Got up at 6 am, since someone knocked on the door by mistake. One of our group guys got up then and got ready and just sat with the lights on. Dang!! Two more got up and got ready and just sat and slept so I got up and turned the light off and went right back to sleep.
One way or another we were all ready to get back to Kathmandu. Breakfast was chana-bhatura..good. We packed up and left around 9 am. Phinsu did not even look at us….idiot! It was a very quiet drive to the border. There was a great deal of disillusionment and tiredness. There were a few check points on the way. The scenery was quite nice; lots of mountains and waterfalls.
We passed the town where we had stopped for 2 hrs, but today there was sooo much more traffic. All the shops were open and it was quite crowded. What is surprising is that the road was two lane but one was used for parking, so only one was available for driving. How terrible! Because of this, it took a long time to get through the town.
We stopped about 1 mile from the border and had to walk to the border as the line of cars was too long. Luckily we had our bag packs only with us otherwise it would have been quite a hard walk. I noticed that my breathing was so much better already!
Border crossing was easy and quick. Phinsu took us through for that one last time. I hope he is never a guide for anyone else. As soon as we reached the Nepal side we started taking pictures of the border and there was a general feeling of relief.
Lunch was in the same place as before. The scenery was still as beautiful and lunch was as boring as before.
We had the same screechy bus as we had before. As we started driving, it got hotter and yet again there was no fan or AC in the bus. Damn this travel company. The drive was as treacherous as before for about 2 hrs on part gravel road and on the edge of the deep gorge. I listened to music for a while and then took short naps. The Sherpa sitting next to me made it hard for me sleep comfortably.
As soon as we had come to Nepal Ramgopal took everyone’s passport to get it stamped for re-entry but did not give them back. Once we got to Kathmandu and people started getting off the bus, they started asking for their passports.
Problem: Ramgopal would not give ours. Bhaiya asked him why, but he would not tell. Later we found out that Ramgopal had been told by Basu of Touch Kailash to not give the passports back because Satyam had not paid him for us. It was then confirmed for us that Nitesh transferred us from Satyam to Touch Kailash company!! Without asking for permission from us or bothering to tell us. I was super mad at Nitesh. I was a volcano ready to erupt.
All the Touch Kailash group was going to Moonlight hotel but we asked to be taken to Vaishali as we were with Satyam and Vaishali. We got transferred to a smaller bus we were then driven to Vaishali. Good that they had a room for us. Oh so nice to finally have proper bed and proper shower!!
Problem: We went to retrieve our luggage from the storage, and it turns out since we left with Touch Kailash our luggage went to Moonlight hotel!!
Luckily I had enough clothes to get cleaned up and did not really need my suitcase right away. And boy was it nice to shower and wash the hair properly again! Bhaiya and I went out for some tea in Thamel and then rested.
Suresh and Ria came over to see us. We told them about the latest saga of the guides not taking us for parikrama deliberately. But what can anyone really do now except hope to get some money back for services not rendered.
Had great buffet dinner at Vaishali. I slept like a log that night!!
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