A Disappointing Turn Around

We had a little bit of a disappointment today. Our agenda was to drive to a bridge near the Chinese border that is used for bungee jumping. I had promised Sandy that we would by no means be jumping ourselves. However, it would be neat to watch others. Merely walking across the see-through grated bridge is an experience in itself. After that we planned to drive the short remaining distance to the border itself, just to say we had.

That was our plan anyway. However, after waking up and leaving the house at 5AM and driving for hours to within a few kilometers of our destination, we encountered a road block. No -- it was not a fallen buffalo; it wasn't even a mudslide covering the road. We were stopped by a villager of the upcoming area. He informed us that someone had been hit by a car in their village recently and they were not allowing anyone to pass. They were in effect holding the traffic hostage until the government made some type of monetary amends for this tragedy. (Side note: Don't assume the driver of the car was at fault. Pedestrians constantly walk right out into traffic here without the slightest concern for their own safety.)

I couldn't believe it. We had woken up early, driven up the mountain for hours, wasted time and fuel just to be stopped a few minutes shy of our goal. Triston just turned the car around and said that is the way things are here. It is not uncommon at all. When I inquired about the probable results if we ignored the warning, Triston informed me that we would undoubtedly have the car bombarded with rocks. We could be injured and have the car set on fire. I was glad he turned around; but I was still disapointed and frustrated.

There is a silver lining, however. We were the first car of the the morning to reach this village. (By the time we left there was a huge line of cars and buses stopped.) Had we made it through the village, we could have enjoyed our sight seeing adventure...but would not have been able to return! Since this is the only road back, this would have been a huge inconvenience. We fly out from Nepal tomorrow. There is a good chance we would not have been able to get back in time for our flight.

So, although disappointed, we were nonetheless releived to have a way back home. We stopped at another suspended bridge that we had passed earlier. Although it was not even 1/10th the size of the bungee site, we were satisfied.