Wow this was a big day! and a funny day…
We got a lazy 10 am start and headed down trail.
Only an hour down trail we got stopped for road construction as they were dynamiting the new road out of a cliff down canyon.
It took about 45 minutes to get going again and meanwhile the trail backed up. We had mule teams, porter team, and other trekkers.
I was reminded how much I hate most trekkers here. Once we were allowed to go these trekkers who had it seemed a porter each would just stop and in the middle of the trail or bridge to take a photo and everyone in the line (trekkers, porters, and mules) would have to stop too. Nuts, I was happy to rush past them and leave them behind.
The road construction high up on the cliff we could see where they were working to connect the up canyon and down canyon road together.
We made fast work of the trail and were out at Chamje at 3:30 pm and hoping to find a jeep.
I waited for Anja to finish the last uphill and we hurried through town. As I exited town I saw a jeep which was about 300 yards out of town literally stuck on the road in the middle of a herd of goats. I quickly ran to catch it. It was full but had a back truck part which was empty. I asked how much to Besi Sahar? I knew Luca had paid about 500 rupees per person for a Jeep ride from Sanje (two hours down trail). The driver said 700 rupees. “Ok 1,400 for two?” discussion from the passengers of the Jeep “2,000 for two.” I looked back at Anja said what do you think we might have to ride in the back. My mind converted…$30 to be done hike. “Ok” The best was then the two youngest passengers climbed out of the backseat and stood on the running boards and grabbed in the windows.
Riding in that seat was amazing! So good to be sitting. We talked to the Nepali in the back seat with us Jirel, he is a civil engineer assistant working on the new road and was starting vacation to see his family and little boy. The teenage boys riding on the running boards were pretty funny too because every girl went by they would talk to or whistle at. The girls didn’t seem to mind the attention and once the boy on the cliff side of the jeep turned his head so fast he smacked it into the side of the jeep. I joked that they could look all they wanted as long as the driver didn’t or we were sure to go over the side of the cliff. It was also pretty funny as the driver seemed to be friends with everyone on the road we saw.
Once we got down to near Sanje things got weird. Jirel told us there was a local bus and if we rode up in the jeep they would want us to get on the bus. Screw that the jeep was comfy so we stopped in Sanje before the bus stop to wait. While we were waiting Anja and Jirel went to a guesthouse for coffee. The owner was so excited when Anja told him we had been there for the canyoneering festival and started talking about all the canyons with her. He had not done any but clearly had enjoyed his guests at the time of the festival.
Then Jirel got tired of waiting and said we should hike past the bus on the road and then the Jeep would come. Well we did this but then the bus started following us and the bus driver got really pushy and said we had to get on the bus which had no open seats. Here is where we screwed up; our jeep got around the bus and we were supposed to run past the bus and jump in the jeep but everyone had been so stealthy we thought this might get the jeep driver in trouble and Jirel didn’t know to do it either. Opps. The bus driver was super annoying and would not go away until I said we were going back to Sanje and started hiking back. Drag our jeep was down road and the bus was gone we hoped the jeep would come back but we hadn’t paid him anything yet so if not guess we got a free ride to Sanje.
In 10 minutes the driver showed back up and we started down the road. When we caught the bus it would not let us pass and even stopped and the driver started yelling at everyone in our jeep. We were stopped so long everyone on the bus got off. Our driver told them we would go back to Sanje, we turned around, and the bus loaded back up. Well of course we turned around again to head to Besi Sahar.
Once the bus saw our jeep it stopped on the road again and everyone got out of the bus again. We stopped the jeep and waited up road about a quarter mile. All and all this was pretty funny to us. It was about 7:30 pm. After about 15 minutes another jeep came up, it went on and passed the bus, then another jeep. We couldn’t tell exactly but the other drivers might have conspired to get us past. The one in front was just in front of the bus then there was one behind the bus and us. When the bus let the one behind pass we went too. It tried to block us out but we got by and we were free. By this time we were good friends with Jirel and he called ahead for rooms at a guesthouse he liked in Besi Sahar.
It was 8:30 pm, a 10.5 hour day, we’d made Besi Sahar and would take a bus to Kathmandu in the morning with Jirel.
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