Homesick in Bandipur

The last 3 days have sucked.

So after I left Pokhara, I went to a town called Bandipur. It's a little less than halfway between Pokhara and Kathmandu. The town itself is on the ridge of a mountain and very lovely, although I hated it and didn't want to be there. All the crap started when I got dropped off in Dumre which is about 7km from Bandipur and the closest town, the plan was to catch a jeep from Dumre. That didn't work out because there were protesters blocking the road and there was a strike so there weren't any jeeps. The people blocking the road and organizing everything are a group called The Maoists. The town of Bandipur had been without hydro and water for the last 10 days and they had finally had enough. I'll explain this group more later, I have to get all the facts straight before I write them here. Anyway, since there were no jeeps I had to walk to Bandipur, it was about 35 degrees out and very humid. Instead of taking the road I was told by a local I could take the trail which was quicker and more direct. Well it was more direct because it went directly up the side of a mountain, this climbing was super intense because there was no real trail to follow, luckily 2 kids showed me the way up the mountain. This walk took about 3 hours and I still wasn't at the top completely, I was also out of water(which seems to be pretty common) I found this child playing outside and got some water from him, water is pani in Nepali. It might have been the most satisfying drink ever, it's a good thing the kid was around. After this I continue on my way up the hill and eventually made it too the center of the village and found a guest house for 250 rupees per night. Although sleeping on the ground would have been more comfortable then this bed, which was really just a table with a blanket on it. After find some food I went to lay down because I was ready for bed, although it was only 7:30. So I fell asleep quick and woke up covered in mosquito bites and sweating like crazy even though I didn't have any blankets on. This pattern would continue every 4 hours until the morning and make it one of the worst nights I've ever had. The next morning I went out to get breakfast only to discover that most places were closed because they were striking due to the lack of water and such(the water has to be pumped up from the river which is like 2,000+ below) I decided to explore the town and also look for a buddy-Angus from Ireland who I met in Pokhara and was suppose to be in Bandipur. I walked for about 20 minutes and was completely soaked with sweat, I realized this sucks and wanted to come home right then. So that's when the homesickness kicked in and it would last for another day. I didn't do anything the rest of the time there other the read and play solitaire because I didn't have the motivation to due anything. I tried to leave that day and head back to Kathmandu but I couldn't get down the mountain without walking-because of the strike. After another awful night of the same stuff as the night before I got up Sunday morning and started the long journey back to Kathmandu. It started at 9:30am with a jeep ride to Dumre-they weren't striking anymore and then a bus to Kathmandu. The bus ride took about 7.5 hours and that included sitting in traffic for 3.5 hours in 35 degree heat. The bus was packed right full and the lady sitting beside me was using my shoulder as a pillow. She was also grabbing my leg when the bus would stop suddenly. On a 2 hours bus ride you could play over/under with the number of near death experiences, I would set it at 15 for a 2 hour trip. This trip was crazy and I can't believe the bus made it safe. Well I gotta go because the internet place is closing.

Andrew