Kathmandu, Nepal

So much dust! 

At the India border, Sunauli 

How you can buy beef and pork!

First off our journey from India to Nepal; to reach Kathmandu.

From the horrendously cramped Varanasi station we traveled by night train to Gorakhpur. The train was scheduled to leave at 12.10am but problem number one, it was delayed until 2.35am (not the best time to be traveling but the only tickets we could get). 

Not many travellers head as far north as Gorakhpur and after a sleepless few hours we arrived and exited the train station. 

Problem number two we could not find anyone who spoke English (even all the signs were Indian). After a frustrating half an hour and four lukewarm oily samosa's later, we boarded a dirty school bus to Sonoli. We wanted to go to Sunauli and figured that perhaps the bus ticket was just misspelt, because they sounded similar enough? Right? Right?

We watched out the dust-streaked window as the rickety bus took us more and more rurally and further and further away from the town pinpointed on our GPS. After around four hours the bus pulled over and several people piled out, urinating against the trees. 

Kara tried to communicate to the driver if there was somewhere for woman to squat (a little more privately) but she was just waved toward the sparse field of skinny trees. Yeh- not with that busload of men staring at her every move.

We held our breath and bladders, our hearts were wrenched in disappointment, there was an overwhelming fear of having to return or worse the real thought of having to sleep in a rice field. 

Thamel Central temple (Tibetan)

John also feared that Kara would be arrested for assault before we made it to the border, that is, if one more person asked her if she 'wants some'. Two guesses as to what TV shows are popular here. Another three long, bumpy and hot hours later we arrived in Sunauli!! 

Like drug-smelling dogs we found the unmarked Indian immigration office, hastily filled out the departure forms and proceeded to wait patiently as they examined and discussed all our passport stamps at length. 

After we got our departure stamp and jumped outside, through the puddles of brown mud, we headed towards the Nepalese immigration office. For 300 meters we were in limbo land and it felt amazing, like we were running from prison.

The Nepalese immigration was refreshingly simple- they had clean water, toilets and even told us to 'enjoy our stay in Nepal', which was nicer than the gruff grunt we got when leaving India. It was 3pm and we were starving. The immediate differences between Nepal and India were drastic. The first thing we noticed was that there were liquor shops everywhere! The second thing was that it was cleaner, much cleaner. 

Thames district markets

Although we were hungry we boarded a small mini-van to Kathmandu with the promise it would stop soon for some food. It didn't, for five and a half hours, during that time we were driven by the most crazy, idiotic lunatic ever to get behind a wheel. It was probably best that there wasn't food in our stomachs.

He passed buses and trucks with oncoming traffic only 20 metres in front. He took N shape corners at 90kms and with less than 10 metres visibility due to dust continued to plow around blind corners.

After we stopped for dinner at 7.30pm, we painfully were told there was still another hour to go, but for some unknown reason the traffic was absolutely horrific! The worst we had ever seen! So we only made it to Kathmandu by 2.50am, with the driver only being pulled over by police and ticketed- once!

As imagined, the shuttle driver didn't speak any English but also we naively thought we would arrive before sunset. We didn't know where we were going and hadn't booked in anywhere. Coming on 3am we were so grateful that he took a liking to us, drove us to a cheap guesthouse, and helped us check in so we could fall back to sleep. Tomorrow we could figure out were we were!

Your chariot awaits!

Pounding the pavements

Now we have already been in Kathmandu for just short of a week and we are far more relaxed and happy spirited. The dusty bowl-shaped valley, home to a twelfth of the country's population is bustling, dirty and yet, strangely calming. People toddle around on fast bikes that splutter out blue smoke, yellowed buses take corners blindly smashing their way over cracked concrete, spraying dust and local people walk on the pot-holed roads as much as on the broken side paths but it all works seamlessly. 

Standing in front of a temple! 

Nepali women celebrating and receiving blessings at
the Teej festival

The streets, are absolutely overloaded with electrical wires tangled like a birds nest weaved around a pole, racing out of the two story buildings. 

How electricity works!

There's plenty of cheap pharmacies, almost on every corner. For only a couple of dollars we came out with all kinds of interesting glass vials and tablets for our upcoming adventure! We love how they seem to have a drawer for every symptom but we were a bit worried about the whole 'not tested on humans' label. Seriously. There's also plenty of restaurants. Nepal is a tad more expensive than India but the locals are friendly, not in a "we want to rip you off" way but a "can we help you be more welcome in our guest house" way. We much prefer the genuine Nepalese smiles than the cat calling hawkers of India.

Pineapple express

A holy man taking offerings

For the time being we are restocking on essentials. We've fallen in a routine quickly, breakfast down the road and around the corner where they have a simple and delicious local menu. Several times the power has been cut and we get to eat outside with candles, crunching on shaved dried rice. 

This basic Nepalese meal is absolutely amazing!  

 Kara eating some delicious chicken momo soup!

A small family lighting temple candles

Yesterday as we sat outside a small family parade passed by. The family was singing and holding a blanket for passersby to throw in money. We're not sure if it's related but the Nepalese waitress in the cafe seemed to be expressing that there was a special festival on for woman. That there would be animal sacrifices and dancing in the streets tonight. 

After breakfast, we usually then walk around the Thames neighbourhood and a different area of the city for two or three hours. Taking our time to stroll through Kathmandu's colourful laneways, window shopping or just to eyeing up the unsanitary food conditions. 

The little gym behind our guest house

A local cart of fresh vegetables on sale

Each day we have dedicated to purchasing the right gear, visiting several shops and weighing up the cost vs quality as we patiently wait or our insurance money. 

Yesterday we went camera shopping! 

And the day before, looking for down jackets we found ourselves in the back of a factory, the room lined with small men and woman on sewing machines making, as were told, genuine 'North Face' gear. 

On Tuesday morning we walked a little further out of the city to another shopping district in search of boots for John, on our return we were swarmed by huge ginormous grey birds, screeching and zooming over us, before realising they were bats! The biggest bats ever, like small flying dogs with vampire-like teeth! We didn't wait around to have a good look, we were out of there!!

Later in the afternoons we usually practice our pre-everest climb squats, walk up and down the five stories to our room and John even visited a little local gym twice. By then it was sweltering hot so we have a little nap before venturing out for a small dinner later. 

We had to add a photo of the delicious, creamy Nak cheese!

This morning was a little different though, when we woke the sun was streaming into our quiet room. We felt a strange feeling but everything seemed the same. As we walked to breakfast, people fluffed about on the streets and it wasn't until we were on our way back that we suddenly realised there were no cars! 

There was no humming, honking and beeping of traffic, even the dogs were silent. 

Locals typically wake early to take daily offerings to the temple, driving and honking through Kathmandu but today there was no one? 

Kathmandu strike over petrol cost increases (no cars or motorbikes!)

It wasn't a holiday- we checked. It was Bandhi, a general strike initiated by one of the political parties which do not allow businesses to open and all traffic is banned. During the civil war in Nepal from 1996-2006, the year the King of Nepal toppled, there were hundreds of Bandhis. Although there haven't been many in recent years, our guesthouse manager said he thinks it's due to the upcoming November elections.

So it's this weekend that we will depart on our Everest adventure, with abounding youthful enthusiasm we're so excited. Please stay tuned! 

Tot siens,

John and Kara