Honeymooners

Neapal to India by bus!

abelaine — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:38:00 GMT

From Lumbini you catch a local bws back to Birovar(something like this) for 40rup. We tried 2 ride ou top of the bus where you are basically riding on the roof racks..not really allowed by police but since we're tourists we could.. locals do it too..they are just asked to get dowr by the police. From here you wait for a local jeep to take you to Sonauli fwr 10rup. You can take a tuk-tuk for 80rup. but it is a short easy drive in the jeep anyway. Here you go thru Neapal and India immigration. You can walk this! Then there are buses (tourist or local) to Delhi, Varanassi, Ghoreaphur. We took a 4hr local ride to Ghoreaphur for 56rup. In this city you can then catch trains or buses to nearly anywhere. No trains available today so we took an 18hr local bus to Agra.. 360rup each bit more expensive than the train but.we wanted to be on our way. The locals here really helped us..Giving us 3seats so we could take turns to sleep. They we so nice always getting others to sit somewhere else if there was space. Again L say the country has its problems and craziness, but there seems to clways be nice people who do look out for you. Ciao for now....

My birthday

abelaine — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:19:00 GMT

We spent my bday in Lumbini. After breakfast Briel made me the best cake he could -chocolate cookies with melted cadbury and rum. YUMMY Then we hired a tuk-tuk 2 drive us around the small villiages where houses made of clay. We watched as the locals gathered around 2 share dinner cooking rice and popcorn. We saw the men playing cards... kids following us out of curiosity -loving 2 have there photo taken sweet... Briel tried 2 be the tuk-tuk driver.. which was harder than we imagine! ln fact not possible...hehe...next time maybe... Ciao 4 nou...

Lumbini-The birthplace ßuddah

abelaine — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:31:00 GMT

After 2weeks in Pokhara we decided that lt wos time for a new adventure. so we caught a bus to Lumbini about 200kms south. This is not really a big tourist spot yet SO the facilities here is basic. Here you really qet the feeling that it was not so different even in the time of buddal 2000years ago. It was very rural, small village and serene. Peacefull really. The Sacred Garden is a big compound where his exact.birthplace is marked. This has 50rup entry fee with extra cost to use.camera or video. (75+750). Around also has temples donated by different countries. Hire a bicycle as.very big for 100rup a day. I can recommend Sidartha guesthouse next to the fancy hotel. 350rup a day. Ciao for now!

Recommendations in Pokhara

abelaine — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Guesthouses: Green Tara was fantastic to stay at. The staff was so friendly and helpful without you getting the feeling that they are hovering over you. The rooms all have private showers (hot all day), fans, cable tv and were always kept clean. This place was a winner! In high season the price is around 400ruppee a day for the room. In low season we could get this for 250 a day. Nice bargin!

Food: Luv Cushion serves the best fish from the lake. We tried many places but this was just delicious. More expensive than the others at about 280rup a meal, but well worth it.

We ate sandwhiches at "German Bakery" or also called " Namaste Bakery" or also known as "Shenkin Cafe" . This is on the main street of Pokhara lakeside. The food is excellent, the family that runs it is friendly. Loved it here!

For cheaper accomodation and food : The C.B.B Resturant and guesthouse is excellent. Here you can get 100-150 for the room. The lady of the house - her Dal Bhat is awesome and not expensive at 70rup. Plus she feeds you a lot! The man of the house is friendly and never treats you like a tourist. He is great to go fishing with (which we did), or play Ping Pong with. You can also hire a boat and fishing rod for the whole day for just 200rup. At the main area it is 500rup a day. This place is found right on the other side of Pokhara - when you walking towards to hills areas and more remote part of pokhara but it is still on the lake.

There are many stores here for trekking gear, souviners, etc. There are many prices from the crazy tourist price, to one that is much closer to the local price. So look around.

The best internet place is on the main street. It is next to a big sign that says "Momo 40rup". They charge 60rup an hour, like everyone else. However they are SO helpful and really care if you cannot login to Skype or the machine in slow. They will help you and not charge you for extra time. However there are many places to choose from. However many are slow. Check for the ones with the flat screens at least!

