Overland to India

So it was eventually time for us to depart our little home in fishling. This place had been our base for the last three months nearly and the family that lived there looked after us pretty well. The girls were great they made us chai, cooked meals for us, let us watch their TV and gave us advice on where to get stuff. Although I will be sad to leave I am also excited to see the friends I made in India again. 

After cleaning our small room and packing our belongings and the kayaks it was time to wait for the bus which was running on Nepali time - suprisingly! It arrived in the dark around 6:30 about two and a half hours later then expected. After getting the boats on the roof and tied on it was definatly goodbye to this small village that had been our home. Although, when we first got on the bus there was a guy sat in one of our seats who was sleeping. The 'bus drivers mate' spoke to him and he seemed reluctant to move to the back of the bus - however he didn't have any choice as we had these seats booked since a few days before. 

And then it was time to sit and listen to the great Nepali bus driving music mix. Which consisted of a range of Nepali love songs, Hindi dance music to gangnam style... Amoungst others. This was going to be a long journey overnight to reach the boarder town of mahindranager. 

The journey was fairly uneventful to be honest apart from a punctured tyre in the small hours of the morning and a few uneventful stops for police checks. No bribes or fuss was given about the kayaks which was good for us. We eventually arrived in mahindranager about 10am, where as soon as I stepped off the bus as usual everyone was asking if I needed a bus, taxi, rikshaw and I ignored them and helped with the boats. We were to stay and take some rest before crossing the boarder so we took the kayaks and the rest of our stuff to a guest house a short walk away from the bus park. I'm glad it wasn't any further and I was carrying the light play boat! After a breakfast of dal Bhat it was time for some needed sleep! 

Around 2pm we got woken up by the child from the guesthouse and got told we needed to leave which we were doing. He ran off for us to go and fetch some mode of transportation for the three boats and the two of us and after a short while turned up with a horse and cart. 

It could have been a joke, but it wasn't and we loaded up the boats on to the cart after paddy negotiated an agreed about the price. So we were off. Our last journey out of Nepal and into India would be on a horse pulling his cart, our three boats, bags and the three of us. The journey was about 15km or so and we passed police check points and customs and apart from smiling at what I guess was me and not the horse, none batted an eye lid at our boats. The first stop was at the Nepal immigration "office" - I mean desk where I filled in a departure form and got my departure stamp in my passport - which is the important part this stop took all of about 5 minutes. The second stop was the immigration police where they filled in a log book by hand to record some details such as my name, country, passport number and the time I went through. Again this stop took abut 5 minutes to complete but the converstation consisted of askin if I would like some chai and askin if I was single or married?!. The last stop was the Indian immigration, where I had to fill in an arrival form, then the guy at the desk asked me what my job was - I replied outdoor instructor which was too hard for him to understand, so I said instructor instead and he still didn't understand so I became a teacher... Close enough I guess. Like asking from where I started my journey to get here - he didn't understand where fishling or mugling where - so I left from kathmandu - doesn't matter that there is about a 100km difference I suppose? Then he filled in the paper log book to say I had entered India and stamped my passport with my entry stamp. Job done through immigration and security and crossed the boarder in probably one of the more interesting ways! 

Our horse had been doing a great job, his name was Salam khan after one of the Bollywood action heroes. And after the driver stopped a few times to do some shopping we were at the bus park. Time to unload the cart and have some bus drivers shout at us for our business on their bus - we found one leaving around the right time and going all the way to rishikesh which was good. So it was time to load the boats up again. I much prefer having my own car with roof racks or a trailer to transport boats but it can be done on the buses as long as you pay a little extra cash for carrying the boats. 

The bus however was a state bus and the condition much to be desired, I had a magic window which liked to open itself, the seats were hard and uncomfortable and the music much too loud. We left at 7pm and after some stops for chai and food, again greeted by chai, garam chai and all sorts being shouted that we could buy at the stops. The first stop one of the guys asked for a picture of me- which he seemed Suprised when I said no - reminded me of the things I dislike about India. This didn't happen in Nepal. Oh well. This is India! 

We eventually arrived in rishikesh at around 6:30 and our friend and his truck was there to greet us. 

