Two Rucksacks One Boy

  We got to Kathmandu extremely tired, we’d met a few people on the bus (An Italian fella who made ice cream and an American girl…. I think)  who’d been to Nepal before and decided to follow their lead. We booked in to the Thamel White Lotus Guest House. A simple 4 story guesthouse with rooms varying in size, we got a 3 bed with an ensuite, but more on that later…. Thamel is the backpacker district of Kathmandu, with tall 4 story buildings towering above small alleyways. Full of shops selling trekking equipment and novelty hats as well as a few bars dotted about. We were really tired after the long and cramped journey so we took a few hours to rest before going out to explore Kathmandu. Our first stop, as always, was food. After the spectacular cuisine of India we had high expectations for Nepal. Our first stop was a cheap and cheerful cafe, from the outside the place looked crap, and it didn’t get much better inside, but we’d learnt to not judge a book by it’s cover, and we...

  From Varanasi we had another long journey to take us to our next destination; Nepal. We took the train overnight from Varanasi to Gorakphur (8 hours?!) and from there we were herded into vans that would take us the rest of the way to Sunauli and the Indian-Nepalese border (probably another 2 hours – I can’t actually remember). It could have been worse….. …..and then it got worse. After crossing the border which was slightly confusing. We accidently walked past the Indian checkpoint and straight in to Nepal before coming back to get our documents sorted. Matt and Rob had already got their Visas for Nepal before leaving the UK, I think their Visas were for 45days or so. I got mine on entry and I think it was 30 days. As I was hoping to stay longer I would need to go to the Immigration office in Kathmandu and extend it. After that there was what felt like an eternity in a very packed, and very small minibus. I think the journey was around 8 hours. But we aged at least a couple ...

  After a short and terrible nights sleep in an overpriced hotel in Jhansi we went back to the Train station to get our local train from Jhansi to Varanasi. The train station was busy, really, really busy. We were slightly worried we wouldn’t get a place on the train despite having booked ahead. The reason is was so busy was the train was going through Allahabad, and it just so happened the Kumbh Mela festival was underway. Kumbh Mela is considered to be the largest festival in the world, with about 100 million people making the trip from across India and the rest of the world to bathe in the Ganges. So considering India is busy, Kumbh Mela takes things to the next level. So, the train was packed, think rush hour on the London tube, but with cows. We had a good 5 hours of this, eventually some how we got a seat in a carriage full of inquisitive Indians waggling their heads at us enthusiastically. I’d sat next to some sort of Hindu monk who was very chatty in broken English and h...

  As I come back to this (currently unfinished) blog over two years later, with only pictures (and google) to jog my faded memory. I can’t guarantee I will provide any practical travel help; Where did we stay? No idea. How did we get there? Not a clue. Was there anything I wish I had known at the time that would be very useful to someone travelling to the area for the first time? Yes…. but I’ve forgotten that too. So, here’s some anecdotes….. You might be able to pick some practical bits of information out of them (but I highly doubt it) but just like travelling and culture, anecdotes are best soaked up and enjoyed, not analysed and picked apart. So, sit back and enjoy, or go elsewhere – another popular travel maxim. Let see what I remember…… We arrived early from Hampi on the night bus and as our train from Goa wasn’t until much later we went to check out another north Goa beach to watch the sun come up. Colva beach, we arrived after a quick rickshaw ride from the bus station....