Pokhara is just gorgeous. The lake is fun to swim in and take the boat out to. This place is quiet with enough to do around town. Although the night life I cannot speak of as we were in bed by 9pm most nights! There are places that will serve dinner and a free dvd to watch. SOmetimes the dvd is not great quality though.

We really love it here.

Ciao for now!

Yoga

abelaine — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:45:00 GMT

For the last 2 weeks we have been doing Yoga here in Pokhara. The sessions are 2 sessions a day each session 2-3 hours long. Where the morning session is supposed to be more active while the evening session more about the meditation activities.

There are many branches or styles of Yoga. In the west we tend to focus very much on the positions alone, while here the practical positions are to help you gain focus & concentration for you to meditate and find your self-awareness. The side benifit of exercise they give is you is secondary to the spiritual benifits.

We gained a lot more than we bargined for. We found the experience rewarding for our own personal happiness. Of course this is not the answer to all lifes problems but it was a step in a good direction.

Briel and I did reach a meditative state where the pains of the body could not be felt any longer and nor could we hear the bustle or outside world around us. We were focused only within.

In these moments Briel found he could think much clearer than normal. I found a place where I could find peace and review my journey in this sometimes nutty world.

We saw by accident each others auras - which were pretty much the same --> sunrise orange/yellow/red. While I saw the Yogi teachers which was dark grey-green. I have no idea what this means.

The meditation we got a lot out of. However the positions didn't challenge me and I searched for harder positions. Since the classes were not private most places will not have advance techniques to share as many within the class are beginners.

I was a beginner in how they practiced yoga though. This was pretty different - you would have to be a bit open minded to chant the mantras, and the breathing techniques. There were times we wanted to burst out laughing at what we had to do. I doubt I will implement ALL of the techniques in my future practice. However it was a great to learn.

There was a big lesson for us here. Which I will always be thankful for the experience.

Prices range from 200ruppe per lesson to as high as 1800 each per day. depends as some offer also food and lodging. You will have to check for yourself and also - the choice you should make on you feel is the right atmosphere.

Ciao for now.

Day 12 - Pokhara

abelaine — Sat, 2 Aug 2008 07:34:00 GMT

Today we spent the day boating on the lake with Laxman. We also took a small hike to the Buddist temple on top of the Pokhara Hill. It is the named the "World Peace Pagoda". This is quite pretty the white walls and golden statues of Budda.

The views of Pokhara were just gorgeous.

Briel and Laxman were laughing at me today - since I was still carrying the salt bags for the leeches. Yes I still had paranoia... What was really funny though was that while we were up at the temple Briel looks down and between his toes is a leech! YUCK!

See better to be safe than sorry!

Ciao for now!

Day 11 - Beni and going back tp Pokhara

abelaine — Fri, 1 Aug 2008 07:20:00 GMT

We headed back south to start heading to Beni. We had to go thru the landslides again, only this time they were extremely dangerous.

It had again rained hard during the night, so the rocky landslides were very slippery and steep. We really had to use our trekking poles today as we dug the poles in deep to try to stabalise ourfooting as we crossed. There were about 6 landslide crossings to make and none were easy. My shirt and face were all sweat as we carefully made our way across.

Often Laxman and Briel held onto me for safety, sometimes Laxman walked backwards to be able to face me and guide me, while Briel held onto my back. Good as I certainly didn't want to fall down into that even crazy river today!

After that the walk was easy enough most of it was an easy walking trail or even road. After 3 hours walking, we then decided to catch the bus to Beni to save us time. We still had another 3 hours to go while the bus would take just over an hour.

The bus ride though was no easy experience. It too had to go over landslides and had hard time going up the steep hills. There were some turns where perhaps some of the wheels were no longer on the road and it felt like the bus was going to tip over on its side. I was just as scared of the bus ride as I was walking! Maybe even more scared as here I had NO control of what was happening.

We did make it to Beni though. It was a big town but there was not much to do there. So after lunch we decided to head back to Pokhara. This involved 2 more bus rides and a crazy 3 hour wait inbetween!

