Goodbye India and...... hello Mr Cockroach!

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So I’ve made it to Nepal! Its lovely being in a different country for a change, although getting here was even more of a mission. It took me 5 hours and one jeep, a bus, a cycle rickshaw and my own 2 legs to get me into Nepal and as it was a 17 hour bus journey to Kathmandu I unwisely decided to stay at the border. Lets face it, border towns are never nice. This one excelled at being especially interesting though. Dusty, dingy and boiling (its on the plains) I decided there was nothing better to do than check myself into the recommended hotel and sleep (well this was the idea!) I checked in and was just about to have a shower when i heard a noise coming from the bed. Unusual even for Indias standards. Imagine my delight when I finally tracked it down to coming from under the mattress. I lifted it to find the whole bed covered with cockroaches! Surprisingly I didn’t have that shower! In fact my siesta disappeared as I spent the next 2 hours looking round 10 of the lovely hotels in the town. Each came with complementary cockroaches! Eventually i gave in and checked into the only one i had not seen any cockroachs in. It actually turned out to be ok except i had no water till 9pm at night – that shower was a long time coming!
Up the next day at 5am i got a bus half way to Kathmandu. I was told maybe 7 hours – it took 13 and I had a man sat opposite me who starred at me the whole 13 hours! From here i decided to head into the hills and how beautiful is the Nepal countryside. It may be misty and not the time to really visit Nepal but its still stunning. I stayed in a village with maybe 25 buildings and surrounded by huge terraced hillsides, dramatic valleys and paddy fields. After the hustle and bustle of India it was gorgeous. But there is too much of this country to see so I had to leave to cover the last 80km to Kathmandu. A trip that impressively took me 5 and half hours and is the first actual bus ride I have ever done with a live rooster sat next to me! Part of the reason for this epically slow journey is due to the fact that bus travel in Nepal is also the main delivery system. Drive 20m then stop to load 20 sacks of sugar on it, drive a kilometre then take them all off again. Repeat this for 80km and it takes some time! It was a lovely drive (when we did move!) though. Through the mountains and all the little villages – I got to see some of the true Nepal.
Maybe this is just as well because I’m currently sat in Thamel in Kathmandu probably the largest backpacker ghetto i have ever seen. Literally wall to wall internet, shop, restaurant,cafe! I went for a wander around today and it took me 2 hours to cross the main square purely because of number of Nepalase men that wanted to come for a chat and ‘guide me!’. So is this good you may ask, well that depends on your love of backpacker ghettos? After i have got every item of my clothes washed I may be leaving!!!
Its strange leaving India after 3 months although I must confess the changes are maybe not so dramatic as I thought. For some unknown reason I thought i would get to Nepal and there would be no more curry and sarees. Nepal seems to have a massive amount of cultural influences. Many of the young people wear western clothes but there are still a lot of people in Sarees. However with input from China, india and Tibet the people look very different. Up in the hills it reminds me of North Vietnam, crossed with china, boliva and Tibet and a few sarees thrown in for good measure. Kathmandu, well its quite unlike anywhere else i have been. There are some amazing temples just in the middle of random streets and housing areas. Some of the old buildings are beautiful but literally falling down yet somehow people still manage to live in them. Its a fascinating place but today there was just too much hassle!
So am I sad to leave India, well yes but in a way no I think I was ready to leave. Its a truly amazing place which can be completely crazy and which continues to surprise me everyday (I walked home the other day in Varanasai to discover i couldn’t actually get home because someone had decided to set up a temple at one of the cross roads in the very narrow backstreets. People were sat chanting everywhere around a massive fire they had randomly made!). Its a place which on the surface seems completely disorganised but if you look underneath it all and know the system there is often a surprising amount of order to things. However as a lone white woman India is sometimes hard work! You pretty much get stared at constantly by woman, children, men, dogs, cows, its all the same and pretty much every male wants to come and have a chat. Saying that though everyone is very friendly and extremely helpful its just sometimes the constant attention is tiring.
Some interesting facts for you:
• Pretty much everywhere you go in North India has metal detectors. You are expected to walk through these but if they go off no one takes the blindest bit of notice.
• If you are a man, you have the prerogative to wee whenever and wherever you like. If people are walking past it doesn’t matter.
• The concept of a bin is an unknown entity. Many villages I have seen are gorgeous you just have to walk through the rubbish pit on the outskirts to reach them.
• If you ask for information or directions from someone always ask at least 5 people before taking the average response as the probable correct one.
• Haggle for everything (even pineapples!)
• The older people once they start to go grey seem to have a love of dying their hair bright orange!
• You can get Horlicks in many places!

So anyway its goodbye India and judging by my lack of love with the ghetto hello hills I think! A few weeks of country living maybe in order I think to cleanse the body and the soul!! I’ll keep you posted on how it all goes but it maybe a few weeks. Hope your all ok.
Big love
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