Transport in Nepal

We've already mentioned the chaos of traffic in Nepal but nothing prepared us for the numerous bus trips we took to get around the country. For long distance journeys we resorted to “tourist” buses - called tourist buses since they are supposedly more expensive and a little bit more modern than the regular ones. Unfortunately they weren't always made for foreigners though, or at least not for foreigners who are taller than the average Nepali. We were sold air conditioning on our ticket but soon realized we would be using local air con – open the windows and hope that the bus keeps moving to move some air around!

Chitwan National Park

In the south of Nepal, close to the Indian border, lies one of the largest national parks in the country - Chitwan.  To get there, we had to endure a six hour bus ride through the mountains, a ninety minute taxi ride over dirt roads, and boat ride across a crocodile infested river in an old wooden boat (see pic above). "Chitwan" means “heart of the jungle” and the description is very apt. It is miles from everywhere and the scrub is quite dense. In places the grass grows 6-8 m/18-24ft tall and vines join all the trees together to make a thick green canopy in every direction.

The Beard

In case you hadn't noticed, Nick had grown one hell of a beard over the last few months. In fact, he hadn't shaved in approximately four months:

Poon Hill

As promised in the previous post, here's what we saw at the summit of Poon Hill.

Trekking in the Annapurna Range

After five days in the Kathmandu Valley, we headed across the country to Pokhara - a quaint little town in the mountains on a large lake. Pokhara has excellent views of some peaks in the Annapurna Range when the weather is clear. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and we never got great views, but we did spy Machapuchare (Fishtail Moutain) for a brief moment one morning.

Bodnath & Pashupatinath

Bodnath used to be on the main trade routes to Tibet and is, according to Lonely Planet, one of the world's largest stupas.  The stupa is enormous and decorated with lots if prayer flags fluttering in the breeze. While we were there an old couple, obviously on pilgrimage were getting some young boys to help them put up the flags. The boys dutifully climbed the staircase to the very top to attach one end, and then climbed a pole at the bottom to attach the other end - no mean feat!

Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur, the third of the royal towns, is the jewel in the crown, or at least that's what we thought. The town is well outside the city limits and quite rural - tractors replaced tuk tuks in the local traffic jams! The town boasts three squares as must-see destinations. The first is, once again, "Durbar Square" filled, of course, with temples and royal palaces:

Patan

Kathmandu is one of three former kingdoms in the Kathmandu valley. The other two are not far from Kathmandu and each has their own impressive "Durbar Square."

Patan is was a short ride outside the city ring-road and there are buildings the entire way so it's hard to tell where Kathmandu ends and Patan begins. In Patan, we first visited the Patan Museum which, for novices in Eastern religions, provides a great overview of Hindu and Buddhist symbolism. Then we got to test our new-found knowledge strolling around Patan's Durbar Square - qually impressive to Kathmandu's:

Central Kathmandu, Nepal

After a brief stop in Bangkok, we arrived in the first stop of our Asian adventure - Kathmandu. We arrived at around lunch time and after dropping our bags at the hotel set off to explore the city.

Our transfer to the hotel was a first look at transport in the weeks to come - chaotic and noisy to western eyes. As far as we can gather, traffic joining the road has priority over traffic already on it and horns are the only method of indication - blow the horn can mean get out of the way, I'm passing you, I'm turning off, I'm behind you, or any other possible message. With cars, buses, tuk-tuks, bicycles, and trucks all sharing the road, it leads to a cacophony of horns at all times.

Road Trip UK

After a week of relative peace and calm in Ireland, we set off for a road trip around the UK to visit Jo's friends and family. During the 500 mile round trip we were spoiled with good food, great company and quite a few drinks along the way.

The Emerald Isle

 

Our next stop on the trip was a visit to Jo's family in Ireland.   Driving back from the airport was a complete contradiction to the US roadtrip - bumpy, twisty 2 lane roads compared to long straight multi-lane highways.   Home is on a narrow backroad in the middle of the country side with stunning views all around.