Jumping 160m off a bridge - twice!

22 Dec 2012

We got up bright an early on Saturday (5am to be exact), the day after returning from Bandipur to head to The Last Resort office in Thamel ready for our crazy day of bungee jumping and canyon swinging!

The bus ride took about 3hrs and it was.. shock horror - a different road! That's right, for the first time in our almost 2months in Nepal we were traveling in the other direction. It was cool to see the different mountainous views, but once again the bus was freezing as wind was blowing through all the broken windows. There were 3 large buses of us which I thought was weird as I wasn't expecting so many ppl to be jumping! We somehow got on the local one with all the Nepalese and of course that meant it was a lot smaller then other 2 and we were uncomfortably crammed the whole way.

The bus was stopped many times for Nepalese military officials to climb on and scan the rows and go through our bags - Sam said this was because we were traveling very close to the Tibetan border and I guess they were looking for smugglers. But seriously they stopped and searched us about 10 times in that 3hrs - insane! One time the official came right up to Sam and started talking to him in Nepalese... This happened many times in Nepal so far. The locals think Sam is one of them! He just smiles and always responds in English that he doesn't understand, they then usually hear his thick Aussie accent and understand. When this guy was talking to Sam in Nepalese, Sam responded 'Sorry mate?" He emphasized the 'mate' to which made me start giggling. All the locals around us started laughing to...lol.

When we arrived we all piled out of the bus then crossed the swing bridge in a massive line, all trembling as we looked down knowing full well we were going to jump this later. Some girls were freaking out already saying 'I can't do this, I can't do this!".

                                                           Walking across the bridge!

On the other side was the resort where we proceeded to gather and be informed of the days events, the safety precautions, how to jump correctly etc etc. It was all very exciting. There were only a small section of us that were doing the swing and bungee. When they cost 72 Euro each or 90 Euro for both combined wouldn't you do both? I mean what a bargain!

We were split into 5 groups according to our weight. Group one the lightest and so on up to the 5th group. All the swingers had to go in the first group as they wanted to get through the swing quickly. As I was the lightest person doing both bungee and swing I had to be the first bungee jump of the day. Sam was the 4th or 5th swing. They swapped between the two, doing a swing jump, then bungee, then swing and so on.

                                                   Our view as we jump!

I got strapped in, the guy videoing my amazing few words (not!), I got to the edge, the bungee master counted down 3...2...1... BUNGEE! And off I jumped, no hesitation, just gone... The crashing river of rapids below me coming at my head full speed. God dammit bungee is insane. Surprisingly it wasn't that different from my first bungee which was only 45m. I thought an extra 100m would make a huge difference in the fall but it didn't feel any different at all. Ahh the crazy feeling of free falling head first into the ground is like nothing else though...wicked!

The unfortunate thing about bungee Nepal was that once you got unstrapped at the bottom you had to hike back up the steep 160m all yourself with no water. I was dying! it was so steep and I needed water bad. I think it took me roughly 20mins before I reached the top.

I went straight back to the bridge because they told me I had to be quick and get my swing over and done with. This time I waited on that bridge for ages! It was so long and my nerves starting going all crazy as I watched swing after swing. The bungee I had done before and knew what to expect,  but the swing... that's something else entirely. When my turn came up I quivered with nerves and excitement, said some more inspirational words and back on that ledge again I was. This time I'm strapped to my body, not my feet, so it felt really different having my legs free and also jumping off upright instead of diving head first. Also, the extra 4secs of free fall too the bungee felt like forever! 7.5 seconds in total! I know it doesn't sound like long but you count that out slowly in your head and think of yourself free falling for all that time. Honestly felt like the longest moment in my life - it was insane! Your body is all loose in the air and starts to tip forwards and you're like no no no! trying to keep your body upright before you finally feel the security of the rope and you swing only meters above the raging river... much closer then you reach with the bungee.

Sam didn't do his bungee til group 3 which wasn't til like 4pm. He thought it was the scariest thing he's ever done in his life and didn't even feel safe when he felt the rope. It wasn't til he was let off it on the ground that he finally felt safe. Overall he said the bungee was terrifying and all but the swing was so much fun - I actually agree, the swing was definitely the best! We wanted to do it again and again whereas with the bungee you're like that's it for life... haha

We met some awesome Europeans who we ended up hanging with all afternoon talking about our jumps. One dutch guy was this crazy adventure type who had jumped out of a plane on his own like 200 times, and so he did the swing 3 times, doing something different each time. They wouldn't let him have the rope attached to his back until he jumped 2 different ways first, but when he did finally do the third jump with it on his back holy shit it was insane! We were watching on the side and he actually went straight into somersaults! Apparently he never intended that, his body just went that way in the air! Crazy crazy!!

By the time all the groups were through and we were heading back it was already dark and quite late. Then of course we had stupid check ups from the military nonstop on our way out, one time causing a traffic jam of up to 40mins which was super frustrating. We finally got back about 10pm, ate dinner at our favourite wrap place then fell into a deep deep sleep.

