April 1 & 2, Wednesday and Thursday

This is the day I headed for Kathmandu, Nepal. I started out on a shared taxi 4x4 Jeep with side curtains open, and filled with 11 people. Crowded, but I just considered it "Snug". This was a very scary 4-hour ride back on the under maintained little road with big cliffs. We arrived in Siliguri, and I took a bicycle rickshaw to the bus station , just in time to jump a bus for Pantitackie on the Indian border with Nepal. This was an hour and a half ride, crowded , but cheap. It cost a quarter!

Arriving in Pantitackie I walked about 10 minutes to the Indian Immigration office. There I stripped out of my corduroy pants, socks, and sweater. It was now HOT. Then I had a 15 minute walk to Nepal and immigration there. On the way I met a Spaniard and a Frenchman headed for Kathmandu, so we all went together. There is strength in numbers when warding off a continual battery of "touts' , con men, and hustlers. And when you are the only westerners walking thru markets with backpacks on - you are a target!

We all got our VISA's for Nepal and headed out trying to find the REAL bus station. Our best friends forever kept offering us special deals, telling us we were going the wrong direction, to watch out somebody trying to trick us (HUH?). But we eventually found the correct bus station, finally, and bought our tickets for 750 Nepali Rupees. (less than $10.00).

This is the only bus available and it is considered a "local" bus , which means you get to see a lot - for a long time! This trip was to take 14 hours , leaving at 4p.m. Just for the record, it took 20 hours. It is actually about a 9-hour drive on these roads, but we stopped and loaded and unloaded freight - kinda like UPS, I guess. It was definitely ONE TOUGH bus ride.

We arrived in Kathmandu at noon on Thursday, butt sore and dusty. But we made it! Hallelujah!

Then the "touts" and hustlers started all over again. We got into the hotel area and decided to follow one man who said he had rooms with hot water for 150 rupees (less than $2.00). When we got to the hotel it looked nice, but the price was 250 ($3.00). The Spaniard yelled he had been lied to by the man - that they were trying to cheat us , etc, etc. So we left. We looked at two other places not as nice as the first one and the same price. So I told them "so long" - that I was going back to the first hotel. When I got there , of course the 250 room was gone - I took the 300 rupee room (less than $4.00). I thought to myself - there I was again - going brain dead over 50 rupees (60 cents). The hotel is nice - gas fired hot water, good restaurant, and adopted by Carrie Saunders! There is a picture of room by candle light.

Kathmandu seems to have a problem with electricity - its only on about half the time.
So - I am here - Kathmandu. Now to see the sights - and enjoy the results of the Bus Ride to Remember!

The pictures are of me eating momos (kind of like Nepali ravioli) at bus station from a stall restaurant, and a crowded market that our bus drove into to unload rice. And my hotel room - by candle light in Kathmandu.

From Kathmandu Nepal
Johnny