The road back to India

Tuesday 28^th April 2015

We woke up early this morning ready to leave Nepal. While at breakfast the sky clouded over and became heavy with rain. By the time we were packed and ready to go the rain was falling hard. We checked out and waited in the reception for it to ease off but it didn’t. The ground was one big puddle as we made our way to the bus stop, but we didn’t get a bus we negotiated a decent price for a taxi to take us to the border and from there we would get a bus into India.

The drive took about 40mins and was comfortable enough we arrived at the bustling border town of sonauli and were immediately pounced on by taxi drivers wanting to take us to India we refused them all and went in search of the border office.

It took only a few minutes in the Nepalese border office to be stamped out the office was clean and tidy with two men working there. As soon as we walked across the Indian border things changed the ground was immediately full of pot holes and covered in rubbish, the streets were full of people and the immigration office was full of people all doing nothing.

They took our passports and then went back to watching TV. We had to fill in arrival cards and still no one moved to do anything or even give us the courtesy of telling us why we were waiting. Eventually someone said the computer systems were down and so he couldn’t scan our passport so we continued to wait as the office filled with more and more people and the sludgy water and rain came in through the door.

After a time it seems they got bored of waiting for the computes and with nothing more than a stamp in our passport we were sent on our way. We walked down the road careful to avoid the deepest grime filled puddles to the bus which seemed to be wetter than outside. The roof leaked and as such the floor was a puddle of water and most of the seats were wet. We found the driest one we could and settled in for the long journey to Gorakhpur.

It took about four hours to get there with many stops along the way. Thankfully the bus didn’t fill up too much so we could leave our bags on the seats where they stayed a bit dryer than if we had to put them on the floor.

The further south we went the nicer the weather became and so we arrived into Gorhkapur in sunshine and blue skies. We found the closest place we could to get food and then set off looking for an ATM somewhere to top up Marks phone and to find someone to change our Nepalese rupees.

The phone turned out to be the easiest that was a struggle as the man didn’t really speak English we got there in the end and I changed the Nepalese rupees with some taxi driver on the street after no money changer would take them I got a shit rate but luckily I didn’t have too much so only ended up losing about NZD $2

By this stage I was flagging heaving my bag around so we went to the station and I found a nice little spot to sit with the bags while Mark went and found an ATM. When he came back we sat for a while but soon the mozzies were tormenting us so we put our bags in the cloak room and went to explore the city.

We went in search of the local market and found streets and streets of shops Mark was looking for a watch after his got lost in the crash so we stopped off at all the watch stalls, the search was a success and he got a cheap thing that lights up all the colours of the rainbow. Before leaving the station we had a look in the lonely planet and it said there was a Tibetan market in town so we also searched for that but when we found it it was all closed up.

After walking around for ages I was tired and wanted to sit down so we went to find food. I wasn’t really hungry and felt quite bad that I left most of my thali as they guys running the shop were so kind and attentive I think they thought I didn’t like the food but it was delicious.

With nothing else to do we went back to the station and got our bags we found a waiting room and camped there for the rest of the evening. There was a bathroom which gave us a chance to clean our wounds and brush our teeth. Thankfully our tickets were finally confirmed an hour or so before the train arrived as we had been wait listed all day and the thought of spending 14 hours in general class wasn’t happy.

The train came and we got on, as usual there were people in our beds that we had to kick out we pretty much went straight to sleep although it was hard for me as the guy one bed up and opposite just stared at me when I asked him what he was looking at he told me not to worry but continued to stare. Thankfully I was so tired I just fell asleep.

Wednesday 29^th April 2015

I tried to sleep as long as possible on the train but it soon became hard as it was so noisy. I sat up and turned the bed back into a seat and we watched the world go by for the next few hours. The most exciting part was when a small herd of some sort of large deer ran alongside the train for a while.

By the time we arrived into Delhi later than scheduled we were hot and tired and hungry. We left the station and headed across the road to Pahagang a horrible horrible place but somewhere that would do as a bed for the night.

We found a place to stay and dumped our bags then headed back to the station to try and get a train to Rishikesh for the following night. We went to the tourist booking office in the station and took a ticket we were number 263 and they were currently serving number 80. In true Indian fashion the room was full of staff sitting around eating, talking or watching TV while only two or three people actually served the growing number of people waiting.

We soon gave up and ended up booking Tadkal tickets online. With that done we went looking for food. We found a cheap local place and ate while the rest of the restaurant craned their necks to stare at us. Feeling fuelled we got some water and walked to Connaught place in search of an ATM and to have a wander about.