Medieval Bandipur

18 - 21 Dec 2012

Tuesday of our last week in Nepal we set off for the little hilltop village Bandipur. I had to do some research to figure out how to get there as it's not a common bus route. The friendly boys of Monumental Paradise said we just need to get a taxi to the local bus station in the morning (at the godly hour of 6am), then jump on a bus direct to Bandipur from there. Apparently none of the tourist buses go there, they only stop at Dumre, which on the way to Pokhara. Then from Dumre you need to catch a local bus up the hill to Bandipur. I thought this direct local bus to Bandipur was a great option, that meant no stopping in Dumre and having to find the local bus.

So we get to the local bus station about 6.30am, immediately we stand out like dogs balls. No tourists here! Local Nepalese men start bombarding us, wanting to know where we're going so they can take our business. When we say Bandipur we get directed to this small desk, pay a measly 500 rupees for us both and that's it! We climb on the local bus with no leg room and try to get comfy as best we can. We're in for a roughly 5.5hr trip. Luckily we left our big bags back at Monumental so we only had our day packs. Somehow I managed to squeeze them above our heads with boxes of shit and blankets and all sorts of stuff. This bus is not made for baggage. We head off fairly empty but as we slowly ease out of Kathmandu (extremely slowly after flat tyre problems) we start to pick up more locals along the way and soon enough we're full to the brim, eventually picking up so many that they are standing in the aisles on top of each other. It's insane.

                                                                      Local bus!

We finally reach Dumre which we're told will be a 15min stopover. Cool, so only another 20min drive up the hill and we're there! Thank god, as the bus is getting really uncomfortable at this stage as they loads bags of rice in the aisle along with the millions of locals. There is barely room to breath.

Once we get going again I start getting really excited, Bandipur was my thing. I really wanted to visit this very unique and special town. Time passes and I realize we're going up, then down, up then down... Aren't we supposed to be driving up the hill? A lot of time passes and I start to get worried. Finally the bus boy asks us where we're going (every bus driver has a bus boy who takes money as people get on and off and helps the bus reverse and park etc). When I say Bandipur his face changes and I realize we were actually meant to get off in Dumre after all. There is no fucking direct bus to Bandipur from Kathmandu!! God dammit, I wish I had known this but the locals all insisted - yes bus goes all the way to Bandipur.

Thankfully the bus boy was keen to help us and got the driver to stop then jumped out in some random local town and disappears into another bus stopped behind us going the other way. He runs back and tells us to get on that one with the little English he knew. We had no idea where that bus was going or when we were supposed to get off. The bus is loaded with people and I have my day pack which is bulging, my big camera bag and also my pillow and jumper etc which I had to grab in the rush of jumping off the other bus. I'm an unorganized mess trying to grip all my stuff with every hand and finger I had. I had my back pack half hanging off me and as I'm trying to squeeze through the people all in the aisle I"m bumping everyone. They keep telling me to go back further in the bus but the entire aisle is packed and I have no idea how to get through without knocking everyone's head. I only get in a little way, the bus starts going and I'm trying to hang on the bar with one hand while carrying everything in my left hand. I couldn't support myself and I keep going all over the place while the bus is driving crazy. It was fucking stressful. Finally I get down the back of the bus and stand in an empty part of aisle, have room to fix my bags and put them on the floor and support myself with both hands. Eventually a guy leaves and I get his seat. I find out that we're going back to Dumre, where we have to get off and find this other local bus.

We had to pay 50 rupees each for the trip we shouldn't have been taking... Going back to Dumre felt like forever. It took us almost an hr to get back! What a fucking setback. I mean I thought we had been driving for awhile when we were heading the wrong way but I didn't realize it had been quite to that extent. I guess this bus was alot bigger so it was slower and of course it stopped a million times to let locals on or off...

When we finally reach Dumre it doesn't take long before we find the local bus to Bandipur. It's a very small bus and luckily we got to it early so we got seats at the back before piles and piles of people and bags of rice and whatever else filled every inch there was. It was hilarious watching them all try to fit! We waited an hr before we left but thankfully there were guys out the window selling us stuff to pass the time. We bought fresh coconut for 10 Rupee.

As soon as the bus leaves we are already on a windy road heading up the mountain - now this is more like it! It takes a mere 25mins and costs us 30 Rupee - cheap as chips!

Bandipur is amazing. Already you can see how different it is from Kathmandu. The cobblestone streets, the wooden and brick buildings...It's so cute! Sam and I start searching for a guesthouse. We go in one after the other and are shown the tiny rooms that really makes you feel like you're back in the 1800's in England. The little wooden tours, stone floors and walls, wooden window frames... And so so cheap! They all had shared bathrooms and the toilets were horrible squat ones so Sam and I kept looking. He was starting to feel a bit off and needed a proper western toilet. Eventually we settle for the most expensive place there with a huge room, comfy bed and en-suite. It stood out from all the rest by miles in that it was just a normal place, more Western then Bandipur style. The price tag was quadruple to the rest of the places to. I really wanted to stay in the cute medieval style rooms but Sam wasn't feeling well and needed a proper toilet. Still was the same we'd been paying with Monumental and Lotus Inn anyway, only $12.


We went to dinner along the main street. All the restaurants were part of guesthouses and had tables set out on the street. No vehicles allowed the town at all which made it feel so quiet and peaceful. All the tables had candles and we soon found out why, out goes the power and the town is in darkness - except of course for the candle lanterns which added an amazing atmosphere. I was in love.

