After our short stay in Kalimpong, it was time to leave India and make the journey into Nepal. As I have mentioned previously, we had intended to cross the border by land at Panitanki in the East then fly from there to Kathmandu. However, the border has been closed to tourists since COVID, so we had to change plans and fly instead all the way back to Delhi to get a connecting flight into Kathmandu. This change of plan meant we had a day in Kathmandu, then had a short flight to Pokhara before our six day silent retreat. I will cover all of this in today’s blog, which might be a little piecemeal given all the travelling around! 

NB – I’m trying to get this and the previous two blogs (the second time of writing, grr) uploaded before our silent retreat which is a mere couple of hours away so apologies if some of the descriptions are a little brief! We will be back with a full descriptive form of Nepal once we have all the time in the world in the last three weeks of the trip. 

Sunday –

I was unsure when I went to bed whether I would be well enough to get the three hour taxi down to Bagdogra and then two two-hour flights into Kathmandu, but I was loathe to miss them given we’d already had to pay extra to book these flights when we realised the land border was closed. I felt weak and fatigued when I woke up on Sunday morning, but I did seem to be through the worst of the stomach bug itself. So, I took a couple of trusty loperamides and started packing. 

Once packed up, we made our way to the lobby and found the cab driver we had booked waiting for us there. We paid up with the hotel, including an extortionate fee for laundry about which Ellie was particularly indignant, and headed off in the cab. The journey took us back down the mountain to the Teesta river valley, then followed the river on winding roads all the way back to the twin cities of Siliguri and Bagdogra. The taxi driver had an unnerving habit of driving one handed whilst answering phone calls or listening to voice notes, especially given we were about two feet from a plunge off the road into the river at any given time. 

Despite this, we made it eventually to Bagdogra, and I was still not feeling too bad. Bagdogra was part military airport, part domestic civilian airport, and felt a little down at heel. We were through bag drop and security without any concerns, however, and found ourselves a little spot in the tiny airport lounge to have some experimental Pringles (which went down exceptionally well) and wait for our flight to Delhi. 

The flight boarded early and we were in the air before our scheduled take off time. It was a bit of a bumpy take-off as we went through the clouds at the base of the mountains, but the rest of the flight went about as smoothly as could be hoped. The only excitement came from the near-argument I had with the flight attendant who refused to let me not have the in-flight meal, and absolutely insisted that I at least tried it despite my protestations that I was unwell and it would go to waste. Before we knew it, we were making our descent into Delhi’s International Airport to await our second flight. 

Delhi airport was, of course, a big step up from Bagdogra. Fortunately, our rucksacks went straight to Kathmandu so we just needed to pass through the international security and passport check before we could find somewhere to while away the next three hours. The interflight security staff clearly didn’t get enough people passing through and so amused themselves talking to those who did. The man who patted me down wouldn’t let me pass until he’d told me that he had two girlfriends to my one, and until I looked suitably impressed and chastised. As we passed through passport control, the man in the booth stamped DEPARTED onto our Indian visas and passports what felt like more times that was strictly necessary, and with that we were officially out of the country we had spent the last three months exploring. 

We found a McDonald’s in the huge and glistening airport lounge, and I was encouraged to find I could eat a full meal (albeit chicken nuggets and chips). We spent the rest of the time in a rather comfy spot in a coffee shop overlooking the main concourse, then eventually made our way back down to the gate and onto the flight. I don’t think that planes count as public transport, but even so – now that we have completed all our journeys by planes/trains/buses in India, it must be said that not a single one was significantly delayed, overbooked or otherwise problematic (apart from foot-rubbing man, but that’s not Indian Railways fault). It was quite remarkable how easy travelling has been given the distances involved, and largely how helpful everyone had been. 

The flight to Kathmandu was, if anything, easier than that to Delhi, and we arrived on time though now late evening. We managed to pick up our bags, pre-pay for a taxi, get both of us a sim card with mobile data, and get some Nepalese Rupees out in the space of about an hour. Afterwards, we made our way in the taxi the short journey into the busy tourist Thamel district in the centre of Kathmandu. Our hotel, Hotel Ganesh Himal, was a relatively large operation for what we were used to, and the enthusiastic Gurkha security guard practically ran with our bags up the 5 flights of stairs to our room. The room was clean, spacious, and beautifully comfortable after a long day’s travelling. I had some tutoring to do after we arrived, but once finished we were straight to bed and into a long sleep. 

Monday – 

We were up late on Monday, which was essentially a free day in Kathmandu created from the changing travel plans around crossing the Nepal border. We planned to take the day easy as we have over two full weeks in the Kathmandu area so we were in no rush to go sight-seeing, and we were both still fatigued from the previous week of near-constant travelling. We spent the morning in the garden of Breakfast House Thamel, a lovely cafe down the road from us that did good coffee and breakfast. Kathmandu was a glorious temperature of about 30C, not too hot nor too cold, and Thamel was full of westerners. This did mean, however, that there was no shortage of places to eat, drink, or shop. 

We spent a few hours at Breakfast House Thamel, blog writing, reading, drinking coffee and beer, and generally relaxing, before heading back to the hotel for the afternoon. We hadn’t had much of a chance to do any exercise over the last few days so we took the opportunity of having time and a big enough hotel room to get some needed yoga in. 

