Navigating Nepal - Nepal, Nepal
Nepal, Nepal
Driving out of Tibet/China into Nepal along the Firendship highway was one of the most picturesque drives we have had yet. There was a vast shift from the desert landscape of China to now be driving through lush green rainforest scattered with hundreds of waterfalls some breaking straight over Calypso- James of course nearly filled a new memory card with the stunning photo opportunities.
We had a much simpler border crossing this time than our previous crossing into China from Kyrgyzstan, and after a few short hours we had entered Nepal and were on our way to our first destination - The Last Resort.
We were excited to leave the tight ruled country of China and to enter the laid back Nepal, a country we have been so eager to get into.
To enter the Last resort and get to our accommodation for the next few nights we first had to walk across a 180m high suspension bridge, which once we started to cross got a nice swing and sway going much to the demise of those on the group with a strong fear of heights. Once braving the walk and after a few tears from the very fearful Yvonne we arrived at our accommodation - beautiful posh eco tents within a rainforest sanctuary - it was stunning! The resort also had a great cocktail bar and a massage service of which we both got a lot of use out of during our time at the resort. It was also where we and most of the group took part in adventure activities when the peace and quiet got a bit too boring.
After pigging out on our all you can eat breakfast buffet the next morning it was time to get serious and make our way to our activity briefing for the mornings activities. Adventure seeker James had signed up for a bunji jump and bunji swing, and I signed up for the swing. The briefing didn't take long and before we knew it, we were lined up on the same rickety bridge we walked across the previous day, ready to talk the BIG plunge. I watched James first get kitted into his harness and prepare to bunji off the extremely high bridge. Within minutes he was gone, jumping straight off the bridge with a perfect graceful dive of course. Before I knew it the line was shortening and my nerves started to kick in. My turn was coming up very quickly and I started to think about what was about to happen. I was harnessing up to jump swing off a rickety bridge in Nepal where health and safety laws leave a lot to be desired, the swing was also the biggest in the world. What was I doing?!
My nerves were amplified as I was the last person left on the bridge to jump. I was up there all alone...... Three, two, one... I was off, rushing through the air straight down 100m of free fall for over 6 seconds before swinging into a huge 240m arc at over 150km/h. I had just jumped off a bridge in Nepal and loved every bit of it! After James climbed the near vertical steps from the river below back to the top he suited up again to do the bunji swing I had just done. Having done 5 bunji jumps in the past, this was to be his first swing and the verdict..... He much preferred the swing!
After another day of total relaxation in the jungle paradise we left the resort a few kgs heavier and a lot of $'s lighter. We drove another five or so hours through more incredible rainforest to reach the capital of Nepal - Kathmandu. Arriving into Kathmandu was quite challenging after our relaxing time spent at the last resort. We were immediately succumbed to traffic, shops, people, pollution and constant noise - it was overwhelming, and something we didn't expect to experience until India. After driving in search of the hotel for around an hour we found ourselves stuck in the truck down a very very tight alleyway meant only for people, motorbikes and rickshaws- definitely not designed for a giant blue and orange overland truck. To make matters worse the truck was touching overhead power lines with its roof and even knocking down shop signs along the way - you can imagine the crowd that had been drawn in to come and watch the circus show at this stage. Luckily with the help of a few directions and a few removed power lines, about an hour later we finally found a parking spot out of the heart of Thamel and walked the 20 minutes back to our hotel. It was not a smooth transition or a great welcome to the city, especially coming from such tranquillity, but Simon our driver took it all in his stride without even breaking a sweat!
In Kathmandu we couldn't leave the hotel without all of our sensors being attacked at once. The smell of food is always in the air battling with the burning incense smells coming from every shop. There are brightly coloured silk scarves or traditional Tanka paintings hanging in every second shop doorway enticing you to come inside, and being hassled to buy something or to jump into someone's taxi or tuk tuk was a constant annoyance. By night the harassment to buy continued only the products being pushed were a little more elicited. Every guy under 30 in Kathmandu seemed to be a drug dealer offering something "special," be it hash, marijuana, or coke. We could ignore the pestering people and walk away but unfortunately could not ignore the biggest annoyance – the constant horn beeping all day long! People beep to say move, to say hi, to say bye, and even when they can only move a metre forward in the traffic, and sometimes for no reason at all.. An initiative to remove all horns out of vehicles in Nepal is greatly needed.... for tourists sanity if nothing else!!!!
We were forced to spend 9 days in Kathmandu due to the non-efficient processes of the Indian consulate where we needed to apply for our permits to enter India. It took 3 separate trips to the visa office and even an unnecessary one on one interview for some before our visas were issued. With the 3 visits being spread out evenly across the 9 days, it made it very difficult to do any bigger trips outside Kathmandu and it also meant that we had to scrap Pokara off the itinerary which was a major shame. We were desperately hoping this wasn't a taste of what was to come once we were in India, and after the 9 days were up we were definitely ready to leave the chaos of the city for some more tranquillity, and I was also ready for James to leave the temptation of 'needing' to buy something each time we walked out the door! At first we all thought there definitely worse places to be "stuck" for 9 days, but once they were up we were all very ready to leave, only the city wasn't ready to let us go just yet. After missing a turn off to take us out of town, we spent the next 3.5hrs driving around the massive city ring road only to be brought back to within a stone’s throw of the hotel. Calypso was full of a lot of very cranky, very hot travellers.
