We left Pandar Nagar mid-morning and walked for about a mile or so to catch the bus that would take us out of the national park and onward to Bhaktapur. This turned out to be a bit of an adventure. When the bus arrived there was no room to sit, and so as long as the bus is within the national park, passengers are permitted to sit on the roof. And so we did! Amazing views of the jungle from that high vantage point, as we spotted wild boar and other wildlife, despite the odd collision with tree branches. Quite exhilirating with the breeze cooling us down on what was another hot day.
Leaving the national park, the change in landscape was quite sudden, as we passed some Nepali villages with small fields of wheat, potatoes and other vegetables. By now we were seated on the bus, which subsequently broke down with water leaking from the underside. So we walked for a short time, got another bus and finally reached Bhaktapur.
At some stage I decided that instead of going to the other national park, Bardia, I'd get to Pokhara rather than plan another trek. I was feeling pretty tired after the jungle safari, and doing another of those straight away didn't seem as exciting as it had a few days earlier. At Bhaktapur I said farewell to Ravi and Krishna, it had been a wonderful couple of days.
I got a connecting bus to Pokhara, but due to road developments, it wasn't until around 3pm that the road to Pokhara was opened, and i'd opted to switch buses to what I thought would be a more comfortable one with air conditioning and WiFi access, but it had neither of those, and I ended up in a very cramped space in the front of the vehicle. The journey was made even more disconcerting by the driver taking unbelievable risks in overtaking other vehicles on bends at high speed, not for the faint-hearted and it was nice to finally reach Pokhara and find somewhere to stay late in the evening.
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| On the roof of the bus (second from right) |
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| Ravi |
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| Krishna and me |
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