Dhulikhel to Namobuddha hike

From Bhaktapur, Kiersten and I hopped on a bus and rode it east to the small town of Dhulikhel. It was our first experience with Nepal's public transit system, which needless to say is slightly different from Victoria's. First of all bus stops don't really exist expect for in major towns. Instead, a young boy that works for the transit company hangs out the bus door and yells the name of the name of the place the bus is headed at people on the side of the road. To stop the bus one only needs to raise a hand or shout back and the boy the will bang his fist on the side of the bus until the bus driver stops: very efficient. The other big difference is that there is no limit to the number of passengers the bus will cram on board. Once the bus literally can't fit another body, people climb on the roof, which surprisingly enough is often the safest spot, or at the very least no more dangerous than the cabin. I was watching local nepali news in english last night and there was a story about 43 people who were killed when a bus travelling from the a village in the hills down to Kathmandu plummeted off a cliff; the only people to survive where those on the roof because they were able to jump off.

On the bus I started talking to a young Nepali women who was also on her way to Dhulikhel to meet up with her sister who lived there. She was super nice, and when we got off the bus she ended up calling her brother in law to come help us find the our guesthouse. It ended up being kind of hard to find and couple of kilometers down the road... totally out of their way. We ended up finally finding it after I hopped on the back of the brother in law's motorcycle and drove around a bit. I still can't believe how helpful and generous the majority of Nepali's are.

The guesthouse ended up being on a small organic farm on the edge of the hillside with amazing views of the Himalaya. The rooms were simple but nice, and the view from rooftop made it the place more than worthwhile. You'd be paying millions of dollars for a view like that in Canada.

View from the rooftop of the Shiva Guesthouse in Dhulikhel (not to confused with the Shiva guesthouse we stayed at in Bhaktapur)

Another shot from the guesthouse

The farm attached to the guesthouse was really nice, Kiersten's mom Julie would have loved it. You can grow pretty much anything here. There were mandarin orange trees but unfortunately the oranges won't be ready for couple more months. I almost ate one anyway but decided against it. Each meal we ate used fresh vegetables straight from the garden.

Little goat faces munching away

Part of the small farm with the guesthouse in the background

Mandarin oranges!

Flowers in bloom

We didn't really do anything in Dhulikhel on the day we arrived. We basically just sat on the rooftop, enjoyed the view and read. On day two we decided to embark on a hike to a small Buddhist village/temple called Namobuddha. It was supposed to be a 6 hour round trip hike but it is really more like 4 or 5 five.

View from the rooftop in the morning

The hike climbed steeply out of Dhulikhel to the summit of a smallish hill, on top of which was a giant statue of Buddha. From there the trail wound up and down and around various hills, past farms, and through villages. All the while maintaining an awesome view of the Himalaya.

There were lots of these guys about. I was afraid.

Dhulikhel!

Along way, much like our previous trips into the countryside, children ran out to see us and get their picture taken.

One of the many good views during the hike.

About halfway through the hike we came to the top of yet another hill to find one of the many homemade swings that litter the countryside. We couldn't realistically continue with the hike without stopping for a swing. Just as we were finished swinging we met a local farmer who invited us over to see his farm and have some tea. He was super nice and introduced us to his whole family including his grandfather who was 86 (and still working on the farm). It was interesting to see his house, because it was the first time either of us had been in a local  Nepali's place of residence. It was a two storey mud hut that was fairly simple yet comfortable. One thing that struck me was the various hints of the twentieth century among what seemed to be house from 1800s, such as a TV, cell phones charging, etc.

Our farmer friend's little baby giving us a look

Drying peppers at the farm

After we had tea and left the farm it was another hour or so hike to Namobuddha. Namobuddha was just a small little town that centered around a old Buddhist stupa. There we ate some lunch, chatted with a local who had a giant afro, and hiked by to Dhulikhel. It was good stretching our legs a bit to get ready for the trek next week which will undoubtedly be much harder.

Finally made it to Namobuddha

Namobuddha down below and a buddhist monestary up above.

So now we're back in Kathmandu. Today I think we might finally head to Patan, and tomorrow we're going mountain biking again. Enjoying life.