Posted by: Jenn
Hellooooo family and friends :-) I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I wish we could have been home to celebrate with loved ones...but instead we were stuck on a bumpy bus that scared the living daylights out of us anytime we rounded a corner. It sure is hard being away from home on holidays.
So when we left Pokhara we were planning on heading to Kathmandu but after talking to several other backpackers we were warned that we only needed two to three days there. Because we had about six days before our flight out to Singapore we decided that we would spend some time in a town halfway between Pokhara and Kathmandu called Bandipur. A local bus took us two hours to a town called Dumre where we hopped into another local bus to take us up the mountain to Bandipur. One thing that everyone recommends that you just have to do in Nepal is ride on the roof of a bus. So once Jonathan found out that the uphill ride from Dumre to Bandipur was only about 30 minutes long he circled the bus looking for a way up. As he climbed the ladder to the roof, I climbed the three steps to a seat. The bus ride was terrifying. Anytime I heard a thump or anytime we swung around a narrow curve too fast I would spin around nearly breaking my neck to make sure I didn't see Jonathan being flung off the roof and over the ledge of the road. Of course, he loved it.
Hellooooo family and friends :-) I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I wish we could have been home to celebrate with loved ones...but instead we were stuck on a bumpy bus that scared the living daylights out of us anytime we rounded a corner. It sure is hard being away from home on holidays.
So when we left Pokhara we were planning on heading to Kathmandu but after talking to several other backpackers we were warned that we only needed two to three days there. Because we had about six days before our flight out to Singapore we decided that we would spend some time in a town halfway between Pokhara and Kathmandu called Bandipur. A local bus took us two hours to a town called Dumre where we hopped into another local bus to take us up the mountain to Bandipur. One thing that everyone recommends that you just have to do in Nepal is ride on the roof of a bus. So once Jonathan found out that the uphill ride from Dumre to Bandipur was only about 30 minutes long he circled the bus looking for a way up. As he climbed the ladder to the roof, I climbed the three steps to a seat. The bus ride was terrifying. Anytime I heard a thump or anytime we swung around a narrow curve too fast I would spin around nearly breaking my neck to make sure I didn't see Jonathan being flung off the roof and over the ledge of the road. Of course, he loved it.
Bandipur is a tiny village posted up on the ridge line of a mountain. It made for a quiet getaway from the hustle and bustle of the tourist populated Pokhara. There is not much to do in Bandipur other than to take in the panoramic views and enjoy the empty streets, unique architecture, and friendly locals.
As we were wandering around town and observing the local life we stopped in front of a house where several families were gathered preparing rice noodles. The process was so interesting to watch because at home if we need noodles for spaghetti, we just get in our nice big car and drive to our nice big store and pick them up with our nice plastic credit cards. These people however, pick rice from their farm, boil it in milk and mash it, stuff it through a press that squeezes out strands of noodles (like the old play-doh toys), lay them out to dry in the sun on big leaves, store them in their dried state, then when they are ready to eat them they fry them up in some oil and BAM! stir fry noodles.
A little later that day we came across a construction site. Once again I was amazed at how they work. No machines, no helmets, no safety glasses, no closed toe shoes. We watched a woman with a basket on her back walk over to a rock pile and get heaps of rocks shoveled into her basket. She then walked the rocks to the construction site and dumped them where needed. The first video shows her getting rocked up and the second is farther away but you see her enter the site and dump the rocks.
This was another construction site we walked past. I couldn't help but video a little bit of how they worked.
In most of the countries we have visited we've noticed that the locals adapt so well without heavy machinery. It is so intriguing to watch them work with what we would consider nothing.
After two days of chillin' out in the mountain village we needed to head on to Kathmandu. But before we could get a bus to Kathmandu we had to get down the mountain and back to Dumre. Guess what the only option was for the time we were trying to leave? A jeep ride down the mountain...with the only seats available being on the roof. I sucked up my fear and reluctantly climbed to the roof. My nerves subsided after we got going and the jeep took the road much easier than the bus driver had on the way up.
After two days of chillin' out in the mountain village we needed to head on to Kathmandu. But before we could get a bus to Kathmandu we had to get down the mountain and back to Dumre. Guess what the only option was for the time we were trying to leave? A jeep ride down the mountain...with the only seats available being on the roof. I sucked up my fear and reluctantly climbed to the roof. My nerves subsided after we got going and the jeep took the road much easier than the bus driver had on the way up.