Day 10: Nepali Moonshine

Trip Start May 20, 2008
1
12
77
Trip End Aug 19, 2008


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Flag of Nepal  ,
Saturday, May 31, 2008

Woke up very early to meet my guide & depart for Pokhara, Nepal's "other big city" (it's more like a glorified mountain town.) Janu is his name, and he is an amicably smiley and soft-spoken fellow, if a bit difficult to strike up conversation with. We walked to the bus park together and hopped on the rickety tin can that was to carry us for seven hours into the Himalayan foothills; it wasn't as miserable an experience as it probably sounds largely due to the awesome scenery and goofy sitar music playing.

In and out of valleys and into the mountains we drove, as banana trees and rice patties gave way to... more banana trees and rice patties (planned to say "Alpine vistas and fairy tale meadows" here but that didn't turn out to be the case.) The bus got stuck about an hour out of Pokhara in one of the more epic traffic jams I've ever seen; a line of buses, all dead stopped, stretching at least a mile into the distance. Most passengers were giving up and opting to walk instead, so we followed suit. After speaking with the bus driver, Janu informed me that the reason for the bus stoppage was (get a load of this): "Yesterday there was accident, a guy on motorcycle was hit by bus, and so the bus drivers stop today." In other words, the buses were on strike over an accident that happened the day before. 'Cause ya know, that just makes so much sense. Living in Nepali Bus Driver Land must be heaven. In any case, we made it into Pokhara by the early afternoon so all was well in the end. And my, Pokhara is one gorgeous place. It's situated against a medium sized Alpine lake with the Annapurna Himalayas towering in the distance. Mistook them as clouds at first, they be so big.

By shear coincidence, Jesse and the gang that had gone rafting were in town, so I spent most of the night in a bar with them. What happened in this bar will be told in person, remind me to tell the story. Also, Janu took me to a local establishment and introduced me to Nepali moonshine (mmm) while inquiring about American politics. That was fun as well. Now I must go, for I have a mountain to climb. No civilization for the next weekish! See you all on the other side.

Mosquito Bites = 15
Athlete's Foot = 1
Time Elapsed Since Last Opportunity to Shower = 0 Days :)
Clif Bars Remaining = 0/8
% of Wallet Depleted = 231%
Tibetans Freed = 0/2.5mil
Maoist Insurgencies Thwarted = 0
Sunburns = 4
Bad Sunburns = 1
Food Poisonings = 0
Happiness Meter = 90%
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