Part 2 of Many
Day 1 - The Never-Ending Local Bus Ride
To head to Dolpa, we left Kathmandu at 10:30am on a local bus which, (at the bus park at least!) had only enough people to fill the seats. Unfortunately, this didn't last. Later, the aisle filled up too! The bus had one driver - who drove non-stop the whole way - and 2 conductors. Why we needed two guys to arrange the seating and take the money and only one to drive is beyond me. Ke garne*. About the drive: I was actually really happy with my seat when we got on the bus. Little did I know, but soon discovered, that I had, hands-down, the worst seat possible . By hour 12, I'd decided that if you put a criminal on a Nepali local bus for 21 hours (15 of which were on dirt roads, and barely able to be called roads, really), he would confess by hour 10. Even if he were innocent! If he were really stubborn, maybe he'd make it to hour 15.
*Ke garne - "What to do?"
About the ride - close your eyes and picture the worst dirt road you've ever been on, the nastiest bus ever, and then multiply the people by 10. Picture driving up and down huge mountains (Nepali hills) with Hindi music blaring. There you have it. Well, almost. You're also in a prime seat to be a human railing and everyone who walks by grabs a leg, arm, hand or a fistful of hair. Oh, and around hour 8, the conductor trips 1/2 way down the aisle and lands soundly on your head. Fun times...and I haven't even gotten to the 4 hour public jeep ride and days-long walk. We're flying back.
We arrived at our stop the next morning and had an hour's walk to the next village to meet the jeep. The stroll was great and allowed us to stretch our legs. We got to the next village with about four hours to spare before the jeep left so we hung out, ate dal bhat, and taught our guide, Arjun, how to play Egyptian War. We may have created a monster.
On the walk from where the bus dropped us off, and where we would catch the jeep. In the Rukum District.
Arjun and Swetha playing cards. Egyptian War got pretty enthusiastic over the course of our trip, but was a great source of entertainment.
Day 2 - The Jeep Ride
We piled into a Bolero, which is the equivalent to a "local bus" in areas with VERY rudimentary roads, and took off. At the beginning there were 3 people in the front seat, 5 in the backseat, and about 10 in the back. The driver was a young guy from the village and the conductor was his younger brother who hung off the side of the jeep (and consequently, off cliffs) for the entire ride. His job was to move the large rocks in the road that blocked the jeep.
We ambled along over treacherous terrain, making stops for the driver to grab a bite to eat and check with folks, the conductor to move rocks, and more people to get on. At the highest count, the population of the jeep was more than 25. As the "road" became worse, we often had to evacuate the jeep when it had to go through construction areas and pull off stunts that defied gravity. We also annoyed a number of goatherders. As the jeep went past, the goats were scared and scrambled down cliffs to get away, leaving the poor goatherder to go chasing. At long last, we reached the village in the Rukum district where we would stay the night. I thought I'd been jeeping before, but it's a whole 'nother story when it's survival rather than leisure!
The Jeep. At this point, we'd all gotten out and the jeep was preparing to go over an area not meant for jeeps to go!
Walking through some particularly treacherous terrain.
Taking in the view..it looked like something out of a Salvador Dali painting!
The jeep defying gravity while Swe and I watched (from the road) and prayed that it wouldn't topple over. That would have been a LONG walk...
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