The 9 days did however allow us to see some of the great sights of Nepal, and i even expanded my cooking repertoire by taking part in a Nepalese cooking class! (Much to James's delight!!!) The class was set in a local family’s home and the young daughter helped us cook some delicious Nepalese dishes. The curries were delicious and I loved the masala tea - a milky tea infused with spices and lots of sugar :-) ... It was delicious!
We also took a day trip out of Kathmandu to Bhaktapur with a few friends, a place that was once one of the major players in the Kathmandu valley, existing as its own small kingdom for hundreds of years. It is a place very well preserved, with much of the city seemingly frozen in time. It was fantastic to escape the chaos of Kathmandu and we actually went a few hours without hearing the sound of one beeping horn! Such bliss. We also left the huge hordes of tourists behind, which meant we were able to explore the back streets of the ancient city and see the locals going about their daily routines in total peace.
Kathmandu was also home to one of the coolest temples I have ever seen - the monkey temple. With a fantastic view out over the valley and city, the monkey temple was more like a zoo than a religious monument, as it was surrounded and covered by hundreds of monkeys. Dozens of them were jumping all around us and on the giant stupas and some were even splashing around in the surrounding water pools. They were cheeky and entertaining, and were a welcome change from the traditional temples we had seen so many of through China and Tibet. When Bruce got a bit to close to one of the pools they were cooling off in, one even jumped out of a high tree into the pools edge right next to him, covering him and his camera in water. Cheeky things!
After the 9 days in Kathmandu and with Indian visas approved, we drove out of the mountains onto the flat jungle plains towards the Chetwan national park. We soon felt the effects of a vast humid change, and the non existent air con on the truck was matched by the non existent air con at our basic accommodation for the next few nights at Eden nature village. It was so hot in fact that by the time we reached our hotel rooms we were dripping with sweat! The thing that keep us part positive was the fact that the next day we would embark on a day full of activities - in particular an elephant safari and jungle walk on which there was potential to spot tigers!
The Elephant safari was great, the highlight of our stay in Chetwan if not all of Nepal. We rode with two other friends through the jungle searching for wildlife, rhinos and most importantly tigers. We unfortunately didn't spot any tigers (our chances were always going to be slim) but were lucky enough to be seated on the main elephant while he trampled down trees and pulled huge branches aside with his trunk to reveal two rhinos sleeping amongst the undergrowth. The strength our elephant had was phenomenal and we were in ore as we watched the strong mammal destroy several trees with only a few verbal commands from her handler to firstly wake the rhinos up and then force them out into the open field nearby so we could all get a better look. The mother and juvenile rhino took it in their stride and didn't once become flustered. We had a fantastic up close view of the pair while they munched on the grassy plain. While we were all mesmerised by the rhinos a herd of spotted deer also made a frantic high speed dash across the open field back into the relative safety of the jungle, and a cobra slithered passed us as well. Others from our group also saw monkeys, wild boar and even crocodiles, but the highlight of the trek for us was definitely seeing these rhinos in their wild habitat, in particular another pair we spotted, a mother and child who were lying in peace in the mud by a river with the infant rhino fussing about its mum trying to get her to wake up and play.
The afternoon jungle walk was a fairly brief affair and disappointingly, was hardly through the jungle at all. The most excitement had was on a canoe ride to get to the start of the walk. The canoes were simple, hollowed out trees and with the water only an inch from the top of the unsteady canoe any slight movement almost sent us to the bottom. Lots of heart in the mouth moments were had on that boat trip, on many occasions the water actually came over the side and into the boat! Along the way crocs, rhino, wild boar and deer were seen, as well as luminous kingfisher birds. Even though the jungle trek was more of a well-trodden path, we actually did came across tiger tracks in the mud, which to the touch still seemed very fresh!
Chetwan was a great escape away from the bustling city of Katmandu, and even though the accommodation was very budget and the food was horrible it was still a highlight for us in Nepal. The rest of our time in Nepal was spent at Janakpur, a place with very few sights, and is definitely not a tourist destination. On the drive through the town, many people on the truck were asking themselves what the hell are we doing here. To make things worse, we had to stay for 2.5 days, much more than the planned one day as a new itinerary had to be constructed for our India leg of the trip. Due to major civil unrest in Darjeeling and Sikkim (our next destinations) we could no longer take our planned route. We were disappointed to have a few wasted days of our time in Nepal in a town where there was almost literally nothing to do. The only thing James and a few others found to do was ride the local overcrowded train, which is the only working railway in Nepal. It must be the only one as it got so packed, people had to sit on the roof, on front of the engine and even hang off the side. James tells me it was a great experience, even if each overcrowded carriage breached every kind of safety regulation ever invented! He and a few guys jumped off the train when it came to a temporary halt to escape the heat and the crowds and they walked back along the tracks (no chance of being hit as there is only one train a day) through the rural villages which he also really enjoyed.
After reaching a point of near insanity it was finally time to leave Janakpur and drive to the small Indian border town where we would get our entry permits and cross the border into India. The three visit visa process in Katmandu was unfortunately a sign of things to come, as to actually get let into India we sat and waited in the scorching heat for roughly 6 hours as one man in a tiny office had to manually copy out our all of our passport and visa details, followed by another man in the room next door needing to do the exact same thing - a job that with a photocopier would have taken 1 hour maximum. I have never wanted a photocopier more in my life. It was extremely frustrating and bewildering how such inefficiency can still exist in this world overrun by technology!! Their tourism slogan should be 'Welcome to India, say goodbye to logic and efficiency!’ Only time will tell what the next 3 weeks will have in store for us.