Day 1 - Kathmandu to Jiri (October 17, 2008) - with map

Finally we start. Everyone was healthy today, so we were off. We took the Express bus to Jiri for a relatively peaceful 8 1/2 hour trip. No flat tires, blockades, protests, or strikes, just terrifying potential drops off the side of the road, and a few near collisions narrowly avoided. Par for the course as this is probably the most dangerous part of the trek, and maybe even more dangerous than a flight to Lukla.

The bus had 2-2 seating, unlike the local buses and made quite good time, all for 425 Rs (about 72-78 Rs to the USD). We met a group of four in Jiri that had taken a private minibus at $75/head and still took 8 hours to make the trip.

Jiri has certainly changed. In my old diary I noted that "Jiri is a pleasant little village with 12-14 buildings situated around a town square". That was in the same month that bus service started from Jiri, back in 1983. Now Jiri is a "bustling?" town with at least 12-14 guesthouses, stores galore, and garbage all around, especially in the rivers. There is also a dump on the outside of town that seems to have sprouted an everlasting flame (or at least it was on fire both times we passed by it). In other words, no longer as "nice" as it once was.



Of course one of the big changes since last time is that almost everywhere has some form of electricity. Jiri is no exception, but cooking is still done the old fashioned way, with wood. You would have to figure that it would make sense to switch to gas, or some other fuel instead of continuing with wood...but...I guess old habits die hard.