After dinner Sam went downhill fast. He had been talking about feeling a bit off earlier but now it really escalated. Once he started vomiting that was him for the rest of the entire night. He was up every 15mins coming out both ends. He'd come back to bed shaking uncontrollably and try cuddle up to me for warmth. When I felt his skin I could feel that sickly cold feeling. It was shocking and unfortunately when one person is sick the other has to hear it and be awake all night. So we didn't get much sleep that night at all. Somewhere along the way I drifted and Sam must've to.

In the morning he was not as bad but he wasn't better either. I headed out to eat some breakfast, walk around the village and try find a chemist for some antibiotics. The walk was positively lovely. I walked all the way to one end, then went down the hill and looped round. I got a full feel of the place. I walked where there were no tourists and only the locals who were all so friendly and talking to me, asking me why I came to their village and what I'm doing there. Kids were everywhere, playing and smiling and waving at me - also wondering why I'm there. The place is fairly knew to tourism so I guess it's still a mystery to them as why foreigners are walking around taking photos of them.

I couldn't find a pharmacy anywhere! The place is so untouched that there are no shops, no pharmacy's... nothing. Just locals selling goods to each other out of their homes. So I went back to Sam empty handed and found him watching tv on my laptop - looking much better. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the room which of course wasn't how I imagined my stay in Bandipur but we still had one more day so we could do something tomorrow. Today was all about Sam getting better.

The next day we checked out of the fancy place as Sam was healthier and we had agreed that if that was the case we'd check into one of the more rustic local places for a third of the price on our last night. I was so excited!

We found a place with a western style toilet, shared but just outside out room and our room had the cutest window looking out over the mountains. Sadly in Nepal there is so much haze so taking pictures of the mountains tends to be a challenge. After dumping our stuff we set out for the caves we had read about. We decided to walk on our own and found ourselves going down the mountain on steep slippery stone stairs. All the while trying not to stack it I am thinking 'God it's going to be awful on the way back up!'. About half way down 4 young local boys catch up with us and ask if they can 'group up with us' as they are heading to the caves as well. The only problem was they were way faster then us, flying down these steep slippery steps and we are struggling to keep up with them! Eventually we reach the cave and unfortunately we have to pay for a guide because the boys weren't allowed to take us in.

                                                               Our bedroom view

                                                                 Our cute room!

I was soon grateful for the guide as the cave was massive and pitch black inside. Sam and I didn't think of that! It was really cool inside, but I couldn't get any good pics with my camera. There was some real tricky bits where we found ourselves slipping and sliding our way down. Apparently it's the biggest cave in South East Asia... impressive. We walked up and down through many sections of the cave, looking at different formations and enjoying the humidity compared to the cold outside.

When we were done we found the boys sitting outside waiting for us and were soon climbing back up the hill with us. I was hoping they wouldn't secretly as I knew I would struggle to keep up with them! Sure enough I am soon dying, gasping for air, my heart is beating out of my chest and I feel like vomiting. Bloody kids are are flying up the mountain. We stop for a break somewhere and the boys start playing a card game.I was grateful to get my breathing back in check.

                                The oldest boy holding a plant where you can eat the seats  - good protein!

                                                          The exhausting climb back up

As we get closer to the top they go their separate ways from us and we continue back to our room to shower and relax.

That night I took some night shots with my SLR, but we had smoked some hash in the bedroom and I wasn't functioning properly and didn't understand my damn tripod! it was doing something really strange and I thought it was broken... turned out I just needed to screw the freaken head in as it had come loose! Dumb arse I am.

The next morning we got up early and rode the local bus down to Dumre and jumped on another local bus back to Kathmandu ready to spend our last weekend in Nepal.

I was very happy with our trip to Bandipur, and even though Sam was so sick for half of it we still enjoyed ourselves :)

Back to Kathmandu

 13 -17 Dec 2012

Kayaking put us over the total time we were supposed to be spending in Pokhara as we had this plan of doing a loop back to Kathmandu through some villages we were recommended. Lumbini - the birth place of Buddha with some cool temples, then Bandipur - a medieval hilltop village that's just super cool because of the old style buildings and then Nagarkot - Only 2hrs out of Kathmandu but another hilltop village with a magnificent view. We thought 2weeks would be plenty of time to meander through these and get back to Kathmandu 7days before our flight so we can sort out a Thai visa. You can only get 30days on arrival and we needed 60.

Unfortunately we had lost a whole week due to the kayaking so we decided to head straight back to kathmandu instead and sort out the visas first then maybe just do Bandipur & Nagarkot after that. Well due to all day bus travel we didn't arrive til late on a Thursday. Friday we couldn't do the visa run as you have to do it between 9am and midday and still had to go to the bank, get a cheque and print out statements from our banks showing our current funds which proved more difficult then I ever imagined. Fucking Nepal. we couldn't even get the bank cheque that day because they wanted our passport! And they closed in 15mins which didn't give us enough time to go back and get it... Luckily they open Sunday, then the Thai Consulate opens on Monday. This all meant however we had to spend a whole 5days sorting everything out and seeing as we were in our last week and half it took away all our time and plans.