Indian visa...

So it's time to start thinking about the second half of my trip. Getting to India. My Nepalese visa runs out shortly and I need to get my visa sorted out for India. This process is fairly straight forward or so it seems - you just need to fill in a form online, photocopy passport, Nepalese visa and previous Indian visa. Then a visit to the Indian visa centre in kathmandu pay your visa fee and then wait. 

I arrived early at the embassy and things were going smoothly and quickly until I got up to the counter. The forms were fine - my photo however was not - the background wasn't white enough...! So a trip to the shop next door 250 rupees later and a not so good photo - and that was sorted. The next stage was to pay the fee - British passport holders seem to have to pay the most for whatever reason. Maybe India holds a grudge from back in the day?! Who knows! Once this non refundable fee is paid you have to wait five working days to go back to the embassy in the morning to be told I you have been granted a visa or not and how long for. This is what I am waiting for at the moment. We shall see what happens but it's just waiting for now. 

Returning to kathmandu would be less than a simple process - turns out there is was a political strike going on so only tourist and private vehicles were allowed to travel. Staying in a village the buses were not stopping for us when we eventually went to get the bus that was. After a chai break it was time to try again and we managed to get a truck to stop for us which was transporting milk. It was pretty strange travelling - there was little to no vehicles on the roads which made the journey a lot easier and less dangerous than normal. There were however more children on the roads for us to dodge around. We did however eventually arrive in kathmandu and after paying the driver more than normal we were soon in Thamel. 

I was to go to the embassy for the second time to hand in my reciept to find out if I had been granted my visa. Again I arrived early and still the waiting took some time. Although they did get through people fairly quickly. However when it was eventually my turn to go up the lady informed me I needed to wait for nearly an hour and be interviewed. 

The interview consisted of three men asking me a few questions - the issue was from my previous visit to India. I unfortunantly did not register with the Forgein Registery Office within the specified time limit set out on my visa - which meant technically I had overstayed my visa... However I did register and pay a fine at the airport before I left. Which I thought would be the end of the issue but obviously not. Anyway I left and they said they would call me later that day. 

Later that day came and went and I decided to go to the office again in the morning to find out what was happening. I got there and the lady at the counter 'said you had an interview yesterday' - 'never'.... Anyway I informed her that they had not phoned me like they said - and then she said 'take a seat'. This lady had been getting on my nerves a little throughout this process but I smiled and sat down. Nearly an hour later I was called up and she nicely informed me I had been granted my visa - yippee!! But not for as long as I had hoped for. Nevermind - plans can change. Well they will have to anyway! After handing my passport in again it was time to wait until the next evening to pick up my visa. Meaning more time and money wasted in kathmandu... 

Picking up my passport was the easiest process as I just walked in and walked up to the  counter and was given my passport. Not long at all - unlike the wait that I had to get it! 

But visa stuff didn't finish there - seeing as this process had taken so long we had decided to extend my Nepalese visa not for too long but long enough to has time to do some practise before the competition. So it was another days wait as the government offices are not open on a Saturday.... 

Extending my Nepali visa however was fairly straight foreword unlike the walk there!! The walk was fairly long though lots of people but it was nice to see other areas of kathmandu rather than just the tourist area of Thamel. Once I got there it was time to hand over my piece of paper which I had to print after filling a form in online with photocopies - but they didn't want the photocopies - I then got asked to stand in another line so I could pay the fee - $30 for 15 days. Then once I had paid and been given a receipt I had to wait to get my passport back. That was it  a whole 10 minute process no stress no hassle. The way that it should be! 

So with all that done- it was time to head back to fishling with a couple of kayaks. So we could get back on the river and out of the city. 

Christmas in Nepal

So it's Christmas. It doesn't feel like it. Like I found in India Christmas isn't really a big deal over here - mostly only for the tourists. Places like kathmandu and Pokhara where a lot of western tourists hang out offer Christmas menu's which was nice to see. 

We were to spend a few days in pokhara which was a nice change of scenery. Christmas Day itself was beautiful and sunny and started with an English breakfast! Winner! Bacon and eggs always goes down well for my breakfast! The rest of the day was pretty relaxed walking around the lake and having some chai - looking around a few of the shops and then skyping my parents. 

