7th April - the final day in Nepal
Today was our final day in Nepal. We were to drive the 150 km to Kathmandu for a final night in the Royal Singi hotel before our flights the following day. We had a lie-in! Breakfast was at 07:30 and we left at 08:30 in the bus. I'm pretty sure that soon after we set off, we were stopped by someone at the roadside, and lo and behold, Suchit's laser pointer had been found, and kept to hand back to him on our departure. I don't think that would have happened in the UK! The first thing that happened then, was that we ground to a halt in the adjacent village where there was a slow, colourful [and noisy] parade in full swing, apparently in connection with the blessing of a new temple. Some of our group alighted and joined in the festivities and returned to the bus, adorned with the red dot or tika. We eventually made our way past the colourful throng and hit the road in earnest - although 150 km is not a huge distance, it would take most of the day as we were to drive a winding road through the Himalayan foothills back up into the Kathmandu valley. The first stop was in Bharatpur to drop off Dhiraj, the excellent young guide who had been my personal telescope and tripod porter for much of the time when we were on foot - thanks Dhiraj!
Thereafter it was a long grind seemingly uphill all the way along a constantly twisting road, with manic truck and bus drivers overtaking on blind bends - everyday driving in Nepal it seems. The buses and trucks were a wonder to behold, all brightly decorated and emblazoned with suitable logos such as "Gorkha Tiger", "Road King", and one bus had "Speed Control" painted on its bumper - you must be joking! One large van we followed for quite some time had a stunning painting of a Himalayan Monal on its back doors - needless to say we didn't add that to the list! We had a comfort stop at a very posh looking restaurant and hotel with lovely views over the valley and stopped for fuel in one of the many towns we passed through. Eventually we stopped for lunch at a cafe overlooking the valley and river below. Many villages were 'split' on either side of the fast flowing, and wide at times, Trishuli river, and all had pedestrian suspension bridges, some of which looked rather rickety, in order to pass from one side to the other.
Thereafter it was a long grind seemingly uphill all the way along a constantly twisting road, with manic truck and bus drivers overtaking on blind bends - everyday driving in Nepal it seems. The buses and trucks were a wonder to behold, all brightly decorated and emblazoned with suitable logos such as "Gorkha Tiger", "Road King", and one bus had "Speed Control" painted on its bumper - you must be joking! One large van we followed for quite some time had a stunning painting of a Himalayan Monal on its back doors - needless to say we didn't add that to the list! We had a comfort stop at a very posh looking restaurant and hotel with lovely views over the valley and stopped for fuel in one of the many towns we passed through. Eventually we stopped for lunch at a cafe overlooking the valley and river below. Many villages were 'split' on either side of the fast flowing, and wide at times, Trishuli river, and all had pedestrian suspension bridges, some of which looked rather rickety, in order to pass from one side to the other.
We stropped at one point to try and find the local endemic, the Spiny Babbler, a species only found in the central hills of Nepal. This involved stopping the bus just off the road, and standing next to the road to scan the steep hillside opposite [with a precipitous drop behind us!], whilst the traffic thundered by! The call was heard a couple of times, but the bird refused to show and then it started to rain, so unfortunately we had to abandon the attempt. We then pressed on non-stop for Kathmandu, eventually reached the outskirts ..... and ground to a halt. Here the main road merely became a narrow bumpy road through the extensive outlying parts of the city, and as we soon discovered, there were extensive road repairs taking place, plus there had been what turned out to be a rather nasty accident involving a motorbike and a truck. A couple of ambulances had great difficulty trying to get through the dense traffic. From hitting the traffic jam, it took an hour and a half to eventually reach the Royal Singi, whereupon it decided to rain very heavily but our thoughtful driver managed to get the bus under the extensive hotel entrance canopy so we didn't get a soaking as we disembarked.
Once inside some of us treated ourselves to a nice coffee and a piece of cake and others chilled an chatted. Eventually we all got together for a group photo [see home page] and it was then time to bid a sad farewell to Suchit, who unbelievably had another tour to lead within a couple of days. We thanked him most profusely for his friendliness and diligence in leading our tour and finding the birds for us and generally making it a very enjoyable experience. It was then time for a shower after a pretty tiring day, and dinner. The Glamorgan Bird Club group [i.e. Anne & myself, Alan, Mike and Dave] decided they were too tired to go out so we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant, and Rachel, together with everyone else, went out to eat at the Opium again. Both parties had good meals [the hotel wasn't as busy as it was on the 31st Mar and had an excellent buffet on offer]. Finally it was time to finish packing and bed.
Once inside some of us treated ourselves to a nice coffee and a piece of cake and others chilled an chatted. Eventually we all got together for a group photo [see home page] and it was then time to bid a sad farewell to Suchit, who unbelievably had another tour to lead within a couple of days. We thanked him most profusely for his friendliness and diligence in leading our tour and finding the birds for us and generally making it a very enjoyable experience. It was then time for a shower after a pretty tiring day, and dinner. The Glamorgan Bird Club group [i.e. Anne & myself, Alan, Mike and Dave] decided they were too tired to go out so we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant, and Rachel, together with everyone else, went out to eat at the Opium again. Both parties had good meals [the hotel wasn't as busy as it was on the 31st Mar and had an excellent buffet on offer]. Finally it was time to finish packing and bed.
8th April - basically a travelling home day. We didn't have to get up too early thankfully, but after breakfast it was straight off to the airport in our bus, to check in, which all went smoothly. The plane was late arriving at Kathmandu and thus late departing so our group had a bit of a rush to get to the departure gate for our onward flight at Doha, but all went well and the flight home was uneventful. The overall trip is summarised under the 'Summary' menu item, but needless to say, it was greatly enjoyed.