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| Kathmandu - Monkey temple |
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| Kathmandu - Everyone is helping with the candles |
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| Patan - Durbar square |
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| Pashupatinah |
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| Bodhnath |
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| Maoist check point |
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| Tom and I with Nick and Sam on the top of Poon Hill |
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| Annapurna South |
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| Woman washing her cutlery |
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| Chilling out at lunch time near a waterfall - this is life! |
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| Tukuche |
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| Tom on one of the many suspended bridges |
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| Mustang horse near the Nilguiri range |
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| Gorkha Airlines |
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| Flight Jomson-Pokhara - View of the Fish Tail |
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| Chitwan Jungle Lodge, in the heart of the national park |
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| Morning elephant safari |
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| Indian Rhino spotted on our first elephant safari |
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| Mahoutes (elephant drivers) on their beasts |
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| B'day girl and newly engaged! |
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| Fresh tiger footprint... |
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| Sunrise at Chitwan |
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| Map of the Sun Kosi |
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| Camp on the beach - our shelter is the one at the front |
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| Kayakers down No Exit |
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| Some of our early morning visitors |
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| Women in the fields near the river |
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| Ramesh, Om and Raz |
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| Preparing dinner (a lot of peeling involved) |
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| Quiet evening reading time under the raft shelter |
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| Celebration cake on our last day rafting on the Sun Kosi |
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Chapter 17 - Kathmandu
The journey from the Nepalese border to Kathmandu was a welcome break from the barren mountains of the Tibetan plateau.
The hillsides were green and terraced and households were dotted around every slope. The road continued to follow the Bhote
Kosi river. Julie, Laure and I had taken a jeep to avoid the discomforts of a terribvly overcrowded local bus (including people
piled on top of the roof). The jeep suffered a flat tyre on route and we got stopped by some Maoists who demanded some 'road
tax'. These were not gun-toting, fierce-looking rebels- they were a pair of teenagers fresh from the local highschool! It
was what they threatened that scared the driver- and he had to use this road every day.
As the jeep climbed up and down the valley sides negotiating hairpin bends, we marvelled at the new surroundings.
Everything seemed a lot greener. Eagles launched themselves from their branches and flew majestically above us. There
were lots of children everywhere often wearing their school uniforms. The population of Nepal is growing very fast as health
care has improved and people still want many children in rural areas (80% of the population is agrarian). It became densely
populated the closer we came to Kathmandu valley. Finally we reached the city of Kathmandu and booked into the Ganesh Hiomal
Hotel for a well appreciated hot shower (we'd gone about 4/5 days without!). Unfortunately we experienced the worst hotel
manager so far (very rude...) and checked out after two nights. We ate steak and chips that first night to celebrate our successful
arrival in another capital city.
Our time in Kathmandu was spent mostly lazing around with the odd token visit. The truth is, we were burnt out and couldn't
have cared less about sight seeing. So we took a break. We watched movies on the TV inour room, surfed the net, read books
on the roof of the hotel, browsed through the markets of Thamel, ate good food, chatted with other travellers and booked our
trips to other parts of Nepal. We thoroughly enjoyed this extended period of laziness, and felt recharged afterwards.
Idleness did not totally define our stay in Kathmandu though. We visited the western hilltop stupa of Swayambhunath (the
monkey temple- loads of the little blighters!) Here we wandered through tribes of monkeys (macaques) and enjoyed the calm
atmosphere and the views across Kathmandu valley.
We also checked out the Royal Durbar (square with Nepalese temples and palaces) in Kathmandu and Patan (the neighbouring
town). On our final day in Kathmandu we walked
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Chapter 18 - Annapurnas
It was good to hit the road again after a week of relative laziness in Kathmandu. Laure and I caught a bus with our guide:
AC Milan, alias Mr. Mister (his real name!). It was a 'tourist bus' that took us along the Prithvi Highway westwards towards
Pokhara. The highway followed the Seti River including its meanders, which caused Laure to be sick on the bus; and I ate something
on route that was later to prove a little problematic. Nevertheless we met up with Nick and Sam (our trekking buddies) in
Pokhara and enjoyed a slap up meal the night before the hike.
The next day; Laure, myself, Nick, Sam and Milan caught a local bus to Naya Pul, the small village where we started the
hike. The indian pop music blared inour ears on the way there and my stomach cramps kicked in...
