27th 2010
On the Road
Just a bag or two...Day 46 Pokhara to Kathmandu (Wed 18th Aug)
Wow - it’s the half way mark of our trip today! We have successfully survived in each others company for 46 days, with 46 days to go. I’m pretty sure we will make it 😊
I doesn’t really seem like we have been travelling all that long, and yet at the same time, it feels like months since we were in Europe. Very strange, but we are all far too busy in the present to contemplate the strange nuances of the passage of time...
This morning half the group left early (around 0600) to go white water rafting on the way to Kathmandu. The other half of us (who sensibly decided to sleep in...) departed the resort in Pokhara at 1000. The little coach seemed strangely empty with only half of the group in it. The drive today was beautiful, as usual. We are starting to expect spectacular scenery when we drive through Nepal, but it is still amazing to see every day.
We met up with the rafters at 1330 at a lunch stop where we all ate. Jo had managed to get rather sunburnt though the others
On the Road 2
A little bit of rain too seemed okay.
The drive continued until we reached Kathmandu around 1700. The drive there was beautiful but you could see everyone’s face change as we arrived in Kathmandu. It was a bit of a shock after the beauty of the past week and almost everyone agreed that it felt like we had returned to India early. The city was huge and crowded and the traffic was horrendous. We had to pull over and change to 2 small minivans in order to get to our hotel, as the bus couldn’t get any further in (despite being a small 18-seater anyway). Everyone was a bit disappointed actually, though the fact everyone was tired and sunburnt may have contributed to the feelings.
The sunburn had come out on everyone who went rafting this morning and Jo nearly caused a traffic accident when she pulled down her leggings to show off her rather severe burn on her thighs, in full view of the traffic going past.
Jana and Sean are no longer officially a part of the group, so I am sharing with Norma here in Kathmandu for 4 nights. We settled into our rooms, which were fairly comfortable despite no
A Night Out
And yes, it was rainng a little bit... air conditioning and only a free standing fan that made rather a lot of noise.
Dinner tonight was included and we went to a restaurant around the corner and had a large meal over a couple of hours but everyone was tired form the day and we headed back after eating.
Day 47 Kathmandu
Our first day in Kathmandu and we were eager to head out at 0600 on the off chance we would get to go on our Everest Flight. However the weather was bad and we were fairly certain it would be cancelled. We ended up waiting at the airport for just over an hour until the cancellation was official. The weather can change so quickly here that they can’t cancel the flight until the morning of it. This time of year you have to be really lucky to go.
So we made it back to the hotel in plenty of time to have breakfast. And today we met Helen. She was having breakfast at the same time so we asked her if she was the new member of our group and she joined us.
We managed to do very little
except wander around this afternoon. Today it wasn’t so bad in the city. The people were definitely not as pushy or invasive as India, but it still was so very different form the other parts of Nepal we have seen that we cant help but prefer to be back in Pokhara. A shame we couldn’t start here in Kathmandu and work our way to the nicer places after that.
Today is Sean’s last night so we all met up on the rooftop terrace for a few drinks before going out. Helen joined us which was nice. Actually, everyone came to say goodbye. Jana has one extra night and Aisleen and Richard leave the same day as Jana.
After a few drinks, a few gifts, and a few jokes, we went out to the Irish bar around the corner for a few more drinks, and some of the best chips I’ve tasted. All in all, a good night, though I chose to go back to the hotel after the bar closed instead of finding a club.
Day 48 Kathmandu (Fri 20th Aug)
Well this morning some of the group chose to try for the Everest Flight
Bungy Jump
AJ at the gorge - 160m again but since it was raining outside, I decided not to bother getting up so early! I enjoyed a bit of a sleep in before getting up to join everyone for breakfast.
At 1000 I left the hotel to get in a bit of shopping. Can’t spend 4 nights in a town and not peruse the markets! I spent a couple hours just wandering around by myself, doing a little shopping (though I didn’t buy much) and enjoying the little streets and bakeries along the way.
And of course today is Jana’s last night with us. We all went out for dinner to OR2K, which was close to the hotel and a really nice restaurant. It was one of those places where they have low tables and you sit on the floor on cushions to eat. We spent a few hours there and the food was great! I finally had a salad again! They fortunately wash everything in bottled water we all took advantage of the opportunity to eat without having to worry about getting sick...
Jana gave us all little cards to say goodbye and there were a few people nearly in tears right there! I
Bungy Jump 2
A random stranger's jump had to be sure to say a proper goodbye when we parted, as I won’t be there to see her off tomorrow. I know for a fact that there will be tears tomorrow though.
