We left Chitwan on a new ‘bus’ to head back to Kathmandu. The itinerary said 6.5 hours - and previous entries had been reasonably accurate despite Amit’s estimations. I figured that this would be about 5 hours worth of driving and a total of an hours stop - a couple of bathroom breaks and lunch. WRONG! It took us 7.5 hours with two very short Bathroom stops and a lunch. The traffic was horrific pretty much as soon as we hit the next urban area from Chitwan, although you can’t just blame traffic. The road condition was okay for about an hour but after that it was horrific. It was either under repair, being built or just in a state of being able to pass. There were times four lanes were reduced to one…with traffic from either direction. There were no traffic control people - it was just a haphazard affair, but surprisingly it worked. There appeared no animosity to other drivers as there would be at home in such a situation.
The seats on the bus were made for midgets and had limited padding, so the bumps, stones, potholes were felt by all of us - I was looking enviously at the front seats which seemed much more comfortable, however I could not have sat looking out the windscreen as I’m sure I would have had a heart attack! Instead I tried to slump and sleep (impossible) and ended up putting my noise cancelling earphones in, listening to music and watching anywhere to the side and not the front! We followed similar route to what we had done to get to Chitwan - driving beside a river with suspension bridges. Towards the end Amit and our driver decided on an alternate route into Kathmandu as it was ‘quicker’ but more windy….it was a narrow road up the side of a hil with lots of hair pin bends and water washouts…at one stage we drove over what looked like the stones and soil from a landslide…they didn’t bat an eyelid! Starting to get very uncomfortable (numb bum and sore back) I googled how long to go…I was excited to see 77 kms then the time extinguished that…2hours 52 minutes! We survived but there was no real time, energy or desire to ‘explore’ for an hour before our final group dinner.
Amit took us to the tourist part of Kathmandu - Thamel - a bustling series of narrow lanes where pedestrians battle for space with cars, bike, motorbikes and avoid the hawkers! We went to a restaurant that Intrepid uses regularly (as there were three other intrepid groups in attendance). It had a large variety of western food, limited selection of Nepalese but did have a nice outdoor courtyard. We all sat and talked, laughed and were jointly amazed at the speed of our 9 days together ending the next morning.
The next morning I awoke at 3.50 am to catch a taxi to the airport at 4.15 for a 6.30 flight. I had tried to tell Amit that I didn’t need to be there that early due to standby, but that concept was too hard to explain and on Anina’s advice I just nodded and said yes! It was 5.30 before I had a boarding pass so no lounge access for me - just the plastic seats at the check in counter! The best part of the trip was flying out of Kathmandu and rising above the clouds to see the various peaks of the Himalayan Ranges (which I doubt not identify) peeking through the clouds….a magical experience and one that really lifted my mood at that time of the day. First stop Delhi for a 4.5 hour layover, and then another flight Delhi to Colombo. I arrived at the hotel at 5.30 that evening- complete exhausted!
I did a quick reconnaissance walk around the hotel to spot the facilities, dining, pool etc and then another walk along the street to see what was nearby to buy some sunscreen and mosquito repellant (mine had been confiscated at Delhi Airport). I argued with myself about dinner - opted for a GnT sitting outside to watch the sunset and then quietly returned to my room, showered and slept. I couldn’t bring myself to even eat dinner.
This morning I awoke to the view from my room - coconut palms gently swaying in the breeze, with what look to be local catamarans fishing offshore…truly different to the buzz of the last few weeks.
I have three nights to myself before the next tour starts…I don’t think I’ll be doing much except resting, reading and swimming for the next few days.
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