Constant Progressive Discomfort

the drivers view
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So as promised, here's the bus ride story. First the ride to the put in.

I was prepared for a two day bus ride, but no matter how much one prepares there is just no way to be ready for the carnage that occurs both inside and outside of the bus during this time frame.

The bus was packed. The top was filled first with the communal gear, rafts, food, etc, and then on top of that was the kayakers kayaks. We barely fit underneath the power lines. Inside the bus, well there just is no way to give an accurate description of the disarray of the inside of the bus. There were people in every seat, gear, abovfe a sitting person's head in the aisle in the back half of the bus. Some people sat on top of the gear, others were on the coolers that were in the front half of the bus. I had a seat, but I think the aisle would have been more comfortable.

still have half the "windshield"
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The seats were the most comfortable I've been in since being in Nepal, but that should not be misunderstood as a comfortable seat. After ten hours in a bus there is no such thing. It became a matter of readjusting in the little space available to loosen up one knot in my back and start to create another.

In addition, traffic in Nepal is pretty unpredictable. An accident can delay traffic indefinitely. Case in point, after a few hours on the bus we arrived at a large traffic jam. There had been an accident the night before. Some of these cars had been waiting at least 12 hours. One of our guides explained why it took so long. First, after an accident occurs, which is usually a car hitting a pedestrian, the locals beat the hell out of the driver. Then eventually, and this is a long eventually, and ambulance comes. After another long waiting period the police finally arrive, and whatever their process is, it's a long and slow one. Luckily we only had to wait an hour and a half. Strange to think that waiting an hour and a half is lucky, but it could have been much, much worse.

On top of the delay, our bus driver was slow, which is strange in Nepal. We were way off schedule so we stopped at a different "hotel" than we had planned for the night. The room I was in was really two rooms. The first room had enough space for eight people to sleep. In the back section of the room was a huge "bed."  A frame with a wicker base for sleeping, five people slept there, then a "bed" for two and a "bed" for one. I was in the adjoining room. Here we had a little more privacy. A double bed which I was on and a single. I had the fun half of the double bed, there was a broken spot that acted kind of like a trap door. If I laid down it balanced fine, but if I would just sit up my butt would have gone through to the floor leaving half my torso, arms and legs still up on the bed. I was very careful climbing in and out and my roommates were greatly entertained.

The next day was more of the same. Another 12-13 hours on the bus. I felt my back had recovered a little overnight, but it didn't take long to start getting sore. The last part of the drive was the worst, although interesting. I knew the western part of the country was supposed to be really remote and it is. The last three hours was all on an unpaved road and we only passed two other vehicles on the way. The biggest problem wasn't the slow speed that the dirt road and the sheer drop offs caused us to amble along at (although that was unpleasant too) it was the dust that was kicked up and made its way into the bus. I would be exaggerating if I said the dust was suffocating, but it was pretty miserable all the same. I would have preferred not to breathe.

Even without traffic jams there are always surprises and we got a surprise pretty near to the put in. There had been a landslide and while most of the rubble was cleared away our bus still scraped and was a little stuck. So we all got out of the bus and watched the driver put smaller rocks under the front wheel to try to get some more clearance. Site of the former rockslide on the right, sheer 500 ft drop on the right. We took pictures and video of what seemed to be the most absurb part of our journey as the bus wobbled over the rocks and cleared the rock slide debris. I would not have wanted to be the driver at that moment. Back in the bus, more dust, lots of time to coin the perfect phrase for this two day epic bus ride, constant progressive discomfort.

But we made it.

Of course there has to be a story for the ride back, right? Well there is. Half the group was staying at a National Park for a day or two and then flying back. The other half (my half) went back on the bus for another 23-25 hour drive back to Kathmandu. Now we appreciated the fact that there was more room. I had two seats to myself which was a great luxury. But we noticed there was something different about the bus, something very important was missing. A rock had broken the windshield and it was gone. In its place was a big peice of plastic (cloudy colored) with holes ripped in it and clear tape covering the holes so the driver could see.

Between our humorous reaction to the bus modification, and the necessity to finish the rum from the trip our bus trip started in a festive mood. The music was blaring, our guides were dancing in the aisle, it was all good fun. Somewhere along the ride I fell asleep and when I woke up we were parked on the side of the road. I guess the driver was ready to sleep for a couple hours. Anyway after travelling for awhile sometimes you understand it is better to just go with the situation than to ask questions.

The next day was not quite as festive. No one slept well, the plastic had to be remove due to deterioration and we were all sitting in our sleeping bags trying to keep warm for about 12 hours. Finally we got back to Kathmandu, made plans to meet up for pizza that evening and all went to our respective hotels to shower and lay down in a bed.

For those interested I have video of the bus ride that I can show when I get home, I believe it has to be one of the most bizarre journeys of my life.

I'd also like to quickly answer a question I got about laundry on my entry on an ordinary day.

As far as my laundry goes I either do it by hand in a sink with woolite (more typical in Europe) or take it to be done for me (it's really inexpensive in Nepal). There have been a few occassions where I have been lucky enough to have access to a washer either when staying with friends or at one hostel, but over all it's really about an equal variation of the three right now.

And as far as questions/'requests for information go it's great to get them, it helps guide my entries a little bit and it's easiest for me to respond to them if they are sent to me on my blog, although email works too. If you want to write a question or comment on the blog you first have to  create an account with realtravel.com. It's very easy. Once you have an account you will have access to write comments/questions on my blog. So I hope that helps anyone who is interested.

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone.