WEATHER: Hot 31C
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: The last day of tour
BUMMER OF THE DAY: The last day of tour
WORD OF THE DAY: LAST TOUR
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 185KM
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF TOUR. Technically it is tomorrow morning as that is
the departure day, but it is the last full day and I am stoked. I have had a great tour, a great group but I
am now just on countdown to getting home.
Initially I was a bit bummed that I had another 4 nights in Kathmandu,
but as usual all things seem to work out and I had some things planned to help
spend my time. John was staying for an
additional 2 nights, and I had a friend that I met on my South America trip
that was in town with her dad after climbing Mt Everest Base camp, so I was
going to catch up with Kate as well. Add
in some shopping time and those 4 nights/3 days don’t seem so long.
I woke at 5am this morning. Stupid I know. I checked Facebook on my phone for an hour,
and then went back to sleep till 7am and we got ready for breakfast. We weren’t leaving the hotel till 9am. A leisurely start to the day. We really only had the bus ride back to
Kathmandu and depending on traffic was going to take 4-6 hours. I have certainly got my money’s worth out of
my NCELL sim card since I have been in Nepal.
I love it and the cost has been so cheap-it has helped kill some time
and a way that I could keep in touch when there was no other way.
The bus station was only a 10 minute ride away and I
think using the words ‘bus station’ is a little loose. It was a big dusty area with a handful of
busses all in a semi-circle. There was a
building that had toilets to the right and that was about it. There were cars and trucks of tourists all
arriving to catch the busses and a few locals around trying to sell some food
and bits to the travelers before getting on the bus. Our bus was already there, so we were able to
get off the transfer bus supplied by the hotel and onto the public bus. I was last in the bus and our group had taken
all single seats down the side of the bus and there were no window seats
left. The driver was back with us and so
was Satiya, so I asked if I could have the back seat window on the opposite
side. They clicked back and forth in
Nepalese and then said that would be okay, but it would be bouncy back there,
but I could cope with that as long as I had a window. I was a little disappointed that no-one from
the group piped up about sharing a window seat with me. I think what I would have done and I think I
would have offered when I saw what the situation was. Satiya even asked one of the group to switch
and she said no-how rude, I would have been happy to share. Anyway, it’s the last day; I got a window, so
it all worked out, but a crappy ay to finish.
We left the ‘bus station’ at 9.20am for the journey from
the country back to the city. I LOVE
travel days, well as long as I have my IPod, and I just soak up the passing
scenery, reflect and to think about my future.
Due to the mountainous nature of the landscape in Nepal, you will find
that the roads are distinctively different to those in Australia. For starters, the mountainous landscape means
that roads are windy with steep gradients. The roads are also not
terribly well maintained – particularly in the rural regions. You may find that
some of the bus trips are fairly nerve racking – particularly if you are
surrounded by steep gorges and the bus is travelling at speed! For the car sick
among you, it is therefore advisable that you take any travel sickness tablets
prior to starting your journey. Buses
are either publicly or privately run and you will find that most of the tourist
busses in Nepal are private. For this reason, getting around by bus on
tourist routes may be slightly more expensive than getting around
locally. Since they are privately owned, they are also generally
more comfortable than the public busses. Public busses are well known for
being uncomfortable! Additionally, getting around by public busses in Nepal is
an extremely slow experience. They stop regularly to pick up passengers
and the periods between bus stops are often prolonged due to the age and
maintenance of the vehicle.
Unfortunately, you will find that bus crashes are common in Nepal due to some of the issues referred to above (old vehicles, poorly maintained roads etc.) and we saw one over turned bus during the day, but I it didn’t seem like it was today as there were no people around as the traffic navigated around the upturned bus.
Unfortunately, you will find that bus crashes are common in Nepal due to some of the issues referred to above (old vehicles, poorly maintained roads etc.) and we saw one over turned bus during the day, but I it didn’t seem like it was today as there were no people around as the traffic navigated around the upturned bus.
