Breakfast at the Mustang, boiled eggs, channa and old samosas. Tom feeling off though we can't work out specifically as the rest of us are fine and we have all eaten the same things including the Buff dishes up at Bandipur.
Load up and cycle out of town as a group of four but it is not long before it becomes clear that Tom is out of sorts. We part company just before Abu Khaireni as Tom and Anja seek out the closest suitable accommodation to see out the storm while Soph and I continue back into the hills up towards Gorkha.
Gorkha is most well known as being the home town of the Shahs and more specifically Prithvi Narayan (born 1723) who is known as the great unifier of Nepal. Prior to his time Nepal consisted of separate principalities, but Prithvi through battle and negotiation succeeded in unifying the country and fighting off the East India Company in 1767. The Shahs were descended from the Raja (Rajasthan) princes who relocated north east during the period of the Moghul invasion of India. These Indians being ardent Hindus left rather than convert to Islam.
It is interesting as Nepal's state religion has been identified to us as Hindu versus India which was identified as Secular. Bhutan Buddhist, Pakistan Islam and I believe Bangladesh (once identified as East Pakistan) also. For some reason I always thought of Nepal as being predominantly Buddhist, like Tibet. In fact during the Licchavis (?) period Bhrikuti a princess of the royal house was given in marriage to the then king of Tibet. She was a fervent Buddhist and is acknowledged with both converting her husband and impacting the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism. She is known in Tibet apparently as the "Green Tara" versus the "White Tara" a Chinese princess also Buddhist and second wife to the same king (Srong Tsam Gampo 640AD)
Prior to cycling on towards all this history, we pulled into a junction store for Pepsi and water to keep us going up the known incline to Gorkha at 1143mtrs. Abu Khaireni though a busy highway junction stop and therefore with mobile food salesman and women floating around the bus stand in addition to potential passengers, was surprisingly ordered and felt clean. No obvious open drains with stagnant stench and there were bins in the main street off the highway.
Turning at the T intersection towards Gorkha the road immediately climbed and then dropped down to the bridge crossing (which I believe was supported by the Chinese) over the broad, but currently rocky Marsyandi river.
Both China and India seem strong players in this nugget of a Himalayan border country, you can understand the challenges faced by policy makers with such land locking neighbors looking over your shoulders. Again interesting for such a historically strong and independent country, though arguably populated by a fair share of ex Tibetans and ex Indians. It makes one feel less complicated living in an island nation where though States may fight verbal and political battles over irrigation usage (of state border crossing rivers such as the Darling) it will not lead to anything stronger. If global temperatures however do increase and water scarcity increases with ever growing populations or even if Nepal secures financial support to construct large hydro schemes the neighborhood might get more frisky.
Once across the bridge and the speed humps before and after, climb through more of town on the far bank before approaching a police check point. Marked as usual with a hut on the side, a stop sign and tire dividers in the middle of the road. Not as usual though we are waved over by the blue fatigue uniformed officer who post checking requested us to fill in a tourist register, the first time since crossing the border. Though unexpected the police officer seemed smiley enough and once we had filled in sufficient detail wished us a good trip. We rode off into the sunshine with Soph's hackles slowly subsiding at the unusual request.
The climb up from Abu Khaireni started frustratingly as we climbed only to fall back to the Darondi Khola (river) crossing prior to climbing and descending once more into the next valley. From here the road climbed consistently around the back of a u shaped hill range that showed Gorkha on the far side for much of the later climb. Though nice to have a target the warm sunny afternoon and tiring legs lead to a torturous mirage as the ams fell but the hill settlement seemed no closer. Finally following a last minute emergency coconut cookie restock we curled around the last two bends prior to a final straight long climb to potential accommodation.
Saturday being the national rest day saw plenty of little cherubs floating the road sides as school being out. One little posse requesting a whole range of different options whilst we sweated by dragging us and our luggage up the tar. Soph however scored with one little boy deciding to push rather than drag on Bobette, running behind and sticking with her for a good hundred meters of uphill. I unfortunately did not draw the same attention having to instead deal with the smiling hyenas requesting rupees or sweets.
On the way up we had been passed by numerous small buses and mini vans carting what appeared to be the masses up to Gorkha. Now approaching accommodation and exhaustion we became increasingly concerned with our options. The first option, being the lowest location recommended by Lonely planet turned out to be full due to a conference. Thankfully the second, the Gurkha Inn, though undergoing extensive reconstruction was not as full. Any further cycle up or down being depressingly daunting and so we decided to wear the seemingly exorbitant room charge for want of nothing more then a hot shower and somewhere to park the bikes. Closely followed by some substance having not eaten, with the exception of cookies and some bananas since breakfast.
The hotels garden was bright, light and refreshing as was the room with the manager confirming to Soph that unlike the rest of the Indian subcontinent, builders finished work onsite at five pm. Bikes waiting at the bottom of the stairs we sunk into the non peddling warmth and available comfort before lunch on the terrace below overlooking the hazy valley.
When the sun finally began to fall and our legs settled we walked up to the bus stand and the main chowk to assess our eating options being semi impressed with the hotels options. We settled on one place also a hotel which identifiably cooked momos and chowmein, due to a heaped mound of part cooked noodles and large stainless steaming pots. Due to the Nepali favoritism to Dal Bhat (both in associated food range and timing ie 10am and 6pm) and a lack of signage in English it sometimes is really challenging to assess the options prior to committing to a location.
In the restaurant we caught up with a young confident Australian guy who was studying South Asian studies at ANU and his Singaporean traveling companion who had just completed her studies of the same. Together they were wandering their way through the sub continent gaining culture insights and developing communication skills. They next planned to head to Bangladesh but were confronted with the logistical challenge as though only 27kms or so from corner of Nepal a land crossing would require an Indian visa to transit. A flight being an expensive alternative. Very interesting and with a range of travel stories they relocated with us for chiyaa and sweets following dinner prior to saying our goodbyes.
After 'cycling' with you thanks to your interesting blog, I am feeling tired!
ReplyDelete