We got cash out and then walked around the huge circular shopping street looking for jandals and an ice-cream shop but we didn’t find either. Mark did get his ears cleaned by the creepy arse ear cleaning touts I was so disgusted I went to look in the markets while I waited and was soon being followed by a beggar child who kept poking her snot covered fingers into my cut up arm and didn’t seem to understand that I had no money despite turning my empty pockets out for her several times. Eventually someone told her in Hindi I had no money and she shot me a disgusted look and left.

The sun was burning down on us as we walked back towards the guesthouse. We checked our ticket status and it hadn’t changed we ended up cancelling those tickets and buying ones for the early hours of the following day as it seemed more likely we would get those ones.

We went back to the station and found someone to ask about stations as it wasn’t clear where we needed to be for out new train (annoyingly it was Old Delhi Station meaning we would have to get a rickshaw there)

With tickets sorted we went and found some dinner at a rooftop restaurant. Neither of us were very hungry but it was entertaining to sit up high watching the comings and goings on the street.

Back at the guesthouse we finally had a shower the first one since leaving Nepal! I crashed out pretty early as I could barely keep my eyes open.

Thursday 30^th April 2015

We woke up at 4am feeling like we hadn’t even been to sleep. We dragged ourselves out of bed and threw on some clothes and packed up our things before heading downstairs. We had to wake up the hotel staff who were all sleeping on the floor of the lobby to let us out. Outside the street was a fair bit different than the hustle and bustle of the day but it was still strangely busy with tons of rickshaws about and loads of stray dogs roaming in packs.

We got a rickshaw to Old Delhi Station where our train to Haridwar departed from. The rickshaw took about 20mins and we got there in time to find out platform walk to it and pretty much step straight onto the train.

We found our beds, dumped our bags and went back to sleep for the next few hours until other peoples chattering became too loud to sleep through.

For the rest of the journey we read and chatted and before long we had arrived. Haridwar is one of the holiest places for Hindus as it’s the start of the Ganges as it flows out of the Himalayas and as such it is a pilgrimage destination. Luckily we didn’t come in the pilgrimage season and so finding a place to stay wasn’t hard.

We checked in and had a shower with the idea that we would go and find some food but we both sat down and before long it was several hours later and we woke up sweltering. We roused ourselves and went in search of food both still feeling heavy lidded and heavy limbed.

We didn’t go far just a few doors down we found a cheap local place and had a delicious thali. Feeling full we stopped off for water and then headed back to the room where we put on the AC and spent the evening near comatose in bed in front of the TV.

Lumbini

Sunday 26^th April 2015

This morning we woke up early feeling even more sore than yesterday the bed was like sleeping on concrete with a sheet so we decided to just get up and face the day.

After getting ready we headed out for some breakfast eating at the same local dive of a place we went yesterday. We had some mini chapattis and some fired potato cake things with curry which was all pretty delicious.

After eating I ran back to the guesthouse and get my camera and we headed out to see what Lumbini has to offer. There is a huge temple and monastery complex all within a wooded area with a canal straight down the middle.

We walked all the way to the far end of the complex where the Lumbini museum is we walked into the area which has a circular lake in the middle we walked into the museum but had to walk around the lake to get tickets and then back around to the museum.

The building is pretty cool with high ceilings and huge circular windows that let in a ton of light but the exhibitions are all a bit tired either not labelled very well or extremely damaged by what looked like termites to the point where you couldn’t even see what the display was supposed to be.

We wondered about looking at what we could and then continued on through a market where we stopped to clean up my hand which was swollen and weeping puss which was pretty disgusting. After cleaning that up we walked through the market to the world peace pagoda the gardens there were especially beautiful and best of all we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

We stuck our head into the Japanese Buddhist prayer hall but there was something going on so we didn’t stick about.

We walked back along the canal and looked at a few of the other temples and monasteries from afar. The layout is a bit poorly planned in that you can’t visit each place from the canal road directly rather you have to wait for a crossroads turn and then walk back along the road that each centre is on. If you are on foot this is very tiresome as some places you end up back tracking several kilometres.

The sun was beating down on us and we were feeling quite achy and tired so we decided to hit up the official birthplace of Buddha and then head back to town. The official sight is at the other end to where we began. We had to get tickets and have our bags checked and whatnot and then we were allowed in as we were queuing there was another aftershock but again we didn’t feel it and were only aware of it because another tourist was rather hysterical about it.

We followed the path into a building built over the ruins of a temple which houses the exact spot where Buddha was born we had to line up to walk onto a small platform to get a peek at it there were so many people pushing and shoving that I was glad for the policeman who forced everyone into a queue.

We had a quick glance at the spot and then continued on outside to garden where there were some more ruins a big pond and a huge Bodhi tree. After a good look around we were both fading and so headed back out of the complex.