Although I wanted it to be a suprise for my mum - she read the what's app messages I sent to my dad's phone and guessed! Way to go spoil a suprise! It was the first time I had skyped them since arriving in Nepal at the start of November. There is was Christmas morning and both my parents, my Aunty Pam & uncle stu plus George and will were there. It was really good to talk to them all and see my home again! I always  enjoyed Christmas and I was always the little elf that gave everyone their presents and for the second year running it wasn't me. Last year they made Hannah George's girlfriend do it and this year it became wills turn so hopefully he did a good job. 

Santa on the other hand didn't get the message I was in pokhara so apart from a small chocolate bar from my sweet raft guide that was it! Who needs presents anyway! 

That evening we headed to Silk Road and met up with a few of our kayak friends - the group ranged from Nepali guides, English kayakers, and girls from New Zealand, Poland and the USA. It was a good night full of happiness and of course beer and a BBQ! 

The next day it was time to leave pokhara and head back to fishling as our next kayaking adventures were to start in a few days. 

Chitwan National Park

So a couple's club had developed since the kayak competition. This club consisted of Paz, Hayley, and myself as the white females and Pradeep, Tarzan and pappu as the Nepalese males. With finding the other two couples back in fishling as Tarzan was doing a white water rescue technition's course we started to make plans. During the few days it consisted of practising kayaking - mostly rolling for myself; long distance and tricks for pappu and the two girls were introduced to kayaking slowly. However much fun this was the other couples had planned to go to chitwan national park for a visit. So loose plans were made and it was decided that we would go on the 11th. 

After taking a early bus ride back to narayanghat where we had stopped on the way to his auntys it was time to wait for the other couples. We had split up as they had stayed at tarzans grandmothers house the night before as it was her birthday (if it wasn't her birthday it was someone's party). After breakfast and chai we were soon with the others on another bus on the way to the park. 

Chitwan - means heart of the jungle, and is located in the flatlands of Nepal not too far away from the Indian boarder. Many tourists head to the park which has many activities on offer to cater for a wide audience. Upon arriving in our rickshaw with all of us piled in with out bags we were dropped outside one of the agents offices. Immediately the boys were on it with negotiations on somewhere to stay and what activities we were going to do. 

Hotel sorted, lunch ordered it was time for some chai and a chat. We went for a walk and found a nice rooftop cafe which served us some chai. Dahl Bhat was to follow back at the hotel shortly afterwards - much to my delight. I'd rather eat it once a day in the evening not at lunch but it wasn't a big deal. The boys then went to find out about the prices for the activities that were on offer - from trekking, 4wd safari's, canoeing, elephant rides, plus many more activites. We had a shock when the boys came back with the prices! As always it was fairly cheep for the boys with them being Nepalese however as all us females were foriegners it was nearly twice the price for us. We had looked prices up online before they went - but it was an outdated price list and it was nearly triple what we were expecting! 

So that threw a spanner in the plan. Despite the price increase we decided that we would do something seeing as we had traveled there - which meant we didn't necessarily have to come back. The question was - what did we want to do? The other couples had decided to stay for longer so they were not in much of a rush to make any decisions whereas we had decided just to stay the one night  - although the accomadation was fairly inexpensive we had a room back in fishling where we were spending a lot less for both food and accomadation than we were here at chitwan. So decisions had to be made - we eventually decided upon the elephant ride. I was always gutted because the elephant at beach camp in India had always decided to visit when I was on program somewhere or in Delhi so I never got to see it and I really wanted to. So elephant ride it was. We planned that for the morning of the next day - that evening we went to the cultural program that was being shown. 

The cultural program again we had to pay for but it wasn't expensive - the other couples had decided to stay back and chat so we ventured by ourselfs. This cultural program involved music and dancing that was traditional to the local area. Some of it involved men and sticks, others girls dancing, a little but of fire, or a made up peacock - which to me was the highlight of the dances. At the end everyone was invited to get up and dance which my little pappu did do and managed to get two of the girls to have their photo taken with him?! (His new Nepalese wives maybe?). Overall it was good to experience and see the traditional local dances. Who knows maybe one day I'll know some of them?! I would reccomend going to experience this even if it's just to see the peacock dance! 

