Darjeeling to Nepal

Last post had our intrepid heroines rendez-vous -ing in the exotic locale of Darjeeling. In this episode of summer travels in far far away land, our heroines are in another country, miles away from home.

Kat and I spent a total of 3 nights in Darjeeling. I managed to get a minor cold during this time. It sucks. We also discovered the wonders of sending laundry out to get done. We tried to do our own laundry in Pelling, but it refused to dry, and as a result we had some pretty nasty smelling laundry by the time we got to Darjeeling. Since Darjeeling has a water shortage, the guest house requests that guests do not do their own laundry to save water. Thus, we sent our laundry out, and it came back smelling fresher than we could have ever imagined!! It was slightly pricey, but worth every penny!! (you would aggree too, if you smelt it prior to being sent away... phew!!!)

Anyhow, back to Darjeeling. We went to the Shree Mahakal Mandir, where there are lots of monkeys about. Mandir means temple. Our guide book warned us of the monkeys. We were very excited to see the monkeys! Kat went up to a mom and baby to take its picture, and she got too close. So she ran away while the monkey hissed. I was busy taking pictures of the prayer flags, and did not notice the monkey coming towards me. So it cornered me and raised its creepy paw and I screamed. Other tourists laughed, and I eventually ran away from that freaking monkey. So that is how Kat got a monkey to attack me. She usually leaves out the part how she was the instigator, and how I was an innocent bystander. Anyhow, these monkeys are vicious. They were chasing other tourists around. There was a guy with a big stick whacking the monkeys that got too close to him. Another monkey also grabbed the hair of a girl, as she walked by it. Kat has this on film. So, if you're ever in Darjeeling, and go to the Shree Mahakal Mandir, avoid the monkeys. And travel in a big group.

Darjeeling was also the site of the almost dog attack. Like most cities here, there are plenty of stray dogs wandering about. Who knows if they have rabies or not. Anyhow, Kat and I woke up about 3amish to catch a jeep upto tiger hill to see the sunrise. Tons of tourists do this, it is seriously a mass exodus out of town. Hundreds of tourists and jeeps leave Darjeeling early early early to head out to tiger hill. Unfortuneatley it was cloudy the day that we went, so there wasnt much to see. It was also very cold, and slightyly amusing to see the Indian tourists so bundled up. Darjeeling must be one of the few places where Indian men walk around with scarves tied around their heads and women's shawls wrapped around them!! It was cold even for Kat and I, so imagine how cold it must feel for someone used to the heat!! Anyhow, about those dogs. We were walking down the deserted street, and suddenly these stupid dogs run up to us and bark ferociously. My instinct is to run (bad). Kat apparently knows how dog's eyes work, so she stays still (cause apparently they can't see you if you dont move?!) So eventually the dogs stop barking and we slowly skulk off. Later on in the day, when the crows are out, the same dogs tried to attack a boy. All a man had to do was pretend to kick them, and they ran off. So maybe thats how the locals avoid dog attacks!!

After Darjeeling, we took a very cramped bus down to Siliguri. This took 5ish hours. There were 15 people in jeep!! From Siliguri, we took another jeep to Panitanki, which is the Indian border town. There we waited FOREVER to exit the country. There was a big group of Bangledashi tourists, and they processed all of them before they got to us. It was hot, and painfully slow. Finally we got our exit stamps, and walked accross the border to Kakarbhitta (Nepalese border town). The guide book says its about 100 m, but its more like 1km. Or it felt like that with the heavy packs and hot hot heat. The bridge that connects Panitanki with Kakarbitta is very nice though, the views are of rice paddies and cows! It took much quicker to get our Nepal visas. We spent the night in Kakarbhitta, because the next day we flew to Kathmandu, via Bhadrapur. We decided to fly, due to my tendency to get carsick. Also, the political situation in the far east isn't great, we hear, so flying may have been a good idea. After experiencing the 7hr busride from Kathmandu to Pokhara, I am very glad that we flew!! We flew Buddha Airlines, which was very nice. The plane carried ~20 people, but looked very new. It even had an open cockpit, so we could see directly into the cockpit and see the piolet and copilet flying!!

We spent 1 night in Kathmandu, before taking the bus to Pokhara. Kathmandu is dirty, dusty, and hectic. But, it has some very nice old temples, that are very much used! It is refreshing to see how life occurs around these temples still, rather than roping them off. We also saw the house of the Royal Kumari, who is a living goddess. She is replaced approx every 8 years, when she reaches the age of 12. We didnt see her though, but maybe we will be lucky enough on our return trip to Kathmandu.

Busride to Pokhara was uneventful. The buses are less comfortable than the shared Jeeps. It was a HOT ride!! I am not made for such hot weather!! Luckily, Pokhara is cooler. There are afternoon thunderstorms, that cool off the air. Today we started our Nepalese lessons. I am not very good, but hopefully with practice I can improve :) I can say 'Mero ghar Canada ho", which means I am from Canada.

We will do some trekking on the weekend, then start our volunteer placements. The reasoning of trecking first, is to avoid the monsoon, which will be starting soon.

Till next time,

D