OMAAT: The Hell Journey from Chitwan to Kathmandu is part of the ANA, Take Me ‘Round the World Trip Report.
The eight-hour drive from Chitwan to Kathmandu gives a new meaning to the expression “one mile at a time.” It took that long to go 60 miles. If I were in Olympic shape, I could have run there faster.
What happened? First, the roads in Nepal are awful. Second, most are one lane which leads to a never-ending game of chicken. Third, there was construction on the pass connecting the two towns. The construction only allowed traffic in one way. More than once, the driver turned off the car, exited the vehicle, and only returned to move the car three feet. One time, I thought we were going to move because buses and cars were honking. As it turned out, the driver in front of us had fallen asleep. When he woke up, he moved his car ten feet and we waited some more.
The flight from Chitwan to KTM is 25 minutes. My fear was that it would be cancelled (see Nepal Domestic Flight Misery), and I would miss my flight to Shanghai. This, apparently, was the better alternative.
Overall
What a nightmare. We left at 4PM, were supposed to arrive at 8PM, but didn’t check in until after midnight.