We decided to have a few drinks after the bank and just relax as we had so much time now. A few drinks turned into many with the 2 for 1 cocktails and the many Tuborg beers. When we were well and truly smashed by late afternoon we decided to head to Sam's bar. The bar we went to on our first day in Nepal. The guy remembered us there and we had a great time telling him what we got up to over the last month and half. The beers kept flowing and we got more drunk by the second. We met these awesome young locals, about 19/20 yr olds and in our drunken conversation we got their face book details and contact numbers because apparently we talked about catching up with them Christmas eve.

Soon our bellies were asking for for food and we decided to head to 'Jatra' down the rd which had become a favourite of ours for their amazing honey pork ribs. Seriously they were divine! However I took a turn for the worse after ordering and all the alcohol hit me at once. I began to spin out and felt like vomiting. I tried in the restaurant's toilet but couldn't so I spent the next 40mins with my head in Sam's lap trying not to vomit while he ate our BBQ wings entree then both our orders of ribs. Apparently the staff and other customers were laughing at me and giving Sam a thumbs up because it looked like I was giving him head! Omg so embarrassing... but the state I was in I didn't care less at the time.

we got home at the early time of 8.30pm smashed out of our minds and collapsed into a drunk sleep... Ahhh. I woke up at 1am starving out of my mind however and Sam woke up with an incredible thirst which he then proceeded to drink every drop of water we had. Now in Nepal if you want something at 1am in the morning - too bad! Nothing is open, the country goes to sleep at 10pm. Even in the massive capital city of Kathmanudu. So Sam is dying of thirst and I'm dying of hunger but we couldn't do anything about it. It was frustrating! All I had eaten on the Friday was that chicken wrap before we went to the bank and then started drinking. 1 mealsy chicken wrap for 24hrs. I was seriously craving my ribs now!

Monday came along quickly, we submitted our visa applications and passports then went back to our guesthouse to pack. Tuesday it was time to head to Bandipur! Woo!

4 day beginner kayak clinic

 7 - 10 Dec 2012

So after watching our safety guys in the kayaks during rafting, Sam really wanted to give it a go. I kind of did, but my fear was really strong and I was hesitant. I'm pretty outgoing and I love crazy adventure activities, but the idea of being strapped into a kayak through white water scared the shit out of me. Especially as you could see how easy they tip and I don't like the feeling of being upside down under water - it freaks me out!

Finally after asking my fellow face bookers I was convinced to give it a go. After all, I'm over here to try new things, step out of my comfort zone and experience shit right? So our first day off, we head to the paddle nepal office to pick up our rafting pictures and ask about the kayak clinic. The staff are so damn good at selling things to you, especially when they gave us $40 off the total price because we'd already done canyoning and rafting with them. Right then and there we signed up and paid in full by credit card. This was it. I was really doing it! The fear already starting to bubble in my gut even though we still had 2 more days off.

The clinic was 4days, 1 day on the Fewa lake right here in Pokhara and the other 3 days on the river,camping 2 nights. Each day would be slightly more difficult as we progress with our skills and reach new challenges on the river. Apparently it was the perfect beginner river - getting harder each day.

Day 1 we headed on down to the paddle nepal office at a reasonable time of 9am. We were given a short briefing about kayaks, what they look like, how to fit in them etc before we were each fitted our new kayaks that we would be using for 4days. We then had to carry them 200m around the corner to the lake. Getting in for the first time already felt unnatural. The way you are trapped in this very light and flimsy boat that felt like it could tip any movement you made. We began by paddling across to the other side of the lake, me being way at the back, struggling to get the strokes right and I kept spinning round in 360 circles - it was so frustrating! Sam wasn't doing the best either, he was way ahead because his paddle stroke was stronger but he also kept spinning around haha... I could not stop laughing! The other couple who were with us, from the Netherlands, seemed to have no trouble at all paddling and were way in front. Apparently they were big into canoeing - bastards! lol.

We finally reach this bay on the other side and then the basic skills teaching start. The first one is self rescue where we have to capsize ourselves and detach ourselves from the kayaks underwater upside down and get to the surface. Fuck. It terrified me! Basically you wear these wet suit type skirts that attaches you to the mouth of the kayak so no water goes into your kayak when you capsize in the river. The guys on the river were rafting just rolled themselves back up.It's insane! I was terrified I wouldn't do it right and I'd be stuck under the water. Because these skirt things seriously trapped you to the kayak, the only way you can detach yourself is by pulling this lose tag at the front, but you have to learn forward under the water or you won't find it. We had to do this 3 times. It took me forever just to do the first one as I was so fucking scared. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. The guide almost came and pushed me under as I was taking so long.  Why can I bungy after the countdown without hesitation but I can't capsize myself in a kayak? Being underwater just freaks me out, having to figure stuff out on your own underwater freaks me out. I don't trust myself and I always think I'll do something wrong.

So i finally did it, I wiggled my hips from side to side and capsized myself, leaned forward upside down under the water, found the tag, pulled it, then swam to the surface and tipped my kayak back the right way. 1st time was great.But then I had to do it again. Second time not so great. I didn't lean forward and I couldn't find the tag and I started to panic. Eventually I did and came up gasping for air after choking on water. He said I took too long that time. The third was better again and this time he wanted us to stay under and hold our breath for as long as possible before pulling the tag and releasing ourselves. Stupid me though automatically pulled my tag straight away which of course starts flooding the kayak so I knew I had to come up or my kayak would sink.

