lizzles
Liz Joined: December 27th 2006
Logged in: October 28th 2009
Logged in: October 28th 2009
My exploits during my time in Nepal
Travel Blog Posts
So I got here on the 19th and caught a taxi in to Delhi from the Airport. A random guy from South Africa also shared it with me, he runs a tattoo parlour in Mozambique. I went to the New Delhi Station which is just at the end of the backpacker district of delhi (called Paharganj). I went to the station and sat down on my bag and waited for my train to arrive. Well after about 20 mins it pulled in and I walked down the platform wondering how I would know which carriage I was in. Towards the end of the platform one of the train employees was sticking name lists on the outsides of the trains and mine was on the one he had just posted there so I got on. Train from ... read more
Monsoon is well and truly here, and whilst the sun is now shining and the birds are singing outside my window, this morning was another story. The skies opened up and the rain pelted down just as I was about to walk out the door. After finishing the 10 minute walk to the main road, a sort of mini flood had eventuated at the junction and we struggled to make it across. Fortunately a tempo arrived just in time and I jumped in. One positive about all this rain is that it takes alot of the traffic off the streets, freeing up the roads. By the time I had gotten out of the tempo the rain had stopped... This year monsoon has taken a little longer than normal to come, and I think this is the ... read more
Phil got back on Friday from the Poon Hill trek and we ended up going to Dokhaima, a local restaurant for dinner. We ended up staying up quite late which I was regretting the next morning when we woke up at 5am to catch the 6am bus from Thamel to The Last Resort. This place is about half an hour from the Tibet Border and is quite tranquil (for the most part - i'll get to that later). After the 4 hour bus ride to the Resort, we crossed a massive suspension bridge and found our rooms - overlooking the bungy and facing straight onto the gorge. We got kitted up and walked about 15 minutes to the gorge where we would start canyoning. To start off we slid down some smooth rocks to get to ... read more
Yesterday I had a one on one session with my yoga teacher, whereby I contorted my body into a variety of poses which at the time felt great, but today have resulted in a busted back. This morning, getting out of bed was an effort in itself. I'm going to try and track down a massage therapist that can help ease the pain. On the plus side, Phil arrives tomorrow. He's trekking for a week (jealous!!) before we head here: www.thelastresort.com.np to go rafting and canyoning!!! Funnn!! Then Jess gets here and we'll either go to Chitwan to go on a safari wtih wild rhino and tigers or back to Pokhara... Yesterday on the drive home on an overcrowded 30+degree bus I was greeted by the sight of a homeless man with 4 jackets on and ... read more
One of my colleagues asked me the other day, how many kilos of potatoes can your mother carry on her back? I told her, I don't know - she doesn't carry potatoes on her back. To that she replied after a slight pause, well how does she get them home from the market? ... read more
Chris and I rode through the backstreets behind Thamel, weaving in and out of wall to wall pedestrian traffic, searching for the main road. After making it out to the first intersection we were free. Chris rode up beside me and I gave him the thumbs up signal as we both smiled at one another, this was so much fun! We rode back home and picked up Celeste, as she would ride pillion on Chris’ bike whilst I took the lead. After refuelling, we rode out to the ring road and began our ride. It was quite muggy and the dust and pollution in the air from the many trucks, bikes and cars on the road did nothing to add to the comfort factor. I signalled to Chris to follow me left down a side road ... read more
Sweet sweet curd
Dearest Curd, I love everything about you. I love how you can sit out all day and still not make me sick. I love your thick creamy surface and the smooth curd hiding underneath. I love to eat you with beaten rice and tagine. But you don't need to be with anyone else to make me love you, I love you even more on your own. I love the sweet watery juice that collects in the bottom of the curd bowl. I should have listened to Miss Muffet when she told me about how great you were but I just didn't believe her, oh how I regret that now. Forever yours, Curd Lover Liz... read more
I revved the engine and shifted my bike into first gear. Releasing the clutch slowly at first I motored out of our front yard and into the long street that leads out to the main road. The wind rushed past my body, I was glad that I had put on a jacket and sweater as it was fresh this morning and I had an hour long trip to make to Bhaktapur. A young boy stepped out, I weaved past him. I breathed in as I drove through a small gap between a fruit seller and a car. I had made it to the main road. THen the unexpected happened. My bike spluttered and died. I kicked the starter pedal in desparation trying to get my bike to work but to no avail. After about 5 minutes ... read more
Bandha on the way to Bhaktapur
Yesterday I was sent home from work early, the PM was making an address to the nation and noone was really sure what was going to happen. For a bit of a run down on the current situation here see : http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/04/nepal.pm.resigns/index.html . Luckily for me it has not really affected me, life has gone on as normal, however for some of the other volunteers here they have been affected more heavily by bandhas (mainly kids burning tyres in the middle of the road or people just standing there waving flags for the political party they represent and stopping people from getting through). I will keep you posted if things change but at the moment there isn't really anything all that different, next Tuesday they vote for a new PM so hopefully things will just keep ... read more
After being informed by my incountry manager that she was unable to help me with obtaining a Nepali mbike license, I decided to embark on a mission to figure out how to get it myself. After trawling the web for any forums/blogs which would detail where I needed to go I found that the transport/licensing office was somewhere in Ekantakuna. After finding a taxi driver who knew where to go, I was promptly dropped off in front of a large two storey building , surrounded by a high gate with many market stalls set up in front. I walked up to the gate entrance and stood on my tip toes to speak through a high window with one of the Nepalis who was working there. I would like to transfer my license over from Australian to ... read more