The entrance to the national park was located next to a small shrine and preceded by a Maoist checkpoint. The Maoists
started a 'people's war' in 1996, and the ensuing conflict has cost 13, 000 lives. They control up to 40% of the countryside
in Nepal and extort 'taxes' from the Nepalese and foreigners in their areas; however whether or not they provide any
services in return for these taxes is very questionable.
2006 has been a historic year for Nepal; with mass public protests against the corrupt King Gyanendra's assumption of
executive powers and the dissolution of the parliament in 2005. The King has since been stripped of his authority, most importantly
as head of the army. The main political parties and the Maoists have now entered a peace process and as of 7th November 2006
agreed on a transitional government and arms control program (the UN will keep an eye on the locked up weapons but the maoists
will hold the key!).
At the Maoist checkpoint a 19 year old man, with the world's most annoying voice, demanded 800 rupees per person. At
this juncture, Nick pulled out his 'little red book' of "Quotations of Chairman Mao Tse-tung". He proceeded to convince the
brainwashed young man (a Maoist since the age of 11) that he himself was a follower of 'the Great Helmsman', a volunteer teacher,
and a journalist- all complete tosh of course! After hilariously challenging the Maoist's points of view, Nick managed to
bargain the 'tax' down to R500 each. By nightfall we reached Tikedungha where I went
straight to bed to try to recover from the stomach cramps.
Day 2 of our trek was the hardest day. It consisted of
a steep climb from 1525m to Ghorapani at 2750m. Fortunately I had recovered after a good sleep, but the climb didn’t
fail to exhaust us. The views were easily worth it! With the steepest part over, the trail rose gently through oak and rhododendron
woodland to Ghorapani. Here we played snooker with Nick and Sam but took so long to pot the balls we had to bend the rules
to finish!
Day 3 involved a pre-dawn trek to the summit of Poon Hill, a tourist honey trap, to catch the sunrise and
views of Annapurna (8091m) and Dhaulagiri (8167m). Afterwards we returned to the guesthouse for breakfast then set off for
Tatopani. This time we walked mostly downhill into the Kali Gandaki valley. The views of Annapurna I, Fang and Annapurna South
were awesome.
We ran into another Maoist checkpoint where Nick asked how the money extorted from tourists was spent.
This particular maoist was a young woman carrying an M16 assault rifle. Nick pointed to an image of Mao Tse-tung on his little
red book and asked the young Maoist who he was. His reply: Marx! This was a real demonstration of the Maoist’s complete
lack of awareness of her own organisation and cause. One boy in a sandbagged position, with a Lee Enfield rifle of World War
2 vintage, couldn’t have been more than 16 years old. Nick also asked another comrade if the Maoists would give up their
guns if the peace process went ahead as planned. His reply: “the gun is good!”.
We reached Tatopani (Tato
means hot, pani means water- named for the hot springs next to the river) and enjoyed chocolate cake washed down by the delicious
masala tea. Nick, Laure and I (Sam forgot the bathing costume!) finished the evening with a dip in the hot spring pool next
to the river accompanied by a chilled Everest beer. Bliss!
The next day we made our way to Ghasa, passing through
the world’s deepest valley (inbetween Annapurna I and Dhaulagiri- two 8000m+ mountains, with the Kali Gandaki flowing
at less than 2200m). The villages here were made up of the Thakali ethnic group. Towards Ghasa the valley increased in windiness.
From Ghasa itself we enjoyed picturesque views of Niligiri South (6839m). Here we watched a chicken get decapitated by a Nepali
with a famous kukri knife, and Nick and Sam taught us how to play cribbage- an addictive game, believe me!
On Day
5 of the expedition we had an easy hike to Kalopani (3hrs), arrived in time for lunch and spontaneously decided to stay. More
stunning views were afforded over the surrounding peaks. We saw plenty of herders taking their goats, sheep and supplies on
the backs of mules towards their winter pastures. In
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Chapter 19 - The Royal Chitwan National Park
On the 13th Novembre Laure and I travelled from Pokhara to the Royal Chitwan National
Park (south west of Kathmandu). This national park has leopards, royal bengal tigers, indian rhinos, indian elephants,
marsh mugger crocodiles (where the word mugging originally comes from!) and gangetic dolphins as its signature species as
well as about 50 other species of mammals.
