Day 23: Taxi Strike

Trip Start May 20, 2008

Trip End Aug 19, 2008

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Flag of Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal
Saturday, June 14, 2008

A backfired & unproductive day. After the rest of the gang left for Chitwan, I decided to check out a temple in the outlying neighborhood of Basandura rather than head straight back to Pepsikola since I was near the main bus park anyway. I shouted out "Basandura!" enough times, found the bus, stayed on till the last stop, and wound up in frak knows where. I asked the driver "Basandura, is this Basandura?" "This is blahblah." "Uh, will you go to Basandura?" "Yes. End of the line." "So this is Basandura?" "This is blahblah." "Uhh... okay..." I got off the bus, wandered aimlessly for a bit, and then it hit me. When you factor in the accent, Basandura sounds exactly like "Patan Durbar," a major tourist landmark on the other side of the city. Whoops.

I hopped on the next bus back to central Kathmandu, got completely lost again, gave up and hired a taxi. While I was disoriented, I still had a general sense of the direction we should have been heading in and realized weren't going that way. The taxi driver's dicey English made finding out what the heck he was doing a bit tough, but the situation became clear soon enough. He pulled up to a giant high tech fortress and told me "You should get out here." I eyeballed some lettering on the fortress: Embassy of the United States of America. Oh, well then. That isn't foreboding at all. In the embassy (which was a friggin palace btw), I found out that a particularly severe bandh (transport stoppage/protest) was occurring today and that spending a couple hours in its warm womb would be a smart idea, even if twiddling my thumbs was the only available time killer.

After things settled down, I began the long trek back to Pepsikola. With striking taxis still lined up blocking the main roads, my feet were the only means of transit, and not a pleasant means they were. Unable to use the roads, all motorcycle and scooterists were using the sidewalks as de-facto streets instead. No regard for the thousands of pedestrians being forced to traverse them was present. The one or two emergency vehicles that zoomed by did the same, but they have an obvious valid excuse and were driving much more cautiously. After a long three hour walk back home, I collapsed into bed, showered, played with the kids, and called of the day. Funniness occurred at dinner... I complimented Laxmi (host Mom) on her chicken cooking skills and earned snickers from her & Ladina (the Swiss girl.) It was pineapple tree (another Nepali veggie delicacy), not chicken, silly me. So you can add boiled wood to the endless list of things that taste like chicken. Mmm.

----Vital Signs----
ETA to SE Asia = 32 days
ETA to Sir Jeff/Thailand = 44ish days
ETA to Los Angeles = 2 months, 2 days
ETA to San Diego = 2 months, 4 days
Hand Sanitizer Depleted = 70%
Time Elapsed Since Last Opp To Shower = 0 days :)
% of Wallet Depleted = Still don't wanna think about it
Mosquito Bites = 37
Calamine Lotion Depleted = 70%
Yetis Scalped = 5
Food Poisonings = Still 0
Digestive System = Buckling

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