We were so knackered that we got a cycle rickshaw back to town it moved exceptionally slowly and I felt so mean for making someone else work to get us back but then again he wouldn’t haggle on price so he got a decent wage for his work.

Back in town we had lunch in our now regular dive and then went in search of a pharmacy for something to clean out our wounds they didn’t have anything acceptable so it was back to the guesthouse to wash them out douse them in hand sanitizer (and jump around screaming curses while it burned to fuck) and then apply antibiotic cream.

We spent the afternoon chilling out reading and sorting out our next move. In a few days we head across the border to India and then northwards.

In the evening we went across the road and had some dinner after which we got chocolate and read until bed time.

World Peace Pagoda

Water lillies outside the WP Pagoda

Sunflower outside the Japanese prayer hall

The main canal that runs down he centre of the complex

The lake outside the Lumbini museum

Lion gaurding the WP Pagoda

The building that houses the marker stone of the birthplace of Buddha

The Cycle Rickshaw back to town

Monday 27^th April 2015

This morning we were woken up at about 4am by a girl banging on the door we didn’t open it but the couple across the hall did it turned out the girl wanted to use the bathroom but there was no water so she thought it was a good idea to wake people up to ask what she should do! After she left the couple started playing ridiculous music which went on until we finally got up.

We went to breakfast which was ridiculously average and took an age to arrive and then the bill took an age but as we ate they kept trying to clear our plates away as we ate! Their service was a bit messed up.

After food we headed back to the guesthouse to pack up our stuff. It was the first time we had been through our bags properly and found that several things had been broken in the accident but nothing of particular importance so that was ok.

We chilled out in the guesthouse sorting all our things out for a while then went and had lunch but it was a bit fly infested so we didn’t stick around long.

Back at the guesthouse we half napped half watched a shit film on HBO before the power cut off we then headed out for a few beers and some drawn out dinner while chatting to some people it seems most people are a bit stuck here not really knowing where to go.

Eventually we made our leave and headed for bed to try and get a good night’s sleep ahead of tomorrow’s journey back to India.

Rockfalls and Earthquakes

Friday 24^th April 2015

This morning started out so well. We got up and had a lazy breakfast then packed up all of our things. We set off to Lumbini at 10.30am the sun was shining and the skies were blue.

There are two ways to get to Lumbini both of the roads are pretty good but one way takes about five hours the other seven or eight. The bit of info that we weren’t told that would have been useful is that along the shorter route the road is prone to landslides and rock falls.

The road was awesome it was winding and very hilly but the surface was smooth and it was a wide road. We had been going for about four hours and thought we had about an hour to go when the sky started getting really dark for about 30mins or so we had been chasing blue skies and sunlight but the clouds had finally caught up with us.

It began to rain, a bit of drizzle at first and then steadily heavier so we stopped to take shelter for a while along with all the other road users. After about ten minutes or so the rain eased off and we decided to make a break for it as everyone else was doing.

We hadn’t been driving long when we passed a sign saying ‘rock fall next 3km’ we didn’t think much of it and kept going we were rounding a corner when I noticed a few small rocks falling from above then next thing we knew huge boulders were crashing towards us.

All I had time to do was shout “oh fuck” as Mark was saying “what?” and looking up the rocks were suddenly falling all around us. Next thing we knew we were flat on the road. I saw Mark jump to his feet and it occurred to me that I should do the same. The bike was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly from behind us was a scream we turned around to see a girl running in the opposite direction the guy she was riding with was flat on his back not moving.

Rocks were still falling so we moved away to a grassy area where I had to sit down. We still couldn’t see the bike, my bag was down the cliff snagged on a tree and Marks had somehow come off the bike and landed on the road.

The guy still wasn’t moving but by this time people had arrived on the scene a few times small rock falls started again sending the helpers and rubber neckers running. By the time the police arrived what felt like an age later we were soaked through covered in blood and dirt, freezing cold and hurting. A local climbed down and retrieved my bag. Bystanders got us some water and ice for our bumps.

After filing a somewhat inept report the police commandeered a passing vehicle to take us to the hospital. We had to drive back through the rock fall area back the way we had come.

We arrived in the hospital where we were treated like celebratories crowds followed us into the emergency room and even after being treated it seemed people kept coming to look at us.

While we waited I went to the toilet. They say never eat in a restaurant where the toilet isn’t clean, I’m sure that applies to treatment in a hospital but I guess we didn’t have any choice.

We were lucky to come out of the crash with nothing more than some cuts and scrapes. The doctors cleaned us up and gave us tetanus shots (in the butt haha) then we had to sit and wait hours for the police to do their thing. They confirmed that the other man was dead but we already knew that as we had driven past his body still laying where he fell on the road on the way to the hospital.

