Day 40 (Lumbini)

Before I get too engrossed in telling the tale of our first night in Nepal I need to say Happy Birthday Mairead – hope it was a good 'un and sorry I missed it!

So, here we are in country number 13 on our list, the fabulous Nepal (one day and I'm in love with the place!). We had a pretty long drive from Varanasi so left at crazy o'clock in the morning to allow us enough time to get to the India / Nepal border and get through before it got too late and we ran the risk of having to just go straight to the hotel and see nothing of the place. Our driver was an even more crazy man than normal and I thought we were going to end up in the back of a lorry in front of us or smashed into oncoming traffic on more than one occasion. I don't think there's any way I could be persuaded into driving in Iran, Pakistan or India...they're bloody nuts! Bikes, motor bikes, rickshawks and pedestrians everywhere and rather than following the path of the road they take shortcuts wherever they feel like it – even if it means driving down the wrong side of the road. Nuts!

The border crossing was smooth and hassle fee. Since I had my visa already I was processed in about 5 minutes and off in search of a money exchange for some Nepalese Rupees to add to my stash of Indian Rupees for the three nights we have to venture back into India before flying from Kolkuta to Bangkok.

We got onto our 5th bus of the journey and it's pretty much a copy of the Indian one but seems to have a bit more leg room than that one. Some people are having to double up in seats again (thankfully I've been lucky enough to have a seat to myself pretty much all of the time – dunno if that's cos people are scared to ask me to budge over in the mornings for fear of getting snarled at or not, but either way it's a good thing). Tis great to be able to stretch out on long drive days and catch up on sleep, blogs, reading etc.

Before checking into the hotel we drove out to the birthplace of Buddha for a look around. It was a very serene place, somewhere I could have happily sat down for a few hours to read a book or just kick back and think. They had a pathway snaking around the ruins leading to a building in the centre of the area. All around the pathway was shrubbery and trees draped in Tibetan prayer flags that were so colourful and pretty that I took a whole heap of photos of them. There was a large tree next to the central building where a guy was giving blessings. The building encased part of the ruins with a stone on which Buddha was born, pretty random, but a cool thing to see.

After that short stop we headed back towards the border to the hotel and checked in. Una and I lucked out getting a massive room (our bathroom was about the size of the other folks rooms) with a balcony. In our delight at the lovely room we were trying everything out, the chairs, desks, tables etc before coming to opening the balcony door to have a look out. I open the inner door and was about to open the outer screen door when I thought I saw a shadow at the bottom corner of it. Before we knew what was happening the biggest gecko I've seen to date ran in under the screen door, up the curtains and hid in the folds of material – he was even faster than Conor. It sent me into a panic and I was up on one of the chairs screaming and whimpering like a little girl! One of the hotel staff was passing the door and spotted me on the chair and Una on the bed so came to the rescue telling us there was nothing to be scared off because gecko's wouldn't harm us (I wonder if he's ever woken up with one encased in a mummy shaped sleeping bag liner with him – that might change his tune a little bit...it's scarier than you'd think). He banged and walloped at the curtains and wall and in the end reckoned it had disappeared back out the door – I didn't think so but figured enough was enough..it's time to stop being so scared of them. While Una was out in search of an ATM the guy came back with one of the other lads and a can of some kind of spray that he assured me would sort out the situation...he banged on the curtain again..then started spraying, and within .5 of a second the blasted thing was out running around the walls again *shudder*. That of course was my que to jump up on the furniture again and start whimpering. The gecko disappeared behind a wardrobe and the unit Una's bag was resting on and didn't budge again no matter how much the boys banged so they said not to worry it wouldn't be bothering us again (and it didn't that I know about – I slept through without any teeny tiny footsteps on me).

So first day in Nepal, the atmosphere is nicer than India, the landscape is more what I had expected in India and I've got a warm and fuzzy feeling about the place that I was missing during the time we had in India so far. Maybe the three nights we go back there for will sit better with me and make me rethink my current evaluation. But for now, roll on the adventures in Nepal!

For photos from Lumbini click here.