Saturday, 25th August 2012

OM NAMA SHIVAYAH! OM NAMA SHIVAYAH! OM NAMA SHIVAYAH! 

After a very leisurely and late breakfast we started our journey to the border of Tibet and Nepal.  Zhangmu is very close to the border with only about four miles or so.  The road was decently crowded being very close to the border.  It took us less than half an hour to reach near the Chinese Embassy on the Tibetan side.

We had to part with our drivers and Tibetan guide.  But the memories of them and company we had with them will be cherished and will always be kept afresh for the rest of my life.  I am keeping in touch with Tenzin Nyim, our guide, and if I ever get an opportunity to visit Lhasa he would probably be my guide, depending upon his availability.

Kamini, Paxa, Tenzin and our Driver were together for twelve days

Though we reached early, there were a large number of people on queue already.  At the border place near the embassy there are many shops for us to buy fancy gift items and souvenirs.  Choices are many and prices are relatively cheap and the items are genuine.  So if you want to purchase anything this is the right place.  At Nepal side there is no checking so whatever you want can be carried from here.

[Please do not buy Rudraksha beads or chains from here.  Pasupathinath temple is the right place for that.  Or even from Kathmandu city you can buy.  I bought twenty five chains of one hundred eight beads from the city.   Though I paid only six thousand Nepal Rupees I had to pay another five thousand Indian Rupees at the airport.  Thirty chains are over thirty pounds because it was full unprocessed fruit.]

To get the exit was relatively less stressful though more time consuming.  Of course they will take your photographs, finger prints, etc. but they did not check the bags for what we are carrying back.  Please note that we had only our handbag with us as the duffle bags were carried by our Travel Agency along with other luggage in a separate truck.

By around ten thirty or eleven we were cleared of the immigration formalities by Chinese Embassy and we crossed the Friendship Bridge.  The Nepal side is known as Kodari.  By the time we crossed the bridge our reentry visas were all ready by Badri and Team.  Exit visa and reentry visas at Nepal side were very transparent that we even did not know how and when they were obtained.

Our Bus was ready to take us all to Kathmandu.  Before noon we started our drive back to Kathmandu.  But this return journey was very relaxed, extremely happy and fully contented having successfully completed a life time mission of performing Manasa Sarovaram and Kailash Parikram.

Kodari to Kathmandu route is enriched with the true Himalayan beauty of the nature.  I salute Nepalese government and the people of Nepal in trying to maintain the nature without any encroachment.  Bhote Koshi River flows on the side of Kodari to Kathmandu route.  There is a suspension bridge over this river.  This is the longest suspension bridge in the world at the highest altitude.

Besides Rafting, Crazy Bungee Jumping from this suspension bridge is a very popular sports and a major attraction for all tourists and locals alike.  Though some of our Yathris were interested to try we were refrained by our Agency as we had a very strenuous sixteen seventeen days’ trip.  But we were lucky to watch some dare devils performing this most adventurous and exciting but extremely risky sport.  I also walked a few hundred steps on the bridge.  Some of our Yathris even crossed the bridge and came back.
Please see the picture posted below and decide yourselves how beautiful this Himalayan ranges are!  When we see and enjoy this area we simply have to redefine the word beauty.  You look at one area and you may think this is the most beautiful area and then you look at another area and you would say oh definitely this is more beautiful then you turn your eyes to another direction and you would say it is more beautiful than the most beautiful area you might have seen.

When you send your eyes to far distant areas you are truly seeing heaven.  What you are watching with your own eyes are Mount Everest with an altitude of over twenty nine thousand feet, Annapurna Dhaulagiri with an altitude of over twenty six thousand five hundred feet, Mount Kailash with an altitude of over twenty two thousand feet, and so on.  You have to see to believe it.  It is simply magnificent and incredible! It is fabulously beautiful!

The longest suspension bridge at the highest altitude at Bhote Koshi River near Kodari of Nepal

Greeneries of Himalayan Valleys are so beautiful beyond words

This is simply awesome!  See the multiple waterfalls in the thick greeneries of Magnanimous Himalayan Mountain Ranges. (1)

This is simply awesome!  See the multiple waterfalls in the thick greeneries of Magnanimous Himalayan Mountain Ranges. (2)

Himalayan Valleys - Beauty beyond Words

On the way to Kathmandu - Bhote Koshi River famous for rafting (1)

On the way to Kathmandu - Bhote Koshi River famous for rafting (2)

On the way to Kathmandu - Bhote Koshi River famous for rafting (4)

On the way to Kathmandu - Bhote Koshi River famous for rafting (5)

Though it was only a couple of hours drive as we wanted to enjoy the Himalayan beauty we asked them to stop at a couple of places to watch and enjoy the natural beauty of this Kathmandu Valleys and the Himalayan Ranges.

Badri called and notified our hotel, Crowne Plaza, that we will be late for lunch.  Normally they close serving lunch at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.  We reached there around three.  Per previous arrangement they had allotted for most of us the same rooms where we used to stay and our bags were delivered in front of our rooms.  So after a brief wash we went for the sumptuous buffet lunch.  After lunch we had a small nap.  This luxury was not in our calendar for the last twenty days plus.  After nap I had a shave.  Since we started our Manasa Sarovaram and Kailash Parikram trip we did not have a chance to shave.

Back in Crowne Plaza Hotel Room, Kathmandu after having the lifetime experience of completing 16 days trip to Mansarovar Kailash and Parikram (circumambulation)

Normally the Travel Agency will take you out for a Dinner and Cultural Show after the Parikram either on the same day or the next day depending upon your schedule of return journey.  Most of the Yathris had a cushion in their schedule as Kailash Parikram trip is very unpredictable due to many reasons like, weather conditions, road conditions, landslides, health conditions, etc.  So each and every one of us had extra two three days to be spent there.  

Now August 26th is the birthday of Dakshaben, one of the Yathris.  Harshad (called as Pakkabhai) Patel, husband of Dakshaben, was also a Yathri.  Pakkabhai wanted to celebrate the birthday of Dakshaben by hosting a party for all the Yathris and the Crews of Earthbound Expeditions.  Crowne Plaza has many convenient and suitable party halls.  The party was nothing less than of American Style other than that it might have been cheaper there in Nepal.  It was ideal to conclude our Parikram with such a fabulous bash.  Thanks to Pakkabhai and Dakshaben.  Thanks to Rajan Simkhada for his party jokes and stories.  It was definitely an added attraction of the day.  Rajan is the president of Earthbound Expeditions, our Travel Agency.  I would advise all the readers to refer my review on Trip Adviser about Earthbound.

The party went on from eight until eleven thirty in the night.  What a good way to conclude our Parikram!  We went to bed to get up early morning and start the next leg of our trip.

OM NAMA SHIVAYAH! OM NAMA SHIVAYAH! OM NAMA SHIVAYAH!