The park used to be a hunting ground for posh toffs and royals including
King George V and his son, the future Edward VIII. Between them in 1911, they killed 39 tigers and 18 rhinos in just one bloody
safari! One wonders why these creatures are almost extinct! Chitwan then became a national park in 1973. Poaching and deforestation
remain important issues. In just one seizure in 2003 on the Nepal/Tibet border, the pelts of 32 tigers and 579 leopards were
obtained. With only an estimated 100 tigers, 50 leopards and 350 rhinos left in the park, this practice cannot last forever.
In fact if you want to see these animals in the wild, I would suggest booking a trip in the next 10/15 years!
Our
guide Arkha accompanied us into the park in a land rover. We drove through rice paddies, streams (where we spotted a water
snake) and crossed the Rapti River- through the water! The Chitwan Jungle Lodge was located in a patch of sal woodland. With
Laure’s birthday on the 14th November we splashed out on a safari bonanza. We were immediately welcomed by the staff
(some of the most friendly we’ve come across) and shown around the very eco-friendly lodge. An elephant stable was kept
on site and at 10pm we heard the distressing screams of an adult elephant. The next morning we discovered a baby elephant
had been born and was in good health. What a great omen for Laure’s birthday!!!
With that in our minds we climbed
on the back of a big eared beast called Ramkali at 6am and our ‘mahoute’ (elephant driver) steered us through
the forest and grasslands searching for wildlife. Our mahoute was a skilled tracker- he managed to find samber deer, hog deer,
spotted deer, barking deer, macaque and an indian rhino. The tigers proved very elusive…
The elephant backed
safari was closely followed by a dug-out canoe ride from which we spotted many species of bird (of 450 in Chitwan) including
white throated and common kingfishers, great white egrets, red vented bulbuls, greenshanks, indian pond herons and white wagtails.
Arkha then led us through the grassland on the way back to the lodge and pointed out the south american tree climber
plant- a terrible invasive specie introduced from South America. This plant grows long, deep roots and spreads out in a bid
to cover native plants in the battle for the sun’s light. It forms a light green blanket that stifles local competition
and this now covers sizeable portions of Chitwan’s forest and will pose a massive problem to the future of the ecosystem.
If the habitats disappear, so will the animals and jobs associated with eco-tourism.
Arkha pointed out some dark brown
patches lurking underwater in a pond and informed us they were in fact crocodiles- to me it remained a dark brown patch (sometimes
you just can’t beat the Discovery Channel!). After lunch we visited the elephant stables to see the newborn. She seemed
very groggy and tired of standing up. Naturally the mother was very protective and growled if we approached too close.
The
last daylight hours were spent on elephant back searching for oversized cats and other wildlife (some Germans had claimed
to have spotted a tiger that morning). We followed another rhino but otherwise weren’t too successful. Nonetheless,
riding on an elephant’s back is thrilling enough. Just after sunset Laure received her birthday present- an engagement
ring! We celebrated with a bottle of red Bordeaux and
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Chapter 20 - The Sun Kosi River
The rafting expedition consisted of Laure, myself, an Israeli man called Raz, and 5 British kayakers: Andy (group leader),
Will, Lance, Karl and Ben (all Yorkshiremen). Our nepalese guides were led by Om Ale (of mountain caste) and also included
Suresh Chaudhary (the main safety kayaker, from the Terai region of southern Nepal), Jango Lama, Ramesh and Jange Magar. All
were characters in their own right. Om was a very humorous and responsible leader; Suresh was so cool you could drop him in
a glass of cola as an ice substitute! Ramesh was distant but mischievous; Jango Lama was a good sport who was often on the
receiving end of light hearted banter and Jange was very playful and initiated many splash fights.
Our first day of rafting was on the Bhote Kosi River (‘River from Tibet’)- the same river that we had followed
halfway from to Kathmandu from the Tibetan border. This river has almost continuous grade 3 rapids (with in my opinion at
least one grade 4 - the one that swept me off the raft!).
At this point it’s worth mentioning the river grading system. Grade 1 is ‘blowing wind in a bathtub’,
grade 3 significantly raises the heartbeat, grade 5 ‘oh dear, hold on tight’, grade 6 ‘certain death’.
Grade 5 is the highest you can do as a tourist, grade 6 is for suicidal maniacs and experts (same thing!).
The Sun Kosi gets its name from the orange colour of the water during the monsoon, and gold is also found in its upper
reaches. The river flows between the Mahabharat Lekh mountains and the Himalayas. It eventually emerges on the northern plains
of India and joins the River Ganges. Most of its rapids are formed by rockfall, landslides and monsoon debris. This changes
the river from year to year. (Indeed Om thought the monsoon had altered the Hakapur II rapid to make it even more fiercesome
this year.)
