Bus ride to Pokhara was certainly one of the most interesting trips I have ever taken in my life, not one I would like to repeat anytime soon. I woke up this morning with quite a queasy stomach but thought I had possibly just eaten something off the night before and I would feel better after a nap on the bus, bad idea. We hit traffic before we even left Kathmandu and as soon as the bus stopped I did not feel well. Managed to get off the bus in time and since we were stuck in a huge traffic jam got to sit on the step of the bus with my feet dangling off trying to get some fresh air. Something I have no mentioned before is that Kathmandu is very very hot. Something that not many of us have the clothes for as were were only supposed to be here for a few days in total besides the Everest trek which of course was suppose to be quite chilly. Also there is no such thing as air conditioning on the bus and keeping the windows open is not an option in much of the city because of the smell but also the dust, much of the roads are dirt and the dust which is kicked up by all of the vehicles is not to be inhaled. Did not particularly help with the stomach.
The trip to Pokhara is one which is suppose to take 5-6 hours, 7 hours max. When we first hit traffic we were worried but we could see ahead at the top of the hill it appeared that traffic was moving. The bus driver thought it would take us around 20 minutes to reach the top of the hill, but what we didn't know is that there had been a number of landslides the night before. We assumed that we would be running just slightly behind schedule, but we were very very wrong. It took over 5 hours for us to reach the top of the hill, putting us just on the edge of Kathmandu. When we reached the top of the hill we were thrilled. Sadly meaning a 6 hour drive from there, however we were caught in a 4 hour traffic jam. When the driver had told us there had been a landslide, I assumed he meant one at the top of the hill. Instead we probably saw more than 20 landslides and quite a few vehicles which had been caught in the landslide when it occurred either on the road or off the edge of the cliffs. The cars we saw had their windows smashed and the entire inside filled with mud. There were no signs of the passengers. It was slightly terrifying. The entire ride we kept seeing ambulances attempting to get through the traffic both to and away from Kathmandu, however in Nepal the ambulance etiquette is not the same and no one lets them through. It must have taken them hours to get to hospital. We also horrifyingly saw a man on a motorcycle get caught between two buses when trying to squeeze between the two of them and who required serious medical attention. The first really scary bit was when were were trying to squeeze past another bus on a small piece of road and the road on the left side of our bus began to give way beneath the bus. Oddly we just stopped as the road began to fall and just waited to see if it would stop or collapse and then continued.
Got to our lunch stop to grab some food quickly and use the bathroom, something no one had done in hours and then sadly headed back on to the bus. To add to the trip after our quick stock the driver of our bus began to reach fairly high speeds towards Pokhara. The roads in Nepal aren't very well maintained and the Nepali way of driving involves just honking if you wish to pass or before going around a blind corner. Sadly as it began to get dark he didn't slow down and the brakes began to make a horrible squeaky noise whenever he had to throw on the breaks when we reached a turn in the road. This went on for awhile before the general consensus on the bus led to a "bathroom stop" where the brakes were examined. Turns out the dirt and rust in the breaks had become a bit too much and the driver attempted to clean them while we all waited. When we finally reached Pokhara we had been on the bus over 14 hours, bringing a new meaning to 'Nepali' time. Got to the Candle Inn, which to us appeared to be a palace. The inn boasted views of the fish tail mountain which we have yet to see since we arrived long after dark.
Never has anyone been so happy to hear "Dinner is ready". We are a 'western' carb filled dinner of Nepali vegetarian lasagna and pizza. Sadly no running water, but the better get used to that before tomorrow! Let's hope tomorrow goes great!
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