The Wanderings of busman7

Just to let all know that I am in Lhasa Tibet & won’t be updating blog until I leave China also can’t access facebook here.

Those words from Laxmi, my guide at The Jungle Lodge pretty much sum up the Bharatpur district of Nepal which encompasses Chitwan National Park or as an American with a house near there said on the bus ride down from KTM (Kathmandu) “Nepal is a laid back India”!

The Hotel Jungle Lodge (1 of 65 in the area) in Sauraha next to the park was excellent value for the money & Laxmi an incredible guide as he was raised in the jungle & has a home in it a couple hours away.

Have to get in a bit of a rant here as it always amazes me when some one to whom English is a second language uses better grammar than a lot of Canadians/Americans do. Now one of my pet peeves are the proper use of the words “can” & “may” so when out in the Nepalese jungle a local person asks “May I sit with you?”. This makes me think that the Nepal education system has to be pretty good as he said they start English lessons in grade 5 & his English was very good just needed a bit of practice. Now a lot (most) of Canadians would just say “can I sit with you” completely oblivious of being wrong. Oh well just reinforces my argument that our education system has gone to the dogs!

However the American was confusing the jungle districts, which are pretty laid back in Central America also, with the rest of the country. A girl from Tibet that is a nursing student in Delhi whom I met on the bus down claimed that the Tibetan & Nepalese people were too work driven & government controlled to relax & have fun than the Indian’s, this was the feeling I got also from my short stay in Delhi.

As to Kathmandu it’s a major disappointment, Bouda, the first area I stayed in was nothing to write home about & even the one restaurant bragging about being listed in Lonely Planet had so so curry & expensive beer, only reason I can see for the listing was free Wi-Fi which puts LP’s food listings in a questionable light!

Thamel, where I am now as my bus leaves from just across the street in the morning, reminds me of Havana on steroids but without the redeeming aspects of interesting Spanish architecture & the Prado, it’s a filthy place  occupied by in your face touts for hotels, taxis & tour companies whom you have tell to F*** off as they won’t take NO for an answer & the hordes of tourists that make them that way. There must be some decent food in town but I have yet to find it & haven’t had a decent cup of tea since leaving India!

I highly recommend a visit to the park & Praveen at Getaway www.Trekking-in-Nepal.com has been excellent.

More to come on northern Nepal

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