Thank you for following my blog posts so far. If you have travelled a bit you’ll realise that it is hard to journal and to really appreciate the experience at the same time.
It’s a conflict between becoming more like a journalist than being a traveler in the moment and just enjoying it. I decided to stop posting and just add some photos to Facebook or Instagram for the time being.
From Darshan we went on to Saga overnight and then down to the beautiful border town of Gyirong. Like Switzerland. After that it was a long 12 hour journey to Katmandu. We were delayed around five hours at the border because a landslide had taken out power and Internet and there was no border processing, even on the Chinese side. But we got to Kathmandu late in the evening after some of the worst roads I’ve ever encountered. There was a 4km queue of trucks on the Nepali side of the border at the side of the dirt track that doubled as the main road.
The contrast between the Chinese side with an imposing edifice and the Napali side, with what I can only describe as a shack, was quite something. But almost at once it felt a relief to be out of the persistent sense of control and surveillance in China and into the chaotic but delightful dynamism of Nepal.
Kathmandu was a bit of a shock to the system with chaotic traffic. Then down to the Chitwan nature reserve for very relaxing 3 days. Saw wild crocodiles and rhinos but no tigers. Back to Katmandu and was joined by my other group from Wellington to go trekking in the Annapourna region of Nepal. We were delayed a day by the floods and landslides but got to Pokhara eventually.
My public Instagram is at https://www.instagram.com/dermotobriennz. Thank you.
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