A Green Backpack

So, I decided to be adventurous and took the land route from Kathmandu, Nepal to Varanasi, India. I’ve learned three things.

First, you never should do that again. As cheap as it was and as fun as it was, it’s something that you should only do once just for the heck of it and not ever again.

Second, the journey was not as uncomfortable as I thought, just scary as hell. I had to take a 8-hour bus from Kathmandu to Sunauli, then a 10-min jeep ride from Sunauli to the border, then exit Nepal, check into India, then a 3-hour bus ride from Sunauli to Gorakhpur, and then an 8-hour train ride from Gorakhpur to Varanasi. The total trip time was 22 hours.

On my bus from Kathmandu to Sunauli, I saw three accidents: a bus-car head-on collision, a bus-bus collision, and a bus on its side. Being on a bus, you can imagine how scared I was. On my jeep to the border, there were 19 people who shared it with me. I literally felt like as I heading into a war zone; all that missing were some guns and uniforms. And on my train ride to Varanasi, it was uncomfortable as hell!

And lastly, I learned that India never ceases to surprise me, even after spending nearly 6 weeks here. My first arrival in Varanasi was absolutely shocking! A friend (Leah) has previously said that everything in Varanasi is in your face: life, death, prayer, worship, etc. I got the grasp of it once I saw a dead body on the entrance to the train station. Again, you can imagine my surprise to get into Varanasi at 5am, sleep-deprived with rickshaw drivers approaching me, and being in a very grump mood.

However, after the initial shock, I grew very fond of Varanasi. I met three fellow solo travelers: a guy from Australia, a guy from Spain, and a guy from Russia. We went sightseeing yesterday and visited several temples and Sarnath, the place where Buddha attained enlightenment.

I’m supposed to have dinner with two of my friends (Calder and Hutch) from abroad tonight, so looking forward to it!

I just got back from a 3-day trek in Nepal (through some very small villages and lots of rain). Let me just say that the night before I depart for the trek, my friend was had ultimately decided to fly back home due to urgent matters. So you can see how scared/surprised/nervous I was to go on the trek the next day at 7am.

So, next day at 7am I went down to the lobby to meet the guide. His name is Kumar and he was very friendly and helpful. After taking an hour-long car ride to where we would begin and then getting breakfast, he then warned me that today would be difficult because of the uphill journey. He was not kidding!

We climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed uphill. Through the rain, through very sketchy “forest areas,” and through mud puddles. At one point, we had to hide under a pubic gazebo-esque structure for an hour because it was raining so much.

However, he was very kind and helpful throughout the entire trek (total 6 hours) and insisted that we take occasional breaks. We got to a village called Chisapani around 2pm, where we would stay the night. I immediately showered and took a 3-hour nap. The village consisted of about 10 or so hotels/guesthouses and not much else. I had no access to the internet nor power for most of the night because of a blackout. Furthermore, everyone in the village sleeps no later than 9pm. After eating dinner at 530pm and then playing card games for about an hour, I was told, “bedtime.”

The next day, we departed for Nagarkot, which is a slightly bigger city about 20 km south. Three things happened. First, I got bit by two leeches (be warn of graphic images). Second, it rained and rained and rained like there’s no tomorrow. I was soaked the entire 20km trek. Lastly, Nagarkot is absolutely an amazing town! From here, you get breathtaking views of the surrounding area and Kathmandu valley as well as a partial glimpse of Mt. Everest. Unfortunately, it was too hazy and I did not see it. But nevertheless, it was a great city and I liked it a lot.

The last day, I got up at 630am again for the last time to trek the last 8km. Nothing too exciting happened, but I’ll post up pictures soon and show you the gorgeous views!

I have a confession to make. I’ve been going to a chained cafe called Cafe Coffee Day in India in so many different cities. It’s similar to Starbucks and I mainly go here because it serves iced coffees. If you know anything about India, it’s that people love tea. Coffee is hard enough for people, but iced coffee is just a completely foreign concept to most Indians. Okay, that was it. 

Second, I’m in Nepal safe and sound now and will depart for a 3-day trek tomorrow. Most to come soon!