Further Wanderings

The transition from jungle to city was surprisingly simple. After a bit of time spent skirting the edges of another student bandh (strike) and a few more hours on the road, and finally another hour or so in Kathmandu’s horrendous traffic, we arrived. I even (somehow) recognized our location from my previous visit.

That evening we located my parents’ hotel, and set out for a splendid reunion dinner after our short separation. On top of the bus ride, the recounting of the past few days’ events was enough to tire us out and send us to bed.

Carving on a roof support at the Patan museum

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Our trip from Pokhara to Chitwan National Park in the south of Nepal was always going to be a bit of a mission.  Even when one is driving on one of the few good roads in the country, the volume of buses and trucks makes for a slow journey.  Thankfully we were on board a “standard tourist bus” which, while not in any way luxurious, held no more passengers than it was designed for, and carried their luggage on the roof.  We did, however, get an added bit of difficulty in that students in the town of Narayangat, 30km or so from the park, were holding a bandh, or strike.  They had been attending a new year’s classes for weeks, but still had not received their books.  In response, they blocked the main road connecting the town with Kathmandu.

Just a small part of the huge queue of traffic that built up outside of Narayangat during the bandh.  Enterprising Nepalis set up stalls and wandered between vehicles selling refreshments along the length of the jam.  

After a bit of walking, rickshaw riding, bus sitting and jeep bumping, we finally arrived at our the Parkside hotel, a couple hours late, but pleased to be there. 

Elephant Drive Through.  I’d LOVE to try this at a fast food restaurant in Canada!

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Whew. Good thing I put in the warning about possibly being incommunicado for a few weeks. Our flight from Sharjah to Kathmandu went smoothly, and the taxi into town from the airport was easy enough to manage as well. And ... [Continue reading this entry]

My day in Pokhara, and the days to follow in Kathmandu would be fairly un-energetic ones (though the above-mentioned Holi on the Terai was anything but.) This lack of activity was, of course, to be expected after the 17 ... [Continue reading this entry]

The day after Tatopani was a long, long day of hiking. I'd dropped down to 1100m elevation, and had a lot to gain back before reaching Annapurna Base Camp. My departure from Tatopani marked the end of my ... [Continue reading this entry]

After the exhausting glimb over Thorong La, Muktinath, snowy, muddy and visually unappealing as it may have been was still a welcome relief. I followed Dr. Alex and Jo to their guesthouse (which proved to be the one where ... [Continue reading this entry]

The end of the last entry left me in Yak Kharka at 4018m above sea level. Due to a good dump of snow that had taken place overnight, I'd been worried ... [Continue reading this entry]

It seems like an eternity since I woke up in Pokhara, headed towards Besisahar the startinbg point for my Trek in the Annapurna region of Nepal. In fact it's only been 19 days, but that's long enough that I'm ... [Continue reading this entry]

At the "tourist" bus station there were a dozen or more buses waiting to pick up passengers. I identified the correct one and climbed aboard. The phrase "tourist bus" probably conjuors up images of new upholstry,reclining seats, air conditioning, passengers ... [Continue reading this entry]

(I didn't realize that title rhymed when I thought of it. Really, I mean it.) I almost didn't make it to Nepal. When King Gyanendra dismissed the parliament and took direct control of the government on February 1, he ... [Continue reading this entry]