The Yorkshire 5 and Raz joined us for the Sun Kosi part of the expedition. On a warm clear morning we propelled ourselves
into the water in our equipment laden rafts and kayaks. From that initial departure the days slipped past remarkably quickly.
After several days, rafting became a way of life. We got used to Om’s commands: "All forward!", "Stop!", "Left back,
right forward!", "Forward again!", "Back paddle!"; and the best: "All down, hold on!".
Throughout the aquatic journey, the scenery was consistently beautiful. Around every meander a group of village children
would call: "Bai bai!" and sometimes the famous greeting: "Namaste!" with their hands clasped together. We responded by shouting
back greetings and waving our paddles.
In terms of wildlife, we saw many different species of birds: brahmiry ducks, steppe eagles, cranes, fly catchers, rock
chats and magpies (to name but a few). We also came across bats, macaques and long tailed langurs.
A typical day would go something like this:
6am - Wake up at the crack of dawn and read whilst admiring the fast flowing river carve its way through misty forested
hills from the warm, protected shelter of our tent.
7am - The rest of the rabble start to rouse and hot water is served for making tea/coffee/hot chocolate.
7.30am - Breakfast of porridge (Nepalese style, with fruit and bits of coconut), toast n’ marmalade/jam/peanut
butter (my strong favourite), scrambled/fried/boiled/omelette style eggs with beans.
8am - Everyone starts to pack up (or finish) their gear ready for the day’s rafting/kayaking.
8.30am - Last call for the toilet tent, then the pit is filled and used paper burned and buried.
9am - All ready for an exhilarating day. Om shouts: "All forward!". A big rapid is often negotiated before lunch along
with plenty of smaller ones.
12pm - Stop for lunch on another deserted sandy beach; peel potatoes and chop vegetables if it’s our turn, if
not, bask in the sun!
1pm - Time to hit the river again, lots of small bouncy waves, several large ones and sometimes a good grade 4.
3pm - Om has his eyes peeled for a good sandy beach that can accommodate 13 washed out and exhausted happy campers.
3.30pm - Equipment is offloaded from the 2 rafts and everybody starts to set up the camp. The Toilet Master chooses
his/her apprentice and gets to work on a good sturdy sand pit that can support the legs in a squatting position (collapsing
sides was a recurring problem, but even this was improved with supporting rocks towards the end of the trip).
4.30pm - Tents and raft shelters have been set up and afternoon tea is served (sometimes with popcorn!). People swap
stories about the days events: who swam? Which kayaker got flipped but managed to roll back up? Who got stuck in a stoppa?
5.30pm - Squeeze in a read with the last rays of daylight. A Tuborg beer is cracked open.
6.30pm - "Diiinnneer iiiss rrready!!!" announces Suresh and the guides. We all have a candle lit dinner, often by a
campfire (the campsite cooking was first rate throughout...).
7pm - Rum punch is served and idle chit chat continues...
7.30pm - People start drifting to their sleeping bags. (Us rafters were generally lazier during the day and didn’t
paddle half as much as the kayakers and could normally stay awake longer!)
8pm (10pm if in party mood!) - rafters and kayakers with a lot of stamina drift to their shelters, often reluctant
to leave the warmth of the campfire.
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| Kathmandu - Nepalese woman at the monkey temple |
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| Kathmandu - Dogs at the monkey temple |
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| Patan - Sadhu |
from Pashupatinath, Nepal's most important Hindu temple complex east of Kathmandu, to Bodhnath, one of the world's largest
stupas. In Pashupatinah we witnessed a Hindu funeral and Laure got mugged by some monkeys (they stole a packet of biscuits
from her!). Regarding the funeral, it was a young lady who had died. Her body was wrapped in cloth by her family (the widower
was dressed in white, the colour of mourning. He would have to mourn for one year before being able to marry again) and escorted
by the men in the family on to the sandlewood pyre next to the river. Her body was spun around three times to represent
the Hindu deities: Shiva, Vishnu and Rama. The corpse was sprinkled with red dust and water before being set alight. The ash
would then be sprinkled (we didn't see this part) into the river and any remaining body parts would have been wrapped in white
cloth and buried.
