Krazy Kathmandu!

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Well People, sorry I haven't updated this on a while but I was nearly going to give up on it all during the last month. All will be explained in time.
My first thought when I got into Kathmandu was 'What the fuck happened this place?!' The infrastructure of the place was shocking. Dusty dirty pot-holed roads, power lines hanging above peoples heads and wot-not, I know there was a war going here but that was fought mostly in the mountains. Going to have the keep the wits about me in this place I was thinking, going to have to look left, right, up and down! (Have too look down as I forgot to tell you i my last blog; I was running down the street in Delhi after a tuk-tuk and I fell down a fucking man-hole. They don't even cover them over there. Cut the knee and elbow aff me self.) Anyway, as I got into the tourist district in Thamel the place was looking as ragged but fuck me there was a lot of westerners. The roads were a lot cleaner too compared to those of Delhi which are like an obsessive cleaner's wet-dream. Got myself booked into a guesthouse after looking unsuccessfully for a different hostel. 400 rupees (about 3.50 sterling) a night which wasn't bad for an en-suite. Got myself a few hours kip as was wrecked after the bus journey from hell.
Got up that night felling a bit fresher, so decided to take a walk about the place. Place looked very touristy. Stacks of westerners, t shirt shops and street sellers. 'Hasish hashish mister?' said some young fella who was at the most fourteen, 'Haha hashish, u must be joking wee man.' Bad enough walking down Strabane stoned never mind these mad streets. Had seen enough of the place after about an hour of walking around as the shops and stalls all just seemed to be selling the exact same stuff. Decided I would get myself a few bottles a beer and go and chill and see what the people in the hostel were up to. Went into supermarket and got myself 6 bottles of San Miguel, 1140 rupees. 'EH?!", I nearly fucking choked. 190 rupees a bottle (1.55 pound), nearly 4 times the price of Delhi. 'I'll not be hanging about this place too long, better get meself up into them mountains out of this dear hole.' Eventually got back to my hostel too drink my super dear San Miguel and see what kinda a crew was about the place, 'Hi there, Hello, how you doing', was me. Not one response, what a pack of fuckin weirdos! If people come on their travels to meet new people and in some cases 'find themselves', these crowd a mormons have a lotta lotta searching to do. Deffo time to get to the mountains trekking.
After about a couple of days of looking through different trekking companies I eventually got a base camp trek for 550 sterling, which wasn't too bad for everything included, well except a porter and a VISA, what the fuck? Turns out, on crossing the border that the fuck-wit on the Nepali side of the border never put a visa and stamp in my passport, even though I had asked him for them after filling in the forms and giving him the $40. I hope you choke on that $40 you skanking fuck! So turns out I had to go to immigration in Kathmandu and get another one. Had to pay something like 8 days overstay and a penalty of half the visa AND the price of the visa again, $90 or something like that. 'If you give $110 dollars I will give you your stamp and visa now without have to wait for my supervisor' said the guy in immigration. "You can't be serious dude, i'm here getting a visa after being corrupted at the border and you're trying to fleece me again!! I will wait for your supervisor, if you don't mind.' Eventually got it after about an hour after a lot of staring and stupid silly questions over and over again. Like something out of banged up abroad.
Turns out that all the goverment fuckers look for back handers in the place. Yo ho, not this sucker this time!
Will write a blog on my Everest base camp trek when I get back home as there's a lot to write. In 2 words - truly amazing!
After my 2 weeks of trekking in the Himalayas I got back to the commotional, noisy, dusty worn down streets of KTM again and found myself a hotel out side of town about away from the torturing street dealers and chaotic streets of Thamel. Chilled for a couple of days and got the feeling back into my powerless legs again. Headed out last Monday then for a walk about town and try and get my way back to India sorted again. After leaving the net cafe after checking my e-mails and wot not, I bumped into a German guy that was staying in the same hostel as me in Delhi. Jesus, it deffo is a small world. Headed out for a few beers with him that day and on my way back to hotel that evening some skanking, smelly, diseasey Nepali cunt skanked my camera out of the back of my bag, hence the reason for no photos again. Every one of my base camp photos in it. (But I swear to God that I was there.) Haha. Well at least he can't erase my memories of it. Good job I kept a journal. Disposable cameras the rest of the trip for me now.