On the final bus we were sitting on the rooftop like the locals which was scary at first especially when you are hit by tree branches, but it was fun also. When it started to rain we had to inside the bus though.

we didn't reach Pokhara till 9.30pm - I think this was our longest day yet. It didn't help that we had problems with the hostel we were due to stay at.

In any case we were safe. We skipped dinner and just passed out.

Ciao for now...

Day 10 - Tarapani : Hot Waters

abelaine — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:12:00 GMT

We headed for Tarapani today. This place means Hot Waters which is referring to the hot springs which are in the village.

The trek was mostly easy, however there was a very memorable bridge crossing - where even Briel's heart was pumping hard since it didn't seem so stable and it was over a raging crazy strong muddy river. When we saw it it was all thick brown, but usually it is crystal blue - the mud slides have been many and strong though... hence the colour.

Then after crossing the bridge there was many landslides, so there was no road anymore. We had to cross over the top of the rock slides. Which were scary since it was over a 50m cliffside to the crazy rocky river. I didn't want to fall!

However all was good and we spent the afternoon enjoying in the hot springs. The Hot Springs cost 25rup per person (tourist) and 5 rup for Nepalee... so you need to bring cash with you.

This place did have some view of the mountain and was pretty nice in general.

Ciao for now...

Day 9 - Sikha

abelaine — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:07:00 GMT

There was no views today, so we decided not to climb up the Poon Hill again. However we were still smiling since the views were just spectacular.

We trekked to a little village called Sikha where we stopped for lunch. As lunch ended the rains started in heavy again - so we decided to stay the afternoon and night here without trekking further.

I ordered pizza here - at lunch it was great, but when I ordered it again at dinner she added ginger to the pizza. Hmm that is not such a great taste.

Ciao for now...!

Day 8 - Poon Hill - Himalayas!

abelaine — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:56:00 GMT

The alarm went off bright and early. We looked outside and it was all fog and we could only see about 5m away! errr BUT we got up anyway to trek up the hill since - maybe it will change.

As we were getting ready, we got into a frenzy! As the minutes passed by the fog was clearing. By the time we were down about to start the walk there was some views of the mountains already...!!!

Excited Briel and I were nearly running up the hill... the last time I tried this was back in Italy with Mt Vesuvius and it was SO much worse to run up this hill.... well it was 3 times higher in altitude standing at over 3000m ! AUGH! So of course we would start to sprint up, then stop huffing and puffing holding our chests for dear life.

When we reached the top though it was glorious. I think the best views we have ever seen in our life. We could see so far and as the sun rose into the air we just couldn't stop smiling. Oh and taking about 800 pictures!

The skies became clearer and clearer while we were up there for 3 hours. Of then that meant more photos as now the mountain range does look different. hahaha

All the locals said we were so lucky - these kind of views are not normal in this season. We are indeed fortunate. Words cannot decribe how wonderful it was to be up there. Seeing mountains that reach over 6000m high. Suddenly again you realise that we are just small players in the world - in the universe really.

Some of the mountains were Annapurna 1-4, FishTail(Machepuche or something like that) - this was the favorite and it really was special - it supposed to look much like Everest.

We wanted to go again the next morning - but just like every other day this season there was not a view to be seen.

Lucky we were indeed.

Ciao for now! :)

Day 7 - Ghorepani

abelaine — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:47:00 GMT

We were woken up by Laxman (our guide) that we needed to go outside. s our eyes opened sleepily we soon got a sudden rush of excitement when we saw that we could see some nice views.

It was no all clear, but we could see some of the snowtop mountains in the distance. We could see the sun rising and we couldn't help but have energy.

So after a delicious breaky we headed off for the 4-5 hour trek to Ghorepani. As we trekked we got some more nice views along the way. There was some nice leeches but fewer and far between the others now - so it was a pretty relaxing walk.

There was some great jungle areas we trekked thru with cute waterfalls and the usual array of animals walking the tracks. Today I was delighted that I kep seeing so many Ladybugs! They were so pretty against the dark green leaves and they would be in clumps of 3-5 of them.

Ghorepani is not a real village. It is a teahouse major area which means that mostly it is just different hostels for the travellers. It is not a functioning town really. They built it for the closeness to 'Poon Hill'. This little hill stands at over 3000m and is popular for the gorgeous panoramic views of the Himalayas.

