Nepal
So, “Here we go again” 22 years later, same man, same £1 coin, different route, we’re off Around the World for 5 months (after the shit show of a year we had in 2024) theres nothing like getting away from it all to make you feel better & make you realise you still have lots to laugh about.
Ok, so I’m doing my thoughtful “day to day” diary in private & then I’m doing my usual…”what the hell?” & taking the piss version on here.
First stop, Nepal…don’t get me wrong the flight from Dublin to Doha was luxury (certainly not how we travelled first time round) however I couldn’t get over the fact every time the crew asked if you wanted anything they would say “Yes M’lady”…6 hours & 50 minutes of M’lady…thats not going to get weird at all.
Arriving in Kathmandu was as crazy as expected, 2 hours to collect your bags as they just start to make a big haystack of them by the side of the belt, so one searches through the pile as the other watches the belt incase it has escaped the mini mountain.
In Thamel, every shop is like stepping back in time to my first job in Razzberry Bazaar, I was £1.50 an hour away form offering to do their stock taking for old times sake (yes for those who didn’t know I used to help Mam do the stocktaking in RB – I would climb & shout down the prices as she wrote them down & added up)
Kathmandu is full of beautiful temples & old Durbar Squares, Pashupatinath (although very special & an absolute honour to be allowed to be there) maybe wasn’t my best ever idea after the amount of funerals we had last year, I’ll park that one there and put all of that in my day to day diary.
We had a few days in Kathmandu before moving onto Chitwan National Park we pick the bus up at 0700 for a 5 hour journey (or “thereabouts” as they say).
Its a freezing cold bus, do you have heating? No because when the sun comes up, whenever that maybe? the bus is hot & everyone vomits, ah I’ll look forward to that. That would also be because none of the roads are finished & you’re rattle around like peas in a fairy liquid bottle.
6.5 hours later we’re there. So “thereabouts” loosely means 1-2 hours extra.
Arriving at the hotel we’re back to a bucket, jug & luke warm water to get washed in. As its a National Park the plan is to go out to to see the wildlife, we are told to wear greens, blues, black or brown not bright pinks or yellows as it can attract the wildlife and they can charge.
Off we go, our guide, the two of us, a lovely Indian couple and a Nepalese family, a peaceful canoe ride along the river & then a Jungle walk. We’re all told to be very silent, walk in single file & keep our eyes wide open incase there is anything around us. After about 15 mins of creeping through the jungle the guide stops & says “just a moment I think there is a Rhino heading towards us” let me check. He walks a little further and then returns and says “yes theres a large Rhino heading our way, if he starts to run at us find a big tree to hide behind!” – The Nepalese woman in her bright pink hat & coat with a “Woahh” was gone before he had even finished his sentence. Now that wasn’t the only Rhino we saw, in the afternoon we did a jeep safari – 4 hours bouncing around…nothing..not a thing…we took the canoe back to the town side & there he was, the biggest Rhino you’ve ever seen walking through the restaurant, we could have sat in the sunshine with a cappuccino and waited for him to come to us, what happens now with “hide behind a big tree?” theres just a few deckchairs and straw umbrella and I don’t think the little nepalese woman even bothered getting out of the canoe!
No matter where you go everyone still stares and asks for a photo, followed by “where are you from? its just like India 22 years ago. If we thought the Rhinos were a rare sight to see we’re as rare a Rocking horse shit!
On the move again from Chitwan to Bandipur by bus, yes you think we would have learned our lesson from the last time (2 hours or “thereabouts”) let’s just make that one 3.5 hours
We’re picked up from Dumre (the village at the bottom of the hill) ready to head up the mountain roads to Bandipur, obviously theres no need for seat belts as I’m assuming the sole purpose of them would be to garotte you by the time you make it up there.
Next bus, no still hadn’t learned, oh joy it’s already hot so the buckets/bins are tidied to the seat legs & he’s just handed out a couple of carrier bags. The road from Bandipur to Pokhara is meant to be in better condition (arrive 1300 or “thereabouts”) well we’re an 1 1/2 hours in, Richard picked up a couple coffees (they came with lids on? the first lids we’ve had in Nepal) they obviously know something we don’t.
For those that are old enough to remember, it was like an episode of Jim’ll Fix it, my jeans have the coffee stains to prove it However not as bad as the poor man opposite (although I did snigger every time it happened) he had water bottles on the shelf above him & every time we went down a hole one fell off & hit him on the head (& we’re talking litre bottles 🤭)
We just look longingly out of the window to the freshly tarmacked side of the road whilst we bounce along on the shitty side, that’s even if we get there at all as every hole we hit you can hear the tyres scrapping on the wheel arches. Bonus is, at least if the tyres blow out I’m right next to the emergency exit to make my quick escape to drop & roll onto the smooth tarmac!
After getting off the bus it was decided that it was time to flip to coin for the next journey. Heads – fly from Pokhara back to Kathmandu (25 minutes) Tails – Bus (8 -10 hours or…well you know by now) Heads it was, much to Richards delight.
Pokhara is on a beautiful lake called Phewa. In the centre of the lake is a small island with a temple on which you can get to by rowing boat, (max 4 people per boat – “or thereabouts”…there’s a bit of a theme emerging)
Seriously, someone needs an abacus as one boat looked like it was just arriving from Calais!
Lots to see in Pokhara, beautiful sunrises over the Himalayas, temples & shrines.
As we head to the airport there is thick fog so its closed, however even though we’re delayed by 2.5 hours we arrive in Kathmandu and we still would have been bouncing our arses around Bandipur by now with at least another 5 hours (or thereabouts 😂 to go!) on the bus.
Now worse case scenario if I don’t want to go back to being a yoga teacher when I get home I’ve found out that I make a much better taxi driver (& more sober one) than we had from the airport, I was in charge of directions and shouting watch the man’s legs, watch the bike, watch the dog….man with basket, now turn left, left, left no you’ve turned right!
Now I know I take the piss out of Richard, but for those who know him will know how thoughtful & sentimental he is so every time there’s live music he’ll always ask for James Taylor “You’ve got a friend” as he knows it one of my favourite songs….now cut to a small cafe in Kathmandu, and the singer & guitarist are now scrolling through the phone to find it. I couldn’t even look at him as the opening bars of the song started from…Toy Story!
So on that very cheerful note it’s time to say goodbye to Nepal, its momos & mint tea & say Hello to Malaysia…we’ll be there tomorrow at 8pm…or thereabouts!
Namaste 🙏🏼
Middle Seat Passenger 