The Proverbial Carrot

Da na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BAT CAVE!

Well.  It feels like a while since I last posted but it's been none stop action since we landed in Nepal.  Now that I have a bit of down time I figured I should let you in on what's happened over the last 10 days or so.  I don't want to bore you with drab stories of cultural experiences, I know you're all eagerly awaiting bowel updates but some of the things we have done here need a little mention at least.  So, mountain biking, bat caves, mountain top sun rise, elephant trek, elephant bath, canyoning, white water rafting.  I think that about sums it up.  Now that that's all out of the way we can get on with the usual stuff.


We arrived in Nepal on the 23rd of March, being UK citizens we were able to obtain our visas on the door which was handy.  Easy enough you might think but I'm over thinking that things might be straight forward now.  We filled in the appropriate visa documentation, got out enough cash from the ATM in the airport (Nepalese currency is the best monopoly money so far) and joined the winding and slow moving queue to have our visas processed.  After waiting in the queue for an hour we reached the processing desk and were sternly informed that we could not pay for our visas with Nepalese Rupees.  What? Where are we? Did we not just land in Nepal? Are we not applying for a Nepalese Visa?! Why were we not informed at the other end of the queue?!? WHY ARE YOU WASTING MY ALREADY LIMITED TIME IN YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY?!? And breathe.....Without causing too much of a scene we left the queue and headed for the currency exchange desk where we paid an over the odds commission on a terrible exchange rate to get American Dollars.  Ohhhh, that's why we can't pay using Nepalese Rupees.  Fleeced.  Good start.

After the initial visa annoyance things ran pretty smoothly during our time here.  The biggest problem that we've faced is knowing that there is so much to do and that neither our timescale or budget would allow us to do it.  There are 14 day rafting expeditions, paragliding flights around the peaks of the Himalayas, 40 day treks, bunji jumps and all other manner of exciting and challenging activities.  Our visit to Nepal has only shown us that we need to come back with more time and more money.  I've felt like a horse with a carrot dangling in front of me on a piece of string.  It's just been one big tease.  That said, we have made the most of our time here.  We have challenged ourselves and its been amazing.

I know right, look at the view..............

I never thought I'd manage a 53K mountain bike trail to the top of a mountain where we had to gain 860m during one day.  I never thought I'd have the balls to suspend myself at the top of a 45m waterfall and abseil down it.  I never thought I'd have a bath with an elephant and I never thought I'd struggle to shimmy through the roof of a cave filled with bats.  It's good to challenge yourself every now and then though, the things that scare you the most are the things that you get the most enjoyment from when you conquer them....or something. Philosophy anyone?

This was more tiring than the cycling.

After the first day of our bike ride we stayed in a guest house at the top of a mountain in Sarangkot.  I'm told that the views from here are amazing but naturally a haze had descended on the whole area making it impossible to see anything.  We had hoped that it might be clearer in the morning for sunrise (I might as well tell you now that it was no clearer, don't hold out for an explanation of the view or a photo, you'll be better off searching Sarangkot in Google images, that's what I had to do).  Our time at the top of the mountain was incredible all the same.  We spent the evening hanging out with the local kids playing football, cards and teaching them how to ride bikes.  It was a really touching experience (yeah, uber traveler chat again, sorry).  We stayed in a really cool guesthouse which cost about a quid and even came with a toilet attendant.  Not the kind that asked for money for turning on the tap for you either.  It was a pretty effective toilet attendant given that it had eight legs and more eyes than I could count, good for multi-tasking.  It was the right colour too (too far?).  In case you haven't figured out what I'm trying to say, here is a photo of said toilet attendant.

Our friendly toilet attendant.

It's a predicament to be scared shitless and to scared to shit.  I might of tried to kill it but I'm sure if I stood on it it would have carried me away to its nest.

The hostel stated that the shower was located outside.

Although spiders are a bit too much for us, we do like being close to nature so we headed to Chitwan National park for a few days to go on an elephant trek.  I'm sure that you can imagine going through the jungle on the back of an elephant is a pretty amazing experience, and it was.  We were even lucky enough to encounter a wild rhino (I've thought of having another playful jab at Laura with some kind of "Laura is a rhino" style joke but the Cracken thing from my last post didn't go down too well, so I'll lay off).  After the trek we took a stroll down to the river where the elephants go to bathe.  For a small fee the elephant trainers would let you jump in and have a bit of a wrestle and a wash.  I was surprised how gentle and responsive they are given the size of them.  It was a lot more fun than the typical "bucket shower" that we're now used to.


The past few days have been a little more adrenaline fulled.  Canyoning and white water rafting made for tiring and challenging changes to our pretty comfortable routine.  I felt like a total action hero during both days even though I was a) shatting myself and b) rubbish at both activities.  Nonetheless I done my best and managed to survive.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but that is the expression of fear.

So, we have successfully managed to obtain our visas for China and are due to fly out tomorrow.  Hopefully we are about to start another exciting period but China has a lot to live up to if it wants to be as much fun as Nepal.  As I said last time I'm not sure what the crack is with internet usage over there so you might have to wait a while for the next post.  I'll make sure I keep notes so that I don't miss anything out.

Lessons learned this week:

1. There isn't much you can't do if you really put your mind to it.
2. Conquering a fear is the biggest adrenaline rush you can get, so get on with it.
3. If I have to have the standard traveler conversation (Where are you from? Where have you been? Where did you like? Where are you going next? etc.) my head will literally burst.
4. I'm more scared of spiders than I thought.

Apologies if this post looks a little higledy-pigledy.  The computer I'm on isn't the easiest to work with.