Nepal
We have now arrived in Nepal. First impressions are good. Firstly, the temps are around 20 Celsius, which is perfect. Especially compared to the freezing weather we had in Tibet. Plus there's actually electricity, running water, and a Western toilet in the hotel we're staying at! Bonus.
We did the land crossing at the border between China and Nepal. It was a bit confusing what was going on as people kept running across in groups and then some got turned away, etc. But we made it across with no particular problems. Our Tibet guides weren't allowed across the border so we had to walk 100 meters across the Friendship Bridge to meet our Nepalese drivers. Where else in the world can you walk 100 meters and gain (or lose) 2 hours of time? China has this silly policy where the whole country is on the same timezone, so Tibet has the same time as Beijing, even though it is about 4000 kms west of Beijing.
The first 20-30 kms of roads on the Nepal side were even worse than the Tibet roads (and that's saying a lot). Our driver kept flagging people down and asking them questions. We were worried that he was asking if there were any Maoist rebels down the road ready to attack us. Apparently in some border areas, the Maoists will demand 100 bucks or so from everyone - but they will issue you with a receipt (no joke)! Well, after asking about 15 different people, we finally found out what he was asking about. He actually wanted to find a substitute driver to take us the rest of the way to Kathmandu. So after driving us about 30 kms from the border, he finally found a substitute driver who simply hopped in the car and took over while our first driver headed back to his village the other way. Strange. We think our second driver was also trying to get a third replacement driver but was unsuccessful so he wound up taking us the rest of the way.
We took a look at the local paper today, and it turns out that the government and the Maoist rebels just signed a peace agreement in the last 2 days or so, so I guess we needn't have worried. I wish we had already known that!
We did the land crossing at the border between China and Nepal. It was a bit confusing what was going on as people kept running across in groups and then some got turned away, etc. But we made it across with no particular problems. Our Tibet guides weren't allowed across the border so we had to walk 100 meters across the Friendship Bridge to meet our Nepalese drivers. Where else in the world can you walk 100 meters and gain (or lose) 2 hours of time? China has this silly policy where the whole country is on the same timezone, so Tibet has the same time as Beijing, even though it is about 4000 kms west of Beijing.
The first 20-30 kms of roads on the Nepal side were even worse than the Tibet roads (and that's saying a lot). Our driver kept flagging people down and asking them questions. We were worried that he was asking if there were any Maoist rebels down the road ready to attack us. Apparently in some border areas, the Maoists will demand 100 bucks or so from everyone - but they will issue you with a receipt (no joke)! Well, after asking about 15 different people, we finally found out what he was asking about. He actually wanted to find a substitute driver to take us the rest of the way to Kathmandu. So after driving us about 30 kms from the border, he finally found a substitute driver who simply hopped in the car and took over while our first driver headed back to his village the other way. Strange. We think our second driver was also trying to get a third replacement driver but was unsuccessful so he wound up taking us the rest of the way.
We took a look at the local paper today, and it turns out that the government and the Maoist rebels just signed a peace agreement in the last 2 days or so, so I guess we needn't have worried. I wish we had already known that!
posted by Kevin at 11/09/2006 05:35:00 PM
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