Fire and Ice - 11 October 2008

We spent last night in Nyalam in what 2 weeks ago would have been considered basic accomodation.  After a night a Rongbuk, though, it was pretty nice.  The combination of space and decrease in altitude led to the best night's sleep I've had in a while.

We crossed the "Friendship Bridge" on the border between Nepal and China (or Tibet, depending on how you look at it).  I would complain about carrying our luggage, but I saw a Nepali guy carrying a department store display case using his head, so I didn't really have it that bad.

Mil went to the trouble of telling us that they drive on the left-hand side of the street in Nepal, so we need to be careful and look the other way.  As far as I can tell this is wasted advice - they drive wherever they want to in Nepal.  The bus ride from the border to Kathmandu was one of the most nerve racking experiences of my life.

They've got to have at least 4 different horns on the bus, each with a different meaning.  As you round a corner, you sound the horn (since the road is too narrow for two vehicles).  If someone else is coming then a negotiation ensues, and one of you has to back up.  To help with the backing up there's a "handler" who thumps the side of the bus with his hand when it's safe to back up.  I don't know the distance we covered, but we covered a lot of it twice.

It's only worse in the cities.  At one point we tucked in behind an ambulance and used it like a flying wedge in football.  I read the kindle as much as I could during this ride.

On the way to Kathmandu we passed a bungy jumping place, with what we were told was the second highest fall in the world.  I would do it, but I'm scared of the bus ride back - seriously.

At Kathmandu we stayed at the Fuji Guest house, where we had a warm shower and a king sized bed.  Heaven!  We also found Pilgrim's Book Store, which has English language books cheaper than they'd be in the States, and has all of the climbing related books you can imagine.  We found the 4th edition of "Trekking in the Everest Region," which we'd been looking for for our upcoming trek.  All in all, very pleasing.

We met up at Fire and Ice, a pizzeria in Kathmandu for a little western food to end the trip.  It was outstanding - garlic cheese foccacia, pizza, and pasta - a fitting end to this part of our trip.