Bizarre day today. I met Ullma today. He’s Nepalese and is a rafting guide. He has his own rafting business here but also spends six months of the year being a rafting guide in Japan. He leaves for Japan at the end of April. Right now he is looking after their little shop in the village selling stings and lollies that he and his wife have just started 10 days ago. He’s English is good and he even knows some Australian speak. How did I meet him? My bus has been stopped at a road block for three hours in front of his shop. A landslide has blocked part of the road so they are working to clear it and to do stabilizing work. The Nepalise way of managing the traffic is to block half the traffic for three hours at a time. And they shut our side of the road just as our bus arrives. This is a crazy way to do things and we are very unlucky. Five minutes earlier and we would have got through.
I’m on my way to Lumbini and I left Kathmandu at 7.00am. This trip started with a huge traffic jam on the mountains just outside of Kathmandu so we have already had plenty of waiting. It normally takes about seven hours to get to Lumbini but not today.
There are about eight foreigners on the bus and we are told that if we plead with the guards operating the road gate, they might let us through. There is a lot of discussion but they don’t concede. I’m very angry and argue the point but Ullma is there explaining the situation to me. The police are here too. We eventually give in and dissolve into the town to eat and have a look around. I spend time at Ullma’s little shop. He’s doing good business with the local school kids and other kids from trucks caught in the road block. He’s friendly character also attracts other foreigners from the bus.
Ullma is a Christian, which is a minority religion in Nepal. His family converted from Hindu about 15 years ago when missionaries came through to spread the word. He’s an enthusiastic follower of the faith and likes talking about it to me, assuming that I’m a Christian. They have a small church here in the village.
We eventually arrive in Lumbini around 8.30pm. That’s a 13.5 hour trip! Fortunately the bus stop is an easy walk to the hotels. There are many hotels here but I aim for the Lumbini Guest House, recommended to me by Raju. Dinner and bed.
angusmccoll 