Leaving Nepal. It was sad because we had an incredible time there. But it was TIME to leave and we were MORE than ready to get to India already! The trip from Pokhara to Varanasi actually took more out of me than I thought it would. The first leg of the journey: Pokhara to Sunali (Border crossing). The bus took about 9 hours (instead of the 6,7 or 8 hours that we were told) and it was a PRETTY twisty, bumpy ride. I was REEEEALLY glad when it was over. From there is was a 20 minute bicycle rickshaw ride to [View Full Entry]

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If you haven’t been to Nepal before you are probably wondering what those strange words are. You might think I am speaking Klingon or that I have joined a new-age-take-over-the-world Ashram and those are mind controlling verbal cues. You would be wrong in both cases. These are the food items that are available to the trekkers on the Annapurna circuit (and anywhere else im sure in Nepal). Thugpa is a thick soup, Dal Baht is rice and lentils, Saag is greens. Food is definitely NOT a highlight to a visit in Nepal. The TREK! If youve never heard of the Annapurna [View Full Entry]

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Bandipur is incredible. Quite possibly our favourite spot in Nepal, to date. Set high up in the hills, full of breathtaking Himalayan views, gorgeous Newari architecture, well educated and smiley locals and surrounded by rice terraces lining the hillsides to the valleys below. We fell in love and were so thrilled to be there that within the first ten minutes we found a guesthouse, said yes to it and later were kicking ourselves (again) for not looking around a bit more before settling. It soon hit us that we were actually renting out someones room in a family home. It was [View Full Entry]

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It was a wiild ride to Sauraha from Daman. The first day continued to wind and twist its way down and through the mountains. We were, of course, 2 tourists on a bus full of locals who were almost ALL getting sick from the bumpy ride. It’s not the easiest thing to ignore, but we hung in there and managed not to get sick ourselves and managed to not have anyone get sick ON us (...this time). And of course, things are never as easy or straightforward as they are as home and there was a lot of wondering about where [View Full Entry]

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Actually, the trip to Daman was much more interesting than the town itself...and the trip there wasn’t even very interesting. We left Bodnath at a decent hour in the morning, stepped outside the initial stupa site and we were instantly mobbed by taxi drivers who will take any price that you first ask just so that they won’t lose you to the another taxi. We asked to be dropped off where we could catch a bus to get to Daman. As we drove back through to Kathmandu and the outskirts thereof, I was more than happy to be heading towards the [View Full Entry]

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We knew, from reading about it and speaking with other tourist, that Bodnath was going to be special and it most certainly did not let us down. We left Kathmandu, by taxi, and it only took about 25 minutes (and $3.25) to reach the small village of Bodnath. As soon as we arrived in town we could see the famous GIGANTIC Bodnath stupa towering over the buildings that were blocking it from the main street. Incredible. We were let out at the entrance to the stupa, grabbed our backpacks and turned around to see the giant stupa in front of us. [View Full Entry]

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Oh darn. What can I say about Patan? I've left it too long to write this, only four days, but my brain is so overloaded with new things that it's hard to remember. Let's see, we took the public bus to Patan and arrived only after a quick 10 minutes after we had left Kathmandu! The town is much like the old town of Kathmandu. Narrow cobblestone streets, beautiful wood carved window frames, busy locals buying fresh chilis and barley from the vendors, teeny tiny doorways leading to teeny tiny shops and of course the countless temples and shrines awaiting us [View Full Entry]

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After a hard nights sleep and an extremely early awakening (3:30am) due to jetlag...we weren't feeling our freshest. Doesn't make for a prepared state of mind to take on the gruelling streets of Delhi. Thankfully all we had to do was grab a quick breakfast and check out of the hotel in order to catch our flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. So, we sat ourselves at a restaurant down the street and dug into some masala dosas and chai. Then it hit...the BRIEF moment of panic and stress... I had realized that our flight was in fact 1 hour and 45 minutes [View Full Entry]

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The 15 hours on the plane from New York to Delhi, in comparison to the first ten minutes in Delhi, were well...completely and utterly incomparable. Just stepping out of the airport we had a rushing feeling of being on a totally different planet. The first breath I took was very telling. It smelt a little like smoke, a little like mango, a LOT like urine and alot like many unidentifyable things. We got into the minivan with the driver who came to get us from the hotel (bless him!) and we were on our way into the city of Delhi. At [View Full Entry]

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The adventure begins!! It begun before we even left, as a matter of fact. An emergency,high-stress sitaution arose, just to test us, of course. I had to make an urgent trip to Ottawa the day before we were leaving in order to collect our passports and visas from the Indian embassy who had taken a little longer with them than expected. But low and behold..the crisis was solved. Phew. We took a train from Montreal to New York City (normally 11 hours, but ended up being 14 because of "rail delays"). And of course as any adventure begins we met some [View Full Entry]

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