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| Mustang people |
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| Dhaulagiri from Poon Hill |
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| Nepalese encounters |
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| Donkeys on the trail, plenty of them and not always much room to overtake! |
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| Sheeps and goats blocking the way |
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| Kids waving from their school premises |
this apple growing region we thought it would be rude not to try the local apple cider- it tasted like very strong apple
juice!
Day 6: destination Tukuche. The architecture and people along this part of the trail looked increasingly Tibetan,
for example, there were many prayer flags and buddhist monasteries along the route. We arrived in Tukuche and stayed at an
excellent guesthouse called the Dutch Bakery. This place was run by a Dutchman (funnily enough) and his Nepalese wife. Laure
and I had ‘Wortelstamppot met Appelmoes en Gebakken Ei’- I’m sure you’ve all heard of it, but for
those who haven’t- a traditional Dutch meal made up of mashed potatoes mixed with onions and carrots with a fried egg
on the top, and apple sauce on the side. On an afternoon stroll, we found an interesting hydro-grinding machine (powered by
the stream) processing grain then we ascended a hill to check out the buddhist chapel.
On the 7th and last day of
the trek we walked past some naturally growing bushes of marjuwana, which a group of spaniards took a keen interest in, then
through the atmospheric village of Marpha (so Tibetan in style, it probably should belong there!). It must have been a regional
slaughter day because an army of butchers were killing, cutting, skinning and chopping- preparation for the winter.
The
mountain sides now began to change from wooded lower slopes to the heavily eroded barren slopes we’d been accustomed
to in Tibet. Crossing the Kali Gandaki River, we finally arrived in Jomsom, the end point.
Pool and Britney Spears
music awaited us in the local bar where we supped Everest beers. The next morning we all had a torturous wait for a small
twin-otter plane, that was almost cancelled due to bad weather, to take us to Pokhara. It was certainly one of the highlights-
it’s not every day one gets to fly over the Himalayas! In Pokhara we had our last evening meal with Nick and Sam. We
were sad to leave them as they had been great fun to be around, and we hope to meet up again in south India...
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| Jungle drive here we come! |
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| New born baby elephant- she is just so cute! |
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| Little Egrette watching us on our dug-out canoes |
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| Riding in style |
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| Tom and I rehearsing the cutting of the cake... |
had dinner complete with a birthday cake and singing Germans!
The sunrise was breathtaking the following morning-
even better from a dug-out canoe! Arkha found fresh tiger footprints as we walked through the grassland but the spoor disappeared
into a stream. Maybe it was laughing at us from behind the tall grass!
On an afternoon jungle walk, Arkha identified
many different plant species and explained their medicinal (amongst other) uses. Sap from sal trees can be used for dysentry;
the dusrauli makes fish blind (and easy to catch!), kumbi sap makes fish drunk (same purpose), nest fern helps back aches
and the bhanti leaf cures ear aches. The local Tharu people were discovered to have a natural immuntiy to malaria- probably
from consuming so many medicinal herbs.
The next morning we said farewell to the elephants and staff and made our
way back to Kathmandu to get ourselves sorted out for the rafting expedition on the Sun Kosi River.
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| Day 1 on the Sun Kosi - Departure |
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| Fishermen collecting the fish still stuck in the net |
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| Tom doing an eskimo roll |
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| That is definitely not tobacco... |
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| Children following us in their own version of a raft |
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| Tom and I enjoying the sun on the raft between rapids |
As far as action is concerned, the names of the rapids speak for themselves: Meatgrinder, Punch n’ Judy, High Anxiety,
Hakapur I & II, Jaws, Rhino Rock, Jungle Corridor, El Wasto and Big Dipper. Many others were unnamed. These rapids were
all grade 4s except Hakapur II which reached grade 5. I got knocked off the raft on Hakapur I and spluttered like a drowning
duck but fortunately I got back on the raft before Hakapur II. Carl and Lance weren’t so lucky- both flipped their kayaks
and got churned up by Hakapur II. Will and Lance also flipped and swam on other occasions!
The Yorkshire 5 left us at the point where the Sun Kosi reaches the flat plains of south eastern Nepal where the town of
Chatri is located. We had had a great trip with them and really enjoyed their company. Raz, Laure, myself and the guides still
had one day left of rafting on the mighty Tamur tributary. That last day involved almost continuous grade 4 rapids, one grade
5 and some of the most technical rapids we had seen to date. Om was great and avoided a flip, much to Laure’s relief.
We all survived with big smiles on our faces - although thoroughly exhausted, battered and bruised!
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