8.10.07: Lumbini itself is the birthplace of Buddha & the town has a beautiful park with a building covering the birthplace. A huge tree stands just outside under which Buddhas mother was resting when labour pains started. strung to & fro between this & other trees in the area are myriads of colouful prayer flags, now this place does have a very peaceful feeling & both Drew & I left feeling uplifted. From Lumbini we headed west on the Mehandra Highway. We climb up high on the roads, in some places you can see the drop below, Mick you would not have liked this route!
We reach our room @ ther Royal Park Hotel located just outside the Chitwan National Park. Our room is very nice, clean, & furnished well & a balcony over looking the gardens. We meet the others @ about 16.0 & then head over to the elephant breeding centre via a very interesting bike ride, dodging cars, animals & people. Once @ the centre the site upsets me, all of the elephants are chained to posts. Some see very stressed. Our local guide explained that they have to do this so that the elephants do not ruin crops & walk through the villages!
9.10.7: Today we headed out into the wilderness of the Chitwan National Park. It started with a calming boat ride along ther lovely flowing river, sun shining down on us (maybe a bit too much) for abou 1.5 hours. Once off the boat we are split into two groups & given our guides, our guide on the walk was Mr No Probs.
After 5 minutes of walking everyone was wet through with sweat, the temperature in the forest was about 34, however the humidity level was much higher. For me this trek was exhausting & uninspirational.
I have forgotten the name of the place that we stayed, but the host family was out of this world, they could not do enough for us. Oh drew has found a goo whisky to drink, it is calledRoyal Challenge.
10.10.07: Well today was the first day I can truely say I enjoyed. We left our accomodation int he jungle & opted for the return jeep as I have blisters from yesterdays trek & we thought we could do without the sweating.
Our jeep ride was the best transport I hae taken so far, just purely because of the local people uou see & meet as you go. We were tatally amazed & overwhelmed by the richwelcomes we were receiving. Children waving smilin & shouting Namastai (Hello) as we drove past. It was beautiful to see their parents encouraging & joining in the excitement. A memory for me that will sum up my experience in Nepal. Such a lovely country with extremly friendly people, I am so glad we came here.
After our jeep ride we headed back to the hotel & had a very productive afternoon, catching up on our washing & journels.
This evening we saw a maoist political rally, this was very interesting. Truck loads of people traveling in from neighbouring villages.
11.1.07: Today we left Chitwan National Park for the hustle & bustle of Kathmandu. Yet again along our journey there were fab views from the road, very impressive. We also witnessed our first roadblock today, did not have to sit in it for a long period of time & once the road was re-open there was no sign of the group who had caused the dissruption.
Arriving in Kathmandu @ the Hotel Harati @ about 15.00, rooms are all twins & a tad bit dirty but will do the job. 16.00 we went out for an orientation walk, my first impressions of Kathmandu are that the town is very busy but the people are friendly & helpfull, streets seem cleaner compared to India & less traffic although drivers still like to use their horns in an out of control fashion.
When our little tour was finished we tried to book the next part of our trip. a flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa, with the correct permits. The first place we tried gave us a name of somebody else, who may be able to help us in morning. We bumped into Jenni a member of the group & all decided it was time for a beer. The Kathmandu Guest House was our sanctuary, we sat drinking our Carlsburg on cushions whilst relaxing & chatting.
12.10.07: Once breakfast was finished we had enough time in our schedule to pop over to the other tour operater. We were amazed that all we wanted to do they could sort out for us, will keep you posted with details. We met back with the group @ about 10.00 & headed out with a local guide. Our guide reminded us of the "not intirely humerours" tour guide in Budapest.
Our 1st stop was a Hindu temple called Pashupatinath. Some what spoilt by tourism, the sadeus hastle you for money once they have ran up to you, blessed you with a spot on your forehead. You end up running the other way & they sure as hell follow. You are also limited to photos as the sadeus only allow you to take a photo of them if you pay them for a smile. IF you take a photo without paying you soon know that they are very unhappy.
Our second stop was to Bouddhanath which is a world heritage site & is the biggest Stupa in Nepal, it took 2555 days to complete. The beauty & the grandness of the architecture is overwhelming. Bouddhanath is one of the most sacred places for the buddhists & is crowded by the tibetan Lamas.
Prayer flags fly high whilst half a dozen monks sit around preying & reading the Dharma, a tranquil place to be with your thoughts. Donations can be made for the restoration of the monastry & nuns sit quietly by the box, no harrasment here. Both Monks & nuns break their silence to welcome & ask questions about you with a genuine interest.
Oh must talk about lunch, we went to a place called the "Roadhouse Cafe" in the Thamel area. Served the best meal I have had so far on this trip, guess what it was a 30cm stonebaked pizza. We will be going back on Sat night as they also serve great wine.
13.10.07: Said goodbye to everyone at breakfast this morning, I think we were all ready to go our seperate ways. I just want to say a thank-you to Jenni who very kindly donated me a couple of 3/4 trousers (my pack does not close now, Hilar!)
The rest of the day we have not been up to much, tried to sort out the final details of our tour in tibet, but our agent was not in the office today, will have to go back sunday morning. Have caught up on our blog as you all can see & made a few phone calls. Oh had great fun this morning trying to find anotherr hotel to stay in, do not panic though have found one called the Lai Lai @ only $15 for the night. Ok so it is not all that but it is a cheap bed for the night just 5mins walk from local shops & bars.
We meet up with our other group tom afternoon @ about 16.00 in the Nirvana Garden Hotel, whcih looks like it is located just off the main road, so we should not get the sound of traffic throughout the night.
We are off now to the Roadhouse Cafe for one of there fantastic Pizzas & a bottle O wine. I am sooooooo looking forward to it.
It was great talking to everyone today & thank-you Jess for our conversation.
