What a great day to start a brand new day!!
and it seems like my good old days are coming back again!!..:)
Thanks John!!It was awesome read!!
Brought back my memories of countless travels I had along that road! Those journeys were always awesome; seeing haat bajars, seeing the ox carts, the never ending jungles and everything else: the memories to be cherished!!
And for the record; I have stayed in Bardibas too: one of the place in Nepal where the Gomans and other poisonous snakes are abundant; I was scared to shit when one of person told me the story abt how he lost his hand!!..:)

simply fantastic. good job galt ~

very nice John

Johnji - It is always a pleasure to read your writings!
:-)

Interesting read John! Thanks.

Nice read. I can feel your presence now.

Ok, I don't get the ending. So I guess he's just stuck in Candranigahapur- all that effort for nothing. Is that right?

BUT

It brought back memories.

"The clock showed 1:30 pm, Biratnagar would be five more hours, I was glad I would make it before dusk. "

I felt the same way as soon as I reached Chandranigahapur when I used to travel in Nepal. Your impeccable description about the places and people of the hills and then the gradual transition into Terai and the description there is what's remarkable aout this piece. I guess stories, like food, have two dimensions. The pleasure acquired by writing it and the please aquired by reading it are two totally different emotions. You're the most wonderful chef and I feel like licking the screen.

:D

John,
Enjoyed it..those smelly armpits..lol..
Is it to be continued..?

While going through the lines..I could litrally smell the rusty iron bar of bus..peculier smell of Tarai water..not to mention the squeaky break( I suppose it was to keep the drunk driver wide awake )..sticker peeling part made me smile..just reminded me of stickers on the suitcases..I am sure it was one of those Yak & Yati hotel or RNAC one..am i right JG?? .. you came up with yet another trip to memory lane..thank you!!

John_G,
Every time you portray your experiences through travelling, it makes me envy you. I regret that I never got to travel much around Nepal, not even much around KTM valley itself. I usually blame it on the Jatras of Handigaon , but they were pretty fascinating!

Always a pleasant read, John Sir! :)

Awww! So our very own nepali Poonam Dhillon, Meenakshi Seshardi and Madhuri Dixit never got to pick out the salwar kurthas, did they ? How sad it that!!! :D
Your always have such interesting stories to tell! Don’t disappear on us John and please do keep writing!

It was from Pittsburgh to somewhere in Ohio with an easy ride that you avoided. Then it was Patna mail and now back to the country. Good thing is that you are a keen observer. You observe those serpentine trails you walked through and the story of the footprint left all over them. It is your generosity to share what you see and what you feel; of course in an interesting way.

We are seeing come back of our legends these days. Hope you will hang around till next hibernation.

-SunnyDev

Well written Galt! Reminded me of the many uncomfortable bus-rides around the country...

On a more serious note, a plan of action is required to reduce the accidents that involve mostly small children on the highways of Nepal. Who shall we blame for such accidents - the drivers, the parents, poor planning of the highways and settlements around it?

Also something needs to be done about there law which turns the drivers into cold blooded murderers. I guess you all must have heard about it. In case you haven't, the law is interpreted by the drivers such that - they would rather kill the helpless person they just hit by backing the vehicle on them or else they have to take care of them their whole life. Such inhuman people should be charged and tried with first degree murder.

loved it immensely and yer crushes gawd
anywhoo cant stop falling in love with you one more time
nice one john

Johnny Galt..back with a bang.: ) Good seeing some old ones around.

gone with the wind.

Juggy,
Thanks for visiting, your post was a refreshing read too, as far as Bardibas goes, most people do not have words of appraisals for that location. Besides being humid, sultry and in abundance with venomous reptiles, it was also infamous as a venue for catering live flesh much to the desires of licentious truck and bus drivers in earlier days. The same later however were replaced by maoists.

Thankyou dalli,
Was that a cardamom flavored tea? It has been ages since I last drank tea with a cream, my wife wants both of us to consume a brew without cream and sugar.

Pretty,
The aftermath was not as exciting, I had to call a friend in Janakpur to come and get me past Lahan, where I would board an almost empty bus. But yes, like you said, all those journeys are eventful.

Aye Aye captain,
I am honored.

Ashish,
Sometimes i wished I did not have to travel those fifty miles from Lahan to the near end of Koshi river, the bus makes countless stops for non-paying commuters who pick up fights in matter of seconds, I have travelled that route frequently, but never enjoyed it.

Alien,
Just one more anecdote out of my eccentricity, I am glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks uptowngal,
Everytime I see your pesudonym, it reminds me of the old Billy Joel hit, one of my favorites in those years.

Flippy,
It is a pleasure when you read em too....you never miss any of my anecdotes, and I am humbly gratified. How was the tornado, how far was it from Birmingham?

Thanks world map,
Just an excerpt of my countless and worthless memories.

Jira,
Thanks....but when can I feel yours?? Whatever happened to the celebrity writer of "devon street"?

