Hannah’s Weblog

After our two weeks in the Himalaya, it felt both surreal and unsettling returning to Kathmandu. The entire experience of sleeping in sub zero tea lodges, never stripping below layers of thermals and trekking for many hours everyday was a routine that Kim and I really settled into. I will admit however that I did miss the communication with the outside world, not being able to check emails, or call my loved ones was something that challenged me both emotionally and mentally. Once we reached our goal of making it to basecamp (which is not possible for many, so quite the achievement) the sense of relief and satisfaction was misplaced as we still had four days trekking back down to Lukla. So many hours walking, time to think, contemplate what I will do with my life, take in the breathtaking views…rardy ra……returning to civilisations as I know it was quite a major step. I think in hinds sight all these feelings were exaggerated by the fact we had both built up in our minds that returning to Kathmandu was somehow returning to ‘our world’, by which I mean the world that we had been dreaming about whilst in the mountains…..civilisation, boyfriends, hot showers, communication….etc etc but when we arrived back into Kathmandu the reality was that we were still a million miles away from all of it, we were still travelling for another month, and still had to deal with slow internet connections (like this one where I have just stupidly cancelled downloading photos…..so am giving up …..), oh, I must stop moaning! This computer is stressing me out.

Ok, I will take a deep breath…… So as I was saying returning to Kathmandu kind of left us feeling numb. We both missed the structure, peace and quiet, exercise and absolute beauty of our trek. It took u a while to return to civilisation and to prepare ourselves for the rest of our trip. So what better way to do this than to sign up for the second highest bungee jump in the world…mmmmman we are suckers for punishment! hahahhah…..

The Last Resort.
This was something Kim had often talked about, something I clearly remember saying to our friend James that I would not be a part of ’she will have to go alone’ I said, ‘there is no way I can watch her do it…’ hahah makes me laugh now, seeing as I too signed up for it. I must still have been affected by the altitude! (an excuse we all came accustomed to using) We had persuaded Paul, one of the guys from our trek, who unfortuately didn’t make it to basecamp to come along with us. He paid up front (for two jumps may I add) while Kim and I couldn’t part with the money, instead we paid for a ‘go and see’ packaged, which included transport there and lunch, and the chance to jump. 3 hours out of Kathmandu, the clean mountainous air, beautiuful remote villages and people was well worth it enough! We arrived at the bridge, and I took a deep breath! Oh My Goodness!! The bridge, which was built for the jump sat graciously 165m above a gushing river and stretched more than 100m across the picture perfect gauge.
It looked like a tiny thin piece of wire and I had to convince myself just to cross it to the resort. The resort was gorgeous, it was a brilliant sunny day, and the luxurious bar and lounging area was a real treat and definitely helped us to relax. We were briefed and weighed, and the first group ushered back to the bridge. Kim and I wanted to watch some people go first whilst still deciding whether or not to go through with it! The viewing platform made it all the more real! I was going to have to do it, I paced back and forth and when the time came we paid. There was no going back.
Kim, Paul and I headed for the bridge. Quite honestly my memory of the event is somewhat blurred, I can remember doing ‘rock, scissors, stones’ with Kim to decide who would go first. As some people well know, I always bl**dy win!! Dam my good luck!!!! Paul dissapeared over the edge and it was my turn………(My hands get clamy just thinking back to it) I stepped into a harness and my feet were tied. The bungee master (what a cool title) took my hand and led me under the safety bar onto the ledge. I stood there, nothing to my left, nothing to my right and certainly nothing infront of me……I was told to not look down, do not think about it and jump….so what did I do, I looked down, thought “what the HELL am I doing” and didn’t jump! I was stood, arms out, toes over the edge and the bungee master’s words, ‘this is your final chance’……I glanced at Kim, shouted to the others who were cheering for me, “I CANT DO IT” then I was gone! head first plumetting to the river! Like I said my memory of how I managed to throw myself off the bridge is blurry, but the feeling once I hade left it was amazing!! The adrenalin kept pumping and I screamed all the way down, and up…and down!! Then I watched as Kim took her turn…….Definitely a highlight of the trip! Would I do it again? mmmmm Im not sure, I’d like to think I could but we would have to see……It was an amazing natural high and we both felt on top of the world, we enjoyed a fantastic lunch, well deserved glass of wine and lots of laughs with the other jumpers………

The trip back, I sat and watched the Nepalese world go by. I felt fantastic! The sunset made the red earth glow a gorgeous amber. The chisseled landscape of the farmed mountains was so beautiful as the light faded and we neared Kathmandu. Once again returning to civilisation……a day I will never forget! That evening we enjoyed an evening of Vodka fizzes, popcorn and a rooftop bar with our new friends. a fantastic way to end our time in Nepal. It is somewhere that I know I will return to one day, and would highly recommend to anyone.

Tuesday afternoon we left Nepal, an overnight bus back to India. We crossed the border, hung around a dismal city named Suligiri, then another over night journey by train to Kolkata. Back on the beaten track, and the challenges of travelling India, but we have gorgeous beaches and sunshine to look forward to so it is smiles all round!….