Tanzen & Lumbini

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I took the night bus from Varenasi to the Nepalese border at Sunauli the next day after a relaxing day at the guest house overlooking the ganges - enough entertainment for anyone. I got on the bus at 6:30pm and it took a while to get the engine ready for the bus to move. I was very worried for the first two hours that the 10 hour bus ride was going to be a nightmare because it was so crowded that I couldn't move and my bag was in everyone's way, but they didn't let me put it on the roof... but then after a couple of hours everyone got off - so I locked my bag to the bench to the left of the driver and the engine (they do drive on the left in India and Nepal) and went to sleep partly on it. I vaguely remember the bus stopping for repairs at one point, but continued sleeping with my eye patch (like on the planes) on and my head on my packs which was pretty comfortable. I woke up 15 minutes from the border, stretched, and got off the bus when it stopped. Refusing the cycle rickshaws which offered to take me the 1km to the border I donned my pack, ascertained that it had taken 12 hours to get me to the border, and changed money, signed out of India , and went though to Nepal feeling good.
It turned out to be world tourism day on arrival in Nepal so after paying my $30 (they didn't waive that), they told me that I could go anywhere for free that day and stay for free also. Then they gave me a chai and all took turns putting red powder on my forehead until there was quite a lot under the Nepalese cap they gave me. A Japanese tourist and myself were in this way blessed for being the first people though the boder that morning, Then they saw some other tourists coming through so they rushed us off by jeep to the bus station. I was planning a day trip to Lumbini where Buddha was born before spending the night in Tanzen - recommended by Nick in Varenasi.
I met a nice Canadien from Winnipeg who had been teaching English in Taiwan for 5 years and we went around the sacred areas around Lumbini together which was cool. He chatted to a Chinese Buddist Monk at the hugh monestary they erected nearby then we had some food and he headed to India and I to Tanzen. I had found out that I should ask for a bus to Butwal and that would most likely take me through to Tanzen. In fact the bus I got on stopped at Butwal, and there I seemed to have missed the last bus to Tanzen. However, as I was thinking to spend the night there, a local said he was going to Tanzen and he would help me get there also - things became pretty frantic and we got a cycle rickshaw and caught the bus to Tanzen from the other end of town where it was waiting (something I found in my guidebook later.) There was lots of room on the bus but he insisted on sitting right next to me and squishing me. The road was very bad because of the landslides in the wet season, but didn't seem dangerous right then. Before we got to Tanzen (2 hours from Butwal) I asked him to get up so that I could stretch out on the seat behind. He seemed a little put out, but then a local lady pointed at my long legs (which had spent an hour and a half pushed against the seat in front) stretching out and the relief on my face and she laughed and he laughed also and understood my pain. The bonding experience of understanding someone else's suffering!
Found a nice place to stay in Tanzen and the next morning hiked up Srinigar hill which was great. I could see the snow capped Annapurnas from there and it was good to be back in hill country. I then went to the bus station and they told me I had to walk 5km to get to the bus to Pokhara since it didn't make the small detour to Tanzen, but stayed on the main road. It was mostly downhill and I figured good practise for trekking so I walked it. Halfway along I spotted a small juice stain on my jeans, and when it grew a lot bigger I found that a leech had been feeding on my shin, but left the scene before I could apprehend it with my lighter. Didn't even notice!

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