Illegal Aliens

Our trip from Nyalam to Zhangmou - the Tibetan border town - was one of the eeriest we have ever taken. We drove through a jaw-dropping gorge shrouded in mist and cloud. There's a 1,000m drop between the two towns and we never realised it meant straight down! Looking at the window over the edge of the road was a dizzying drop right down into the raging river soooo far below. The 'hills' alongside us would appear out of the clouds, then slink back, waterfalls cascaded over the road - we drove around them, behind them and through them (instant carwashes!).

About a kilometre out of Zhangmou we began encountering the parked trucks - huge behemoths looming out of the mist, all waiting for their turn across the border. Zhangmou is a one-street town, winding its way down the mountainside. We were sandwiched between several aforementioned behemoths as we inched our way through the misty town. People and buildings would materialize out of the fog and disappear again. It was all quite surreal!

We finally reached the Immigration station where the line of people was slowly but simply processed through - they didn't even check our bags as we went through customs (I can only hope for the same at Brisbane with my pack full of incense, tea and Mt Kailash soil!). Then it was back into the Land Rover for the 10 kilometre drive to the Friendship Bridge. Out we got and waited in the drizzle for a 45-minute 5 minute wait. Finally, we were off. Shook hands with our driver, Rinzin-la, waved goodbye to Tenzin and followed the line of porters carrying all the gear from the truck (and our kitbags) through the drizzle and across the Friendship Bridge. We almost walked past the Nepali Immigration station - and in hindsight, we should have.

Way back in Brisbane, when we went to the Nepalese Consulate to get our visas, we were told that a multi-entry visa was only valid for 60 days, not the 90 we had thought. Well, that's no good, we said. So the Consul sold us two single entry visas - one for 30 days and one for 60 days. Now, usually for your first visit, you get 60 days, then any subsequent visa is for 30 days. Fine and dandy you'd think, except that we'd only be in Nepal for 5 days on the first visa and it would be really good if the 60 day visa got used for our re-entry. When we got to Kathmandu, we were able to get the officials at the airport to stamp us in on the 30 day visa. You beauty! The plan's working....

But then came Kodari and the over-officious officials at the border. Our second visa is no good because it was issued on the same day as the first one. An hour we spent trying to tell them that that was what their government's representative in Australia had sold us. All to no avail. Take this letter to Dept. of Immigration in Kathmandu they said and waved us out into the rain.

Curses! So, we stood in the rain waiting for our Sherpa, Zangbo, who emerged out of the drizzle to take us to the Land Rover that would take us to Kathmandu. This was a Land Rover that was filled with all the stuff that came out of the supply truck plus Sherpa and Cook. So Smithy got the front seat cos her long legs wouldn't fit in the back. I sat behind the driver, Nowri the cook beside me and Zangmo beside him. All nice and cosy except the expedition barrels in back insisted on being on my lap, so the whole trip was spent rearranging all the gear in the back. Filled to the gills as it was, we still stopped in a village and bought a huge sack of aloo (potatoes) that somehow fit on the roof.

It was a long long trip to Kathmandu, broken by a lunch stop for delicious dal bhat (lentils and rice) and a quarrel with some Maoists who wanted a payment of 500 Rupees (approx AUS$10)per person before we could proceed. I insisted I would not pay any more than 200 rupees altogether, it wasn't my responsibility to support them, I had no extra money blah blah blah. Just when it looked like a complete stalemate, they let us go (without taking the 200 rupees) but we'll have to pay next time! Right.

We finally arrived at our hotel after a substantial detour into the Kathmandu countryside to Zangmo's cousin's house to drop off those wretched expedition barrels, the tents, dining table and sundry other stuff, then a slight detour via Boudhnath to drop off Nowri and his cooking pots. We had enough energy to go shopping to get some drinking water and coffee, fell into the shower and ordered room service for tea - it was pouring with rain and we were far too knackered after our 11 hour day to even think about venturing out for a meal. At least from now on, we'll be off Beijing time and be more in sinc with the sun ie 7.30am won't be pitch black!

Our Getaway man, Praveen, assured us that we would get our visas sorted out no problem and arranged for his go-fer man, Raj, to take us to the Department. Suffice it to say, here we are in Pokhara, still not stamped into the country. There's nothing for it but to buy a 30-day visa once we get back to Kathmandu and then get it extended for a further 30 days when we return from our Annapurna Circuit. We're gonna have to go grovel to the Director-General for a letter explaining to the Brisbane Consul why we should have our money refunded for the no-good rubbish visa she sold us - this after we flounced out of his office declaring "I'm going to my Embassy!" it was the embassy that suggested we get the letter....

So, looking at our passports, we left Kathmandu on 5 September and haven't been seen since! No stamps or visas for China (we had to carry a loose sheet of paper that constituted our group visa) and now no stamp into Nepal!