We learn t a few more tricks with the kayak before lunch. The T rescue was one which is when you capsize then you bang on the bottom and when you feel the rescue kayak you pull yourself up with it - saves detaching yourself and flooding your kayak every time with the self rescue. This one also freaked me out and it took me awhile to even attempt it. You just feel so heavy and stuck upside down under water and I didn't think I'd be able to pull myself up. It turns out it's all in your hips. You need flexibility. Sam learnt the eskimo roll and nailed it! I never got the chance as we ran out of time - on the river the guide said I'd learn.

                                                     Sam learning the eskimo roll

The next 3 days were wild! Being in the river felt completely different to being in the still lake. I struggled even harder to just stay ahead and kept turning in circles - in the rapids to! My first rapid was terrifying. I just didn't feel in control and felt so vulnerable in the kayak, like every single tiny wave felt massive as it hit you and twisted you this way and that. I struggled just to stay upright. At the end of the first rapid I capsized! haha, I made it through the actual rapid but capsized at the end where all the currents crash into each other. I did a self rescue which was easy peasy and then I started to relax a bit realizing it's not so bad when you fall out. I only fell out once on the first day because there was only one major rapid. All the rest of the smaller rapids I managed somehow. Luckily I was at the back with this guy Zom who looked after me so well. He basically baby sat me through every rapid, directing me which way to go and what to do. Not that it's easy in the rapids to control where you go and what you do, but that's all part of learning I guess.

Sam fell out way more then me! He was really good at all the skills we learnt but he wasn't so good at controlling the kayak and paddling correctly. He fell out millions of time lol. 

We camped on the side of the river on a sandy bank both nights which was so cool! We'd literally drag our kayaks up on the bank and set up camp then chill out by a fire with a beer which one of the staff managed to get on the way. Then in the morning after breakfast we'd pack up then drag our kayaks down and jump straight back into the river! It had an awesome feel of being in the wild. I loved it!

                                                                      Campsite No. 1

The second day we went through 3 major rapids and lots of smaller ones. I didn't fall out once! I made it through every single one! It felt so amazing. Sam wasn't so lucky but he didn't have a good guide helping him like I did. I reckon that's the only reason I made it through. Well I made it pretty obvious I was terrified the entire time, every single rapid we approached my stomach would tighten and my heart would race. It was terrifying, but so exhilarating as we were actually in the rapids. The white water in your face and rocks everywhere, you can see nasty parts of the rapids you need to avoid or you'll flip and trying so hard to paddle the safe route. It was all so intense and so much fun. Like nothing I've ever experience or attempted before in my life.

We would stop by the side of the river for lunch half way through the day which was always so picturesque. Zom started to teach me the eskimo roll at one lunch stop but we only spent about 5, 10mins on it. I did get the hang of it so far but I reckon more time and I would've had it perfectly!

                                  Me doing the T rescue with Zom - so scary having to capsize yourself!

Day 3 on the river was the craziest by far, we had about 9 major rapids in total! By this stage I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the kayak and I'm starting to understand how to control myself a little. Not completely, and not enough for the kind of rapids we went through but somehow I only capsized twice that day! The first time wasn't even in a rapid haha, it was in a stupid current that I was practicing some skills in and fucking capsized myself lol. Sam came out on one of the really long rapids that had heaps of rocks. He came out right at the start and had to float down the rest of the way, hitting every rock around. Ouch. My second capsize that day was at the very last one which was a crazy massive whirlpool which rocked my kayak so hard I had no chance. Sam and also the Netherlands girl came out there to. The second last rapid was probably the most fun as you had to navigate between this massive rock on your right and then a massive wave on the left which sucked two people in and capsized them but I made it through! It was so cool!!

                              Me and Zom going through a rapid - look how unco I look! haha (I'm behind him)

So as crazy as the beginner course was, it was one of the best things I have ever challenged myself with. I'm so grateful I stepped out of my comfort zone and experienced something so wild and different! Sam and I want to do more, wherever we can in the world! We hear Queensland has some opportunities, so maybe we'll go there next! :)

                                                  Our team at the end - finished! Woo!

White Water Rafting!!

 3 - 4 Dec 2012

We went straight from canyoning to white water rafting, so no chance to sleep in and recover from our big day on the waterfalls.We tried to have an early night but it was our last one with Aneka so we had to say goodbye. She was feeling incredibly home sick and lonely as Nepal is hard to meet people. As we've found out ourselves. Luckily Sam and I have each other. She was talking about heading back home early and not seeing the full 10 more days in Nepal she had left. Poor Aneka... I wish we could've hung out with her more to make her feel better. But we had already booked all this stuff and were on the go non stop stil at least after the rafting, but she couldn't wait another 2days on her own so we bid farewell before heading off to bed.

We had to be at the paddle nepal office at 5.45am this time which totally sucked! Luckily there were local men selling hot bakery goods which is exactly what I needed. I got a chocolate pastry twist thing for only 50 rupee (55c) - cheap as chips!

The bus was once again freezing and we were mighty uncomfortable. It was a long ride to, we didn't get there til lunch time. When we did finally stop and they pointed out the river we'd be jumping in, we realized we had been here before! We had passed this river heading to our trek start point. Oh this lovely road that we seem to keep driving on...

