Nepal How a 4 hour conversation saved me 80 rupees
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Johan Kruseman
Updated on 24 October 2024
Updated on 24 October 2024
Well, folks, my last day in Nepal has arrived, and I‘ve experienced way too many bizarre things once again. There were so many of them that I had to make a choice between organizing them chronologically or alphabetically, but in the end, I opted for a small selection.
I think I left off my last message with a heavy negotiation over an alarm clock. That evening, I went out with my super nice and mega fun Dutch friends (may sound overly positive, but they‘ve made it onto my mailing list now, so I didn‘t have much of a choice). As usual, we started with some pre-drinks at the Tom & Jerry bar and then wrapped up the night at the Fire Club. There, we got some Nepalese folks to dance with us. Unfortunately, it got so lively that I didn‘t hit the sack until 4:00 am, and my bus to Pokhara was scheduled to leave just 2.5 hours later. Thankfully, I had acquired a “very good quality, only for you my friend” alarm clock by then. So, without any issues, I hopped out of bed at 6:00 am and headed to the bus. After about 5 minutes, my Nepalese neighbor struck up an extensive conversation. I was somewhat interested, but not at this early hour. I suggested that I‘d sleep for 4 hours first, and then we could chat for 4 hours. Those last 4 hours were quite enjoyable. We talked a lot about the political situation in Nepal, religion (Hinduism and Buddhism), education, foreign aid, and more. A very interesting conversation. When I arrived in Pokhara, things got interesting. He told me to stay put and explained why. All the tourists hopped off the bus and were innocently accosted by the Pokhara taxi gang. “Only 80 rupees, sir, we‘ll take you to a nice hotel.” After a few failed attempts at haggling, everyone was in a taxi, en route to the city center. That‘s when I asked my neighbor what the plan was for me. He then explained that once all the tourists had been dumped into taxis, the bus would continue on to the city center for free. I saved a cool 80 rupees! (I won‘t convert that for you because it undermines my story a bit, but the joy was no less for it 😄).
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Traveled route: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Pokhara, Annapurna circuit, Udipur Valley, Manang, Thorong La Pass, Jomsom
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