Darjeeling and the long trip to Kathmandu

Hey All,
Went to the zoo in Darjeeling, the animals were truly awesome, but as always it's sad to see them in a cage. The zoo has successfully released 40 snow leopards back into the wild and 47 Red Pandas so it serve a purpose. My two favorites were the Snow leopard and the Himalayan Black bear (looked like a fat sausage). I'll upload pics soon, once Ihave a reasonable connection. I was actually pissed on by a huge Royal Bengal Tiger which was odd, I was deleting photos of it as it wouldnt stop moving and suddenly I got sprayed...lesson learnt; don't get too close to a big pussy. I went to a Tibetan restaurant with some people on the way back from the zoo, had some Momo's (Tibetan dumplings), they were outstanding. I had Buffalo steamed and veg fried. They came with a really meaty broth, was superb. In the evening watched Spain - Germany, met some more travelers, all very nice. Escorted Robin home again.

As the weather hadnt got any better since my first day in Darjeeling and didnt look likely to improve soon I got up early and left for Nepal. The jeep I was in broke down half way to Silliguri and we had to wait around whilst the man fiddled underneath, credit to him he got it working again. I got a bus to the border town of Panitanki that went through some rural Indian countryside; a true insight into their daily lives. At the border I shunned the rickshaws in favour of working up a sweat in the midday sun, I felt chuffed with myself as I set my bag down on the Nepal side of things and sorted out a visa and bus to Kathmandu. The border guard told me was only the second tourist of the day. After the 17 hour bus journey I realised why. The drivers are maniacs, overtaking on windy hilltop roads with blind corners. The bus was rammed, so rammed I had to have my rucksack on my lap for half the journey, the combination of my efforts earlier in the day meant for a hot sticky sleepless affair. At one in the morning we stopped for some food, I have chosen not to eat in these places since I got a bug on the way to Silliguri. When the driver who had just finished his shift got onto the passenger side of the bus he collapsed and had a fit, frothing at the mouth. He was laid on the floor of the bus but couldnt be revived and we set off again. An hour or so later I drifted off (bag removed). I was woken by a woman screaming at the driver at about 4.00. To my astonishment, it was the driver that had had the fit! I thought she must be irate about the fact he was driving, endangering her children etc...No, it was that her and her family had been mis-sold tickets, they were under the impression they were going to Pokhara. The driver pulled over and within 2 minutes had waved down a cattle truck and had them on their way. I remained awake for the rest of the journey, worried about the driver and his driving... This gave me the oppurtunity to take in the spectacular scenary, which was fantastic. Numerous times throughut India i've observed the locals just throwing rubbish, bottles out of train windows etc. But I was truly shocked to see a Nepalese father encourage his young son to throw a water bottle out the window.
From what i've observed, even though the people of Nepal are supposed to be poorer, from what I've noticed they have a better quality of life than the average Indian. They seem to have more pride in the appearance of their streets, and even though Kathmandu is large, dusty and there is traffic, it reminds me more of a Thai island town than the filth and havoc of Varanasi and Delhi.
I'm now in the process of waiting to meet some people to trek the Annapurna circuit with, i've seen alot of travelers around, albeit none in my hotel (I went super cheap - $4 a night including unlimited internet) . My plan is to trawl around the bars tonight in the hope of finding people leaving in the next couple of days. If this fails i'll wait by the start of the trek unti some people come along. In the meantime i've bought some pencils and a pad of drawing paper and i've got 'Shantaram' to keep me company! I'll post again before I head out on the trek. Love to all, x