Following on from our last post, a little
while ago now, we were just a short hop away from Kathmandu. Even still it took 12 hours to eventually
roll in under cover of darkness, having inched our way up the winding roads in
single file, sometimes stopping for up to 2 hours at a time. Playing board games and I Spy in the cab to
keep us entertained.
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| Kathmandu at last |
The last two weeks in Kathmandu, for the crew at least, have involved a lot of hard work. Each day negotiating and then bumping and weaving along in little Maruti Suzuki taxis, often laden to the axles with shopping and equipment, through the narrow streets, our sightseeing satisfied, apart from a quick trip to the monkey temple, by glimpses of Patan’s Durbar Square out of the window.
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| Swayambhunath, the "Monkey Temple" |
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| Steps down from the Monkey Temple |
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| Washing in Thamel, Kathmandu |
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| Street shrine |
We scrubbed and cleaned, hunted for leaks,
sealed every little gap and crack we could find, installed a new stereo, the
back locker was sprayed silver for extra sparkle and the front bull bar smart
matt black. All the wheels came off and
brakes serviced. A new piece of glass
was cut to size and fixed on. Last but
not least, a hoover (thanks to our generous hotel) and good scrub and polish,
windows so clean people later asked whether truck security had been breached
and they had been left open. Calypso was
ready to go.
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| All the wheels off |
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| Front left |
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| Leak busting |
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| Preparing for a new front window |
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| Get those nuts tight! |
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| Some very dodgy home electrics |
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| Rogs loves vacuuming |
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| Hels loves copper slip |
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| Scrubbing & cleaning |
We were delighted to finally meet the
group, having only had passport copies to go from on what to expect and who to
look out for, we’re pleased to confirm they’re a much better looking bunch in
reality.
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| Interesting pre-trip mug shots... |
Judging from the level of chatter on the
first evening everyone was settling in nicely and getting to know each other. We are made up of 9 Aussies, 7 Brits, 2
Americans and 5 Kiwis, we have people new to overlanding, Extreme Overlanders (who have done another Odyssey Overland trip before) and even Bruce B & Judy who overlanded in 1975 from Kathmandu to London, we
do have 2 Bruce’s, Dr. Bruce and Bruce B as well as a Sue and a Suzie.
We were due to leave Kathmandu on Friday 13th,
a dubious date, however due to some delays with permits for China we
spent an extra night there. So in the end
we spent the best part of a week in Kathmandu, we think it’s safe to say
everyone saw the monkey temple, a lot had their first glimpse of the Himalayas
up at Nagarkot, everyone did some shopping on the streets of Thamel and it
seems most also spent a night sitting on the loo or on the porcelain telephone
to God. Good to get those bugs out the
way early!
On the morning of our departure, Saturday
14th, a road block and diversion leaving the city messed us up
slightly, in trying to re-join the main road we made an unintentional visit
into the centre of Bhaktapur and back out again the way we came, in reverse,
around tight corners and under an arch.
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| The group ready to go |
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| That's better! |
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| This looks perilous... |
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| Jobs up, ready to go |
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| Sue giving us the royal wave boarding the truck |
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| Streets of Kathmandu |
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| Thamel traffic |
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| Leaving Kathmandu |
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| Monastery outside Kathmandu |
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| Calypso on the move |
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| Reversing back out of Bhaktapur |
When asking locals directions is definitely
worth remembering not to put words in their mouths. “Kodari, this way?” They respond “Yes!”. If you put your arms up and say “Kodari,
which way?” They will more likely have
to put some more thought into their response.
A couple of hours later, having only travelled 31km so far (the journey
to Istanbul could take some time), we suddenly felt a loss of power in the
engine, conveniently next to a fuel station.
A hasty tilting of the cab and changing a dirty fuel filter, we thought
we were back on our way with full power again.
Only for it to happen again a few minutes later.
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| Dave, Phill & Adrian scratching their heads |
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| That filter looks a bit dirty |
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| A charity Nepali runner stops for a chat - with Dave, Bruce, Judy & Mindy |
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| Still on the run when we passed him later |
More investigation and deciding the whole
tank of fuel must be bad we found a friendly fuel station who were happy to
suck the diesel out of the tank and siphon it into a barrel.
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| Locals sucking diesel |
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| Bye bye diesel |
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| Sam making friends with the locals |
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| Steamed momos for lunch |
Another clear out of the fuel filter and
once again we went for a drive. To our
dismay we lost power a third time. Time
to make a plan. A local bus was
scrambled to take us the additional two hours up to our destination, bags on
the roof and we were finally on the move again, leaving Rogs behind with
Calypso, driving up a stunning road, sheer drops each side, to just short of
the China border.
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| Mixed reactions to our alternative transport |
Not quite the day one on the road we had
hoped for and planned but morale was not dampened as Rogs arrived with a
healthy Calypso only a few hours later.
After moving half a ton of stone tiles to clear the already tight
parking area in the dark, at last, cold beer in hand, we could toast the day. A pesky piece of plastic had found its way
into the fuel system and was intermittently blocking a pipe.
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| Hmmm... we need to get the truck in there |
Sunday morning back home would normally
involve a lazy start. Not on the road
when days of the week become quickly irrelevant. We were all up early from our safari style
tents at the hillside retreat, The Last Resort, for a great breakfast spread
and then to spectate Linc do the bungy from the suspension bridge over the
gorge. With two Go Pro’s attached and
the morning after a heavy night, he probably didn’t know where he was or what
he was doing, he swan dived without hesitation.
Spurring Rich and Mark on to also take the plunge, being weighed in and
jumping equally gracefully before all heading off to attack the white water in
rafts for the rest of the day. Extra
respect to Mark for bungee’ing on a dodgy stomach, very, very brave and to late
entry Lisa for an afternoon canyon swing and the longest, loudest scream!
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| Suspension bridge over to Last Resort |
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| Stunning gorge |
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| Last Resort accommodation |
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| Suzie sweeping out her tent |
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| Rich swan diving |
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| Lisa mid-swing |
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| Linc, Mark & Rich the bungy brave |
The crew chose tent number 13 at the Last
Resort in an attempt reverse our luck.
Judging from the steep hillside we are perched on and number of
landslides along the way there is a chance one will sweep us all away down
river, back to Kathmandu, and we’ll have to set off all over again!
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| Squeezed in amongst the rubble |
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| Our very own security chicken |
And now to China! Our permits have come through and we are off!
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