I decided that was enough of Kathmandu and Nepal for me, plus my overly expensive visa was soon to run out and I didn't want to see the sight of them fuckers at immigration in my life again. So got my bus and train tickets and got the fuck out of dodge. The bus this time was a 'tourist' bus, unlike the heap a shite that took me to Nepal so the journey to the Indian border was a lot more bearable on this occasion. I got to the border after about 9 hours and got to see a lot of the scenery of Nepal during the day this time. Went into immigration and got the usual Castlereagh grilling about my visa one last time. Went in and got it stamped then on the Indian and was on my merry way to get a bus to Gorakphur train station. Or so I thought. Went into this bus company and booked a local bus ticket to the train station in Gorakphur. 70 rupees which is about 50p. He asked me if I wanted a train ticket too but said no as I had already booked one online in Nepal, through a travel agency. He asked for look at it so let him have a look thinking nothing of it. He comes out then with a receipt book and starts filling it out. 'Right what the fuck's going on now', I was thinking to myself. He turns round and hands me the receipt book, 'You still have to pay 2210 Indian rupees for this ticket mister.' Oh here we go again, the train ticket itself actually cost 89 rupees. 'What the fuck you on about, this ticket is already paid for. 'Yeah but you still owe the service charge on the Indian side.' Get de fuck. This went on for about half an hour, with him hanging on to the ticket, and by this stage there 3 of them around me getting very aggressive and hot headed. 'We're going to call the police now' they were saying. "Call away lad, i've done sweet bugger all.' So off he goes on the phone, blah blah blah in whatever fucking language he was speaking. Said he was to deport me back to Nepal. Starts marching me down the street towards the border telling me i'm going to Nepali prison and how bad i'm going to get treated and that. Got about halfway down the street and turned back a bit and what do you know? He puts me on my on my bus. Still he looks for the cash telling me if I don't pay up that they're going to stop the bus in the middle of nowhere and drive off with my bags still in tow. At this stage he's threatening to knock me out and what have ye. But I just kept ignoring him at this stage. Bus drove off towards Gorakphur and after about a mile the guy throws the train ticket at me 'Keep your ticket!' and him and his mate who was trying to get money for luggage off 2 Irish girls get off the bus. "Thank fuck for that!'
After a 3 hour rocky ride in the local bus, with the driver tooting the extremely loud horn at every thing that moved, don't even think he knew himself what he was hooting at, I got into Gorakphur. Noticed then that we were leaving Gorakphur! What the fuck? Where was the train station? So I asked a local guy in front of me. See him roaring at the bus driver to stop. Turns out the bus never went near the train station at all and we were about 2km away from it. So they run out the street and flag down another local bus and throw me on that. Thought it was going to take me to the train station but stopped after about 10 mins. 'Wait here Sir.' Oh Jesus, not another bunch a skanking gets I was thinking. Exactly the opposite in this case. The guy went out and got me a rickshaw and said the driver would take me to the station for 50 rupees. I had 12000 Nepal rupees in my pocket, but not wan Indian. Fuckin hell. 'But I have no money mister' me says. The bus man goes and gives the rickshaw driver a bus ticket and he agrees to take me to the station. Some difference between the Indians, who will go out of there way to help and assist you, as opposed to the people of Kathmandu who will just go out of their way to skank and corrupt you. Nice wan mister bus man.
Got to the station eventually and went through the usual mission of finding what platform, or even station for that matter that my train left from. Got it with a little bit of bother but no dramas. It was half an hour late. So aff we set for Varanasi, the home of the river Ganjes.
So here I am in Varanasi. A lot warmer and a lot busier than Nepal.
Hope you's are well and not too cold. Haha, only joking.
Keep the peace in this most peaceful of seasons!

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