Nepal

Sleep was OK on our night train from Varanasi to Gorakhpur. We arrived at this junction city and walked straight out of the train station and directly on to the "bus to Nepal" across the street.

The bus was three hours and crowded but we made it to the dusty, chaotic border town of Sinauli and followed the line of trucks to the border...



We got stamped out of India and then we presented ourselves at the Nepali immigration office for visas. It went without a hitch and the border officers were some of the nicest I've ever dealt with. After sticking the new visas in our passports the officer handed them over to us with a smile and said, "Welcome to Nepal!"


We were in!

On the other side of the border we went to a travel agency and got tickets for our bus and accommodations for the night at our destination.

Even having just crossed the border, I could tell that Nepal was a different place from India. The people and the culture seem to be one part Indian and another part Chinese. Architecture was just a bit different and dare I say, it seemed just a touch less dirty than most Indian cities...




We got on our bus with all the locals and in no time at all we found ourselves approaching the steep hills on the horizon: The foothills of the Himalayas!

We drove along winding roads high above narrow river gorges with rice paddy terraces on the sides of the hills and villages sprinkled throughout the hills. We would stop at each village to let people on and off. It was fun seeing a bit of village life from the bus...















As the sun went down, Dad had to go up and get our jackets from our bags...




We drove on through gorgeous scenery, though it was difficult to photograph on the bumpy bus...




Our bus ride was supposed to be six hours. It was nine. The whole day we had hardly eaten and we were very tired. Luckily, we had our accommodation already set up and a taxi was supposed to meet us at the bus stand.

We arrived in the dark of the night to the town of Pokhara. About the only people left on the bus were Dad and I, Japanese girl tourist (also staying at our hotel), and a handful of locals. The bus driver stopped just outside of Pokhara and told us we could get out. He said the taxi driver would pick us up here. He was talking to someone on his mobile, presumably from our hotel, and he gave me the phone. "Hello, this is the hotel, someone will pick you up in ten minutes no problem."

We got our bags from the top of the bus and the bus drove away. It was now pitch black outside and we were at some unknown bus stand in what felt like the middle of nowhere. The stars were incredible.

As we waited in the darkened bus stand we heard a loud snoring. I guess we weren't alone in there.

To our relief, within ten minutes a taxi arrived and the three of us piled inside and we arrived at our hotel. The rooms were fairly nice and clean and we were happy about that. We were also starving and really tired. So we took a stroll down the little street with our hotel and found a restaurant. I got an amazing Nepali chicken soup with noodles and Dad got cream of mushroom. It hit the Spot!

We slept great that night.


The next morning we slept in a bit and then went out onto the roof of the hotel. It was a little bit cloudy but we saw them there through the haze... the mighty Himalayas!



Pokhara is a fairy laid-back city nestled in the foothills of the Annapurna Himalayas. The well-developed (over-developed?) tourist section lies along the beautiful Phew Lake shore.

After a little breakfast at the hotel, Dad and I bought a map of the area and rented some bikes...




I had the Cow Boy 666 and Dad had the Pacemaker. I'm not sure which name was more fitting...




We drove leisurely along the lake and the turned up the main road out of the tourist area and into the old town. We saw a lot of people along the way...




And about every child we passed on the street would shout out, "Hello!" or "Namaste!" as we drove past. Some of them were skipping.

This was a popular game with the locals. The rules were similar to pool...








A couple of Hindu pagodas (shrines) in the old town...




We drove back around to Lakeside and enjoyed some wonderful Nepali thalis...

We also made Korean friends at the Lake... or rather, Dad made them for me...




Local kids fishing in the lake...




Dad on his "Pacemaker"...




Another shrine pagoda...




That evening we had a great evening view of the mountains as the clouds cleared a little bit. This was nothing compared to what we would see tomorrow...




The next morning we were up at 5:30AM. The taxi picked us up from our hotel and drove us a little ways before stopping to fix a flat tire (the stars were amazing!)

