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24 Match -
Gorakhpur - Bhairawa - 104km
After a good
breakfast of Poori and curry veg I set off on my last leg in
India. High time as well, seeing that I’ve been there more than
6 months. The border crossing at Sunauli was ever so chaotic,
but as everything in India, it’s working chaos, and appeared to
be working just fine. On the Napali side I got a 1-month visa
for $40 (a 3-month visa was $100, and I did not have enough
money on me). 4km Further north was the small village of Bhairawa, where I found a room in the Mt Everest Hotel. What a
surprise!! The room was clean!! There was even a shower
(instead of just a bucket) and the water was warm!
I took a walk to
the ATM to get some Nepalese money and a new sim card for my
phone. What a rigmarole that was! Fingerprinted and all! At
last, I got the sim, but once in my room I discovered that,
although it seems to be working, I could not send any SMS
messages.
25 March -
Bhairawa – Lumbini - 22km
After breakfast I
tried again to get my phone fixed, but to no avail (language is
also a bit of a problem). As Lumbini (the birthplace of Buddha)
was just a short ride away, I decided to make the deviation and
see what it entails. What a pleasant surprise Lumbini was! One
would think that the birthplace of Buddha, and a major
pilgrimage place, would be a hectic town. Instead, it was one
of the most peaceful pilgrimage sites I have visited. The area
has been declared a world heritage site and is more of a peace
park than anything else.
26 March -
Lumbini – Butwal - 44km
The road was still
flat, hot and dusty and so was the town of Butwal. Butwal sits
at a major junction so I decided to stay and make up my mind
which way to go. I could go north, but once I laid eyes on what
is known as the “hills”, I decided to go east past the Chitwan
National Park. I was only delaying the inevitable, as
eventually I would have to cross the hills to get to Katmandu.
I also needed a
room where I could charge my many electrical devices, as the
power in Nepal seems to be even more erratic that in India. They have 16 hours of no electricity a day! The times vary from
day to day, and town to town, but the previous two nights the
power came on from 24h00 to 06h00!! Who needs that!
27 March -
Butwal – Narayangarh - 121km
It’s 2 years on
the road today. I wonder how many people have actually cycled
from Cape Town to Nepal; it will be interesting to know.
I was ready to
leave at my normal time (around 8h30) but there was a strike
going on as well as a curfew. Tires were burning in the road
and there were loads of police around. Eventually I left at
around 10h30. I had the road all to myself, what a pleasure!
Due to the strike, no vehicles were allowed on the road, so it
was only pedestrians and bicycles. About 30km from Butwal I had
my first taste of the “hills”, the road just kept going up and
up for the next 15km, but where there’s an up there’s normally a
down on the other side. I reached Narayangarh and was happy to
find a room right on the road, The Royal Rest House. It was not
so Royal but it had a generator and an outside window.
I ordered food
from the restaurant and received two full meals! What were they
thinking? (Usually that happens when there are 2 of us, and
only one orders food).
28 March -
Narayangarh – Sauraha - 35km
A short ride again
to Royal Chitwan National park. Even although this is the main
highway in Nepal, road signs are non-existent, to such an extent
that I went past the turnoff twice! In Sauraha, the village
just outside the park, I found loads of accommodation. Most of
it was really nice, with cottages set in a nice garden area. Due to the political unrest, tourist numbers have not yet
returned in full to this part of Nepal, so one could pick and
choose the best place. Big discounts were also on offer at most
places and so I found a really nice cottage opposite the park
entrance for Rp 300.
The rest of the
town is rather touristy and priced far higher than I had
expected, Nepal is actually more expensive than India and my
money is not lasting. Many things, I’ve noticed, are imported
form India.
Elephants are a
common sight so close to the park and one can see “pahits” (a
person who works with the same elephant all this life) walking
their elephants between the park and the river. Every day the
elephants are bathed in the river.
