VIVE LA REPUBLICQUE
This is the header strapped across The Kathmandu Post today. Yesterday was a major historic day for the country as the new constitutional assembly voted for the abolition of the 240 year old monarchy and became a Republic.
There were celbrations around the city last night and there is a public holiday today and tomorrow. The Maoists (not moists as noted earlier!) are generally credited with bringing this change about. The unpopularity of the current king due to his expensive lifestyle would have done nothing to avert this situation. The king now has 15 days to vacate the Royal Palace which is then to revert to a museum. It is a day that practically the whole country is celebrating and now there is hard work ahead in agreeing a consitution and president.
Potato Crisped
So the much delayed,enevitable happened. After a few days of great cycling east out of Kathmandu, I decided to get a bus to the end of the road at a town called Jiri. On the bus I put the bike on the roof and squeezed myself onto the packed carriage below. After a five hour journey I retrived my bike to discover that the school kids I had found sitting on the bike on the roof had 'potato crisped' my rear wheel. It was so bad that I was unable to wheel the bike as it jammed against the frame. So half way to Jiri in a town called Charikot I am standing in the dusk thinking is this the end of my cycling on my cycling trip. So in a place with no electricity that evening, meaning no telephones and no mobile signal I just found a hotel and left it to the next day. The morning came and with it a very nervous and stressful attempt to get the wheel fixed in the array of sheds that functioned or not as cycle repair establishments. The first guy tried and seems to be heading the right way but he had an obvious injury to his face and after an hour gave up. The second shed acted as a becon for people in the village who may or may not have had experience with bikes but after me running round the town buying and modifying tools the wheel was in a worse state than the night before. I had no other option than to head back to Kathmandu.
I was dissapointed as the first have of my journey to Jiri had got me excited about the possibility of cycling through more dramatic and pristine surroundings. None the less I really enjoyed the first 5 or so hours of the 9 hr bus journey back to the capital. I was on the roof this time watching and discouraging the masses of travellers from causing more damage whether this be from the school kids or goats that took their places on overcrowded carriage. The journey was long but I enjoyed the feeling of being on top of the bus. It reminded me of my summer times as a kid bringing in the hay on dad's farm. Once a trailer was loaded to capasity with bales, we would climb on board this precarious cargo and enjoy the trill of moving at such a height under trees and the odd telephone wire with the evening drawing in on tired limbs and hay pricked skin. So with one eye on my bike and the other on the occassional low flying tree branch, I made it to Kathmandu later than expected.
I have enjoyed the last couple of unexpected days here. Sorting out the wheel has been successful along with a fewother minior repairs to other equipment. I appreciate that I am in a country that still fixes things! Took the bike out this afternoon and it is running very well. I am much happier now!
My journey through Nepal is almost at an end. I fly on the 31st May to Vietnam. I am suprised at how much I am looking forward to the next leg of my travels. My excitment feels like I am begining my trip without all the worries I had leaving London. So I will have to content myself here for 2 more days and make the most of it.
Oh yes and on the title of potato crisped, the Tatyo crisps I recieved in the post were much more appreciated! Thanks Morag. Is 4 slices of toast and Marmite too much in one sitting¿ Mmmmm!
Nepal is a very beautiful country. The countryside is made up of the flat south towards the border with India. The lowest point here being around 60m and then it rises dramatically and famously to the Himalayas in the north. My experience so far has been concentrated in the central belt with foothills rising from around 500m to around 2500m. These hills are lush green slopes, most being given over to terraced agriculture. Villages maintain a very traditional feel with not the same amount of modern unfinished concrete structures that sat uncomfortably in some Indian settlements. Little things like mud plaster with subtle cream and orange, brown plaster marked with decoration, set the buildings effortlessly and personally with their surroundings.
