Monday, 31 May 2010

The first things seen if one crossed into China. A large pile of rubbish, lorry painted in North Korean flag and highly attractive buildings.

Nepal on the left. Tibet on the right.

Bored Nepali lorry drivers waiting at the Nepal/China border.

Nepal/China (Tibet) border. The red umbrellas that mark the border can clearly be seen on the bridge.

0.42 Seconds in Tibet

As a little excursion from flinging myself off bridges I decided to go to the China/Tibet border. Just to have a look. I am very curious about borders, I find them odd and exciting at the same time.

The two countries are linked by a bridge. Half way across this bridge is the border, marked with a red line and two Chinese border guards under red ice cream vendor style umbrellas. Unfortunately and not surprisingly photography is banned on the bridge. As I approached the line in the tarmac I wondered if I could cross it. I stood adjacent to the Nepali side of the line, next to one guard and hesitated. The other guard crossed over and also stood next to me. I realised it was now or never. If I was to gain entry into Tibet I had to be strong.


At that point I threw caution into the wind and stepped the extra 6 inches over the line and into forbidden territory. The guard closest to me then gave a very firm and stern "OI!" and gesticulated that I should get back into Nepal sharpish. I did. He had a gun. And a furrowed brow. I leaped back across that border and into safety. So there we are, my Tibetan odyssey was at an end. One can forget Heinrich Harrier and his 7 Years in Tibet. I have 0.42 Seconds in Tibet.

Tansen

Tansen, quick stop at Kathmandu and then BUNGEE!

Tansen, a conveniant stop off between Bardia and Kathmandu was pretty enough to warrant a two night visit. A small hill side town, again like Gorkha and Bandipur with great views, was nice to walk around and take in the sites.

My return to Kathmandu was only short lived, only long enough to book my Bungee trip. Unfortunately I can not post the videos of my jumps on this site (100mb max) so if you are interested take a look at

Bungee jump

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m20xJMNamQ

And swing jump

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=einVpguIvAg