arrival in Nepal
We arrived in Nepal at around 8.30pm after our plane was delayed from Bangkok for nearly 4hr. The Airport is deserted with only a few staff waiting.
Immigration and customs are straight forward and we are trough in no time at all. as we step out of the Airport the chill of the air and the rain hits us, its only about 10C, nice change from the heat in Bangkok. A mini van takes us to our hotel near Thamal ( city centre). This time of the night there is no traffic or people on the road, so its a easy journey everything is quiet and calm.
Diffrent story the next morning. Everybody is up and about, the town has become a organized chaos, Motorbikes, Cars, Trucks, Rickshaws, Pushbikes all bepping there horns trying to squeeze trough the narrow lanes of Kathmandu.
Makes Bangkok traffic look like a walk in the park!!!!!!!!
One of the boys from the Hotel takes me on the back of a mopet to get a jerry can full of fuel so we can pick the bike up from Cargo in the afternoon.
After hanging around for a while, waitting for all the paperwork to be processed we get our creat out of customs, put the bike back togheter and drive of in to caos called Kathmandu. Of course we get lost and have to hire a taxi so we can follow it back to our Hotel.
Our timing is spot on againe, the Pakistani's are having a long weekend holliday so we have to wait with our application until Tuesday. Good time to check out the sights in and around Kathmandu.
We start with Bouddhanath Stupa
followed by Pashupati a place of worship and also the place where dead people get cremated.
Next stop Patan Durbar Square
Ichangu the Monkey Temple
view from Monkey Temple
Bhaktapur a former kingdom of Nepal
Pot Maker
Nagrakot a hill station at around 1600m where we hopr to see the mountains in the Morning.
With the Pakistan Visa in hand we leaf for Pokhara a trip of about 270km that takes us over mountain passes, along rivers,trough deep gorges and along rice fields always competing for a little space on the road with suicidal Truck and Bus drivers. There is carnage all over the roads, breakdowns, acciedents or a guy just stoped in the middle of the road to have a nap. There are running repairs made where ever you stop, broken rear axels, gearboxes that could no longer handel the load, and falt tyers gallor.
We arrive in Pokhara about 5hr later with our faces black from the fumes and dust.
Pokhara is a very touristy town on the shore of a lake, it has a good fell about ,
we check in to a hotel and I try to open a window to let some fresh air into the room. The window seems to be a little stuck so I give it some gentle wack and the whole thing falls from the 3th storie to the ground smashing into tousand pieces.
Oppssssssssss.......................
As we get up at sunrise the sky has cleared and all the mountains are visible. After a quick brakfast we head up to Sarankot a lookout above Pokhara.
Machapuchhre 6997m
Annapurna II 7939m
Annapurna I 8091m
Dhaulagiri 8169m
Next stop Sauraha at the Chitwan National Park, Kanu trip down the River, the Elephant Camp with Twin Babies, Jeep Safari saw a few Rhinos , Monkey and lots of Birds .
After a few days we off to Butwal and the Indian Border, everyone ensures us the Strikes are over and the Border is open.
No problems on the Border one of the easiest crossings so far. Welcome to India.