Riding Buses

Our Nepal team didn't have a whole lot of time to rest; we had to keep moving. The day after we arrived we took a bus 6 hours to the next largest city in Nepal, Pokhara. It was intense. Imagine if you will the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National park only with all the vehicles that are allowed on the GSH (trucks, buses, etc) bumper to bumper. At least this was how it was descending out of the big city. The majority of the time of the trip was in the first quarter of the distance because of the slow moving traffic.

Enjoying the views of the countryside out the window of the bus. 

Trucks and buses in Nepal were very funny: they all had custom paint jobs and sported English phrases like "Miss You" or "See You". These were painted on the back presumably referring to "I'll see ya later because I just passed you...". I was surprised that I never saw "Eat Dust", but they might be have a little less road angst than we have in the US. There were also many religious symbols. By the way they drive it is easy to understand why drivers would want to believe in something outside themselves to protect them. Most of the vehicles we saw also had custom horns that had multiple tones as if it were going up and down a chromatic scale. Each was unique and got your attention pretty fast. And they used them a lot too, more as a form of communication than in anger or surprise as we do in the States. I wish this culture of driving we have would change. (I've started to use the horn on my scooter in this fashion: using it proactively to let people know I'm there rather than "yelling" at someone who cuts me off.)

Colorful truck we are following and about to pass. The back says "SPORTS".

And that's the front after we passed it. 

Finally, the drivers also had a system of passing: the faster truck or bus would come up behind the slower one and honk, then the front driver would use the turn signal to indicate whether it was safe to pass or not. When passing you used the horn to let the other driver or motorcycle that they were moving back into the left lane. Oh yeah, did I mention that yet? They drive on the left side of the road in Nepal, from the British colonial influence. That didn't help me sit any more still or comfortably in my seat...

My first official plate of dal-baht. I got better at eating it. Notice the fork: I was still a novice at this point. 

We had two major breaks on the trip: one for a bathroom break and one for lunch. And I say major because we also stopped within the first two hours of driving for a pit stop on the side of the road. Guys just piled out and peed off the side of the road. Sorry ladies, modesty meant you had to wait for the "major" stop. Lunch on this day was our first experience with dal-baht. Baht means rice in Nepali (and Hindi I think) and dal is a lentil stew-thing. It was pretty good, thankfully, because we ate it for 2 days straight at the beginning of our trek. People in Nepal eat dal-baht with their hands too! Pretty fun. You should try it sometime...

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We arrived into Pokhara right after a large rainstorm hit and dropped larger than marble-sized hail. Glad we were in the bus and not on the trail. It was the start of the monsoon season, so we expected a little rain. The unfortunate downside was clouds shrouded what was supposed to be our amazing view of the surrounding mountains: the Annapurna group and Manaslu range. Even when we came back from the trek we never saw the famous view. But I bought a poster to remember what it should have been like.

Colorful boats on the lake in Pokhara. Notice the cloudy skies. Darn.

We walked around the town a bit that evening and did some souvenir scouting. There was a beautiful lake and we walked down to the water front. And we found a place that served Illy coffee, a really famous brand in Italy. Several of us ordered espressos and they were amazing! Maybe the best latte I've ever had. (Sorry Larkin) Then it was dinner and off to bed.

The next day we got on a different bus that took us to our trailhead. We drove for an hour and a half on a road similar to the GSH but with only one paved lane in the middle. Our bus passed oncoming traffic and vehicles going the same direction with two wheels on the gravel shoulder. Scary! We dropped Jeff's trekking team off 30 minutes in, prayed for their success and safety, and then continued over the next ridge to our beginning location, Birethanti.  We went through the village passing out tracts and greeting people as we went. Namaste is hello, and that's about as much Nepali as we knew at that point.

Checking in at the beginning of the trek.

Kids running off to school for the day.

We had to check-in and show our trekking permits and then we were off on the trail. The first bit was a two track road that locals use to get supplies into their villages. Tourists have complained because it took away from the original natural beauty that can be found in a trail, but now the villagers can get their goods to market in Pokhara and get a fair price and they are better able to get quick medical help. Past a certain point though supplies and goods were either packed around by people or teams of mules. I was so amazed by the people here. You could say that the trails and roads and villages were literally built on the backs of the people. They are tough.

The start of the trail (or road). 

Team 2 Legit to Quit: (l to r) Thomas, Dustin, Sean, Colter, Andrew, Shemiah

Mules coming down a flight of steps. The village at the top of the stairs is where we ate lunch. 

 We hiked about 2 or 3 hours and then had lunch (dal-baht). Then we climbed up lots of stairs, close to 2000 feet of them, to where we planned to stay the night in Ulleri. On the way we got caught in a rainstorm complemented with hail. We were forced to take shelter in under the roof of a tea house (Nepali version of hotel/restaurant) and wait it out. Then we were treated with the most beautiful rainbow that I have ever seen: very vibrant colors and a complete bow across the sky. What a reminder of God's mercy for us, a promise that he gives us life and life to the full.

At the bottom of the picture is the village where we ate lunch.

"Wel Come to Ulleri" (they couldn't seem to understand that Welcome is one word.)

We arrived and checked into our tea house. The rooms had beds with mattresses and even blankets if you wanted but I used my sleeping bag since I had carried it all that way. That night we were able to play the Saber device recording for a group of kids at a children's home. They loved it! And it was fun to greet them and ask them simple questions like "what is your name?" and "how old are you?" in Nepali. Out team was also attacked by leeches that night! Nasty buggers! Then it was dinner (dal-baht) and off to bed to get ready for the next day.

Squatty-Potty. Gotta love it.