Bye Bye India

The best thing about visiting India, as far as we're concerned, is you get to leave! After three months of side-stepping turds, random people pissing in streets, begging kids, temples (what is the lure of oddly shaped buildings, I don't get it) and rickshaw drivers (they are the Anti-Christ) it was such a good feeling to know we were off to pastures new.

But not without a right royal send off! Three days of relaxation, not to mention constant over indulging on the food front, in Sikkim's current capital (it changed to Gangtok in the aftermath of independence) was the perfect way to say "goodbye" to a country with which we'd forged a real love/hate relationship. And it was great to share Gangtok's delights with our trekking chums from Dzongri and to team up with a pair of Israel's finest in Yanir and Carmel.

Actually, other than the brand-spanking new cable car that hangs above Gangtok like a recently polished halo, Sikkim's capital was a little dull and disappointing. When a city shuts it's pub doors at 8pm you know something's wrong! India, oh India!

So, 6am on the 11th (and once again out-numbered by the cheese-hoarding Dutch) Marit, Roland and I jumped aboard another"share jeep". Destination Nepal! Yee Ha! Only, when an Indian says"share jeep" what they really mean is a four-wheeled sardine tin! Money-grabbing bar stewards! Still the four hour trip to the border town of Kakarbitta wasn't too bad by Indian standards, even though one spent the entire trip emptying her innards on the roadside.

And then ch ch change! The difference is amazing. I mean amazing. The anger and frustration that follows the act of doing something in India banished. Replaced by politeness and efficiency! Here it took two Nepalese officials less than five minutes to process our visas - a task that would've taken a dozen Indians several hours, if not days, to perform! To celebrate our new home we dined on Tibetan Momos - not a good thing for the other two dozen bus passengers - and slurped a few icy beers. (Everest Beer is particularly good!)

Unfortunately, our renewed optimism at crossing the border (I'm sorry but three months in India is too much for any sane person) proved a little too premature! Our salvation came crashing down around us, this time in the form of a Nepali bus! I shit you not, these things are made for Pigmys! Now I'm only 5ft 9, but even I smashed my head several times climbing aboard. So just think how poor ol' Marit and Roland must've felt.....for 23 hours!

That's right, what was sold as a trouble-free 14 hour bus trip was in fact 23 hours punctuated by road blocks and police escorts courtesy of those friendly Maoist activists! Even the beautiful, if rugged, scenery couldn't detract from this infuriating inconvenience. Add to that toilet breaks in the middle of veg markets (apparently we'd been carrying chickens on the roof) and the driver's liking for loud Indian music (it's really really shit) you can imagine how we felt when the Pigmy Express came to a sudden halt two miles short of Kathmandu! We walked!

Nevertheless, we're in Nepal! Of course we'll miss the spicy curries and cheap beer. But aside from that.....Marit? Nope, didn't think so.