29 March -
Sauraha
What a great day
I had! First, I took an elephant safari into the park. What a
way to see the park! The deer and other animals seemed
unperturbed by the elephants strolling around. There was just
time for a bite to eat and as the permit for the park is valid
for the whole day I took a canoe ride down the river for about
an hour and then walked back, which took about 3 hours. It was
great to be in nature and although there was not a lot of
wildlife to be spotted, it was great just to walk in the
jungle. I did however see plenty of bird life, some deer and
the famous march mugger and some rhinos. In South Africa, a walk
in a nature reserve definitely entails a guide with a gun, but
here the guides were only armed with a stick! I just hoped that
we would not run into any tigers or other dangerous animals.
That evening, back
at my room, I was lucky to observe a local tribal dance, which
was held for a group of guests staying at the same resort.
30 March -
Sauraha – Royal beach camp - 84km
What a day! At
last, it felt that I was in real Nepal. I cycled along with
high mountains in the foreground, along a river gorge with
teahouses clinging to the cliff side and prayer flags blowing in
the wind. At Mugling, I turned right towards Katmandu, and once
again followed the river. The road was everything but flat, but
I did not really gain any height as it was mostly up and down. I followed the road, until I spotted a river rafting camp with a
beautiful setting and beach huts. Right there and then I
decided to stay with them for the night and what a good choice
it was. We sat around, had a beer and some food and just
chilled out.
31 March -
Royal beach camp – Kathmandu - 90km
I was informed
that I had a 1500m climb ahead of me, so after a good breakfast
of the most delicious pancakes I set off. They were not wrong. The day mostly climbed up the mountainside (still next to the
river) but most of the altitude gain was in a short stretch of
about 10 – 15km. A zigzag path led up the mountain and one
could see the trucks snaking way up the mountainside. Not
something, I wanted to see. I switched to my smallest gear and
put my head down. Eventually I reached the top and then had a
long downhill ride into Kathmandu. Unfortunately, it started
bucketing down so by the time I got to central Katmandu I was
freezing and soaked to the bone. I took the first hotel I could
find and settled in. There was no way I was going to look for
the tourist suburb of Thamel in peak hour traffic and in the
pouring rain. That could wait for the next morning.
The next morning I
discovered that I was actually in Thamel, so I just moved to a
cheaper room. Thamel is very touristy, with loads of
accommodation, souvenir shops, and trekking/adventure businesses
lining the narrow alleys. I also met up with Ernest who’d
arrived in Katmandu ahead of me after taking a shortcut over the
mountains from the Indian border (he never received his spares
in Patna, after waiting there for 2 days – he did, however, find
a replacement for his broken axle here in Kathmandu). That
night we went out on the town to some of the places I used to
frequent when I was here in Kathmandu during my trekking
expedition to Anapurna.
1 – 6 April -
Katmandu
Thee years ago, on
a visit to Nepal, I spent time trekking the well-known Annapurna
Trail, one of the most scenic routes through the Himalaya. The
scenery and the humility of the mountain people stayed with me
and I was pleased to be back among the Nepali people.
I stayed in the
tourist area of Thamel with its trekking shops, restaurants and
Tiger balm sellers. It’s a cosmopolitan area, with loads of
tourists, trekkers, climbers and bicycle rickshaws all crammed
into its narrow alleys. I had my bike serviced, laundry done
and sent some postcards home.
As the third was
my birthday, I splashed out on a pizza and a glass of wine. I
even had my nose pierced (a gift from Ernest) and although I
definitely do not have the nose for it (no that is not a bad
nose job), it’s something I have wanted to do for a long time.
THE PROBLEM
WITH TIBET
The Tibetan
boarder was still closed for individual tourists, the only way
to pass through Tibet and on to China was by organized tour to
Lhasa and then by train to China. These tours were too
expensive for us and it still would have meant that we would not
cycle through Tibet, so a new plan had to be made.
We decided to fly
to Thailand and cycle from there on to China. We bought tickets
for 17th April on the notoriously unreliable Royal
Nepal Airlines, as they were the cheapest at $170 each.
