I'm in Katmandu!!!

wow, what a journey... I left Delhi without incident, after buying myself a flute (I want a guitar!!!!) and got on the train to gorakpur. After about an hour of lying in my bunk trying to smile at the little kid opposite me without him hiding his face in his hands, a long haired rosey cheeked yorkshireman appeared and plonked himself down on the seat below, squeezing in between the indian family members that made up the rest of my compartment. He introduced himself to everyone as Matthew, and it turned out he was sleeping in the bunk opposite me. He'd bought a bottle of spirits from Korea with him, so we settled down to get pleasantly drunk, and talked to each other in pidgeon english. It's fascinating the way being in india affects the way you speak. You become so used to simplifying your sentences and not using complicated words, that when you find youself speaking to a native english speaker, you still talk to one another like your both retarded! "Hello, my name is billy, what is your name?", "My name is matthew. Are you going to katmandu billy?" "yes, I am going to katmandu".... etc etc...

After a while we realised that we understood one another and the words started to flow more freely, and before I knew it I was asleep. The next morning, we arrived in Gorakpur, and a Nepalese woman and her daughter told us that they were also going to Katmandu, so we decided to follow them. We went outside and found a Jeep that was heading for Sunauli, on the border. We climbed in, and I thought "man, I hope this ride isn't too long", as it was really cramped in there. Then about 5 more people got in!! There were 15 ppl in total in a normal sized Land Rover!! I was sat in the boot, which had a seat on either side facing the middle, and 3 ppl on each seat!! But they told us the journey only lasted an hour, so we thought what the hell.... 4 and a half hours later we arrived in Sunauli.

About 10 mins into the ride, we came across a roadblock of sorts, and our landrover turned around and went back, taking another road instead. We then drove for 4 hours thru the remotest villages imaginable, asking ppl for directions in every village! It turns out that our drivers didn't have any documents of licences etc, so in order to avoid the police, had opted to avoid the main road, and instead head cross country. Bastards. It was a pretty harsh journey, but we made the most of it, singing beatles songs very badly over the sound of hindi music blasting from the stereo....

When we finally arrived in Sunauli, we headed for the border, and almost walked straight thru it without realising it was there! No one stopped us or asked us anything! Then we walked back, and eventually manged to find the Indian immigration office, hidden under a shop. The same happened on the Nepali side of the border, where we walked straight past the customs office, which is set back off the road a bit. Eventually we got our visas, and decided to stay in Sunauli for the night, as we were literally caked in dirt and needed rest badly!

The next morning we got on the bus which we had bought tickets for the previous night. No sooner had we sat down than we were told that our seats weren't actually our seats, and we had to move! Being stubborn english bastards we stuck our ground and refused to move, and eventually they gave up trying....

About halfway thru the journey, Matthew decided to go and sit on the roof, and after another 30 mins, all the foreigners on the bus went to join him. It was awesome: driving along winding mountain roads with 8 of us clinging onto the roof rack for dear life as we careered around hairpin bends at breakneck speeds. Overtaking on blind corners, narrowly avopiding decapitation by electricity cabbles, looking over the edge of cliffs as the bus tilted around the bends.. such fun! At one point, Matthew's bag came open, and his precious hair conditioning oil (he has long shaggy hair) went flying off the back of the bus and dissapeared. Matthew was not happy. It wasn't just conditioner, he told us, it was special indian conditioner, only available in calcutta, and it was the only thing that stopped him looking like Jimi Hendrix on a daily basis. So, when we stopped about 2km later for a piss break, Matthew lept of the back of the bus and started jogging back down the mountain, shouting "Don't let them leave without me!" as he dissapeared around the corner!! After about 20 mins, the bus started it's engine and was about to leave! We shouted at the driver to wait, but he pretended not to understand, and the bus started to move. We all studied the horizon for any sign of our hairy yorkshireman, but to no avail. Then, just as we were about to give up hope, a small, sweaty, bare chested figure came around the corner, still jogging. He made it back to the bus just as it pulled away, and to top it off, he'd actually found his hair conditioner!!!! It was only a very small bottle, so this was pretty amazing if you ask me!

Anyway, we eventually arrived in katmandu, and when we got off the bus i was first greeted by the sight of hundreds of marijuana plants growing wild at the side of the road! and this is in the middle of the city! So we all trekked off together to find a hotel, and eventually found one in Thamel, the main tourist area.

After a meal of spagetti bolognaise with BEEF!!!!! Yes beef!!! In case you didn't know, in india you can't get beef anywhere, cos cows are just so damn holy! Anyway, after food, (and beer!) we went to a casino. I've never really liked casinos, and this one was no exception. I tried to gamble a bit on the one armed bandits, but it just felt too wrong. Here I was throwing money away 10 rupees a spin, when I've just spent all day refusing to give away 10 rupees to people who really need it! Every coin I slipped in and lost made me feel more and more guilty, so after I'd spend my 200 rupees (about $3), I gave up.

When I got back to the hotel, I remembered that i'd forgotten to taker my Larium tablet (for malaria), so I decided to take it then. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!! I hadn't eaten anything since dinner, had been drinking beer all evening, and had no water to wash it down with. Almost immediately after taking it I started getting the worst heartburn and indigestion i've ever had, and my mouth started pouring saliva and all in all I felt worse than I've felt in a long time. I didn't mange to get to sleep until about 3 hours later, after waking up the hotel staff to give me water, and sitting on the side of the bed clutching my stomach for what seemed like eternity! I think it's time to stop taking this Larium shit. It's not good for you...

anyway, that's about it for now. I go to pick up selene (my gf) tomorrow from the airport!!! :)