Our First Trip via Local Bus

Yesterday Ram, the man in charge of volunteer visas, told us that we needed to go with him to Kathmandu to renew our visas, which were long past their expiration date. Having been in Pokhara and soaking up the sun, listening to live music and sipping ginger tea, important things seem to melt away and seep into the back of your mind. But getting back to Scheer, reality slapped us in the face, and Ram seemed irritated but nonetheless remained calm and took us on our first trip via local bus into Kathmandu...

It was an interesting trip. I lucked out and found a window seat before someone could steal it. Shannon sneaked in next to me. Kevin's legs were too long to fit behind any seat, so he sat at the back of the bus, in the middle of the row of seats with his legs in the aisle. The trip was fair enough--30 rupees or less gets you to any number of places between Banepa and Kathmandu. That's about $.40 US. We are dropped off in the middle of Kathmandu about an hour and forty-five minutes later and head to the Department of Immigration with Ram. He gives us the proper forms and we fill them out. When it's our turn at the counter, Ram smiles at the little man who is stationed there and talks with him in Nepali, all the while we are praying that we can save face with the Nepali government and receive our new tourist visas. We did receive them, however, we were still saddled with a heavy fine and giant frown from the little man across the counter, who had barely flashed us with more than a single glance the entire time we were there.

Later we met up with Shannon in Thamel to do a little bit of shopping. We had lunch at Himalayan Java (THE best blended mochas EVER!!!) , walked over to the Last Resort office and received our bungy-jump DVDs, and then took our fabric to a seamstress to be made into kurtas (the traditional Nepali outfit). We also saw some amazing material for making saris (the traditional Indian outfit) while in the shop. So, being the girls that we are, we each bought one and got fitted. My kurtas and sari should be ready Wednesday and I'm very excited. It took us so long to go through all the sari material that we kind of forgot about Kevin sitting in the corner of the shop, bored out of his mind. So we promised him we'd let him go to his gurkha knife shop to look at his "manly knives". All-in-all, it was a productive trip into Thamel.

The return trip to Banepa via local bus was definitely more memorable than our first trip into Kathmandu. Shannon showed us to the bus station and then left us to go back to her guest house in Thamel. I wasn't so lucky in finding a window seat on the bus this time, so Kev and I squished our way past everyone to the back of the bus and sat down in the two available seats in the back row. There was a man on my right who kept making a guttural noise before hocking loogies out of his window. It was hot and for some reason he only preferred to keep the window open a fraction of an inch, enough to stick his muzzle out to spew, but to prevent any resemblance of a strong cool breeze from reaching me. I begin to sweat profusely. To try to divert my attention from the occasional "AAAAAACH... PUH-TOOEY!" I try to read my new book that I bought in Thamel. But the light steadily dims because it is evening and I can hardly read more than one chapter. More people begin to get off at each stop and when the man and woman to Kevin's left squeeze past him to get off, Kevin and I fight for the window seat. Kevin wins.
I squeeze in next to him to be as far away from Loogey Man as I possibly can... And yet, my nightmare has just begun.
All remaining daylight has disappeared and I must put my book away. The super-dim cabin lights come on, just strong enough to reveal what we have been breathing for the past hour--a brown cloud of dust and exhaust fumes. In the dim light, I can still see those million giant particles wander ever so close to my nose, teasing me... I hold my breath as long as I can. A man who has been standing in the aisle for the past hour suddenly sees that there are two vacant seats next to me. He makes his way to the back, and is jostled about with every bump we hit. He manages to elbow every person in the face who has the pleasure of sitting in an aisle seat.
Does he decide to sit in my former seat, next to Loogey Man at the other window? No.
Does he split the difference and sit in the middle with room to spare on each side? No.
Does he decide to practically land in my lap and use me as his backrest? Yes.
Seriously, he is uncomfortably close, and keeps inching closer with every dip and pot-hole. So now I am stuck shoulder to shoulder (rather, shoulderblade to shoulderblade) with Kevin and this stranger, who, thank God, does not give any hint of B.O. just yet. In fact, he's nicely-dressed, slacks and sandals and all. Still, I am more than mildly uncomfortable. Kevin ceased to notice my predicament when he conveniently put on his headphones and began rocking out to his heavy metal. I decide to follow suit and move to grab my purse below my seat. My neighbor is almost behind me now... I pull out my own iPod, and feel that my every move is being watched.
You know... That's the problem with the people here. They don't just glance at foreigners, they full-on STARE, with no regard for courtesy whatsoever. It's enough to make me fee l like I'm the size of a pinpoint, the way they scrutinize every facet of my being. It's like they're searching for my soul or something... So irritating. It's something I feel I'll never get used to...
So, I try to ignore my neighbor, and succeed for only a couple of minutes until he pulls out his cell phone and begins yelling into it.
"Hallo?! Wha...? 'Hallo?!"
Any louder and he won't need the phone. I can hear him through my earphones, and believe me, I turn them up so they are loud enough to even drown out the cheesy Euro-Funk that is expelling from the bus speakers. Yet I still hear him from his cozy nook behind my back... Each of his four conversations begin with that phrase "Hallo?! Wha...?!" and then he surrenders and hangs up. Eventually, Loogey Man and my friendly neighbor get off at their bus stop, not a moment too soon. I thankfully grab the other window and breath in some cool (although not so "fresh") air. Banepa arrives, and we walk home.
What a day it has been...