Timetraveller,
I am honored by your eulogy, although least deserved, I learn from great writers like Sitara and sum off, still on a learning curve, it had been a circle for a while, but seems that a curve has made a detour this time. Yes, the story was about meaningless effort, I had to truncate it short because of time and mood limits.

sndy,
I never knew you were a female until I came across that relationship between bhauju and dewar somewhere in the other thread, pseudonym truly fakes identities. But yes, the aftermath was not as interesting, so i had to stop it abruptly.About smelly armpits, I would not have resented it had it not been so closer.

Tamanglady,
Strange smell of water eh? Yes, kinda smelly, it has a lot of iron in it, the filter does not work good when it is a hand operated pump. But actually, they seem to be more healthy than the water in valley. And yes....how well did you guess that? Those stickers were from Yeti travels, TWA and Yak & Yeti.

oys_chill,
Well, I love travelling, in every forms, one more episode of my insanity is yet to be posted here, when i dared ride a motorcycle from Biratnagar to Mahendranagar. But yes, you should travel more when you visit Nepal next time, there are more other jatras even in the valley. LOL

Lemon,
I never dissappeared, I was simply lurking around, but I feel alienated when i find sajha filled with diatribes and hatred. Thanks for visiting, it is so nice to hear from you after a while.

Sunny,
Yes, the only worth reminiscing thing I did in my otherwise lackluster life was that I travelled a lot. Memories veer all the time, alzheimer's caving in, I write what I remember the best, thanks for visiting Sunny, it meant a lot for me.

Yacc,
Blame the ephermeral government who is least concerned about the accidents, the department of vehicle safety (if there is such department at all), the poor civil works and a legislature that took years to pass the bill that could relocate people with modest reimbursement to create a new settlement away from the freeway.

Angleyes,
I did not quite get it...were you referring to countless women i 'supposedly loved' all these years or that there are women who fall in love with me after reading my anecdotes? If the latter holds true, then I must say it is completely false, first of all I am not a gifted writer and do not desvere such eulogy, second, I am so bad looking, some called me I was a mutation between KingKong and Johnny Lever. As far as the first statement goes, it holds true in every aspect, I give away my heart easily with no returns.

Scarlett,
It was not a bang, 't was a fumble, I accidently tripped over words while writing and came out with something that needs a whole lotta edits. But yes, you replied with a Bang after a long time.

John jee,
I prefer fresh ginger tea with lots of cream and some sugar. When I first married my husband did not cared about my nepali tea but now he likes it more than I do and my son- he wants nepali tea every morning. I sneak 80% of milk in his tea. Tea without cream and sugar is good for health. It is fat and calories free too so enjoy!!!!

Yes galt, there are always many to blame... But seriously, there are simply too many such accidents and someone with the authority to act needs to channel their time and energy to prevent the loss of lives...

>> "a legislature that took years to pass the bill that could relocate people with modest reimbursement to create a new settlement away from the freeway. "

Really, I have never heard of such a bill ever passed. But then I haven't heard about a lot of things...

*waves frantically at JG bro while jumping up and down hoping he gets noticed among the crowd not tht i seek attn but u know wat i mean?at least JB bro knows I was here too* ;oP hehe

anyways before the IE crashes( again..since it has already done some moment ago and firefox urghh..its worse in here :oS CONSPIRACY I TELL U!!!!...) just when it seems to turn out for the better..smthing crops up and gets worse?hehe..well im talkin about ur piece..hope the frustration wasnt that bad..smtimes its just feels too much hoina?...

and thanks for sharing as always...even during this gloomy day(been rainin since yest night..which aint bad..since had enuf of the sweltering summer heat hehe..but yeah u know wat a rainy day makes u wanna do?do nothin and laze more?esp to a lazy person?;oP hehe)..anyways felt sunny and made me a bit less lazy there when i was readin :oD...hopefully this feeln will last..but due to my experiences..im not hopin that much ;oP hehe..

ok outta here before i start sprouting out more babbles(do want to..but im tryn hard to stop myself for the sake of others?;oP hehe)..hope alls well there..and i def count myself lucky i didnt get to experience any bandhs when i was back in nepal*touch wood*(no evul eyes pls!;oP hehe)..and to think i thot that sittn on the bus for 8hrs plus not knowin when the driver will stop tho my bladder was feeln full was quite a hell..and oh i think im sure u count urself lucky that i wasnt on board that bus then?;oP hehe..i mean i dun even need to be sittn beside to be errr..smelled?:oS ;oP..

anyways..till some other time when u do share :oD...and when im 'allowed' to access the net :oS..told u ..its a bloody conspiracy!:@ hehe..

good day!:oD

Hi Johnji - Though the sky looked ominous on thursday, we were safe from tornadoes. Had to wait until the condtions were safe to get back home. The target was about three hours drive from B'ham.

Hopefully you'll continue writing.

P.S: Danny Hi.

Danny And Flippy..awesome to see you two ! How u been? Where u been? :)

gone with the wind..