Safely back in Kathmandu
After the exhilarating trip from Chitwan National Park it was good to arrive back safely at the Shangri La Hotel in Kathmandu, my home away from home while staying in Nepal’s capital city. This hotel, while not luxurious, was a comfortable haven in a country of contrasts and a nation in turmoil.
Foyer of the Shangri La Hotel Kathmandu
While staying in Kathmandu at a hotel like the Shangri La one could be forgiven for ignoring the plight of the people trying to exist in this country. Inside the hotel it was relatively quiet, organised, and peaceful – especially having lunch in the garden – and safe compared to the frenetic activity in the streets outside.
I found that the staff was really friendly, helpful and approachable. During my meals I was pleased to be able to engage several of the staff in interesting conversations about their lives. I also had some interesting conversations with some of the other guests.
Slow journey to Kathmandu
Yesterday I wrote about my exhilarating journey from Chitwan National Park to Kathmandu. As we neared Kathmandu the traffic intensified and naturally slowed down. On this part of the journey the road was quite steep and twisty in parts which further slowed the traffic.
Army Checkpoint
The journey of 140km normally takes about 4 hours. I thought we were making very good time as we approached Kathmandu. At 16km from the city centre the traffic crawled to a stop. We had reached the queue for the army checkpoint. For over an hour we only moved about a kilometre. There were many slow moving buses and trucks as well as many private cars. Several times we saw male passengers get off the bus and go to the edge of the road and relieve themselves. On reaching the checkpoint at last we saw why there was such a long wait. The soldiers were asking all bus passengers to disembark, collect their luggage from the pack rack and line up for a bag check.
“Where are you from?â€
As we pulled up near one of the buses a soldier opened the sliding door of our mini van. He ignored the driver and the hotel manager in the front seat. He looked at me and asked, in good English, where we were from and where we’d been. I told him we were all from Australia, we’d been to Chitwan National Park to see the animals, that we’d seen lots of birds and rhinos but no tigers. He laughed, closed the door and waved us on. He didn’t even ask to inspect our bags. Obviously he did not consider us a risk.
Nepal – the political reality
Less than a kilometre further on we witnessed the reason the army and the police were being more cautious than last week. We passed the police station that had been attacked and bombed on Saturday night. The Maoists responsible for the attack had come into Kathmandu by bus, hence the thorough checks of all bus passengers and their luggage. Reports of the incident were sketchy but it seems that at least a dozen police were killed.
Exhilarating journey to Kathmandu
After my brief visit to Royal Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal, we finally managed to get a ride back to Kathmandu. This was in a mini bus arranged by the manager of the hotel where we were staying. It was far more comfortable than the battered and cramped conditions of the small 4WD we had travelled in the previous day.
We woke early, well before dawn. We had a light breakfast before leaving. For the first hour or so the journey was slow. Not only was the road very pot holed, but the fog was extremely thick. There was no doubt that we would not have been able to fly back to Kathmandu, even if we had been able to get tickets.
At first the traffic was relatively light, but after dawn this increased markedly. Our driver was very skilled at avoiding pot holes, pedestrians, cyclists, animals, children, larger buses and overtaking ponderous trucks labouring through the hills.
As we began the climb up to Kathmandu the scenery along the road became truly spectacular. The highway follow a river valley so the road was rarely straight. I had no opportunity to take photos: I needed to hang on to the rail on the back of the seat in front of me to prevent myself from being thrown from one side of the bus to the other.
The river far below the road was boulder strewn and would have been an excellent white water rafting location. What worried me was the drop of over a hundred metres from the road to the river. There was little in the way of barriers between the road and the river. The few barriers that were there seemed very inadequate in my mind.
Added to that concern were the frequent – perhaps every hundred metres or so – road signs warning about falling rocks from the mountains above the road. Both of these concerns made me forget about the hazards of the road itself. The driver was very skillful at overtaking on crests, blind corners and at avoiding collisions in the face of oncoming traffic.
It was truly a “white-knuckle” ride.
Related article:
- Chitwan to Kathmandu – extracts from my travel journal
Travels in Nepal # 68 Troubles in Nepal
Bombings in Kathmandu
When we returned to the hotel after our ox cart ride we found out that the political situation had worsened overnight. There had been several bombings in Kathmandu and elsewhere and some police or soldiers had been killed. At 1pm the manager drove us to Bharatpur Airport but told us there were no flights today due to the fog. He went there to arrange for a driver to take us to Kathmandu. We drove through several army checkpoints along the way. The people were getting a little tense about the situation and the manager, although calm, seemed to be very cautious.
Another night at Chitwan
On arrival at the airport there were no drivers willing to take us to Kathmandu because of the trouble. We found out that the normally four hour drive had now slowed down to become at least six hours with long waits at an army checkpoint near the capital. Kane spoke on the phone to a Peregrine official in Kathmandu who really gave us no choice. (Peregrine Adventures were our travel agents.) There were no flights that day and no reservations for us in the coming days. Kane and Jade needed to be in Kathmandu two days later to catch their flight to India. Added to that there were no drivers willing to take us to the capital. We had to return to the Royal Park Hotel for another night, at Peregrine’s expense I might add.
Concerns
This situation concerned me but I was not worried. It reinforced my decision not to try to get to Tansen as I had originally planned. Bhairawa airport had also been fogged in and had been closed for several days. The fog did not look like disappearing; it was so calm. It would also have been very risky trying to get to Tansen by road, not to mention expensive, if one could get a driver. Then there would have been the difficulty of returning in time for my flight home. My only other options were to wait until Sunday in Kathmandu, or try to arrange an earlier flight home.
Anything could happen
The manager had promised to take us to Bharatpur the next morning, leaving at 6am. If there were no drivers there willing to take us, he promised to personally drive us there. The downside of this was the vehicle, an old short wheel base Land Rover. The road was very bumpy and the seats barely cushioned. Going early may avoid much of the traffic but not the pot holes, twists and turns. All through the drive that afternoon I kept watching out the back window. I expected to see one of our bags bouncing around on the road. They were just put on the pack rack on top with nothing holding them in place. A potential positive about driving to Kathmandu is the fact that, being tourists, we may be given a quick passage through any checkpoints – theoretically. In the current political climate this was only a theory. Anything could happen.
Travels in Nepal # 67 Rural Life in Southern Nepal
Rural scene near Chitwan
On our ox cart ride through the rural area near Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal we were able to get a close up view of life in the raw. The houses were basic with few facilities, though I did notice quite a few houses had electricity and television. I was somewhat amused to see that, on average, every third or fourth house boasted a sign advertising that the occupants offered both STD and ISD telephone services available.
During the ride we stopped for a while to visit a local historical museum. This gave a very good picture of life in rural Nepal in years gone by and gave a good appreciation of the heritage of the local people. We also saw some well dressed children in their uniforms heading off to the local school. Our guide told us that only the privileged few went to school. Many farmers are not rich; they rent from the wealthy land owners. Only the well to do are able to send their children to school. This is the general picture throughout Nepal; only the well off can afford to send their children to school. This accounts for a literacy rate of about thirty percent, and far less in rural areas.
Most farmers also rely heavily on animals on their small farms. The move the mechanical help, as in the tractor in the photo below, is slowly becoming common. It was the dry season when I was in this area so we didn’t see much being grown in the fields.
Despite the very foggy conditions well into the day, I was able to identify a few more birds during our ox cart ride. Our guide, a professional birding guide, was able to help me greatly in this.
Related article:
- Rural life in Nepal – taken from my travel journal written during my travels.
Rural scene near Chitwan