Goodbye India! Hello Kathmandu. Eew. Can I come back India?

31 August - 4 September

As I approached the Indian border, I was really excited to be leaving India.  Perhaps it was the excitement of entering a new country, or just the thought of leaving such a crazy one?  It may have though been because of how people have described how much they enjoyed Nepal, or maybe that I had spent the best part of a day travelling to the border, and just needed to find a place to stay.

A 2 hour bus to the Sounali border.
See the bright light?
No, it is not the bright lights of Nepal beckoning,
but the sun baking the tin can bus, making it into an oven.
Fun times.

Varanasi to the border is no cake walk (what kind of saying is that – is walking on cakes supposed to be easy?  Anyway I digress).  A 7am bus direct to the border (Sounali border), as I was told at my hostel, turned into a 9am bus to Gorakhpur (6 hours) and another bus to Sounali (2 hours).  I was not going to pay for a rickshaw to the border, as I figured I could walk the rest of the 750 metres.

Goodbye India...
Crossing the border at Sounali

Though, just as I thought I was done with India’s shenanigans for a while, and maybe they do this as a final goodbye present from India, they sneakily put their immigration office not at the border - where any sane person would place offices that deal with immigration - but in a small, indiscreet office about 100m from where the local bus drops you off (and therefore back to where I began). 

So when I walked up to the border post, the friendly border officer explained that I needed to turn around and be stamped out of India, 650m back into India.  Confused, but not surprised, I walked back to where I started and after some asking around, found the little office.  Sufficiently stamped out of India, I walked through India, so I could leave India (yes, I know).

An easy 750m walk therefore became over 2km of walking in the Indian sun, with 20 something kilograms on my back (grateful though at having posted 6kg back home, in Varanasi).

The process otherwise was quick and painless, and 30 minutes after my first attempt to leave India, I was permitted to cross into Nepal.    

Anyways... I was waved through and greeted by the Nepalese officials who took down my details and referred me to a colleague of theirs who would see to it that I got on the (last) bus from the border to Kathmandu.  It was now just before 8pm, and with my journey having started more than 12 hours before, I was looking forward to a nice sleep on the overnight bus to the capital.

Helllo Nepal!!
Please be nice to me

The 8pm bus picked me up, but after driving for approximately 20 minutes, it stopped for about 2 hours – to wait for some passengers who were late – and despite the driver driving like a maniac – we somehow still took 14 hours for what should have been an 8 hour trip.  Not to mention, my first introduction to Nepal culture was of its absolutely awful pop music, blasted over the speakers, accompanied with strobe lights (I know you think I’m joking.  I’m not joking) for the duration of the all-night trip, dashing any hopes of having a quiet, reinvigorating night sleep.  Not a good start Nepal.

Exhausted, and not in the best moods after travelling for about 27 hours, I got onto a local bus at the main bus station, that I was told would be going to Thamel – the tourist centre of Kathmandu – but the driver hustled me and I was still 1.5km away from my destination, when he pulled into the bus park and demanded 50 rupees for the trip (It’s like R6.50, but when you know a bus costs less than 10 rupees and he lied to you, you would feel a little screwed too).  Anyway, I left the bus before they could extort any more money from me, and resigned to walking the last bit to my hostel.  Thank goodness the hostel had a good vibe, and a shower, and a bed (luxuries I know).  I appreciated and took full advantage of all of them, and collected myself to see what my new country had in store for me.

Kathmandu really though is like a little Indian city.  The sights and sound and smells are all pretty similar.  You get tuk tuk drivers hassling you to go somewhere, shop owners bothering you to come look and see what rubbish they want you to buy at their shops, and drivers with awful, absolute disregard for any form of road rules.  There are some nice things to do and see, and you get some gems of local places to eat at and friendly people to meet – but as far as diversity from India – it is not particularly different.

Streets of Kathmandu, by night

Streets of Kathmandu by day...yes there are only ducks around...
just ducks

My first day out, I walked up to the top of a huge flight of stairs to see the monkey temple, a big stupa with a lot of things to see and look at (and monkeys), and climbed down the other side to Amideva park, where there are three giant buddha statues.  The highlight of the day though was watching local people all put their mouths on a blow horn sort of contraption, to make a noise come out of the mountain monument, if you manage to get the right angle.  No idea why people would do this?  But as I watched person after person try and (mostly) fail, I could not work out why people would happily, nay joyfully, all stick their mouths onto a random public object?  Like India, I resigned myself to the fact that Nepal too was also not a place that I would begin to understand how things worked, or why.

Monkey temple,
Kathmandu

Monkey temple,
Kathmandu 

The long climb up to Monkey Temple,
Kathmandu

The view of Kathmandu, from Monkey temple

Some pretty big statues,
Amideva buddha park,
Kathmandu

How do you spread disease?
Everyone stick your mouth on the same hole in the mountain
(that's a weird sentence to read?  Even weirder to write)

It rained almost every day in Kathmandu.  This was because I was catching the back end of the monsoon season, and was therefore mostly prepared for it.  However, one evening I rolled without my rain jacket, and paid the price by having to run home from dinner in a full on thunderstorm.  Needless to say, I was thoroughly soaked through by the time I reached my hostel.

Due to my time up north, and its proximity to Nepal and Tibet, I had somewhat become addicted to momos even before I reached Nepal.  So when I found a place to learn how to cook them, I signed up immediately.  It was a great experience, going to the local veggie market to buy the ingredients and spices, and I must say, the local woman who were teaching me were exceptionally patient.  The recipe is not too difficult, but the folding of the momos requires serious dexterity, and my first few attempts must have had them wishing they called in a sickie from work.  After a while though I got the hang of it, and am now equipped to feed the craving when I’m back home and no Tibetan restaurants around.

Picking veggies at the local store for MOMOS!!

Momo prep

Momo folding like a boss

Boom!! Pro-mos

The best place I visited in Kathmandu was the Boudda stupa – impressive for its size and aura.  The whole courtyard is built around this giant worshiping spot, which people can only walk around in a clockwise direction.  The most fun was when the guards have to get everyone off the stupa at sunset, but if you manage to get past the entry/exit steps (there is only one) before the guards, they cannot turn around to get you, but have to walk all the way again.  This continues in a scooby-doo like chase for a while, until people think they are pushing the guards too far.

Besides for some palaces and temples, Kathmandu is really not too much to write home about (although I've done pretty well here 😊).  I understood why people get out of there and to the greener, less urban parts of Nepal as soon as possible.  I recommend doing the same.

Aerial view of Kathmandu... Not that bad?
No, it is. It really is.

Particularly impressive at sunset,
Boudhha stupa, Kathmandu