As we had plenty
time, Ernest spent 3 full days, cleaning, oiling and adjusting
his bike, and also found a replacement rear axle for the one
which had been broken for thousands of k’s. During that time I
wandered the alleys, drank coffee and read. As Thamel caters for
tourists, there was a large variety of food available, ranging
from pizzas, felafel, Indian-, Mexican- and Tibetan food. Both
cheese (Yak) and meat (Yak) was readily available, but after 6
months in India I found most of the food bland. On entering a
restaurant, I still found myself ordering the tasty South Indian
dishes instead of the local Napali food, which consists mainly
of Dahl Bhat (rice and lentils). It was, however, quite a
novelty to order a cheese sandwich from one of the many sandwich
shops in the alleys.
The day before we
were to leave on a cycle trip around Nepal, I also discovered
that the rear axel on my bike was broken, and a whole day was
spent having a new one fitted. I was surprised at the good
quality bicycle parts available in Katmandu (and that at half
the price one will pay for it in South Africa)
KATMANDU TO
POKHARA
7 April -
Katmandu – Mugling - 115km
A day that should
have been very easy left me totally exhausted. It was only a
short 400-meter climb out of Katmandu Valley and then a
1500-meter exhilarating downhill to the bottom of the Mahesh
Khola Valley. The remainder of the road was a constant up and
down along the river with beautiful views. (I must have been
coming down with a cold or something). The day was hot and
dusty, quite different from Katmandu, which was much cooler. We
reached Mugling and found a room, I was so tired that I fell
asleep shortly after we arrived.
Mugling is a small
but busy town about half-way between Kathmandu and Pokhara, at
the intersection with the main road from the South (India). It
is therefore a popular stopping place for trucks and busses and
there is the constant honking and revving of trucks and busses
spewing black exhaust fumes into the air.
8 & 9 April -
Mugling – Bandipur - 37km
Ernest’s birthday
arrived with the hooting and revving of busses and trucks in the
main road. We followed the road west to Pokhara but turned off
for Bandipur after about 30km. We followed the very steep 8km
road up to Bandipur located high on the hilltop. I not only was
coming down with another chest infection (I’m sure due to the
pollution) but also discovered that my rear brake did not
release completely. No wonder I was so tired the day before.
Halfway up the hill, I released the back brake and then things
were going a bit easier.
We stayed an extra
day giving my chest a chance to recover and to explore the
around the village of Bandipur. In Katmandu (as in India), the
air is so polluted that I had been experiencing chest problems
for an extended time. I had also noted that many locals were
wearing masks when out in the traffic.
10 & 11 April -
Bandipur – Pokhara - 70km
It was an
exhilerating downhill back to the main road (I made sure that my
rear brake was secured) and then a steady climb to Pokhara. Ernest had a front tyre puncture on the way downhill, and once
again had to do repairs while being watched by a group of very
intrigued children. It was a clear day and we had good views of
the snowy Annapurna Hiimalaya’s in the distance.
It was election
time in Nepal, and there was another strike in the area, meaning
that no vehicles were allowed on the road. Great for cycling,
no traffic and no diesel fumes!! Just great views!!
Pokhara is as
touristy as Katmandu with hundreds of trekking shops,
restaurants and guesthouses. It is however, a pretty place set
right on Lake Phewa with good views of the Annapurna range and
Mt Machhapuchhare. Here one can find just about anything from
cheese (Yak cheese) to toiletries, clothing and climbing gear. This is very different from rural Nepal, but also a luxury if
one has been on the road or in the mountains for an extended
time.
On 13th
April, I took the bus back to Katmandu instead of cycling the
same route for the 3rd time in 2 weeks. Ernest, not
one for taking a bus, decided to cycle back. I found the bus no
less tiring, but at least only took 1 day instead of the 3 days
cycling days.
NEPALI NEW YEAR
13 - 16 April
Katmandu
On arrival back in
Katmandu, I discovered that it was Nepali New year’s Eve! The
streets were jam packed with people and one could hardly move,
bars and restaurants were packed full and music could be heard
through the night. What a festive atmosphere. The most
interesting part is that the Nepali Calendar is 57 years ahead
of the Gregorian calendar, thus it was the year 2066.
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