Today, after managing to get out of Kathmandu, I found myself in such a place. Only 10km out of the capital, high in the valley, you feel a million miles away. It was wet today and this added to the atmosphere in the lush secluded forests I cycled through. It did not help the muddy tracks though, which were just on the cusp of being uncyclable by me and my panniers. Had to get off and push for the first time. So there I admitted it! That feels better. So a really brilliant cycle to call at the oldest Buddhist Temple in Kathmandu and then arrived at the Hotel at the end of the universe. Great place in Nargokot. Hoping for great views of the really big mountains. Weather was not up for it with a even blanket of cloud. Met a cool couple called Max and Sandra. They gave me a squeezy tub of marmite. Genius!
I enjoyed the cup final last night. It's dramatic climax kept me up until 4am in Tom and Jerrys bar. I was acompanied by Tom, I met previously, his friend, Mokia, the husband of Mary from Dubin and a volunteer also from Dublin. It was a fun night with a few large bottles of beer and an entertaining game.
Today I took it easy, not wandering too far from my hotel near Tamell. It is the real touristy centre of the city with buildings consisting mainly of gift shops, bars and hotels. It is the sort of place you would not want to spend loads of time in. The motorbikes, cars and hash sellers that populate the narrow, franetic streets create a claustraphobic feeling that is hard to escape. At the moment there is the sense of the end of the treking season arriving which I would imagine makes the place a bit more bearable than a month ago.
Thamell is a smallish part in the north west of the city and in terms of urban grain is characteristic of other parts of the city with a western twist. These collections of small lanes give way to various spaces containing different temples and more secular aspects of everyday life. Moving east, a 10 min walk takes to a city on a more grand, almost monumental scale. Here, south of the Royal palace, large roads and vast open park areas creates a contrast that makes a wander around a worthwhile undertaking.
My wanderings have happened to coincide with a 2 day traffic strike in protest at the killing of a business man by people closely connected to the new Moist government. I had first gotten wind of this the day before when I cycled into a group of people protesting on the road waving a picture of a man. The 2 day traffic strike I thought was a very bold a decisive act that was a statement that the entire city that it would not tolerate this violence in the new goverment.
Politically the people are waiting to see what the new government coalition, that is struggling to form, will bring. One of the big issues is the iminent eviction of the King from the royal palace. The deadline for this demand, from the Moists, is a few days away. But I would like to say that the city has a peaceful and stable feel to it with everyday life moving along albit at a slower pace without the traffic.
In the my hotel room tonight, surrounded by my 4days inhabitation, there is a family in the hallway packing up their full scale cooking operation used to feed the family. The din of the pots and pans being cleaned and the distance chorus of barking dogs is maling my hope of an early night seem less plausiable. But I will end now and get some sleep. Tomorrow I head for Nagarkot.
I have looked back at the few weeks that I have now been in Nepal and am aware that maybe the amount of cycling I had in mind to do on this trip has not materialised. Well the last few days have done little to remedy this staate of affairs. From the camp site, I got a van back into Kathmandu. 100 nepalise rupees got me a front seat that allowed me to enjoy the last 70km of the valley and avoid what would have been a treacherous climb, acompanied by a continuous black, trail of lorry smoke, never mind the lorries themselves.
The van dropped me off at the point on the ring road nearest to the hotel I had stayed at on my previous time here. I enjoyed the cycle through the city and the staff gave me a warm greeting, remembering the guy with the bike! I like it here and along with enjoying the element of familiarity, it is quiet, has hot water and a peaceful, central courtyard with a strange fish tank surrounded by blue painted rocks.
In the 3 days I have been in the city, I have cycled out to the world heritage town of Bhaktapur, met up with Gavin yesterday, and walked, today to the other side of the river to Patan, another world heritage site. I was well pleased with myself today as I managed to do some drawing. Sitting down to draw a place is a great way to really make you look, really look. I get to laugh with the kids who are very inquisitive, people seem to like that you would take time to draw sorroundings they would be very familiar with. I will try and take more time for this on the rest of my journey.
Today I had planned to head north towards the Tibetian border, but the Champions League Final will be shown on tv and I plan to stay up tonight and watch it. I bumped into Tom who I met the last time here sitting in the same seat, in the same bar. I hope to meet him and watch the game.
