As we enter the bus, we pass by the gangly goats wallowing in the nearby trash pile. A fire is buring the excess piles. Local Nepalis are huddling around picking out the latest produce at the nearby stands.
We get on the bus and pile in. I hop over the jugs of hot water and I join Lisa in the front seats. There are a slew of local families hugging the windshield as the bus pulls out on its way. For the next seven hours, my view is the multi-colored tassles and red carpeted upholstery of the magical Nepali bus. Our destination is Arughat Bazar, on way to a 20 day trek over the Larke Pass. On the way we will be stopping at Baseri - the home village of our guides - Tika and Gopal. We will be here for the Dewali Festival.
Dewali, quite put, is the most celebrated festival of the year. Each day is a celebration of a different fabled Nepali event. The most important day is called Lokshmi - the celebration of Vishnu's partner - the Goddess of wealth. Nepalis all around light up the house so that this Goddess might grace their presence. I think of it as the holy lottery. You just never know.
My hand is startin' to run jagged from the lack of shocks on the prime conditioned 20 year old bus. The bus in front of us has stopped in the mud as we fear that their axel has broke. We will try and help them, but I am not sure what we can do.
Alas, it seems like a bit of welding has done the trip. On the road again. The Nepali Highwaymen. No Maoist revolution can stop us now.
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