The locals were warning us though that for the last 2 months there has been little to no views - since it is monsoon season. :( bummer.... but maybe we will have some luck..?

So we will sleep early to wake up t 5am to climb up the hill...

Ciao for now!

Day 5-6 - Tadapani

abelaine — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:30:00 GMT

We woke to a little view of the Himalayas. You could see a glimpse behind much fog and clouds of the famous fishtail mountain and the Annapurna range. When I say glimpse - you really had to TRY to see them!

However since the views for the far mountains were very few the last 2 months, everyone was out with a smile to take photos.

Our spirits lifted a little. But only a little.

Talking to people, there was MORE leeches and many to come - especially to the ABC and also to Ghoreapani. AUGH.

Feeling low and a bit demoralised we decided to head for Ghorepani and skip the ABC. Why - we would have to trek thru the same areas twice which would demoralize us more when we KNOW the leeches to come and 2 with the monsoon weather we would have to trek hard due to alot of landslides.

So we headed to East to Ghorepani. However after treking 6 hours with many leeches but not AS MANY - lets say 5 a minute now - we stopped at the halfway point Tadapani - meaning "far water"

Here we had an all windows view of the clouds and the fog. The family here was great with 2 young sisters doing much of the cleaning and cooking while the family were out in the fields working the crops.

We decided to pay for a hot shower - which turned out to be very cold - but at least it was not glacier like this time! hehehe

Played cards and sat by the warm fire - we rested a bit easier. The next say was storming badly - so we decided to wait it out here since we were in no hurry.

So the girls taught me how to cook some local dishes. Otherwise we played cards and talked more about our plans for the future.

Ciao for now..

Day 4 - Chomrong

abelaine — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:19:00 GMT

We woke to a bright sunny morning. The air was warm and the surroundings seemed to be drying. However going to the bathroom - the sleeping leeches woke up and headed straight for me. I got out of there as soon as possible. I didn't feel great as I ate breaky and neither did Briel.

We had a 40 minute steep uphill trek to Chomrong - which was our destination for last night. The trek there was a bit easier - only 1 leech today for all of us. That was a relief but I was still looking down every 30 seconds. I think I was traumatised! errrr

This is an old village which is very cute and really working - not just a tea house area stop over like some other places. So we had a great morning looking around and seeing how these locals who have lived here for generations work and play. Mostly they worked and worked hard.I saw men carrying stones from the forest to their house where the women of the house were then using a hammer to grind them to small rocks. With this they would manually make cement like stuff to continue to build their home. WOW...

We had lunch here - nice pizzas! The views here were great - and on a good day you can see far into the Himalayas. That wasn't today though :( However since we were still a bit blahed out from yesterday we decided to stay here the afternoon. We were so exhausted we slept all afternoon and only woe up for dinner then slept again! Relaxed day. Maybe we can get over yesterday - but so far still traumatised! errr

Ciao for now!

Day 3 - Eaten Alive!

abelaine — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:42:00 GMT

Well the day started of great with BIG breaky. However there is a reason why NOW is LOW season. I am not complaining about the endless rain and clouds as they seem to be only for half a day mostly - I am shaking now at having to even recall - the hundreds of leeches that attacked us!

As we left Landruk we were equipped with little salt bags to help with leeches that we might encounter. These bags lasted about 30 minutes before they broke apart from overuse! As we walked, we HAD to stop every 30 seconds to remove 10-30 leeches from our feet. I am NOT exaggerating. It was a horror movie. Even our guide was shocked "In my 12 years of trekking here I have never seen so many leeches".

A 2 hour walk took 4 hours. At the stop over we pulled off our socs and pants. There were leeches inside, on our necks, back and SO many on our ankles. The boys were bleeding as if their ankles had been slashed with a knife.... Even as soon as you think you are done, another is found.

We took a 30 minute break. We still had a one hour walk to get to Jinu Dadah - are target spot. I was nearly crying as I didn't want to face more leeches.

My wish was NOT granted. The rest of the walk was only mildly better. I was exhausted by the time we arrived to eat lunch.

