Rocky Road to Ramechhap - Chapter 5
When we left off, dinner was done. Unfortunately, that night I got quite ill. Diarrhoea, chill, fever, generally feeling rotten. I have no idea what the source was. I doubt it was the food in the village because Lib is still healthy as a horse. In retrospect, I had not been feeling too well before we even left Kathmandu, and the fact I was likely dehydrated and very tired, I was an easy candidate for some thing to attack. Luckily the doctor was there in the morning, diagnosed the problem, gave me some disgusting rehydration drink that tasted like drinking salt water. Then some pills that I had to take every eight hours. It took a few days but by the time we left Kathmandu, I was pretty well back to normal.
In the morning, we were supposed to tour the hospital, then leave as soon as we could after that. With my sickness, I just lay in bed, feeling sorry for myself. I slept until we finally left about 11:30.
Actually there was no point in leaving early, because there was another banda on the same road as the first one. This time some truck had run into a motorcyclist. The family of the motorcyclist, who died, was demanding compensation of one million rupees. We have no idea the outcome of that dispute. In any case we had to get over the first 40 kilometres of some of the worst roads I've ever seen, and by the time we did that, the banda was over.
Soon after that it got dark, and even on the pavement, it now became scary with all the trucks and buses careening along without headlights until it was completely dark. I sat in the back of the truck, lying down in the fetal position much of the trip, using Libby's pack as a pillow. God, I felt dreadful and was really glad to get back to the hotel.
It was exactly eight hours to get there. The next few days we relaxed in Kathmandu, seeing some sights, shopping, eating, and recovering. Being in Nepal for the six weeks we were here gave us a pretty good feel for what the country is really like. It is in a lot of ways medieval, with the modern world dumped on it. It has not necessarily been a successful marriage. It is fascinating, beautiful, ugly, and we will miss it.
We will be back for more. We made some friends in our guides and all over the country. We will see them again.
Namaste
David