September 17, 2009 – Day 266 – Pokhara, Nepal

It is best not to make many (or any, in fact) future plans if you intend to travel by bus in Nepal. Actually, it is probably best not to really think of anything besides trying to survive and holding very tightly to the seat handle, if you are lucky enough to have one on your bus. Even on such a short journey of 6 hours can prove to be a life threatening endeavor.

Just another day in the life

September 16, 2009 – Day 265 – Kathmandu, Nepal

A wasted day in the Indian embassy waiting to pay for a single sheet of paper that may or may not result in an actual Indian visa. For a more exciting evening, we reached back to our Tibetan roots (ok, well, not technically) and visited the Baudha Stupa.

Taxi to the Stupa

September 15, 2009 – Day 264 – Kathmandu, Nepal

It is amazing how many families come to Kathmandu on vacation, they are everywhere! Anyway, you will be happy to know that we did something today! We went to Durbar Square, one of the few tourist sights in Kathmandu, and a painfully expensive one too.

What are you lookin' at cow

September 14, 2009 – 263 – Kathmandu, Nepal

It’s like waking up to find that you have just been punched in the nose and now your face is gushing blood and you feel like drowning, throwing up, and just maybe dying too. That’s how I would describe walking through the streets of Kathmandu, not just Thamel but the outside districts where tourists are discouraged from staying.

Kathmandu in action

Read the rest of this entry »

September 13, 2009 – 262 – Kathmandu, Nepal

Not a great start to an already, universally bad kind of day: border crossing day. Our guide overslept by half an hour and our driver had hired a local taxi driver to take us down to the border because he didn’t want to. In the questionable taxi down the mountain that suffered from horn abuse, goat collision, and overheating brakes that were, thoughtfully no doubt, cooled by pouring rainwater collected from the road directly onto the brake pads.

Plays 5 musical notes at ear bursting levels

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite all the garbage Tibetans put up with from China, the people of Tibet are amazingly warm and friendly to outsiders. They will stare at you but just out of curiosity and when you look back at them, they will give you a big genuine smile. They are very poor but also very happy and very religious and seem to take all the unfairness of life in stride. How could you not be happy when you live in such an astonishingly beautiful country!
Read the rest of this entry »

September 12, 2009 – Day 261 – Tibet

Woke up smelling like a smoked yak. Compliments of the incompetent woman who can only seem to produce smoke instead of fire and her endless piles of unwashed yak scented blankets. Every time the fire would start to get going she would douse it with a health heep of sheep shit until we finally had to tell her to stop and just let it be. It was better to be cold than to die of smoke inhalation.

Everest in the Morning, Tibet

Read the rest of this entry »

September 11, 2009 – Day 260 – Everest Base Camp, Tibet side

A full day of driving with only a few stops along the way. Lunch was in a tiny unpleasant town with nothing to offer but a warm, cheap meal. We had traditional Tibetan noodles, a kind of thick noodle soup in a yak broth for about $0.45.

Everest at night

Read the rest of this entry »

September 10, 2009 – 259 – Shigatse, Tibet

Spectacular (but dangerous) driving today. Our driver is absolutely insane and drives a minimum of 100 kph around gravel covered hairpin mountain curves with the back tires skidding (and sometimes squealing) behind. We have had our share of crazy drivers but this one seems the most ridiculous of all. At any rate, we were able to see some beautiful views of Tibet as we drove toward our home for the night, a little town called Shigatse.

Yak at Yamdrok Lake

Read the rest of this entry »

September 9, 2009 – Day 258 – Lhasa, Tibet

Being in Lhasa is literally being in a whole different world. It is absolutely nothing like China and it is difficult to see just why China insists on maintaining ownership over this small, poor region. The people are so wonderful and even though they do stare, they are honestly curious instead of nosy and will return your glance with a big smile.

In the streets of Lhasa

Read the rest of this entry »