Namaste from Nepal!
I sadly waved goodbye to Canadian soil and the lovely people that I met there, embarked on an aeroplane, flew through the air (for 18 hours no less!) and arrived in Kathmandu. After sorting out my visa in the airport, I walked out into a big crowd of people and was met by my husband Thom and our hotel host. Our host had kindly driven his motorbike to meet us and helped to arrange a taxi. After only a few minutes in the taxi we quickly realised just how lost we could have become in the windy, close streets with virtually no signposts!
Exploring Kathmandu was an exciting adventure. It is a city like no other I have been to. The concrete buildings are squeezed together in a higgledy piggledy way and there are tiny, narrow alleyways between them. The roads are intermittently paved, and there are little to no pavements for large stretches. This makes walking along the road an obstacle in itself! The trick, I am learning, is to walk with confidence. The drivers of cars, motorbikes, lorries are all vying for space and will beep their horns as they overtake (which is essentially whenever they can!) So the road is what you make it: look for danger, walk confidently, don't dither and signal for the traffic to stop and cross your fingers that it will! There are traffic officers on busy roads that have the noisy and dangerous job of standing in the road with a whistle and directing busy traffic. I have yet to work out the rules to their system as it is far from clear to me!
Kathmandu was a great start to our Nepali adventure. Learning local customs and manners has been very important. For example, 'Namaste' said with your hands together is a respectful greeting, you must only use your right hand for eating with (your left is for using the toilet), thank you isn't a transferrable word: there is a word that means thank you but it is only used if somebody goes out of their way to help you. People have been very friendly and welcoming, especially when we have ventured off the beaten tourist path. In Kathmandu we spent a few days eating delicious dahl baht (rice and lentils, the national dish) and gearing up for trekking some of the Annapurna circuit. We have bought what is hopefully effective cold weather gear and trekking poles (recommended by everybody here for the Himalayan mountains)!
After these purchases and exploring the vibrant, dusty and noisy city of Kathmandu we set off very early on an exciting day's journey of the most intense bus riding I have ever experienced! Luckily in Canada I had a top class introduction into riding along bumpy roads but the Nepalese buses are still something else! We left Kathmandu and made the five hour coach ride to Dumre before changing to a microbus (16seater) complete with Bollywood screening! We then changed in Besisahar onto an exquisitely decorated bus; all the panels inside were floral patterns and colourful hangings were abundant. This bus was extreme - complete with people on the roof, 2 chickens and about 50 inside, squeezing into spaces I didn't know existed! I can honestly say it was a good workout hanging onto rails with white knuckles as we ascended rough, incredibly steep one way roads up to the mountain village of Guansahar! It would be a good challenge for a reliable four by four, but our bus did us proud! Arriving at Guansahar was magical: the views of the Himalayas, rice and millet fields are breathtaking. The hospitality of the people here is also astounding. We have very much arrived in rural Nepal. It is truly beautiful and wild. It has also just so happened that we have managed to end up staying with a Principal of a local village school with some very exciting projects! I will be writing more about the school in the next few days so do keep your eyes peeled!
