Friday, October 09, 2009

Nepal is BEAUTIFUL!

So we survived our 3 days in India. So glad we had organised a guide because it was way more full on then Bangkok and everything was just different. We spent our first night in Delhi and then next day we drove to Jaipur and saw this amazing fort and palace and observatory where there was the worlds biggest sundial which was way more impressive then in sounds! It is accurate to within 2 seconds and was hundreds of years old. Tahu and I were both struck with how western culture thinks it's so smart with it's technology and cranes and electricity but yet hundreds of years ago people were doing amazing things like airconditioning, calenders, clocks and all that stuff and making it so beautiful and long lasting. Definitely impressed.

The next day we drove to Agra which was again an experience! There are officially no traffic rules in Agra although you often see traffic cops and I have to say that has to be the best job ever because you just stand there and do absolutely nothing! We went to the Taj Mahal there and it was beyond words. Way more then either of us had expected. 81 metres high, marble and inlaid gems, everything is exactly symetrical except for the 2 graves and it's all just beautiful. took 22 years to build. absolutely breathtaking and well worth the trip to get there!

There are so many animals everywhere! We've seen camels, elephants, squirrels, dogs, cats, pigs, goats, sheep, monkeys, horses, donkeys...the list probably goes on! A lot of fun spotting the different things! We got to ride an elephant too and our driver texted most of the time and even stopped to buy cigarettes! Most entertaining. We had the most amazing driver/guide called Jessie who we really appreciated! If anyone is planning a trip to India please contact us and we will give you the details as the country would be very hard to navigate on a short time on your own I think. But maybe it was just us not being seasoned travellers!

The next day was Tahu's birthday but we had to get up at 3am to drive to Delhi and catch a flight to Nepal. A lot of travel by car, bus, plane, bus, car, in that order! Poor Tahu was sick too which does not make for much fun! But we survived.

Kathmandu is just amazing. Nepal is just so green and so big! The people are amazing but I will tell that story later! Nepal is definitely somewhere we recommend!!

All the places we've been staying while on this organised tour part have been amazing. So flash! We are very spoilt. Yesterday we had an ausy guy called John join us for the sightseeing part which was cool. We went to the Monkey Temple and a couple of other places and also the place where they cremate bodies. Now can I just say we did not ask to see this and that we thought we're just see the outside and the smoking chimney but no. You walk down this river and there are bodies being cremated the whole way. It was truely hard to see and we all felt like intruders although there were hundreds of tourists. The people had all died that morning. Not sure I can really tell everything we saw. Hard to explain. The ashes are washed into the river and we saw a guy cleaning his teeth beside them and there were kids swimming!! A little disturbing to say the least!

Yesterday morning we went on a flight up to see Mt Everest. It was mostly covered in cloud but we were stoked just the same and then we got our money back cos they said it wasn't good enough!! $300USD. Oh yes that did make it so much better!!

Ok the big adventure would be last night! We had to drive to Nagarkot which is way up in the mountains and about 2 thirds of the way there our car got a flat tyre. Not a big deal except that the spare was flat too. So the driver jumps on a truck down the hill and gets someone to tell us that he'll be half and hour. Not so. A guy who lives just up the road let me use his (squat) toilet. Oh the pleasure. And offered us drinks but as it was only meant to be half an hour we said we'd just wait at the car. About an hour and a half later in the pitch black he comes back to us and then another guy stops and after much discussing in broken english and what I assume was Hindi we worked out that he would take us on his motorbike the rest of the way and the other guy would wait with the car. But about a km before the place we were staying at the top of the mountain we hit mud. So we walked the last way hoping we were going in the right direction! At one point 2 men walked for some of the way with us and we still don't know why although it might have been that we had a torch. Can I just say to Dad at this point thank you so much for making me keep that yellow torch?? For some reason I had it in my bag and so at least we could see! We made it there in the end!! But really were amazed at how kind these people were. It was so dark and completely out of their way and they helped us without a second thought. A bit of an adventure for sure! We got to this super flash hotel and found not hot water, a phone that didn't work, no towels, the tv didn't work and no heating or aircon. Not quite ideal after the trip there but somehow it was still great!

So tomorrow we are starting the drive to Lhasa in Tibet. It will take 5 days and we're told its one of the most beautiful drives in the world. We cross into Tibet tomorrow and again it is great timing as the border has been closed since the 21st and is only open from tomorrow. We have had great timing the whole way really. Like the sun came out at the sundial, it rained up until the day we went to the Taj Mahal and the flight to everest the day before was cancelled because of the rain! We at least got to go up and see it. Also I missed a Typhoon in Cambodia and there was massive flooding in India but we saw nothing. Lets hope this keeps up as a typhoon is due to japan yesterday i think!

Ok better go, got shopping to do and I think I've covered everything!

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