In the evening, we were back out to Thamel for a quick early dinner. We walked through the streets lined with tourist shops, bars, restaurants, and cafes which in some ways felt Indian but in other ways completely different. The whole atmosphere in Nepal felt different, more international, somehow more relaxed and the streets felt strangely muffled with far fewer car and motorbike horns. We had dinner out in a restaurant courtyard before I needed to be home for a work interview and some tutoring. We were up early again the following day to make our last long trip for a little while, and so we were again relatively early to bed. 

Tuesday – 

The alarm went off at 6am on Tuesday, and we settled back into the familiar early morning routine of packing up our worldly belongings and trudging downstairs and into a cab. We were at Kathmandu Domestic Departures by 7.20am. Our flight to Pokara, Nepal’s second city a few hundred kilometres to the west, was at 9.20am and so we had plenty of time as we went through the first round of security clearance and to the check-in desk. The Yeti Air staff member at the desk asked us if we wanted to get on the 8am flight which was yet to depart, but we hadn’t yet had so much as a bite of breakfast so politely declined. She therefore asked us to come back in an hour, which gave us time to go and get something to eat. 

We carried our bags back out of the departure buildings and back through the security we had cleared, across a hot car park and to a nearby cafe chain that did us a pot of coffee and some sandwiches for breakfast. Feeling like we had made the right decision, we again lugged the bags the 15 minutes or so back to the departures building and tried again. This time we were permitted into another tiny departure lounge to await our flight. 

The flight to Pokhara was late by a few minutes, but otherwise about as seamless as could be hoped for. We boarded the bus with the 20 or so other passengers which took us out to the airfield which the small domestic carriers shared with the international flights from the international terminal. Our plane was a little bigger than I expected and was kitted out just like a miniature jet, though powered with propellers rather than jet engines. We boarded, were shuffled around a bit to get the weight right, then taxied down the runway and were off. 

The alternative to flying to Pokhara, which in fairness was quite expensive, was to get the cheap but godforsaken ten hour bus down mountain passes which we had heard nothing but terrible reviews for. Flying to Pokhara was, we both agree, probably about the best decision we had made all trip. The flight was all of twenty five minutes, and before we knew it we were making our descent into the city. Once we had collected our bags we were in a taxi down to our residence for the next night, Nanohana Lodge. 

After the slight disappointments in hotels in Darjeeling (damp) and Kalimpong (borderline incompetent), we seemed to be on to a run of stunners in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Nanohana lodge was a simple set of rooms run by a group of very friendly and efficient young men, which were (the rooms, not the young men) clean, tidy and bright. Once we’d dropped the bags, we walked the forty minutes or so by the beautiful lakeside to the city centre, which was a relaxed highstreet of trekking shops, souvenir shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants – not dissimilar to Thamel. We picked up some provisions for the week ahead, then found a street-side cafe for a sandwich and ice tea. 

In the afternoon we walked home to Nanohana so I could teach (I was trying to cram in as much teaching as possible before the week’s retreat) and Ellie could do some yoga, then had a few hours just to relax in the cool room. As we lounged around, the Himalayan mountains, which up to this point had been hiding behind a layer of haze, suddenly emerged as the humid air precipitated into a thunderstorm. The sight was terrific, and the mountains far larger and closer than the photos make them out to be. What a sight from the bedroom window! 

In the evening we were back in the city centre for a delightful dinner on some floor cushions in a restaurant serving mezze platters, salads, and other middle-Eastern foods we hadn’t found since we’d been out in India. What’s more, we were able to sample some Nepali white wine which, though I don’t think I’d be buying a bottle, was fun to sample. We took the short way home, cutting through the backstreets of the city rather than the route round the lake, and were back home for our last night before the retreat the following day. 

Wednesday – 

We were due at Sadhana Retreat Centre, up in the hills just behind Pokhara, at 3pm on Wednesday, so we spent the first part of the morning in a cafe just down the road from Nanohana enjoying good coffee and french toast (me) or porridge (Ellie, obviously). We then ventured back to pack for what felt like the billionth time in the last couple of weeks, and dropped our bags in reception before finding somewhere else to write the blog, answer emails, and generally make ready for our 6 days of silence, without mobiles or books. We found another of Pokhara’s neat little cafes to hole up for a few hours… 

…Which brings me to now, as I’m writing the end of the blog in said cafe. From this afternoon, Wednesday 15/05) we will be in our retreat up until next Tuesday (21/05). It doesn’t seem much in the nature of a silent retreat to write a blow by blow about the experience, but perhaps in the next blog Ellie and I will write a few lines on our experiences. The next proper blog post, however, will be the first of the Pokhara blogs as after the retreat we are back at Nanohana lodge for another six nights before seeing out the end of the trip in Kathmandu valley. For anyone interested I’ll post an example schedule for our retreat below, and we will be back next week!

5:30    Wake-up

6:00    Morning Meditation

7:00    Tea

7:30    Neti Kriya (nasal flushing)

8:00    Pranayama (breath work)

8:30    Morning Yoga session

10:00  Breakfast

11:00  Mud or steam bath

12:00  Meditation

1:00    Lunch

2:00    Rest

4:00    Tea & popcorn

4:30    Chanting (not sure how you do this on a silent retreat)

5:30    Evening yoga

7:00    Dinner

7:45    Candle light meditation

Wish us luck!

Until then, 

Rob & Ellie