I was even too drained to take the 20 minute walk to the Hot Springs - but Briel gave me the motivation. The walk there was just as nuts with the leeches only stopping when we got to the springs.

The Hot Springs was great, a place where a HOT stream combines with the roaring ICE river. It too a while but slowly we calmed down to enjoy the hot water. We even had a spot with rushing hot water so we had a HOT shower! YIPPEE.

Going back to the main village was a nightmare also. We spent about 3 hours at the hot springs and it was now dark, so we decided to stay in this village for the night. The leeches were a bit in the village as we trekkers and locals bring them in from the walk. I made Briel check his feet before he got into bed - he thought I was a bit looney but when he looked down he had a BIG one sucking on him! NOT fun....

It was disturbed sleep we had. The leeches took everything from me emotionally and even physically. "I am ready to go home" I sniffed "yeah me too" Briel replied.

Hard day.... Ciao for now

Day 2 - Quality time....

abelaine — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:23:00 GMT

Did I mention that you are totally spoiled on your trek??? Not only do you get a guide but EVERY meal you get is massive and depending on your choice - DELICIOUS! I think while being on this trek I eat MORE.

In any case, to day we treked North for about 3 hours. Stopping at a place called Landruk. Here we ate a VERY nice lodge and shortly during lunch it started to rain. The place was VERY clean and homely - meaning the bathroom didn't mae me cry - which we love so we decided to NOT trek that afternoon and spend the day just talking about LIFE.

I know we spend all our time together and perhaps it is easy to think that it means we have nothing to say more - BUT really talking and just enjoying a gorgeous moment is not often and getting to spend LONG hours enjoying each others company without the distraction of people or tv was so revitalizing.

Even more amazing was that as the sun too away our views, we got an even more gorgeous surprise - we were treated to fire flies all over the place! It was magic, like twinkling stars right before your hands and nearly touchable. Never having seen them Briel laughed as I was lie a child eating icecream for the 1st time.

Food in all the tea houses is the same menu. Nepal has set up a cmmitte to handle the prices, and the quality of service and food. Dal Bhat is th local favourite food which nearly all eat for lunch and dinner. It consists of white rice, vege curry, pickle, chapati/roti, Lentil soup. Delicous but can be VERY spicey. Plus every place will bake its own bread!

Briel and I felt inspired today! Good food, great views, great company in each other. Really felt like a honeymoon!

Ciao for now

Nepal Trek Day 1

abelaine — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:48:00 GMT

Our decision in the end was to complete the Jomsom trek. Which is a 12 day trek thru the lower Mustang region. Here you get to climb moutains as high as 5000m plus. It would have been wonderful and hard.

I say would have been since when we tried to take the flight fom Pokhara to Jomson - it was cancelled due to bad weather. We then found out that the flights had been cancelled for the last 8 days prior. This being Moonson season it is not unheard of.

So instead of trying again 'tomorrow' we decided to change the trek totally. We would do a trek thru the Annapurna range part of the Himalayas - ABC --> Annapurna Base Camp was one major destination point along with Goreapani.

The trekking place we booked with were fantastic with the changes. Completely refunding the cost of the plane tickets and being so flexible on route changes. "Alliance Treks" are magnificant and honest. The only thing they don't have under control is the weather!

So we headed off by taxi to Phedi - a tiny town where our trek was to begin. We trekked for about 3 hours only having wasted half a day waiting for planes and other such mistakes. Our first night stay was in Potana. A cute place where I had a glacier shower - it wa FREEZING!!!

Note: They do offer hot showers, but since the hot showers are dependant on the solar heating, often it just is not available!

haha... Ciao for now.