Goodness Day 51 already. Where does the time go!
So I managed to escape the charms of Pokhara and I am on my way back to Kathmandu. I took the bus in the opposite direction a few days ago and it did nothing to diminish my want to come back this way. The way Nepal is in terms of roads and the lay of the land means that finding a circular route to cycle is difficult. I love to explore and find new places. This combined with the time and energy of travelling any distance means I do not relish the thought of cycling back the same way. The combination of cycling out of Pokhara and Kathmandu and other means of transport back would seem to be the order of the day, for the next few weeks.
Last night I stayed in a real gem of a place called Bandipur. This ancient village, nestled high in the Mahabharat Range of hills has been preserved and promoted as a tourist distinatinon. The town centred around a traffic free main street is lined with old style buildings containing a good balance of shops and restraunts servicing both the locals and tourists. This morning cycling began with a very exciting 6km steep decent back onto the main road and then another 60km to my present destination in a great camp site by the River Trishull River, about 60km west of Kathmandu.
So it's around 7 in the evening. I have got my tent sorted, and have made it to the other side of the river via a impressive suspension footbridge. I have set down with a beer, a guy is preparing a chicken to my left, a tiny lizard is taken unwarrented interest in my bag on the seat next to me, so really I might just chill here for a bit a soak it all in. No not the beer, the atmosphere!
Well the lighhas just fallen away and a guy, Mark, has just arrived so I will sign out for now. Back to the beer, sorry no I mean the atmosphere. Oh the wee lizard is back!
So headed west out of Pokhara after some advice from Gavin and his treking partner. Made it to a village called Baglung. Felt like I needed another lung to do the last climb into the centre! Stayed the night and got a jeep back to Pokhara. It's really a great town, beside a beautiful lake which creates a very relaxed atmosphere. So I have decided to use it as a base for a few days and have been doing a bit of exploring of the surrounding hills. I made it to the world peace temple yesterday which was a short, sharp shock up a steep off road track. It felt really good to not have the panniers and to be able to go for it on the climb. the bike feels so light and responsive, I might just leave all my stuff and chance my arm for the rest of the trip! Maybe not!
I aim to cycle back to Kathmandu tomorrow and hope to meet up with Gavin there in a few days. I will head out of the city and expore around like in Pokhara.
On the last day in Kathmandu I got a message from Marcus' friend Gavin, who I had met before, saying he was in Pokora for 3 nights. As I had thought this guy to be of serious crack and Ime, needing to touch base with a familiar face, I jumped on the bus with the bike and headed in his direction. I turned up at the rather swish hotel he and his biking tour group were staying at. For someone I have only spent a weekend with before , it was absoluttely great to see him again. We had a couple of beers and the crack was good with lots to catch up on. Then I was able to meet him later in the great main drag of Pokhera and enjoyed that very much. After six or more weeks on the road, it was great to be able to relax with someone and have a good laugh.
So the over night bus was was tough. It was designed for people smaller than I, with lots of sharp metal parts where parts of my body wanted to be! But the driver, on some sort of record atempt, made it to the capital in 15 hrs.
I was glad to be back in a big city. Found a decent hotel just on the edge of the touristy Tamal area which I stayed in for 3 nights. I was feeling tired which was a combination of the cycling, the 1 hours sleep on the bus and the couple of nights out in town.
The first night was spent with 3 nice guys from England, one of whom was working for a NGO helping Butanese refugees in Kathmandu. The second night out was spent with people of a shadier character! They were gem smugglers who were trying to get me to bring diamonds back to the UK. Luckily my unbelief in easy money provided me with a guide to stay well away . I enjoyed their beer and food and then slipped off into the night.
So the the change of countries went well. Got money, found border crossing, got stamped out of India, got visa in Nepal, found town to get bus, bought ticket then as things were going so well, the road to Kathmadu was closed so spent the night in an anomomous town I can't remember the name of.
