Slow drive = Long life
Today was earmarked as a travel day, and indeed it was! For 7 USD versus 110 USD I had been convinced that the public bus to Chitwan would offer an insight into Nepali life that I wouldn't otherwise experience. Looking forward to this, after a quick trip to the ATM lounge we hopped on our bus in Kathmandu.
Pleasingly it wasn't very full, and a few more stops (+ 1hr) later we were leaving the city. The tarmac roads were a little bumpy but led us our to what I assume is the equivalent of a service station, with public "loos" and cafes. Another hour and a half later and we had stopped yet again, this time for lunch (at 11am!). The frequency of stops seemed pretty annoying, little did I know we wouldn't stop again for 5 hrs....
We moved on and made good time (up to 30mph) until about 2 miles out from Mugling, where we were to make a left turn towards Bharaptur. Here, the queue became slow, then stationary. No traffic was coming down either, which didn't bode well. Indeed the patience of other drivers was so short that they started driving up on the other side of the road, which obviously wouldn't end well. Needless to say, after about 15 mins traffic started coming down and right outside our window there was a sort of stand-off between a lorry coming down and a car coming up. After an intervention by the police, and a lot of whistling, the car finally backed down (literally) and we were back to 5mph towards the town. In the town we were joined by a mother and her very cute toddler, which was a coincidence as I had just commented on how few young children we had seen!
We went left, heading south. This road was having major construction works and we had been warned it might be a little slow, and slow it was! Worse still, it was incredibly bumpy. The worst of the bumps had my bum and feet leaving my seat simultaneously. The general bumpiness made me wish I'd worn a fully supportive sports bra rather than the comfy but very minimalist one I'd opted for!
We continued along this road, skirting the edge of a steep valley, me being very glad we were on the valley rather than river ravine side as there was often no parapet or barrier! Progress was either stationary, or maybe 5mph. In the stationary sections I managed to read, but these were so long that I finished the 545 pages of The Book of Dust that I had started only a couple of days ago.
With my book done I decided to have some lunch, which I had put off due to the lurching of the bus. Unfortunately, no more than a few bites in I realised that the "cute toddler" had decided they could no longer put off their toilet needs, and proceed to "go" (no 1 and 2!) on the floor right across from me. Bleurgh. Lunch came to an early end and I shuffled a couple of seats forward, relieved that the fans had now come on. I distracted myself further by reading the slogans on the front of lorries. There were a lot of "Road King", "Speed Control" and "Highway Hounds" lorries, but also more unique ones like "Slow drive = Long life", "Jesus lamb of God; Play Boy" and "Off Road Express"...
The 30km road probably took 4 hrs in total, and I was so glad to get to Bharaptur. I am not surprised they were behind on the construction (supposed to finish April 2074 (=2017 to us)) as manpower was incredibly low, and machinery very limited. Why they decided to strip the entire road rather than do it in sections I don't know! Construction must also be difficult with a constant stream of lorries and buses in both directions, and is apparently impossible during monsoon season (June/July).
At Bharaptur we were glad to be met by a driver, who took us through a lovely sunset, across the flatlands to Chitwan National Park and our residence at Sarang Wildlife Sanctuary. Here we received a friendly meet and greet, before another Nepali set-dinner (I had forgotten to tell them about our vegetarianism, oops!) and bed.
Today was earmarked as a travel day, and indeed it was! For 7 USD versus 110 USD I had been convinced that the public bus to Chitwan would offer an insight into Nepali life that I wouldn't otherwise experience. Looking forward to this, after a quick trip to the ATM lounge we hopped on our bus in Kathmandu.
Pleasingly it wasn't very full, and a few more stops (+ 1hr) later we were leaving the city. The tarmac roads were a little bumpy but led us our to what I assume is the equivalent of a service station, with public "loos" and cafes. Another hour and a half later and we had stopped yet again, this time for lunch (at 11am!). The frequency of stops seemed pretty annoying, little did I know we wouldn't stop again for 5 hrs....
We moved on and made good time (up to 30mph) until about 2 miles out from Mugling, where we were to make a left turn towards Bharaptur. Here, the queue became slow, then stationary. No traffic was coming down either, which didn't bode well. Indeed the patience of other drivers was so short that they started driving up on the other side of the road, which obviously wouldn't end well. Needless to say, after about 15 mins traffic started coming down and right outside our window there was a sort of stand-off between a lorry coming down and a car coming up. After an intervention by the police, and a lot of whistling, the car finally backed down (literally) and we were back to 5mph towards the town. In the town we were joined by a mother and her very cute toddler, which was a coincidence as I had just commented on how few young children we had seen!
We went left, heading south. This road was having major construction works and we had been warned it might be a little slow, and slow it was! Worse still, it was incredibly bumpy. The worst of the bumps had my bum and feet leaving my seat simultaneously. The general bumpiness made me wish I'd worn a fully supportive sports bra rather than the comfy but very minimalist one I'd opted for!
We continued along this road, skirting the edge of a steep valley, me being very glad we were on the valley rather than river ravine side as there was often no parapet or barrier! Progress was either stationary, or maybe 5mph. In the stationary sections I managed to read, but these were so long that I finished the 545 pages of The Book of Dust that I had started only a couple of days ago.
With my book done I decided to have some lunch, which I had put off due to the lurching of the bus. Unfortunately, no more than a few bites in I realised that the "cute toddler" had decided they could no longer put off their toilet needs, and proceed to "go" (no 1 and 2!) on the floor right across from me. Bleurgh. Lunch came to an early end and I shuffled a couple of seats forward, relieved that the fans had now come on. I distracted myself further by reading the slogans on the front of lorries. There were a lot of "Road King", "Speed Control" and "Highway Hounds" lorries, but also more unique ones like "Slow drive = Long life", "Jesus lamb of God; Play Boy" and "Off Road Express"...
The 30km road probably took 4 hrs in total, and I was so glad to get to Bharaptur. I am not surprised they were behind on the construction (supposed to finish April 2074 (=2017 to us)) as manpower was incredibly low, and machinery very limited. Why they decided to strip the entire road rather than do it in sections I don't know! Construction must also be difficult with a constant stream of lorries and buses in both directions, and is apparently impossible during monsoon season (June/July).
At Bharaptur we were glad to be met by a driver, who took us through a lovely sunset, across the flatlands to Chitwan National Park and our residence at Sarang Wildlife Sanctuary. Here we received a friendly meet and greet, before another Nepali set-dinner (I had forgotten to tell them about our vegetarianism, oops!) and bed.
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