DO NOT stay at KARKI guesthouse POKHARA

abelaine — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:59:00 GMT

DO NOT stay at the KARKI guesthouse in Pokhara lakeside. They are a bunch of liars. The Karki Guesthouse is a nicely built guesthouse in Pokhara. That is where the positive aspects end of this place. Please DO NOT stay at this hostel/guesthouse. The owners are complete LIARS who have no respect for honesty towards the tourists. The 1st lie -- We came looking for a hostel/guesthouse with a nice view in Pokhara Lakeside. Finding a charming building we went inside to talk to the owners. We settled on a price for a room with a balcony. We said ok - we see you tomorrow. On arrival the next morning (after checking out of our excellent guesthouse which had no view) we arrive to find that the room we agreed to is now no longer available. He has given it to someone else. To make a quick extra few bucks he gave the room to someone who would stay only a few nights. -- We would effectively stay 3 weeks. Much more money in the long run. At this we decided to forgive him, he gave us another room for slightly cheaper price for our agravation. We talked with him nearly every day about changing rooms. About taking the room we discussed when we returned from out trek. There was NO mistake which room and price we talked about now. No excuses for further lies. LIE number 2 -- On our return to from the trek not only did we not get the room we discussed. However we they had the nerve to tell us we were WRONG and that they never promised us that room for that price. It was late at night, so we stayed that night - going to bed thinking, were we wrong all that time? LIE 3 -- The next morning Briel talked to the owner (the man this time, not the wife). He admitted to Briel that WE were correct. However the wife had screamed at him for giving the room away for that price. Okay the room they gave us instead was also nice. We MIGHT have let this go. LIE 4 -- While we go to sit for breakfast. He tells us that the room for 2 weeks will be at the agreed price. BUT it will also have an extra 10% tax. OKAY time to leave. This is just too much bullsh^t to deal with already. Firstly we have stayed nearly 2 months in Nepal. No guesthouse has charged us a 10% government tax. This is rubbish. If there is a tax, then the guest should tell you this UPFRONT or have it in a sign somewhere in the reception. To tell you this AFTER you have unpacked your bags is DISGUSTING. The price wouldn't affect you really. It is the fact that they LIE about it that is frustrating. They just want to scam out as much money as possible. We have MOVED to somehwere a bit more expensive but they don't LIE to us. The problem is that many tourists will not say anything about this. They will let it go as a frustrating event during the travels. However WHY reward bad people??? They don't deserve ANY business. NOT AT ALL. Let's give the business to someone making honest money. So I urge any travellers to Pokhara NOT to stay here but also NOT to give business to ANYONE who acts like this in ANY country. For businesses - TOURISTS are NOT stupid. They know when you give them BULL --- the difference will be if they are just TOO nice to say or do anything about it. However once they leave, I know they will talk trash about you. I have been warned of many destinations and hotels by such travellers. We listen & take their advise. So IF you think you don't loose money from ONE traveller that is annoyed. THINK AGAIN. We talk, we write, we listen. Thanks for reading... Thanks in advance for anyone who doesn't put up with this... Thanks for all those who write their experience to share with ours for warning! Ciao for now... More stories of GREAT adventures and FUN soon!

Kathmandu-Pokhara (bus and info)

abelaine — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:02:00 GMT

There are tourist bus services and local bus services from Kathmandu Thamel area to Pokhara city. The Local bus departs from a different area which you would have to take a taxi from.

You can book a tourist bus from 350-450 ruppee - depending on the company you go with. They will be from a minvan to a bus - where if seats are not booked, they will load on many extra locals.

The local bus you cannot book. You have to take a chance to turn up at 6.30am in the morning.

The ride is 6hours long with MANY many stops along the way. Sometimes you barely drive for 30 minutes before stopping again. This can be a bit annoying.

The bus drivers can be a bit crazy on the small turns. The drive is all gorgeous mountains with one side of a drop of about 500m. However they still drive a bit nutty so be ready to close your eyes if you are not used to this style of driving. Indeed at the June-August the drive can be dangerous due to mud slides - one bus was run off the road the last few days. So maybe if your driver is a bit more crazy than normal - say something. I dunno.... hard to tell...

You can get off the bus either at the local busy area where you see many markets, stall the locals live here. Then the bus passes by the local airport and come to the lakeside area of Pokhara. Where you are dropped off.

Pre=booking accomodation is not really needed as there are ALWAYS taxi drivers and people trying to take people to their specific guesthouse. High season will be hard to bargin prices which would be from 400 to 1000 ruppees a night. However from June-Aug you can get a NICE private room with cable tv and private bathroom for 200 ruppee a night. You just have to bargin and be willing to walk away with a smile.