Lunch was delish! It was salami and salad sandwiches which you make yourself with bananas for desert. After I made my sandwich I headed over to this rock and sat down when all of a sudden I feel something heavy on my plate, I look down and there is this massive stick insect which makes me jump out of my skin and I lose half my lunch on the floor. When I realized it was just a prey mantis I calmed down and let him chill there until someone came and took him off me. I seriously felt so stupid for freaking out over a harmless prey mantis.

After lunch it was time to get going. I was feeling mighty nervous as I had been all month.Doing a river classed as 4+ was scary, considering I'd done a max 3 before and that was wild! Plus in the bus they were talking about this river being a 4+ and 5+! fuck! We had two rafts between the 8 of us and several staff split between, some American's, a Scot and a french Canadian were running the show. One of the safety kayaks was an extremely tall American guy with long blonde hair, so we soon started calling him 'Thor', apparently he gets that a lot.

So we jump into the river with the excitement cursing through our veins - woo! after an hr or so I start wondering if this river is even class 3. It just seemed so calm and easy compared to the 3 I did in Ecuador. I mean there were some really crazy rapids but only a couple and they were so spread out that the rest of the time we were just cruising. The couple of crazy rapids though were certainly insane! We  made it through every single one of them without any of our crew falling out. The other raft was not so lucky.

We rafted for about 2-3hrs before driving about 20mins to our campsite. I was mighty disappointed as on the website it shows you rafting then camping on the side of the river - that's what I wanted! I didn't want to drive to our campsite - lame! I guess because we changed rivers this is what happened... oh well.

Camp was next to a school, still by the river though. Sam and I hung out with the 6 Europeans though it was hard because most of them could not speak very good English. Thor guy started making a fire so I congregated over there where he and the photographer (also in a kayak) were talking shit. He was young and from the UK so soon Sam and I were having a good old chat to him about our travel plans coming up. He's the one who told us that to stay in Thailand longer then 30days we need a visa, which we can apply for in Kathmandu. So that was now on the agenda. We also started talking about the beginner kayak clinic, because the safety kayaks made it look like so much fun! They all started raving about how awesome kayaking is and how you will get addicted and you need to  be careful because soon, that will be all you'll ever want to do. It will take over your life. Maybe it was the warmth of the beer and the fire combined, but we pretty much decided then and there to do it! (even through my fear!)

The second day we jumped straight into the river we were camping on, which I was very happy about. We seemed to have less big rapids today but the ones we did were INSANE!! Once again we never fell out. This American girl who was staff and helping steer the raft ended up taking over the instructor spot at what should of been a breeze in the park - however she let us straight in between all these rocks so the raft got stuck and started to tip upright, with the back going under. We were all jumping from side to side trying to get it back upright but it wasn't working. Then somehow everyone was falling on my side and I got pushed out of the raft. I was gripping on with all my might onto the ropes on the side with my right hand and hanging onto the paddle with me left. My body was getting sucked under the raft by rapids and I was almost ready to give up with the instructor saw me and yelled at everyone to help me in. Sam - my knight in shining armor came to my rescue! That ended up being the funnest part that day! haha

You can only see me in the first pic (3rd on the left side) because the photographer was on the right side. But in the last two I am hanging off gripping for dear life!

We only rafted til lunch time, then headed back to Pokhara after lunch. It was a long long drive back....

Canyoning

Dec 2nd 2012 was our awesome day of canyoning!

We had to wake very early and be at the Paddle Nepal office by 6am. Yuck. The only downside to doing such awesome activities always means an early rise!

The bus ride was a few hrs and was freeeeeeeeezing. The windows are always broken and the breeze comes in from every angle. Sam and I wear every warm item we own and still freeze. It's horrible. When we arrive we're straight away given a briefing and getting dressed in our wetsuits. Thank fuck for wet suits. We're stupid enough to go sliding and jumping off waterfalls into fresh water in winter in Nepal, so at least we have wet suits!

We start with a half hr steep hike up the mountain. We're in heavy wetsuits and carrying heavy harnesses and caribeeners. I was dying. I certainly didn't feel like I had just done a 19day hike in the mountains, I felt like I had been a lazy slob for the last month as I was literally back to my unfittest moment! My calves were killing me and I was puffing like crazy.

Finally we reach the top and we get to play around in a fresh pool with a massive waterfall. It's now I realize that wet suit is fucking brilliant! I can't feel the cold! The first half hr is spent learning how to abseil down a 10m waterfall, then practicing safe jumping in a very shallow pool - which Sam ends up with his worst injury of the day - whacking his elbow on a rock. We finally get to the good stuff. Our first slide! Our guide is from Chili, South America and you can so tell. He's all goofing around and being funny the whole time, cracking jokes and trying to get us to relax and have fun. It totally worked. I had no idea how scary canyoning actually was. I was nervous about our rafting and our bungy we had been talking about, but canyoning I never once imagined it being scary. Boy was I wrong. So our first slide is down a 30m waterfall. You can't see over the edge, which I think adds to the thrill. They set up a line and have a guy down the bottom, then you get strapped onto the rope by your harness and caribeener. You lay on your back as he slowly eases you off the edge of the top of the waterfall. You still can't see anything! Water is everywhere! In your face, in your mouth, eyes. The force of it also throws your body around like a rag doll, it's such a freaky feeling! So he lets us slowly down about halfway down the waterfall, body is rolling all over the place from the pressure of the water, then you get to a spot, get into a safe position and boom, he lets go! So you fly down the rest of it and sink deep into the water at the bottom. Insane, but oh so exhilarating!


