When you meet people during your travels it's always fascinating since they will tell you about their travels and will make you feel jealous you haven't been there... and you will tell them about your travels and feel like you have to lie to make them jealous of you! Let's be honest, that's how it goes.
Yesterday morning I was downstairs checking my email and this guy makes his theatrical entrance by saying 'ah you must be the other aussie"...
I patiently explained and then kindly asked him if he was also stranded in Nepal because of the closure of Tibet. He said that he had just completed the Everest Base Camp trek by bike and that he went to Pokhara to do the Annapurna trek but he almost died because of the humidity. Apparently he didn't check the weather charts.
ok.
I asked him if he's ever been to Tibet and he said yes a few years ago but he didn't have a permit.
I asked him how he got there and he said by train.
I asked him where did he take the train from and he said he didn't remember.
Was it from Chengdu? I don't know. Where did you stay in Tibet? Couldn't say. Were you in a group or alone? A bit of this and a bit of that. When did you go there? Oh, a few years ago, could have been 2008 or 2007.
Mate, maybe you should eat more fish cause your memory is leaking bit time!
Anyway he goes on saying that he doesn't really like Nepal so he's heading off to India tomorrow.
Oh, we're also flying to Delhi tomorrow, what flight are you in? Can't remember. But what time are you heading to the airport maybe we can share a cab? Oh, I don't have the ticket yet.
You know, all this travelling completely free of deadlines and going where your gut tells you would sound so much cooler if it didn't look like it's completely made up!
Anyway, off we go to Dhulikhel, by bus again, we're getting good at this!
Dhulikhel is a mountain resort in the foot hills of the Himalayas and the landscape is fantastic even though we don't get to see the higher peaks since being June it's obviously overcast.
We wonder around this Newari village this time not being greeted by the locals who seem more withdrawn than in Bungamati.
When the usual afternoon rain comes we duck into a teahouse and order a big meal with thukpa, chowmein and momos.
All vegetables.... well... maybe not ALL vegetables since I can spot some meat protein in the form of a fruitfly in my thukpa, but every time we see things like this Steve and I remind ourselves we've had much worse. As a matter of fact we ate a fried tarantula once. Yep! A tarantula fried as a whole and seasoned with oyster sauce, in the outskirts of Phnom Penn. When getting back to the hotel I said "Guys I have tarantula stuck between my teeth".... and THAT's a sentence I'd never thought I'd say!!!!!
Good meal overall, all included, food, drinks, fruit fly and tip for less than 2 dollars!
After the rain we then went for a trek, we wanted to see the Namobuddha and the Kali temple on top of the hill.
Tough trek, all uphill and with the high humidity, but we made it to the Kali Temple.... the ex-temple I mean, since it's not there anymore and the whole area is property of the army so you can't really go inside, but the views are superb and we needed a trek after the big meal.
We decided not to continue for the Namobuddha since a sing said that it would take another 2 hours and we had to take the last bus back to Kathmandu in order not to get stuck there.
Yesterday morning I was downstairs checking my email and this guy makes his theatrical entrance by saying 'ah you must be the other aussie"...
I patiently explained and then kindly asked him if he was also stranded in Nepal because of the closure of Tibet. He said that he had just completed the Everest Base Camp trek by bike and that he went to Pokhara to do the Annapurna trek but he almost died because of the humidity. Apparently he didn't check the weather charts.
ok.
I asked him if he's ever been to Tibet and he said yes a few years ago but he didn't have a permit.
I asked him how he got there and he said by train.
I asked him where did he take the train from and he said he didn't remember.
Was it from Chengdu? I don't know. Where did you stay in Tibet? Couldn't say. Were you in a group or alone? A bit of this and a bit of that. When did you go there? Oh, a few years ago, could have been 2008 or 2007.
Mate, maybe you should eat more fish cause your memory is leaking bit time!
Anyway he goes on saying that he doesn't really like Nepal so he's heading off to India tomorrow.
Oh, we're also flying to Delhi tomorrow, what flight are you in? Can't remember. But what time are you heading to the airport maybe we can share a cab? Oh, I don't have the ticket yet.
You know, all this travelling completely free of deadlines and going where your gut tells you would sound so much cooler if it didn't look like it's completely made up!
Anyway, off we go to Dhulikhel, by bus again, we're getting good at this!
Dhulikhel is a mountain resort in the foot hills of the Himalayas and the landscape is fantastic even though we don't get to see the higher peaks since being June it's obviously overcast.
We wonder around this Newari village this time not being greeted by the locals who seem more withdrawn than in Bungamati.
When the usual afternoon rain comes we duck into a teahouse and order a big meal with thukpa, chowmein and momos.
All vegetables.... well... maybe not ALL vegetables since I can spot some meat protein in the form of a fruitfly in my thukpa, but every time we see things like this Steve and I remind ourselves we've had much worse. As a matter of fact we ate a fried tarantula once. Yep! A tarantula fried as a whole and seasoned with oyster sauce, in the outskirts of Phnom Penn. When getting back to the hotel I said "Guys I have tarantula stuck between my teeth".... and THAT's a sentence I'd never thought I'd say!!!!!
Good meal overall, all included, food, drinks, fruit fly and tip for less than 2 dollars!
After the rain we then went for a trek, we wanted to see the Namobuddha and the Kali temple on top of the hill.
Tough trek, all uphill and with the high humidity, but we made it to the Kali Temple.... the ex-temple I mean, since it's not there anymore and the whole area is property of the army so you can't really go inside, but the views are superb and we needed a trek after the big meal.
We decided not to continue for the Namobuddha since a sing said that it would take another 2 hours and we had to take the last bus back to Kathmandu in order not to get stuck there.
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