Please note that nearly ALL touritsty things to buy are MUCH more expensive than in Kathmandu. Food is more than double the price sometimes tripple the price. Things like the treking gear etc is also nearly double. So buy supplies and souveniers in Kathmandu. Although there you need to bargin too as they will initially ask for double what they will be willing to sell for.

Anyway Ciao for now!

Buktaphur - the Forbidden City

abelaine — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:17:00 GMT

Well that is at least what we call it! This is an ancient city about 1 hour bus ride from Kathmandu. You can reach this place by local bus (go to the local bus station near Thamel)... The cost is 20 ruppee a person.

The bus ridde was the same exciting ride as always with people crammed altogether really tight - lucky we got a seat on the bus so we were not too squashed in. Plus near a window!

We got there and started to get excited with the ancient city.. We could see the walls in the distance - just a short walk away.

As we got close though - too our horror we saw that to just view the old city cost a fee. Free for Nepali... 50 ruppee for Indian-China... the rest is 750 ruppe~!!!!! YIKES that is a shock!

Not only was it appalling that we are to pay 15 times higher than other tourists... BUT ofcourse we weren't told of this fee before - so we didn't have this money on us.

So sadly that is why Buktapur will forever remain the Forbidden City to Briel and I.

Damn that s*cks!

Oh well....

Kathmandu

abelaine — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:41:00 GMT

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. As we drove from the border to the largest city in Nepal (1,000,000 people) the sights were breathtaking. There were so many green mountains which had edges of rice fields with tiny villiages. It was kilometer after kilometer of gorgeous mountains side.

The city is busy and crazy. However it is alot quieter, cleaner, more relaxed than India. It is a welcome change. All of a sudden we wake up and don't feel stressed before we step outsife our bedroom door.

The city has hardly any main roads, so traffic can be difficult in the afternoons. It is insted made of of little alley ways so again many travel by scooter, bike or by tuk tuk.

The city is colourful. Especially with the backdrop of green mountain everywhere you turn. However the locals shops have plenty of colour with all the local artworks, clothes and the local people themselves.

The people are mixed Hindu and Buddist mainly - but live together very happily and in general very friendly and relaxed.

Some of the clothes for trekking very much reminds me of Peru with heavy colourful sweaters and shirts. They also have the Thai fisherman pants - so again I am sometimes mistaken for a local.

I wish I could speak some of the language - as it would be HEAPS cheaper otherwise for things like flights... oh well...

The city used to hold the King in the Royal Palace - but he has been sent to the Jungle (kicked out of power). The locals laugh that it is a BIG palace in the Jungle so no real change of comfort for him!

There are many temples in the city and around. Although we have yet to see them since not only have we been plagued with continued Delhi Belly, but I got a cold too - since it rained heavy on me on our first night here.... errr... not so fun... but our hotel is great so lucky for that at least!

Food is a combination of Chinese/Tibetian and Indian food. YUM - but again the Dehli Belly is holding us from really eating everything and anything. There are a few bakeries and things, but they are often a few days old and not really worth the price.

Resturants are okay price - from about 1 Eur a meal per person. You can get much cheaper if you look for the locals place. Which we do when we are not sick. Then you pay about 40 EUR cents each for a complete meal.

They drink Chai tea here too, and ginger lemon tea is also popular. Briel like the chai even more here than in India. It is spicer here he thinks.

Nightlife there is -- we know from the club that we can hear every night, but this is rare. Mostly the real local places close at 8 or 9pm and the streets are quiet and deserted. Only a few places are open for dinner.

Lots of nice artwork here too. Briel and I are crazy for the statues and the paintings. Plus they have cool musical instrument - it is a bowl which you move a wooden stick around the edges and it makes great humming sounds. Everything is so nice - but lucky for us in a way that sending a box is very expensive so we are not really buying anything. We couldn't help to buy a painting and music bowl. There was some exquiste work, which was too expensive for us - so ofcourse we looked around for the prints rather than the orginals.... hehe

BTW - SOME (only some) will still lie to you and tell you they are originals.. or that the matieral is silk (but not).. or it is NEW but it is second hand.. So be careful. However it is less often.

Ciao for now...