Rafting Adventure - Day 1

Up about 4:20, showered, finished packing and got to Ultimate Descents at 5:00, got my big backpack and my valuables stored away. We walked to the bus and left at 5:30. We drove through Kathmandu, part of the way, then got stuck in a HUGE traffic jam!! We didn't move until about 9:00. We drove (slowly, behind all the other traffic), for about 30 minutes, got just outside Kathmandu, and got stuck again for another two hours or so! You see, for the last 10 days, there has been a general strike called by the Maoist rebels, and all road travel has been pretty much shut down for the past 10 days. Today is the first day anything can get out of Kathmandu, and all the busses and good carriers are itching to get to their destinations. The army has many checkpoints scattered throughout Kathmandu, but they don't let anyone pass until they have orders to start letting vehicles through. Everything was at a standstill until they opened up the checkpoints. Then, it's slow going, because the army does random vehicle checks too.

So, here we were, one bus in a line of vehicles that stretched for miles, all trying to get out of Kathmandu.

Once we finally got going, the views of the Kathmandu valley were amazing. The road followed the Trisu river west, then south, then finally opened up onto the terai (the flat bit that runs along southern Nepal). We stopped at Chitwan National Park and dropped a few other backpackers off that were just getting a ride with us. We stopped at a town called Mugling for lunch (Dal Bhat).

There were four of us on the rafting trip, two of them, Steph and Shaun, opted to fly east, rather than endure the bus ride. So, it was just me and Will on the bus, along with the bus driver, his girlfriend, and 5 guides and some other guy. Of course, the bus was packed with all our supplies, the rafts, the kayaks, etc.

We were supposed to meet Steph and Shaun in Dharan tonight. We didn't make it. By a long shot. We were about 6 hours behind schedule, because of the checkpoints, and the army has imposed a curfew on night travel, so we were forced to stop in some two-bit village for the night about 7:30. Our guide arranged accomodations for us, and we ate Dal Bhat (rice with potatoes and other spicy things). Dal Bhat isn't that tasty to my taste buds.