471t Western Terai Dec 2008
Sat- Bhutwal .. nothing special for tourists.
- Took the bus down to the flatlands called the Terai I intend to head West. It's just a huge trading town... nothing special for tourists. Walking tying to use the internet between connection cuts and power cuts.
- Bargain hotel 1 quid, but noisy.

Sun - travelling Terai- rundown characterless towns
- I took the bus west and stopped for coffee every 50Km, but each place was run down and characterless. I suppose these towns spent many years under Maoist control and under threat of war until the Maoists got control of central government. I made it to Nepalganj.

Mr "Life in Europe is like a sex movie"

- I stopped in one town more indigenous with wattle and daub adobe thatched huts .... I met a "friend" someone who thinks he speaks English, and thinks that life in Europe is like a porno movie. Ha ha !

- Of course it's Europe that is more moral ... see why Nepal opinions

- Anyway He insisted he had to take the same bus as me. then he tried to say the fare was $5 for 50Km... outrageous I know the fares so I gave the busboy $1.20 .. the "friend" then got off at the next place.

Fuel Adulteration
- Apparently the main reason for dirty pollution in Nepal is petrol station owners diluting the petrol with cheaper materials like turpentine or diesel . As well as making smoke this fucks up the engines aswell so costs vehilcle owners money. The government seems to have fixed this by making diesel the same price as petrol and by banning turpentine.

- In China they have adulterated milk, but I bought some bread and it tasted awful ..I wonder if the flour was padded with chalk or something ?

IDEA : Biofuels are great for Nepal
But why is Nepal a land locked country buying in diesel anyway ? Surely it's a prime country for growing biofuels as it would not have to depend on foreign countries for a supply nor would it have to pay the transport costs of getting it from the nearest refineries, which must be in Singapore.

Nepalganj : a dirty sprawling crossroads

- This is supposed to be the second largest city in Nepal. It's like a dirty sprawling crossroads with buildings spreading out, no character really just rough streets of tiny bazaar shops.
- Apparently a lot of destruction was done 2 years ago when a bandh got out of hand.

- I found a cheap hotel easy enough and explored. I was accosted by friendly men often, there was a funfair, I bought fetta cheese, then as it got dark it was load shedding and everything was dark so no internet etc. Managed to go to a restaurant with proper fried rice instead of awful daal bhat.

- I suppose the next place is Bardia NP some Germans recommended it to me so I phoned their lodge and made a reservation.

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