Day 32: Bhandar to Kathmandu

Welcome to "big" Bhandar the potential new starting point for the Everest trek. It is already starting to look like Jiri. Just compare the pictures of the bus station (Photo #1) and the main street to the lower picture (Photo #4) of "little" Bhandar (about 1 km away) that is on the current trekking path. Its hard to believe these are so close to each other. Unfortunately at the moment if you want to take the Bhandar bus (coming or going) it is best to stay in the "big" Bhandar - as the bus leaves at 6 am and heaven only knows when the bus might arrive from Kathmandu (on the night we were there it rolled in around 9 pm).

Up early for the bus, but managed to get a delicious bowl of noodle soup for breakfast. As the bus station was directly across from the guesthouse, we did not have far to walk. The bus was about 15 minutes late leaving as we waited for a Buddhist nun and then just as we were about to leave someone else came running up to the bus. It turned out he had come to tell a family on the bus that he had just received a call saying that a brother had died - so the man and his family had to make the immediate decision to get off the bus.

So we were finally off on the "Super Express" - 750 Rs - bus to Kathmandu on only its 12 th day of service. All I can say is that this bus is not going to last long on these roads. Although there are great views the trip takes 4 1/2 hours to Jiri (via Those) for what as the crow flies is a 10 km distance. Bumpy, slow, windy,....this road has got it all.

Stopped at Jiri and surprisingly had the best, and cheapest, coffee of the trip at one of the bus station coffee shops. From there we learned the meaning of Super Express. No stops, just flat out - of course there was one stop to change a blown out tire, and then another stop in the next town to repair the blown out tire (a tire that should definitely gone on the scrap heap, as a piece had blown right off it). We made great time until just before Kathmandu, when evening rush hour hit. Two hours going nowhere. So the total time was 13 1/2 hours, and one saved day from not walking through to Jiri.

Kind of a crazy way to end a fantastic trek, but fun none the less.

(Photo #5: a look back along the route we followed from Bhandar. If you look closely you can follow the path of the road.)