The elephant ride - where do I start? I was a little apprehensive about it to start off with because I wasn't sure on how the elephants were treated but I had agreed and paid so I guess I didn't want to waste money. There were four of us sat ontop of the elephant - which I had found out during the ride that she was called Lakshmi - like the godess. She was a little bit stubborn but overall was a very good elephant to have the pleasure of sitting on for nearly two hours. It was fairly early in the morning when we went for our ride although there was quite a lot of people around and maybe about 20 elephants who were all setting off to take tourists on a walk through the jungle. We did manage to see some rhino, crocodiles, wild boar, monkeys and deer on our trip through the jungle - not forgetting the tiny frog that jumped ontop the other girls leg (who kinda freaked out a little bit) and the spiders and webs we went through - much to my pleasure!  

Apart from a few times where Lakshmi decided to stop for a snack, overall she was well behaved although that didn't stop the guide from hitting her - much to my displeasure although there wasn't anything I could do about it. Although I enjoyed it as an experience it isn't something I would necessarily jump at to do again - i would rather spend money doing something where the poor animal giving us a memorable experience doesn't get hit on the head several times.  I had a feeling but I guess that you live and learn after having the experience. 

Soon after we met up with the other couples and went for brunch as it was soon time for us to leave. Brunch was enjoyable on the water front when it finally arrived - it took a long time but our "two eggs any style with toast and "hash potatoes" and tea" was enjoyable even if it was missing the bacon!! After brunch we said our farewells for now and we departed for the bus back to fishling. 

Overall it was worth going to chitwan - however the price difference made a huge difference to the length of time we spent there and the activities that we did. In particular again the price difference for the Nepalese and the foreigners made a huge difference - as a foreigner getting charged three times the price I feel is unfair. What can you do though? It's a poor country that relys upon tourists income to make money. 

The Tamur

It was time to start rafting and kayaking - we were in two smaller teams four of us rafting plus a guide and then two kayaking plus four safety kayakers, then we had the gear raft. 

In the raft we had Joe, Lewis, "Dave", myself and Malia. We kept forgetting Dave's real name so we adopted a British name for him. 

The kayakers were Pappu, Libby, Brian, Liam, Tom and Gareth. In the gear boat we had Cali and Bicky.  

From the start the rapids were big and bouncy - for Lewis this would be his first time rafting and his faces were hilarious! He looked as If he was going to shit himself as we were going down the rapids! For me it was great to be rafting again and life couldn't be better! 

The kayakers made it look easy, playing and dancing down the rapids. I was glad I was in the raft - one day though when I've got my roll sorted out I'll be up for the challenge and I too will hopefully dance with the rapids like they do. 

The first day was successful, fun and the spirits were high, Lewis had managed to not actually shit himself and was happy that he was on solid ground again. After a chilled beer or two, a campfire and good food spirits were high. It was soon time for bed in preparation for the next days rafting. 

Day two and straight away we were into come big rapids which were scouted before running. In the raft we had set up the Go Pro on a paddle at the front of the raft to try and capture some of the action.  On the second big rapid we paddled down a drop and the water which hit the front of the raft smashed the go pro casing open and we were really lucky to not have lost it! Again more fun was had that day and in the in calmer water in the afternoon Pappu was guiding the raft - we had been messing around and trying to flip it with little success. We approached the next big rapid as we were going down we went down a drop and nearly flipped the raft - only Lewis an myself stayed in the others went for a swim! 

Again a great day was had on the river and a nice campsite was found - a bunch of local villagers came over to stare at us white people - in particular Lewis who has whiter than white skin!! They were quite curious about the raft and the boats that we had. Soon it was time for more delicious food, campfires and bed. 

