Nepal

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I failed to learn from previous experiences and after arriving at the Nepali border I decided to take the cheap option as usual and save the one pound that was the difference between the local bus and the 'deluxe' bus and so set off on my '7 hour' local bus journey. Unfortunately my '7 hour' journey ended up being a 35 hour marathon test of endurance! For 21 of these hours we were completely stationary in the middle of absolutely nowhere waiting for the road to be rebuilt as it had washed into a river! To make it worse it was torrential downpour outside and it was such a crappy bus that it rained nearly as much inside the bus as it did outside! The rain also meant that it just wasnt possible to get off the bus so i had to sit crammed on the bus on a seat that was practically just bare boards and with just a manky apple that I found at the bottom of my bag for sustenance! Even so this wasnt my personal low, this came when after we finally started moving and we were just an hour from our destination the driver decided that he needed a rest and we then sat on the edge of the road whilst he had a three hour sleep on the roof of the bus, during which time I awake to find a man with his hand up my skirt! Fortunately the driver had kind of adopted me in a pitying 'crazy foreign girl' kind of way and once I had managed to convey to him (he didnt speak any english) what had happened he quite literally threw the guy off the bus which was really rather satisfying!!

Janakpur was a strange town, but is an important Hindu pilgrimage sight but as you can imagine after spending the previous 2 nights on the bus I actually spent most of the 2 days here in bed! I did make it out to visit the Janaki Mandir temple which built in extravagant baroque Mughal style, was on of the most impressive Hindu temples ive seen. From here I headed off to Katmandu.


I ended up spending quite a lot of time in Katmandu as I was in and out of the clinic there getting treated for an infection that I had picked up in India. But I really didnt mind as its a great city. It's Nepals only city and has more of a town feel to it than a capital city. It was lovely to see the contrast between what is becoming quite a modern city and the cultural and artistic heritage which is on display at every corner, from stunning temples to shrines for every deity imaginable and ancient squares full of street vendors and flower sellers. Unfortunatley because i was ill I didnt manage to do any of the long treks but I did do a few day treks around Pokhara which took us to some absolutely amazing Himalayan view points. Time was rapidly running out at this point so after a quick stop in Lumbini (Buddah's birthplace) it was a dash back over the border to India ready to fly home from Delhi.

So as Im sure u all know now Im back home and (nearly) in one piece! Ive had an absolutely amazing year and I cant wait to see u all to tell u all about it properly, but I promise not to inflict all my photos on you as there are 3,000 of them!!

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