He drove us upupup to the saddle of one of the hills on the north end of the lake. There we got out and with our flashlight hiked the short ways up to the top of the hill Sarangkot. We got to the top just as the sun was coming up over the eastern hills...




And then the sunlight began to pour down across the snowy Himalayas...




The weather was fantastic and the views were incredible...




Dad had more fun taking people's pictures for them and asking where they were from. He made new friends...




Dad and the Himalayas...



The highest and most famous of these peaks is Annapurna. At 8,091 m (26,545 ft.) she is the tenth-highest mountain in the world...




But really, all of these peaks we could see before us are higher than anything else outside the Himalayas...








It was fun finding some fun angles to shoot the peaks.

Yellow...




Blue...




Mt. Baldy...




After gawking at the majestic mountains, we began our long hike back down to the lake. We passed many little native homes...




We still have a ways to go...



It was steep, but both of us, despite our bad knees, made it just fine to the bottom. We flagged down a local bus back into the town and had a little rest back at the hotel room. I was exhausted. When we woke up, we went to lunch at a nearby restaurant and I had yak cheese pizza. Little did I know.... little did I know...

That night I was yakking up that pizza (and everything else) throughout the night and the next day I was feeling a bit queasy. I managed a bit of toast and jam for breakfast.

We decided to take it easy and rent a row boat to take out on the lake..

It was very pleasant...




I was quite weak, but the rowing was OK...




We rowed out to a little island with a temple...

In the distance we could see hang-gliders hovering over Sarangkot like flies...




We rowed to the opposite shore of the lake and parked our boat...




We took a slow hike up the hillside catching great views along the way. Here's Pokhara...




At last we arrived at this Buddhist Peace Pagoda, built by a Japanese guy a few years ago...



Buddha was born in Nepal, and even though the majority of Nepalis are Hindu, there is still a respect for Buddha.


We climbed around. It was very peaceful...




And then we hiked down...







...back down to the lake and then rowed our way back to the dock where we began.

I was dead tired, but Dad needed a beard trim, so he got one... by candlelight....



Yeah, the power was out most of the time we were in Nepal, or so it seemed. Most places, including our hotel, had generators that allowed for limited lights though.


I was still feeling a bit sick that night and the next day was going to be a long one. We had reservations on a train in Gorakhpur, India that night for 11pm. Would we make it in time? Luckily, Dad was feeling great and had no problems (and he even had a bite of the yak cheese pizza... what gives?)

The next morning we woke up and checked out of our hotel. We took a taxi to a bus and the bus took us through more winding roads in the steep hills to a place on the river where Dad and I were dropped off. A few other tourists were there and we put on life jackets and helmets. We were going river rafting!

After a brief orientation we were on our way down a beautiful river with soaring high hills on either side, beautiful boulders strewn along the riverbanks and terraces, villages, monkey bridges, and impossibly situated homes on the hillsides all along the way...








Of course we couldn't have the camera out for the best parts of the river run. There were some great rapids (but the water was cold!)...






After three hours we were back on shore and eating a boxed lunch. Dad and I were then put aboard a local bus where we sat cramped for four hours. We got to one town and the driver told us to get inside a combi van, so we did.... the combi van drove us a little ways and then they told us to get out and get inside another bus that would take us to the border. So we did.

We got to the border and it was now a little past 8pm. Things were not looking good for our 11pm train-time! The Nepali immigration officers were friendly as could be and then things took a turn for the worse at Indian immigration. Apparently, Dad's visa didn't allow for him to come back into India after only so short a time outside! At first it looked as though we would have to take a ten-hour bus to the Indian embassy in Kathmandu to get it cleared. But with a little bit of pleading, a few Bambi-eyes, and a 500 Rupee note we got our stamps and were over the border!

We grabbed a taxi and he drove like the wind (scariest taxi ride of my life!) Through the darkness to the train station in Gorakhpur.

We arrived with time to spare and our driver got a good tip.

We brushed our teeth and boarded our train and zonked in our bunks.

That was Nepal...





View India to Nepal in a larger map

...