Tag: nepal
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Namaste, Nepal: Over Mountains and Forest and Seas
I’m flat on my arse on top of a muddy hill, my legs flailing and my feet scrambling around. As I fell backwards one of my shoes came off and is lying six feet ahead of me. My face is blushing because everyone that was on the bus with me up to the top of…
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Namaste, Nepal: It’s So Different Here
I love spending a day on two wheels. I’ve hired a bike. It cost me $12 for the day. Pokhara is a town that stands along the edge of Lake Phewa, and it’s also the gateway to the Annapurna ranges of the Himalayas. As such, most people who are trekking to the mountains will base…
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Namaste, Nepal: It’s a Holi-Holi Day
Are you going to play Holi? That’s the question that everyone in Nepal has been asking me since I got here. Of course, the (former) English teacher and current editor/proofreader in me wants to correct it to take part in, but we’ll let that one slide. And yes, I am going to participate in the…
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Namaste, Nepal: Ain’t No Mountain Higher (or, the day I went to see Mt Everest)
It’s freezing when my alarm goes off at 4.30 a.m. Due to its elevation (2,200 metres above sea level), Nagarkot is cold. I’ve only a threadbare duvet cover on the bed and the tip of my nose is freezing. I can see my breath in the air as I arise from my slumber and go…
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Namaste, Nepal: Lost in the Light
Is there word for something that is worse than atrocious? Atrociouser? More atricious? Whatever it is, it doesn’t even come close to describing these roads that I’m currently bumping and jolting along as we wind our way up into the mountains towards Nagarkot. I’m squeezed into front seat of a tiny little van. The driver…
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Namaste, Nepal: Remain the Same (Bhaktapur day 2)
Morning in Bhaktapur. I’ve had a great sleep, and now I’m hungry so I head up to the rooftop to eat breakfast. It’s still hazy out there, and I’ve learnt by now that the mountains I can just about make out through the haze are definitely not the Himalayas in any capacity. Om, the receptionist…
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Namaste, Nepal: Bhaktapur
After Boudhanath stupa, I fold my 6ft 5in frame back into the front of the “taxi” and we begin our journey to Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley. We begin to wind our way out of the city and into the country and the roads out here are atrocious. I have to put my hand against…
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Namaste, Nepal: Death at One’s Elbow
Today’s the day I see a dead body for the first time. I’ve left Thamel and the centre of Kathmandu behind, and I’m off to Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley. My hotel has arranged a “taxi” for me, and I’ve asked if the driver can drop me off at the Pashupatinath temple and the Boudha…
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Namaste, Nepal: Running Up That Hill
For all my talk of liking to do things alone and wandering around getting lost in new cities, there are times when I feel like I would like the company of others. My friends Marc and Yvonne visited Nepal a couple of years before I did, and Yvonne puts me in touch with a chap…
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Namaste, Nepal: A Day in Patan
To the south of Kathmandu, across the river, lies Patan. It is another city, and it can be reached in around 30 minutes by car. I don’t really know what to expect to pay for a taxi, so I google it and I read that one should haggle with the taxi driver and pay no…
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Namaste, Nepal: The Road’ll End in Kathmandu
“And when you walk around the world, babe, You said you’d try to look for the end of the road, You might find out later that the road’ll end in Detroit, Honey, the road’ll even end in Kathmandu. You can go all around the world Trying to find something to do with your life, baby,…
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Namaste, Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal. Mid-February 2018. For the first time since I left Korea in January, I am in a country I have not been to before. After my illness over Christmas, the trip to Japan, saying goodbye to some very special people, the packing up of my apartment and the selling off of pretty much everything…
Postcards From Dan 