Day 49 Kathmandu - Bungy Jump
Well today was an early start for those of us going on the day trip. We met up in the lobby at 0545 and had a guide to walk us down to the buses on the main street. Here we said goodbye to Richard and Aisleen, as they were off to Tibet. Lynn, Jo and I were doing a day trip up to the border country to go bungy jumping!! Something we were all really looking forward to.
The drive was just over 3 hours and the scenery was amazing! Here we were in the mountains and the roads were rather close to the edge! At one point I could put my camera out the window facing down, and get a perfect picture of the river below us - no sign of the road at all!
Arriving at our destination (The Last Resort - a spa resort on a mountainside), we were a little
Bungy Jump 3
A long way down unsure about what to do. The guide had really only told us when to meet for the bus trip and we had to ask about the process when we got there. As it was we crossed the gorge to the resort side and Lynn and Jo immediately started panicking when they saw how high the bridge was! I mean, we all knew it was 160m, but seeing it is a little different than hearing about it. Actually I thought their reactions were kind of amusing...
So after a safety lecture and getting weighed for the jump, the first group (of which we were all a part) headed out to the bridge where they had set up everything for the day. Jo and I were doing a jump, and Lynn had elected to go with a “swing” which is where the harness is around the waist and you jump off for an arc ‘swing’ instead of head first by the ankles as for a bungy (and yes, this is how they spell it here...).
They alternated between a jump and a swing in order to get through as fast as possible. There were at least 50 people there today.
Bungy Jump 4
And even further to climb back up I was the 3rd person to bungy and they put you in the body harness to start with and then connect you to the bridge so you can't fall off (despite the fact that the bridge is ‘caged’ to above waist height) and then put the bungy harness around the ankles. It has a rigid bar between the ankles and I seriously felt like I was on a chain gang. When my turn came and I was all connected properly they released me from the bridge. The instructor guy says “come forward really slowly, small steps” - I mean seriously! How the hell else did he expect me to walk with my feet tied together?!?
And the basic drill was, wave at the camera, arms out, bend your knees and leap! All of which I did with ease and it was the most amazing experience! Anyone who has done a bungy will understand what I mean. You just free-fall for a few seconds, which seems like ages (but was only about 5?). Nothing to hold you up, nothing to distract you, all you can hear is the roar of the river below. I just wanted it to keep going, to keep falling, but at the same time I wanted to hit the end of the jump, almost as though I just wanted to be absolutely sure that the rope would hold. I mean intellectually you know that everything is secure, but instinctually you want to have proof. As soon as the rope took up the slack I was back up again, this time not quite so high and also now absolutely certain that everything was fine.
It was an amazing feeling and after they had lowered me to the side of the river, I was keen to have another go!!
The walk back up the mountain though! We thought we wouldn’t make it! Jo was after me, and Lynn did her swing just after Jo. I watched both from the bottom. Jo caught up with me straight away and we were going to wait for Lynn but the leeches started making themselves known and we decided to just let her catch up. Especially since Jo only had thongs on and really didn’t like the leeches. They were tiny though! So skinny and little, I don’t think I have ever seen leeches so small!
Lynn caught us up half way and it took around half an hour, maybe a little longer, to climb back up to the top. Looking back at the pictures I am actually more impressed that I climbed up the mountainside, than I am with the jump...
So after a complimentary lunch and a few drinks at the bar, we watched a few other people from the top, until it was time to get the bus back to Kathmandu. We hadn’t been aware that it was going to be such a long day, though I think it was worth it and it
was very relaxing at the resort.
It must have been nearly 1800 before we left on full buses for the trip back. I spent the first few hours chatting with some random English girl on the bus. Its always easy to start a conversation with a traveller - you always have things in common.
We had a couple of near misses on the trip back. A mud slide on the road caused a bit of trouble and we came close to tipping over when the bus hit the rocks. But fortunately we made it home in one piece. Even if it was at 2300!
Walking back to the hotel, Lynn and I stopped to grab dinner, it having been quite a while since lunch, and then we all went to crash for the night. At least tomorrow is a late start.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.3s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 15; qc: 69; dbt: 0.0994s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Leanne Dowsett
non-member comment
Hi Amanda Lovely to hear the updates of your trip. Good on you for having a go at bungy jumping. Uncle Colin tried it in Cairns quite a while ago, he loved it and had 2 jumps. Laurie and Ashleigh did it in Taupo in New Zealand. I wanted them to jump over water. I think Ashleigh liked it more than Laurie!. Bye for now Auntie Leanne