Day three and a little mixing up of things happened. Lewis and myself jumped into some kayaks - Joe paddled the gear raft and the kayakers whose boats we had borrowed jumped into the raft. Lewis had a quick lesson in how to kayak as he had never done it before and off we went. We hit the first rapid and he was off for a little swim. It was ok though he jumped back into the boat and carried on. He wasn't the only one to have a little swim though - I had for pressured into trying a roll out and I had some lefty paddles which were really nice but it kind of failed a little so I too went for a little cool down in the river. After this we both wanted to jump into the raft so we paddled to catch up with it. I told them I wanted to get back in and they said it's ok you will be fine... I told them I didn't like the sound of what was coming round the corner and then we heard Liam shouting to get me back in the raft. It was a good job as I probably would have flipped on the rapid but who knows I might have been ok. After that the weather was pretty calm again and it was just more of a workout than anything else. We still had fun and banter in the raft though. 

Day four was again a mix between flat water and some nice rapids we had been battling with the wind in the raft which made it hard work but it was good exercise so we couldn't really complain. There were some nice rapids and we had Malia back guiding us although through one of the rapids he unintentionally decided to throw himself out the back if the raft. We stopped at a shop before heading to camp to stock up on a few things. This was probably the nicest camp we stayed at and reminded me a little of the MHE beach camp in shivpuri. 

 

Day five was fun with lots of bouncy rapids to enjoy. Again the kayakers looked like they were enjoying themselves and it was nice to not be battling with the wind all the time on the flat water. Tonight we would be camping at the confluence of the Tamur and the Sun Kosi. Joining us would be the trip that had been paddling the Sun Kosi - some of the lads I had met from England who had been on the kayak clinic. 

It was a fun evening with a bonfire and lots of people with even more drinking to be done as the trip was nearing it's end it was a energetic atmosphere with stories from the respective trips being told. It was also a time for reflection of what we had just achieved individually and as a group. 

The last day of the trip and there was a few big rapids although not as many as previous days. We stopped along the way at a temple by the river which was pretty and before departing for the rest of the river Maila blessed us all an the boats with a traditional blessing with his own funny style added to it. 

When we reached the get out terr was lots to do - kit to be loaded and lunch to be made as we were preparing to head back to Kathmandu or respective destinations. 

Again a long bus journey was to be had by most of us - some opted to fly - but the bumpy roads and Nepali music during the journeys is just part of the experience.

A highly reccomended trip - the GRG staff in particular made the trip enjoyable with their high expertise and rapport putting all at ease, not forgetting the great meals which were enjoyed by all. 

Nepal craziness

From the moment I arrived in Nepal everything was a little crazy as I kind of expected. My darling little pappu did meet me at the airport which made me happy and from there we went to the office dropped off bags, had dinner and went for a beer with some pool. He then gave me very little time to pack my stuff I needed for the next few days as we were leaving in the morning for the trisuli river as he was working a kayak clinic. 

We left early in the morning and I was a little confused and disorientated. I was shoved on a bus for several hours longer than what it should have taken due to the traffic on the road! Not suprising really as it's nepal - and just as bad a India when it comes to road rules and traffic. 

However we did eventually arrive which was welcomed as the bus comfyness was at a high as usual and it was nice to get some fresh air - after a quick set up of camp and we were off for a short kayak trip. I got in the playboat that I brought over for my little pappu which was a bad idea as on the first big wave that I hit threw me in the water and that was it I was swimming! Oh well never mind. I would have been ok but my darling wasn't too happy with me. After that experience I learnt that i need to paddle a sensible boat on big water.

The following day I had some rolling practise in the morning which was good. Although I'm a backwards roller which hasn't been helping my cause! It's ok I'll get it sorted out. In the afternoon we went down the river again which managed to stay upright in a big boat! At the get out here there is a cable car that goes up to the top of a mountain where there is a temple which I would like to visit one day. 

The following day we travelled up the river and got on at a place called phishling. This is where we are going to be living for a while - right on the river which is pretty cool. As we got on straight away there is a rapid - a minor epic followed with two people going for a swim. I was fairly near the back so I lost sight of the line that everyone was shown to follow down and so chose my own line - and survived! I'm not that bad really! 

After lunch it was time to pack and get sorted as we were leaving to go on a trip to the tamur, so we had to get our kit ready so that we could leave that evening.