Siliguri

Helen wakes up to the present of no water AT ALL in the bedroom to shower in this morning, but whilst on the hunt to find out why, Isabelle offers the shower in her room for the two of us to use whilst she takes breakfast. Mid morning along the route Helen also gets the gift of being able to pee in the jungle before we leave Nepal for our return into India. Which for some was a more eventful experience as a snake was spotted! However, the Birthday fun didn't stop there as the last pee stop in Nepal involved the smelliest and worst toilet of the trip to date! It was a longer day than expected on the bus and although the scenery is less dramatic than yesterday, we do see the huge and currently empty river beds that must carry an immense amount of water down from the snowy mountains every thaw in the Spring. We travel across many bridges over near-empty river beds being dredged for precious resources and see many buildings on stilts built next to the flood plain. We do continue to see paddy fields and notice tea bushes before we reach the border at dusk. The Nepal exit is straightforward, but the India entry involves an hour long wait on the bus on the bridge before filling out more forms to re-enter India, with the odd firework being set off (in celebration of the Birthday girl we think!) It's now dark as we are on Oz Bus #6 and travel towards the hotel, but we are entertained by fireflies at the side of the road and into the fields. At the hotel, the restaurant looks full so a few of us go next door for dinner, but when we return to the hotel there's still a table full of Oz bussers in the restaurant. As we sit and have a drink, Isabelle has found some 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' candles and stuck them in a bowl of rice and leads the group over to sing a chorus to Helen...a very sweet gesture at the end of a very long and not so good day.