Got up really early at 3 am to get ready for the 4 am bus. But as usual with all our getting ready on time, it was always another at least one hour wait! In this case – 2 hrs!! Aaagghh – I could have slept for one more hour! We gave our suitcases to the hotel for safekeeping and the duffle bag was given to the tour company contact. From now on the duffle bag will be taken and given to us daily by the sherpa, so all we had was our small bag pack. We made sure we had some eatables, drinking water, small towel, and of course toilet roll!! I will write all the essentials to take later on.
Bhaiya, at the last minute, decided to ask for the thick winter jackets before we left. Very good move because the rest of the trip was so unknown that we did not know where would get one. Also Nitesh was nowhere to be found, so we had no one to get advice from.
At 5:15 am we were asked to walk to the bus that would drive us to the China border. We got good seats on the bus (up front), that way we don’t jump up and down during the bumps; and of course we got window seats! Vaishali delivered boxed breakfast to us on the bus. It was too early to eat, so I kept it for later. It had bread, butter, cake, a banana and juice box.
The drive to the border was generally uneventful except for restrooms, especially for us girls. There was not one place for us to go until we reached the border. So either you lose your shame or just hold it!!
The traffic was okay since it was so early in the morning. The scenery only got better and better as we neared the border. The mountains grew higher, the river grew wilder and we started driving at a higher level than at Kathmandu. The road got more curvy, dangerous and gravel kind. I am always impressed with these drivers who drive in these narrow mountain roads. We were driving so close to the edge of the road that I had to close my eyes!! But I could not close them for too long or I would miss the beautiful waterfalls. We did see one vehicle fallen down the valley.
The one thing I was not expecting in Nepal was all the checking going on. We stopped at many checkpoints during the drive where the army/security force was assured that we were going for Kailash Yatra. I thought that was a Chinese thing.
The bus itself was quite horrible. It screeched all the way to the border and there was no AC and either the fans were not working or the driver refused to turn them on. But it was a very hot drive to the border. We met some kids on the way where we would stop because of traffic jam or checkpoint. These kids seemed to have the habit of begging. It must be all the tourists coming through who like to give and cultivate this habit.
We reached the border town, Tattopani, about 11:30 am. There was a decent toilet!! Thank you Lord! We waited for about 30 mins before we could sit for lunch. It was the most simplest of lunches. We were served daal, sabzi, achaar, rice and paapad. I lost my appetite. What made up for the lack of tasty food was the view. It was just awesome!
Tip: You can exchange money into chinese currency at the border here but you get a better exchange rate once you cross the border into China.
From this hotel we had to walk to the border with our bagpack. The luggage would be brought by the sherpas. The walk was less than 0.5 km, but all uphill; the signs of times to come! As we approached the border, we noticed one young Chinese guy making sure that things were in order and did not allow us to take any photographs at the border.
The border was across the bridge over a deep gorge. The view from there was just fabulous – just don’t look down – too much garbage! All around were huge mountains. On one of them, the one right above the river was a town. Later I realized that is where we were going. It was so high!! Oh and mind your camera - no photo taking allowed here!!
The wait was not too bad. The non-Indians were collected in one place. There were six of us. Who knew that we would be travel mates for the rest of the journey? The line to the China immigration was really long. That I can handle, but what was hard to handle was the smell coming from the dumpster next to the line. Nice welcome! We saw a number of Nepali (or Tibetian?) women carrying our bags, water and supplies across the border. It was amazing how much weight they could carry! There should be some other way to take the stuff across the border.
We met our Tibetian/Chinese guide here. He took us across the border. What was needed here was the list of permits that only the Chinese guide had. He kept the permits with him throughout the journey as they were needed in many places. Permits are given only in groups of certain people. We were of course the non-Indian group so all six of us were on one list. So we had to stick together for the entire trip. In any case, we went through without any hitch. We had to go through security and have our bags checked also, however the Indians did not have to do it. Oh well!
We walked out of the immigration office. It had just finished raining. It was still hot here…no need for a jacket yet. We walked a little bit to get to our transport. 10 mins later a van came around. Problem – we were told we would be getting a land cruiser but we got a van. Anyway we all sat and drove up and up and up the town up in the mountains. After about an hour or so we reached there. We stopped here because our Chinese guide had to go and register us at the police station. It was supposed to take 30-40 mins but it ended up taking about 3 hrs. We walked around for a while but then we just sat and talked. We were at about 8000 ft. I was not feeling the low oxygen yet.
I was hungry and tired and soooo sleepy. We had been up since 3 am and now it was about 6 pm. We were also two hours ahead of Nepal time. Which was really weird because we were still in the same time zone as Nepal. So really we had been up for more than 12 hrs. During the drive to Nyalam I slept a lot. I did miss a whole bunch of waterfalls. The scenery was beautiful whenever I woke.
Just before we came to Nyalam there was long line for permit checkup. The river had moved from the bottom of the mountains to our level now…wow!! It was roaring, wild river surrounded by mountains; the clouds were settling on the mountains. It was just a sight to drink in, so beautiful. As I got out to take photographs I felt the cold in the air. It was also getting dark now.
The check up did not take too long. Nyalam was not far from there. We came to a building and were all taken to one room. I was surprised to see that there were six beds in one room! There was barely enough room for all our luggage. We managed somehow. So apparently all six of us will be really, really together for the next two weeks!! Okay….
The first thing I did was checkout the toilets. Bearable. At least there was running water, cold but running! We were told that food was in the other building so we went hunting for it. Dinner was very simple – I hope they will make something better than just daal and mixed vegetable with rice and roti. There was no place to sit, so we just had to stand and eat. Climbing the stairs was getting me little winded though.
Nyalam was cold, so we did need our jackets. My feet were exhausted from being squeezed in the shoes all day. I was dying to take them off. The bed was equipped with two comforters and a good pillow. It was quite comfortable. After a while it even got a little warm in there!
I felt like we were having a slumber party in the room with all six of us there. We were all getting along fine. All these travelers were really well traveled and had a good idea of living in different cultures and with minimum things. They had all been camping before. I am just a city girl who needs a good room and a good working toilet for a comfortable holiday. What was really weird is that the two other Americans there were also from Florida!! What a coincidence.
Came back to the room and promptly went to sleep!
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