The girl on his bike came and went in the time that we waited she was clearly in shock with a blank face. She looked as though she was even less injured than us.

Eventually we were discharged the hospital mixed up our medical reports so that each one has the wrong name but it doesn’t really matter too much. Our total hospital bill was about NZD $6 for the both of us!

Once the bill was paid and we had our medicines we left with the police to the station which was a short walk away. They had pulled the bike out of the river and it wasn’t actually as banged up as we thought it was going to be although of course it didn’t start after spending the afternoon submerged in a river. The headlight was torn away exposing all the electrics, the wheels were bent, the battery casing was gone, the clutch pedal and the pegs were mashed, there was a huge dent in the petrol tank, the luggage racks had been torn away and the seat was ripped and crooked.

The police said the bike would be safe until we picked it up but that was clearly not going to happen. As it can’t be sold in Nepal it will live out its day at the station until they scrap it for parts.

We left the station and went to the nearest guesthouse. There was no hot water and no power so we just ate then finally changed out of our wet clothes and went to bed. Although sleep was hard in coming after such a dramatic day and the huge storm that was raging outside. 

 As we were driving between Pokhara and Lumbini through a mountain pass we were hit by a rock slide. The bike was hit by a huge boulder and knocked out from under us clean off the road and into the river below. We were lucky to walk away with nothing more than cuts and bruises. Another man wasnt so lucky and died instantly when he was struck in the head by a falling rock.Where all the people are standing is where the rocks came down and where the body of the man who was killed lay. The bike ended up in the river but we couldnt even see it, the poilce later dragged it out.

Saturday 25^th April 2015

We couldn’t really sleep last night and so were up around 6am. It didn’t help that the rain was still falling heavily and that everyone in the building seemed to rise with the sun.

We went downstairs to get some breakfast it seemed the only thing on offer was veg noodles and tea so that’s what we had. Once we had eaten we asked one of the young guys who as hanging about if he would come with us to the police station to try and get an official police report for insurance.

He agreed and we headed across the road. It seemed the officers were still asleep except for two playing badminton who waited until their game was finished to help us. We occupied ourselves looking at the bike again and talking to the young guy who came with us.

Eventfully the police chief came out it turned out that if we wanted a report we had to go 9km to the area police station but after a few minutes of radio talk it came back to us that since we were so respectful and nice they were asking permission to write the report there although it would be in Nepalese.

Eventually they were granted permission and we waited while they completed the report hand written in triplicate. It took ages and we had to wait in a mosquito filled dark room. Eventually after posing for a million photos and shaking a million hands we were free to go with the report in hand.

We headed back to the guesthouse and packed up and paid the bill then set off for Lumbini. We were told the journey would take two hours with one change of bus but it actually took four hours with three changes.

The worst part was driving back past the accident sight the bus was rickety and old and just before we got on we were told that rock slide accidents on that road are very common and that sometimes entire busloads of people are wiped out by huge boulders. Not very reassuring.

The bus stopped often for long stretches of times and when It was moving the driver drove like a mad man meaning we were thrown about like wet rags at one point a local woman was thrown right off her seat onto the floor of the bus!

The first part of the journey was all through mountain passes and rock fall areas so we were both tense. Later we would learn that a huge 7.9 earthquake had struck Nepal moments after we left the mountains. We didn’t feel it but I think it was because our bus didn’t seem to have any suspension.

We stopped in a town of unknown name and the conductor told us we had to take a taxi the rest of the way this was backed up by the taxi drivers but seemed a bit fishy so we walked along the road asking the bus drivers (no fun feat when you are covered in bruises, your bag is soaking wet and your hand and arm keep bleeding everywhere) it didn’t take us long to find the bus going where we wanted to.

We rode that bus 22km to the next town where we changed a final time. It was only another 20km or so but it took a freaking age as the bus kept stopping. When we arrived in Lumbini we got down from the bus and walked along the main street looking for a guesthouse. As we were talking about which one to check out a Russian guy came over and told us about the place he was staying out it sounded cheap and cheerful so we checked it out and checked in.

We went looking for food and ate in some fly infested dive where the samosas where pretty good and the price was ridiculously low (plus there isn’t actually that much choice in this town)

After eating we went back to the guesthouse after letting everyone know we were ok in regards to the earthquake and telling them the news about the accident I had a shower and tried to clean up all my wounds. We were both knackered and sore and so spent the afternoon watching TV.

In the evening we went to find food. The mosquitos were out in force and for the first half of the meal there was no power meaning we were in the darkness. Thankfully it came on and the staff turned the fans on which stopped the mozzies.

We ate and chatted to some other girls about the earthquake they felt it pretty strong here in Lumbini. After eating all I wanted to do was lie down so after getting some chocolate we headed back and watched a movie.