We stopped a few times to pick up more people. There really aren’t any set stops as such. People just wave a bus down, pay and take a
seat and the same applies to get off, you just need to let the drivers helper
know and they will stop to let you off. We
passed small villages, large cities and because I was sitting on the left side
of the bus, I was on the side of the oncoming traffic and I can tell you there
were some close shaves with trucks and busses coming the other way. Let’s just say that I didn’t stick any body
part out the window as I wouldn’t have kept it for long, no joke. I can see why the Nepalese roads are rated as
some of the dangerous. Add into that the
overtaking of the slower trucks up hills, on corners, and busses that drive at
a million miles an hour you just need to hope that today was not ‘your’
day. The trucks are like the ones you
see in India. They are brightly painted
with beautiful pictures painted of them of Hindu depictions; some were of other
scenes from across the world or just brightly painted. They have a massive cab at the front that is
the same height of back half of the truck and they just hoot around the country
loaded with goods. They all have sayings
painted on the back of their trucks from ‘see you soon’ drive safely’ and funny
ones of ‘speed demons’ to name a few.
They literally keep the country moving and at the end of the day they
work with what they have, roads and vehicles, and yes it is very different to
what we are used to but that is life right!?
There was a roadside toilet stop at 11.50am. I am not sure what the condition of the
toilets were, but there were also other busses stopped there and a further 40
minutes got us to our lunch stop for 45 minutes. Again there were other busses stopped for
lunch and there was a choice of a buffet, a restaurant or there was a guy there
that was selling 5 items that you could buy 5 or one of. I stuck with some noodles and some pakora, an
ice-cream to finish it all off and then we were back on the bus for the last
push to Kathmandu. The last 1.5 hours
was heading back up to 1600m which entailed slower trucks and busses, a lot of
exhaust fumes and a lot of dust and traffic all vying to get to Kathmandu. We arrived back into the city at 4.00pm where
we got dropped off just near the Thamel area.
Our big backpacks were loaded into taxies so we didn’t have to carry
them for the 10 minute walk and with a few back alley short cuts we popped out
right near our hotel. We waited for a
few minutes and then heard that due to a problem with a tap being left on in
one of the rooms, some of them had flooded so to keep us together as a group,
they decided to move us around the corner to their sister property for our
night. Well I was staying for another 4
nights, so if this hotel wasn’t as nice I would ask to be switched back. So we walked around the corner, got checked
in and when I explained that I was staying longer, they said the room we had
been given was very nice and had a nice view.
The internet was free here, but it was slow as a snail but once we got
to our room there was another Wi-Fi for our hotel and as it happened, we had to
get the guys to come up and fix our lights, and they seemed quite genuine that
we had been put out with the hotel change, so I milked it and asked for the
password to the other network, which they normally didn’t give, and I was
hooked now onto a speedy connection.
This will now give me the opportunity over the next 5 days to load all
my photos, as I am about a week behind and about 10 days behind in my
blog. Based on the excellent internet,
we are on the 2nd floor (and not the 5th) there is a lift
and I know the second I open my bag my stuff will explode and I could be
bothered re-packing, I decided to stay at the Nature Hotel for the 5
nights. The room wasn’t any better or
worse, but I was loving the 2nd floor room location, the lift was a
bit of a moot point, as the power is not so reliable and I would hate to get
stuck in the lift during a blitz-no thanks.
I can handle 2 flights of stairs.
We had free time for a few hours till we met again for
dinner at 7.30pm. Our last meal as a
group. We were going to eat out but when
we met at 7.30pm Padma said that since we had been moved from our first hotel, Intrepid
was going to pick up the dinner bill tonight and we ate a set meal back at the
original hotel. Well I'm no’ going to
pass up a free meal-thanks Intrepid. So
this was our last meal as a group, my last group tour for my Odyssey so had a
little more meaning for me. Even though
it was the last night, 6 of us were doing the Mt Everest scenic flight tomorrow
morning, Mari Anne and Jess were flying first thing in the morning and Kalps
and Jessica were in a bus back to Pokhara to start new ventures. It was nice to prolong the goodbyes till
tomorrow. I hate them when you have met
nice people.
So this is the official goodbye to my Intrepid Nepal Encompassed
crew. Thanks so much for being a great
group. We gelled well together, we got
along dandy and we had a great tour. I
wish you all the very best for your future travels and for being a part of my
final tour. Nepal rocked and I really
enjoyed the country. The people were
friendly, it was cheap, the scenery was stunning and the shopping was out of
this world.
So in no particular order my crew:
Jess-Australia
Aaron and Ruby-Australia
Sam-Australia
Leena-Australia
John-Australia
Jessica-Canada
Kalps-UK
Mari-Anne-New Zealand
Day 94 of my second section comes to a close and day 550
of my whole Odyssey.
I’m ready for some ‘friend’ time.
I’m ready for some ‘god-daughter time’.
I’m ready for some down time.
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