The Bus Trip From Hell.

You know... travel in developing countries is exotic, mysterious, and all sorts of other fun emotions that make it all worthwhile. But, occasionally... just occasionally... travel can be a seriously big pain in the tookus. Yes, tookus.

Ever hear how a butterfly flapping its wings can set off a hurricane? Well, this tale is Nepal's equivalent - involving a bus, a too-narrow road, three bouts of fisticuffs, and two rocks. It all started with some of these Maoist guys...

My plan was simple enough – catch an early morning bus back to Kathmandu, a six or seven hour trip through some of the hilly terrain Nepal's famous for. Even allowing for the odd developing world hiccup, I figured the trip would run eight hours tops.

All was going smoothly... to smoothly as it turns out. We even got to within an hour of Kathmandu when it all went very, very wrong – our bus came around the corner, saw a line of other vehicles blocking the way, and stopped. And stayed stopped for quite awhile, as it turned out we'd be waiting for another 7 hours – bringing the whole trip to a 14 hour test of patience.

Ugh.

While I still think the Nepalis are a generally well-centered and friendly bunch, this day did show another side, as tempers grew short. Among the highlights:

* We saw three separate fistfights... not sure exactly why, but the crowd of onlookers seemed to appreciate the distraction from the endless waiting.
* One car tried to cut in front of the endless queue. It succeeded, but since it was limited to a blistering 5kph, a bunch of angry drivers caught up with it and started throwing rocks at it, smashing a bunch of windows. Ouch.
* And, just to end the day on super upbeat note – I was semi-asleep as we were rolling into the outskirts of KTM when a loud CRASH right by my head jarred me. Turned out that a random person threw a fist-sized rock at us – shattering the window before mine and showering me with glass bits. Lovely.

The next day we heard that there had been a strike by the Maoists (who recently joined the government). All the transportation was supposed to shut down – so that explained the road closure, and I'm guessing the angry rock at our bus for violating the strike.

Whatever. I grabbed a taxi back to my fav hotel – Hotel Ginesh Himal – and then got some surprisingly good curry at the last open restaurant in Thamel before bed.