 This photo is off the middle section, just before he lets go. Don't be fooled, it is a vertical waterfall!

                                                           A full view of the 30m waterfall

                                                   Sliding down after he lets go - so much fun!

So the rest of the day we swapped between sliding, abseiling and jumping down these crazy waterfalls. By far our favourite was sliding. It was like a natural water park. The guides made it super safe and you didn't really hurt yourself unless you came out of the safe position and knocked an elbow or something. Sam and I had the most fun we'd had so far in Nepal. We definitely want to do it again and again! All over the world :)

Pokhara

 30 Nov 2012

For 5days relaxing in Kathmandu we literally did nothing except sleeping in til midday, walking to Thamel for lunch at this awesome chicken wrap place (seriously amazing wrap, all fresh salad, grilled chicken, amazing spices and only 200 rupees! ($2.50) )and eating dinner at our rooftop restaurant. Sam bought some hash our first day so we were smoking a lot of that and just chilling for that week. We feventually took the initiative and booked a bus to Pokhara.We had to be there by Dec 1st to have a meeting about our pre booked canyoning and rafting with Paddle Nepal.

The bus left at 7am and went along that same road we had already driven 3 times with the Annapurna Circuit and Chitwan. Only the ending changed. The bus stopped twice for breakfast and lunch and we arrived in Pokhara about 3pm. Ganesh, the owner of Lotus Inn (another guesthouse recommended by Anders) was waiting for us at the bus depot.

A short 5min drive and we were at Lotus Inn. Already we were loving the change of noisy and polluted Kathmandu to a much quieter and cleaner Pokhara. The city is situated around a lake and the Himalayan range, so the scenery certainly was a step up from Kathmandu to! Lotus Inn had a lovely lawn of green grass and all the rooms were large and well lit. Much nicer then our tiny dark and cold room at Monumental! We also had unlimited wi fi and hot water - even when the power went out - which it does in Nepal, several times every day, sometimes for hours and hours.

We met up with Aneka straight away who had been doing her own thing for the last few days and unfortunately had been very sick for all of it. She was starting to get better but still not 100%, she didn't even drink with us at dinner that night!

The next day, the three of us headed down to the lake with hash, the weed from the taxi driver and our cameras. We rented a canoe type boat and spent the afternoon chilling on the lake, smoking up and taking it in turns to paddle. The current ended up taking us to the other side of the lake and we were fighting it to get the boat back in time, while stoned off our heads and laughing at stupid shit. Whoever was paddling at the front always got the piss taken out of them because obviously everyone was watching them. When Aneka was in front she looked like a witch stirring her cauldron because of the big hippy pants, shirt and beanie she was wearing and the way she was paddling. It had Sam and I in fits of laughter!

Sam and I had to go to our canyoning briefing at Paddle Nepal so we rushed through dinner before heading over. There was only going to be one other person joining us, a nice young girl who was in her first year of med school and on an excursion to see the hospitals in Nepal. She was lovely. After the quick briefing the staff then told us our original 3day rafting trip had changed, there was no one else on it after some people got sick on their trek and also the level of the rapids had dropped significantly. We could still do it if we wanted but it sounded boring by this stage. We were offered to change to a 2day with 6 other people, level 4 and 5 rapids. So we did.

That night we went to bed pretty early as it was going to be an early rise for canyoning. We were both very excited!!

Monumental Paradise

 26 - 30 Nov 2012

We got back from Chitwan just after lunch, grabbed our bags from storage at the Radisson and then headed to Dubur Square for our second attempt at finding Monumental Paradise. The guesthouse recommended by a couch surfer turned friend.We had a little more information this time, as I had emailed them and asked for more direction. Apparently they're on 'Old Freak Street' which is the street we found a month ago on our first attempt, but as the website had said they were on 'Freak Street' we didn't think it was the same one. We still looked down it, but streets are weird in Nepal, you don't know when they end and start. Monumental seemed to be around the corner on another street when we finally found it.

It became our favourite guesthouse in Kathmandu. The rooms were very clean and comfortable, there was good wi fi, hot water (when there was power, which in Nepal was always hit and miss), and the restaurant at the top was divine! Every meal we ate there was prepared from scratch, they even made their own bread! Prices were very reasonable as well, so we found ourselves not leaving the guesthouse at all some days. For $12 a night we were happy. They even provided extra blankets because one blanket is not enough in winter. after Annapurana we had noticed a significant drop in temperature in Kathmandu since we first arrived.

Our first night at Monumental we met up with my friend Aneka, an awesome Maltese couch surfer who I met in Darwin when she came camping with us. We only knew each other for a couple of days but we hit it off straight away, you know how when you meet some people and you just click? Well we did. She has an awesome outgoing personality, loves to have fun and treats everyone with respect as equals. I love people like that, who make you feel comfortable to be you and never allow for a quiet or awkward moment!

