getting ready for a long bus ride
The bus ride to Nepal is going to be a long one. I have to leave for the town of Patna tomorrow morning at 7am, three hour bus ride. The buses to Nepal leave from Patna at 9pm, so I will spend my time in the non-tourist town, probably as the only white face, while waiting for my night bus to leave. It will be an eight hour bus ride to the border, and then another eight hour bus ride to the town of Pokhara where I hope to spend the next few weeks.
Yesterday was an interesting day. I am feeling better with my strep throat healed, and find myself able to smile and enjoy the experience of India again. I tried to mail a package to Valerie yesterday. I want to get all of my mailing done before leaving India, because I have been told that the Nepal postal system is not reliable.
Going to the post office is always an adventure. This is the fourth time I have mailed a package home, and I thought I had figured the system out. Nope. I did know to go to the tailer to get the package sewn into a piece of muslin cloth, the typical way of wrapping packages here. I got that taken care of, and then walked over to the post office, only to have them tell me that they are out of stamps and I have to go to the next town in order to mail my package. I asked "will you have stamps tomorrow?" No, because tomorrow (today) is a holiday (the end of Ramadan). Fortunately I have a local friend here in Bodhgaya who has a motor bike and offered to drive me to Gaya to mail my package.
Motor cycles scare me. especially when there are no clear traffic laws, the speedometer does not work, and no one is wearing a helmet. I really did not want to carry the package with me through Nepal, so I took a chance. I think Dines was a little offended at how scared I was, as if I did not trust his driving. He did get me to the post office safely, although a little faster than I was comfortable with.
The adventure continued at the post office. At each post office, the customs form procedure has been a little bit different. Here in the state of Bihar, they wanted me to write a list of the contents of the package on the back of a photo copy of my passport. I had not brought copies of my passport with me to the post office, so we had to find a shop near by with a photo copier. Then the post office did not have the wax typically used to seal the packages, so we had to go find tape. I spent over an hour at the post office trying to mail one package. Typical.
The most amusing part of the day was seeing the cow relaxing in the lobby of the post office. I have seen livestock everywhere now.
Dines drove much slower on the way back to Bodhgaya and I was able to enjoy seeing the countryside. This really is beautiful land and I am glad to be here.
Yesterday was an interesting day. I am feeling better with my strep throat healed, and find myself able to smile and enjoy the experience of India again. I tried to mail a package to Valerie yesterday. I want to get all of my mailing done before leaving India, because I have been told that the Nepal postal system is not reliable.
Going to the post office is always an adventure. This is the fourth time I have mailed a package home, and I thought I had figured the system out. Nope. I did know to go to the tailer to get the package sewn into a piece of muslin cloth, the typical way of wrapping packages here. I got that taken care of, and then walked over to the post office, only to have them tell me that they are out of stamps and I have to go to the next town in order to mail my package. I asked "will you have stamps tomorrow?" No, because tomorrow (today) is a holiday (the end of Ramadan). Fortunately I have a local friend here in Bodhgaya who has a motor bike and offered to drive me to Gaya to mail my package.
Motor cycles scare me. especially when there are no clear traffic laws, the speedometer does not work, and no one is wearing a helmet. I really did not want to carry the package with me through Nepal, so I took a chance. I think Dines was a little offended at how scared I was, as if I did not trust his driving. He did get me to the post office safely, although a little faster than I was comfortable with.
The adventure continued at the post office. At each post office, the customs form procedure has been a little bit different. Here in the state of Bihar, they wanted me to write a list of the contents of the package on the back of a photo copy of my passport. I had not brought copies of my passport with me to the post office, so we had to find a shop near by with a photo copier. Then the post office did not have the wax typically used to seal the packages, so we had to go find tape. I spent over an hour at the post office trying to mail one package. Typical.
The most amusing part of the day was seeing the cow relaxing in the lobby of the post office. I have seen livestock everywhere now.
Dines drove much slower on the way back to Bodhgaya and I was able to enjoy seeing the countryside. This really is beautiful land and I am glad to be here.