Another bad night of sleep, but we were up early to meet the team and get driving. At 7:30 we headed out to the street to find everyone around a Toyota Land Cruiser, the old bulletproof jeep-looking kind, not the soccer mom kind. And amazingly, with the roof rack nearly overflowing with gear, Becky, me, Ongchhu, Nima, our four porters, and our driver all squeezed inside and we were off to the small town of Beni where we’d start our trek.
The ride could best be described as nine hours of the motorsport 'Gymkhana', except put nine people in the car, and replace the traffic cones of the course with broken-down buses, pedestrians, cabs, motorcycles with four people on them, and livestock, and you have a pretty good idea of what it’s like to take a jeep from Kathmandu to Beni.
We arrived in Beni at dusk. The plan had been to camp, but it was late and Ongchhu found a motel for us all. We were happy to opt for one more night sleeping in a bed before we started tenting it for the next two weeks.
...the next day
link to all the photos
The ride could best be described as nine hours of the motorsport 'Gymkhana', except put nine people in the car, and replace the traffic cones of the course with broken-down buses, pedestrians, cabs, motorcycles with four people on them, and livestock, and you have a pretty good idea of what it’s like to take a jeep from Kathmandu to Beni.
We arrived in Beni at dusk. The plan had been to camp, but it was late and Ongchhu found a motel for us all. We were happy to opt for one more night sleeping in a bed before we started tenting it for the next two weeks.
...the next day
link to all the photos
Hard to believe we fit nine people and two weeks worth of gear in here...
Yum.... dried fishies on a stick
interesting traffic....
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