After checking in, we headed up to our room to dump our stuff before having lunch. The guy at the front wanted our visa info and Sam showed me the yellow slip we got at the airport which of course I couldn't find. So I went into a panic, thinking I had lost my visa. I emptied every single pocket in every bag trying to find it. I swore I kept it in my passport but could not find it there.. shit. I was going to have to apply for another and pay god knows how much! This is what was going through my mind. Sam went down to see if he could check in on just his, which was fine, but found out in the meantime that the visa is actually stuck inside our passport, and that piece of yellow paper was just the receipt of payment! Ah! Relief! My panic soon disappeared and my hunger came back. So we headed up to the rooftop restaurant and had first meal there - the Mexican burger. So so SO good! Food in Nepal had been very hit and miss, so it was awesome to find somewhere that was guaranteed a success with every meal.

After lunch Sam wandered off outside to check out what was around us while I wanted to have a nap, that's when I heard a knock on the door - Aneka! It was so good to see her! Conversation flowed easily and we had a great time catching up. She'd only been in Nepal a couple of days and already had some great stories. Man that girl always has cool shit happen for her. She was in a small hilltop village called Nagarkot and met a local who took her to his family farm where they were growing loads of weed! I have to admit I was feeling a tad jealous at this point, the closest Sam and I had come to any weed was sharing that hash joint with the Spanish guy while trekking.

We headed out for dinner to Thamel and Aneka being Aneka got us walking and figuring out the way ourselves. Up until this point Sam and I had been getting taxis everywhere and getting insanely ripped off at the same time. We soon figured out Thamel was an easy, straightforward 20min walk from Durbur Square, and we had been paying 200 ($2.50) rupees each way by taxi! Our first time we paid 500 rupees!

We found a restaurant that sold Tongba, so Aneka could try it. This time we all got our own individual ones, and they came out in wooden jugs instead of the silver. They were huge! So we spent hours drinking and talking, laughing and just generally enjoying ourselves. This was the first real time since we left Australia that Sam and I had drinking company. It's nice to have someone else for a change. I mean I love Sam to death don't get me wrong, but when you're together nonstop day in, day out, it's just nice to have someone else to talk to.

There were some locals smoking hash by the shesha and Aneka decided to go ask them to share, so soon a joint was being passed around our circle. It's crazy how different our night becomes when with Aneka! She has some balls on her that one. Sam and I would never have the guts to ask a group of guys like that. I guess from the years of traveling on her own she's grown that confidence, she'd have to or she'd be bored shitless!

We didn't leave til after midnight when the restaurant basically kicked us out. This was definitely the latest Sam and I had been up since leaving Australia! We're always in bed by 7 or 8pm, lame I know but that's what we'd become with all our trekking etc.

The walk back to Durbur Square was much quieter, no scooters, tuk tuks or taxis beeping every second in your ear and trying to dodge all the people and traffic in a skinny arse street. We had the whole street to ourselves. It was spooky! Nepal really isn't a late night kind of country, after 9.30pm everything shuts down and it becomes ghost town. Kind of crazy when during the day it's so mental and loud.All the tuk tuks from the day were lying around the place with the driver fast asleep,I have no idea how they managed to sleep while being crammed in a 2 person seat like that and their feet up on the bike handle bars... Drivers were also sleeping in their taxis. It kind of made me sad to see. It would be freezing for one, not to mention lonely and uncomfortable. I suddenly found myself with a new respect for angry and demanding taxi drivers who try rip you off every moment they have.

We walked past one taxi who had his window slightly down as he was sitting in the driver seat. Both Aneka and I instantly got a whiff, but Aneka of course was the one to blurt it out "Woah! Smell that weed!" Sure enough he was getting high. Well what else can you do as a poor local Nepalese guy who lives in his taxi? He noticed us looking back at him and talking, so he ended up driving the taxi over to us and asking where we want to go. He thought we wanted a ride! ha!  Aneka asked him straight up "Dude, can we have some of your weed?". I cannot believe it but the guy actually gave us a chunk! he even gave us paper to wrap it up in! He didn't have papers to roll a joint, but still what a legend. He didn't ask for any money out of us, he just gave us weed. Seriously love local Nepalese people. I have to admit I felt bad afterwards that we took this poor mans weed when that's probably all he has to get through a cold night. But the whole scenario was hilarious at the same time. Aneka is so random!

We said goodbye to Aneka at her guesthouse, which was a couple meters down the road from ours. She had a bus at 7am to catch so we were feeling pretty sorry for her. By this stage it's 1am and all the buildings are locked up with roller doors, uh oh, we didn't even think to check about ours! Sure enough It's locked. There's a doorbell so we ring it, and we ring it, and we ring it.... No answer. We do this a few times over 5 or 10minutes and then I sit down as panic reaches and I realize we'll be spending the night on the street. How come they didn't tell us there was a lockout?? We head back to Aneka's to see if we can follow her in and share her room, but her place is locked to, which she obviously had a key for. Sam ends up holding down the doorbell so it just keeps ringing nonstop.Sure enough that does the trick!! The night duty guy was obviously sleeping through it. Thank god for Sam's persistence. It was freezing and I didn't want to be spending the night in the cold with the millions of dogs everywhere! Nepal has so many dogs, and in a big city like Kathmandu there seemed to be extra. They congregate in huge packs and all bark together non stop all night. Sam calls them dog parties lol.