Bardia to Pokhara - the incredible journey
We were in Bardia during a period of peace talks between the Maoists and the Nepali government. Nevertheless, bus strikes were leaving travellers and locals alike stranded without warning all over Nepal. We had planned to leave Bardia for Pokhara (from where we were to begin our trekking) on the 18th of October to begin trekking no later than the 20th as the new rules were to come into effect on the 21st. Strikes still hit on the 17th but on the morning of the 18th we were off for our 5 to 7 hour bus drive to a midway town where we would sleep and catch a morning bus the following day to take us the final 5 or 6 hours to Pokhara. Bus travel is notoriously dangerous in Nepal so we were advised not to take the overnight bus. The journey that followed was one of the closest encounters Janine had ever had with insanity...
We were loaded by our resort onto a local bus at 11:45 and Johan secured out baggage to the roof with our pack-safe cable. Johan walked around outside to try and escape the heat - Janine stayed inside the bus to try and escape the scorching sun. The bus left at 12:30 and stopped a few kilometers down the road for about 30 min. Then the bus was moving again - we drove about a km, drove around a circle and returned to the stop we had just departed from. Janine looked for a bathroom and bought some pomegranates. Johan walked around outside to try and escape the heat. We left again just after 15:00 and stopped at that same circle about a km away. Johan wanted to walk outside to try and escape the heat, but the bus looked like it was about to go any second. About 30 min later we were on the move again - by now we had a band playing one song on repeat in the already crowded bus - this went on for a long time. About 5 min later we stopped to fill up with petrol - the bus driver purchased two live chickens while we waited. We were moving again for about 15 minutes (the time was now around 16:00) and then stopped to load up some goats - all the male passengers on the bus jumped out to load as many goats as they could onto the roof of the bus.
When that space was full, the remaining goats were stuffed into all the other baggage compartments under the bus. Johan was outside walking around (trying to escape the heat) and managed to catch the action on camera. Meanwhile, back in the bus, Janine (who was guarding our hand luggage) was listening to the 15th repetition of the live band's song and she wondered if this is what the beginnings of insanity might feel like.
The rest of the the drive was executed in typical life-threatening driving style punctuated by many road blocks which meant we still stopped many many times that day. When our bus stopped at about 21:00 about an hour before our destination for our hour supper break, one of the locals told us that the bus was no longer going to our destination town as the bus driver had just heard that there was an industrial strike in that town. All the buses had to divert. Our only option was to drive another 5 or 6 hours on route now to Kathmandu to Mugling which was the only other connection to Pokhara. What made the bypass very interesting is that there is no road to support the maneuver. Locals helped by sending a motorbike ahead and a string of buses weaved through villages, rice paddies and even through a river to get around the town. This was at about 23:00.
At 03:00 the next morning, in the middle of nowhere, we were abruptly loaded off our bus and onto another bus already almost full. About 30 minutes later we were going again, bouncing along as the windows threatened to crash in and the electrical connections slowly filled the interior with smoke...
Just after 06:00 we arrived in Pokhara, filthy from the bus journey, hungry and tired. An friendly tout whisked us off to a very nice hotel with a bath(!!!) and we proceeded to scrub before enjoying a great breakfast in this fantastic town. We had 24 hours to gear ourselves up for our 3 week hike - all had worked out well!
Culture shocks: As in India, even though the twilight here is rather long in duration, only when the night is pitch black do the vehicle lights go on; apparently it is common practice for buses to be stuffed with goats ('mutton' as it appears on menus); in all our travels preceding Pokhara it was impossible to purchase toilet paper as the locals don't use it...
We were loaded by our resort onto a local bus at 11:45 and Johan secured out baggage to the roof with our pack-safe cable. Johan walked around outside to try and escape the heat - Janine stayed inside the bus to try and escape the scorching sun. The bus left at 12:30 and stopped a few kilometers down the road for about 30 min. Then the bus was moving again - we drove about a km, drove around a circle and returned to the stop we had just departed from. Janine looked for a bathroom and bought some pomegranates. Johan walked around outside to try and escape the heat. We left again just after 15:00 and stopped at that same circle about a km away. Johan wanted to walk outside to try and escape the heat, but the bus looked like it was about to go any second. About 30 min later we were on the move again - by now we had a band playing one song on repeat in the already crowded bus - this went on for a long time. About 5 min later we stopped to fill up with petrol - the bus driver purchased two live chickens while we waited. We were moving again for about 15 minutes (the time was now around 16:00) and then stopped to load up some goats - all the male passengers on the bus jumped out to load as many goats as they could onto the roof of the bus.
When that space was full, the remaining goats were stuffed into all the other baggage compartments under the bus. Johan was outside walking around (trying to escape the heat) and managed to catch the action on camera. Meanwhile, back in the bus, Janine (who was guarding our hand luggage) was listening to the 15th repetition of the live band's song and she wondered if this is what the beginnings of insanity might feel like.
The rest of the the drive was executed in typical life-threatening driving style punctuated by many road blocks which meant we still stopped many many times that day. When our bus stopped at about 21:00 about an hour before our destination for our hour supper break, one of the locals told us that the bus was no longer going to our destination town as the bus driver had just heard that there was an industrial strike in that town. All the buses had to divert. Our only option was to drive another 5 or 6 hours on route now to Kathmandu to Mugling which was the only other connection to Pokhara. What made the bypass very interesting is that there is no road to support the maneuver. Locals helped by sending a motorbike ahead and a string of buses weaved through villages, rice paddies and even through a river to get around the town. This was at about 23:00.
At 03:00 the next morning, in the middle of nowhere, we were abruptly loaded off our bus and onto another bus already almost full. About 30 minutes later we were going again, bouncing along as the windows threatened to crash in and the electrical connections slowly filled the interior with smoke...
Just after 06:00 we arrived in Pokhara, filthy from the bus journey, hungry and tired. An friendly tout whisked us off to a very nice hotel with a bath(!!!) and we proceeded to scrub before enjoying a great breakfast in this fantastic town. We had 24 hours to gear ourselves up for our 3 week hike - all had worked out well!
Culture shocks: As in India, even though the twilight here is rather long in duration, only when the night is pitch black do the vehicle lights go on; apparently it is common practice for buses to be stuffed with goats ('mutton' as it appears on menus); in all our travels preceding Pokhara it was impossible to purchase toilet paper as the locals don't use it...
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