Our friend Gil at Aliance Guest House set us up with the travel plans. We learned he is an expert tour guide. So, we naturally looked to him for advice on the best way to get to Nepal from Nagaar. We mapped it all out, and got our plans together, and sadly meant that we had to leave perhaps our favorite stop on the trip.
The plan revolved around waking up early, and heading for Kullu, and then Chandigar, to Lucknow, then Gorakpur, then the border town Sonali, and into Nepal. The important part being, waking up early. Not something we exactly liked or could do very well. Then we remembered that our laundry was being done, and when we arrived that night to retrieve it, they were already closed. So, we now had to wait until 9am to get the stupid laundry. So, in the morning we picked up the laundry, and went on our way, much later now. Now because we were running so late according to plan, we were going to arrive in Kullu around noon. From there, we had to take a local bus down to Chandigar.
In Kullu, we actually had to wait until the 3pm bus, great! This takes us into Shithole Chandigar at like 2am. This made us miss the train leaving from Chandigar to the next stop, Lucknow. Now, here we are 2am at the Chandigar bus station. Tired, and unable to make a decision.
I made one for us, sleeping in the bus or train station, not an option. Finding the cheapest hotel was the only way to go. We had to wait now until 8pm for the next train to Lucknow. So, we tried a few cheapest hotels near the bus station, and to no avail, all full. So, we did something that I hate to do- relied on the rickshaw driver for advice on where to stay.
He took us to a place he described as cheap, and very near the train station.
Great! We now had like 20 hours to spend in beautiful Chandigar.
He took us to the hotel, and it was the absolute worst place we've seen. But at 2:30 am what can we do? This was the last resort.
After I had asked them to change the bedsheets twice, and re-clean the bathroom, and so forth, we decided to stay. I paid half of the rent, and assured them that we'd pay tomorrow after we had changed $$.
So, here we are. The only thing to do is go to sleep at this point. The room smelled horrible, and they actually had in the end, no clean pillow covers nor towels.
So, we were asked to use a spare sheet for the pillows.
We woke promptly at 9am to the sound of Jackhammers, and pounding. Thud, thud, thud.
What the hell?
I tried to go back to sleep but it sounded like it was in our room!
So, Jake got up for his morning coffee, came back to the room, and reported to me the news.
They were demolishing our hotel!!!!!
Let me repeat- our hotel was being demolished!
I guess we were too tired, and it was too dark to see the construction site at 2am.
Not only was the building being torn down, for reasons that were not explained to us-but it was in actuality the rooms just before ours, and the entire face of the front.
So, let me explain, we had to actually duck, and cover to get down the stairs to the front desk, and to outside.
I will always remember Jake yelling "STOP" on our way down, so that we could pass without cement rocks falling on our heads!
I was up in arms.
We had still an entire day to spend in Chandigar before our train.
That was the day that I had a fast food breakdown.
KFC for Breakfast and Subway for lunch.
Used the internet, and decided to try to rest a bit before the train, Jake tried to watch a movie, but with all that banging. . .
I had reached my limit-
"let's get out of here"
So, we decided that the rest of the day at the train station, sitting on the floor, was better than this!
That is exactly what we did. We refused to pay the other half of the bill.
Caught our train at 8pm, and took the overnight to Lucknow.
We arrived at the Lucknow train station at like 9am, and immediately made a move to get tickets for the next leg, to Gorakpur.
We waited until noon at the station for the train, and finally heard over the intercom that it was delayed for another 4 hours.
We decided to return the tickets, and hoped on a bus.
From about 1pm to 9pm we were on the bus blaring Hindi movies, and music. Stopping at a few roadside dives for a Indian Thali. I was afraid to eat anything at this point beyond japatis, and rice. (So that is what I ate until we got to Nepal)
Got to Gorakpur at 9pm, and found the Hotel Bobina. Which Jake had likened to the hotel in "The Shining."
Got some rest, and were happy to have a hotel that was not being torn apart.
The following day took the bus to the border town of Sonali. That was about a 5 hour local bus ride. (Supposed to have taken 2.5hours)
And finally we made it!
Crossed the border, and into Nepal.
Yeahhhhh! Out of India.
The food tasted better, cleaner. Even the air smelled better.
We got to the bus stand, and were informed that the last bus to Pokara had already gone, and the only thing now to do was to sleep at a hotel right there on the border.
Ahh shit, I was not looking forward to a bus stop hotel.
It ended up being the best place we had stayed since Aliance in Nagaar. I start to notice a higher standard for cleanliness in Nepal.
Maybe things were looking up?
