Lumbini Hokke Hotel

... They also don't like the hotel (they didn't know about my story) and going to Pokhara tomorrow morning, so do I. 
The homestay dinner was nice - two more tourists from Belgium, and the girls' father were at the table (the girls were serving, i've brought some vegs! :) The latest had some interesting ideas to share about Israel - I was impressed with his knowledge. Eventually he's proved to be a teacher in a local university, of course :) 
After the dinner, I left ...

... Others are full. Elody finds something that looks clean - even with a restaurant and the price is acceptable Rs300 ~ IndianRs200. And there is a bonus - an internet shop in front, which I visit right away. They have a printer, and I print some chapters from the LP's Nepal PDFs - now I feel much more relaxed! 
I go to the tourist office - they are supposed to have maps for walking around the town. There are two girls at the office, in addition to ...

... area" - the place where all the modern temples are built. I think I did well, taking into account I didn't run for more than 5 weeks already. 
I also didn't ride a bike for 5 weeks, and what a coincedece - I take a bike to ride around Lumbini. It's pretty hot, but there are many trees. The garden is a joke, there is nothing interesting there. The whole atmosphere is ruined with hords of local school kids. They ...

... first 30 minutes we ride through the city, horning almost non-stop. This is very annoying! I sit next to a British girl who tells me that all her money was stolen from the bag, while she was sitting in a cafe in Varanasi... curious... 
I don't have US$ and forced to pay Rs2400 for $40, probably a really bad deal, but I don't have a choice. This is the price of a 30-days visa to Nepal. The border ...

Where do you find a rock hammer in a small charming "medival" Nepali town?<br><br>This became the question I found myself asking as I wandered. I had traveled to Ridi, a town about two hours from Tansen in search of their famous Fossils (or Saligrams). Believed by many Hindus as symbols of the God Vishnu, fossilized Ammonite, are mollusks dating about 230 Million years. The Kali Gandaki river is apparently full of them and I had decided the ...

... br>Today we have endured another 7 hour coach ride (a smaller and less bumpy coach this time). Nepal is truly beautiful. A real contrast to India, and things can only get better for the Gibbons now. On the way here we were given the opportunity to ride on the roof of the bus just like the locals. Yes Mum, I'm very sorry but i did join in. It was awesome ...

... that he had to leave his confines and venture out into the world around. No longer could books alone satiate his desire to learn, but now he needed to seek knowledge through experience. He left his home, and the security and safety that the city provided, determined to understand the world. It took no more than just a few steps to change the world. When he approached the city walls, he encountered an old man, a sick man, a hermit and a corpse; and for the first time ...

To our surprise we did manage to cross into Nepal on the same day that we left Very Nasty. However, it was another late night. We were on the road out of Varanasi at 7am, and even then the steamy humidity was getting too much. We were all relieved to find that as we drove north it got gradually cooler, and the breeze coming in the window was actually refreshing! We ...

... and we ended up having a nice ride and exchanged travel stories until reaching the village and then it was time to find a room for our stay. I ended up finding this great guesthouse with one AC room only and with the weather reaching the low 40 celcius I did not hesitate and it was also a great price at 900 rupies per night. The French couple opted for another guesthouse with a fan. I met them the following day and they had not had very ...

... but the market was flooded and so the bus got stuck in a stinking swamp of rotten veggies and mud. And THEN the evil guy next to me decided that me being finally asleep was a great time to start trying to touch my leg, lean his head on my shoulder, play footsie with me, and generally be an annoying pervert. So I punched him in the arm. He stopped.<br><br>Night buses......grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.<br>