On the way there we left our hotel at around 11 AM for what was supposed to be a 3 hour journey.the first legs went smoothly and we had reached the outskirts of Kathmandu on schedule. On our way out of the valley we encountered some traffic that slowed us down but not more than 30 minutes and we were back on our way.
20 kilometers down the road was where the real trouble began. I was seated above the right front tire, immediately behind the driver (the seat with the least legroom of any on the bus, which is ironic because I was the largest person on board). We were coming down a wind narrow road and came around a corner just like all the rest, except that after this one I heard a loud pop followed by a hissing sound that clearly scared the driver more than me as he jumped 2 feet out of his seat. A near full tire rotation and nearly an hour later we made it bak on our way. Soon after this delay we ran into another due to a bandh, which I will get into later. Finally after 6 hours we arrived at our destination. Whew!
The resort is a rafting and kayaking base camp, but disappointingly it is monsoon season and Nepalis are not the best swimmers and as a result are more cautious about flipping than Kristen or myself. This lack of aquatic competency resulted in Kristen and myself giving swimming lessons to a gaggle of Nepalis. The majority of the lessons consisted of us trying to teach the elementary backstroke. Mostly though we laughed because even with life jackets I can only describe their swimming style by saying, they reminded me of house cats desperately trying to escape a flash flood.
The food was delicious and afterward I received instruction in Nepali dancing. Watch for me in the next Nepali music video to go international.
When we left the resort the bund was in full effect and we had to walk 6 kilometers before we could catch a bus. Once we caught a bus however the driver made sure the trip was shorter back including the walk, than it was on the way out. The only catch was that I feared for my life, on those windy mountain roads, the entire way.
The trip all in all was great, except for the questionable water. I got my answer to that question the next morning when I woke due to the cramps in my stomache. They came and went throuought that day and the next and were the worst of the symptoms of giardia I experienced. I won't go into mor details on that. I got medicine and I am now feeling much better.
Thanks for refraining from details! I think this is the story you tried to tell me on the phone but it was hard to hear at times it was cutting out. Great pic of you and Kristen and the tire change in the background! Way to set the stage! Love you! Keep on havin fun!
ReplyDeleteyou need to explain what bandh is.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the person who explained bandh to me the only one asking about it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway a bandh is like a strike except that not only do the people refuse to work, they also force others to stop working or cause additional difficulties for innocent bystanders who both dont know what it is about and probably could not do anything about it if they did.