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Published: June 10th 2008
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So there was a slight delay in departure from India - as a dear friend put it - "seems a bacteria decided to start a live-free colony in my intestines." We ended up leaving India a day later than planned and after 32 hours of travel arrived in Kathmandu for a long awaited breath of fresh air.
Disclaimer - India was wonderful and can not wait to go back and explore/learn some more, but there is something to be said for taking a break from the chaos.
The first leg of the journey was a train ride from Varanasi to Gorakhpur, scheduled to leave at 1230 am, train actually arrived at around 230 am - in the mean time we waited on the floor with the thousands of other people and millions of astronomically huge crickets. Once on the crowded train we had to kick people out of our bunks before climbing in and falling asleep while stuck with sweat to the plastic tiers.
Later that morning we arrived in Gorakhpur to walk in the heat for an hour to find the bus stand 300 meters south of where we had started. Guess we got some wrong directions.
2 1/2 hour bus ride became 5 hour bus ride and we arrived to the border town of Sunauli.
After being stamped out of India and walking through "nowhere" for 5 minutes we arrived in Nepal. We were greated with smiles and "namastes" all around. Wow, these people were friendly. Got the visa situation under control and proceeded a few yards into Nepal and booked a bus ride to Kathmandu. The bus was scheduled to depart at 6pm and actually did so within a few minutes of that time.
That was a long bus ride. It did not help that about an hour into the ride we both recalled reading and hearing from people "do not take night buses in Nepal." Well, we were already on the bus so not much could be done. With fingers crossed we wound up and down and around curves and mountains, passing huge trucks on blind corners of mountains and about 12 hours later we arrived safe and sound. Last task - find a taxi and a guest house and fall asleep. We did so and by 730 am were fast asleep.
So for the past two days we have been
occupied with two things. Exploring the streets of Kathmandu and making arrangements for trekking to Gokyo Ri in the Everest Region.
Exploring has been great, this place is very different from India. Although this is a big city it is not suffocating. Its so easy to get lost here - much like Varanasi but with the added comforts of mountain vistas and smiles all around. People love to talk about the "new government", and we have to admit its fun to be in a place so full of change. You ask for directions and locals get flustered about what to call the 'royal palace'. There is so much character in the buildings and temples - everything is very lived in yet ornate. Really the only complaint so far is the western hustle and bustle of Thamel - very much like Khao San Road in BKK.
Tomorrow we head, by plane, to Lukla, the starting point for our trek. We wished we could walk in and save the money we spent on the flight, but time really is more valuable than the 100/per we paid. We can't wait to get into the fresh mountain air - see vistas most
people can only fathom through pictures, and live among the sherpas, albeit for only 2 weeks. We will be going without a guide and so far guides that have tried to sell us their services are not too amused, but the information centers we have visited seemed to think it a fine idea.
So this will be it for a couple of weeks. And don't worry after this entry we are registering online with the embassy just in case. Hope everyone is well. Have fun at work this week.
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Dad (or Dave)
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Hot to Cold?
I'm glad you had a safe trip to Nepal. Sounds exciting. So does this mean you will be leaving the sweltering heat for the frigid cold of the mountains? Can't wait to read the next blog.. Take care.. D