I love elephants

Our Intrepid tour continued from India to Nepal. In Lumbini we visited the birthplace of Buddha (632 BC), a beautiful spot visited by pilgrims. The ruins date from 3-7^th century BC. It became a religious centre until the Moghuls attacked it and it fell into disuse. It has now been partly restored by the United Nations, and is a World Heritage Site.

Then onto a bus – Nepali buses have two drivers, one to steer and one on the other side to tell the driver if he is going to hit someone/something/fall off a precipice. I felt great affection for both.

We saw the landscape change around us into forest and our first hills came into view – quite scarily big when Rob and I think we are going to be walking in them soon. Ever onwards we drove over bumpy roads until after many twists and turns and narrowing lanes we arrived at Gatgai.  

We were soon off on our next adventure, across the river in a dugout canoe and a trek at a fair old clip through the steaming jungle, sweat pouring forth, our clothes sticking to us. We were told what to do if we saw rhinos – in the forest you do a zigzag run and hide behind a tree, in the grass plains you yell. I’m not sure how much I trusted this advice.  We did see Great one-horned rhinos in the river which caused great excitement, especially when they lumbered out of the river – lucky for us on the other side or we would have had to put that running and yelling into practice. We heard rhinos roaring, saw wild cat and elephant prints, and a number of birds – Rob and I were with Suk, one of the guides, at the back, and we kept stopping to look at birds, which meant we had to run to catch up to the others. Exhausting!

We visited the Gharial Crocodile breeding farm – gharials have long narrow snouts. At the farm a sad tiger languished in a cage – its mother had fed it human flesh so it wasn’t allowed to roam free.

We traipsed through 20 foot high jungle grass and many different types of forest. I saw my first elephant – a working one – and as you can imagine for an elephant lover like me, that was a huge thrill.

Back at the hotel none of us could do justice to the dinner, but we were all enthralled by the wonderful fireflies flitting around us in the magical evening.

Next morning Rob and I got up 5.15 am so Suk could take us out bird spotting -that was a bit special. Our peaceful jaunt was followed by several hours of bumping around in a truck to Chitwan National Park and our gorgeous resort, Royal Park on the edge of the village Sauhara. En route we saw pretty deer and the gigantic lesser adjutant stork, and a serpent-eater eagle at close quarters.

Now I must be naive, I really thought we were going to wash elephants – we went down to the river where we climbed aboard and they washed us. It felt so high up – and the elephant walked out into the river and promptly knelt down and wham, we were all in the water. It was great fun, I found it hard to stay on anyway without these shenanigans. Our mahout got us all back on, only to have us all end up back in the water, then we had a go climbing up the trunk. The elephant next to us looked absolutely enormous looking up at it from the water. The elephant’s skin was quite soft but tough and hairy and the ears were really thick and strong.

More elephants: this time a ride through the jungle sitting atop an elephant in a basic wooden frame.  It was just fantastic, lurching through the jungle high up on these wondrous beasts that tread so carefully and gently. We fed them bananas while they fed on vegetation along the way. We saw 2 rhinos wallowing in mud – they took no more than a passing interest in us although we had been warned they could be dangerous – and some lovely little deer. It was very peaceful trundling along, and pleasantly cool.
 

We journeyed in tippy dugout canoes down the river and watched still more elephants parade across the water. A flash of bright blue turned out to be a kingfisher, and we saw storks and alligators. Afterwards, we watched the sunset and by way of complete contrast watched two poor dogs stuck together in an intimate embrace. At the hotel we were invited to join in with an Indian dance troupe, then we dined on a rooftop and retired to bed to sleep like logs. 

Next day we rode bicycles, then glided across the river in dugouts to the Elephant Breeding Centre. The elephants were so beautiful – 9 month old twins (a first in captivity), lots of young ones, a mum with a 3 year old who was looking after her 4 month old baby. Each elephant has 3 keepers who take them into the jungle every day to forage, and make them fifty parcels each per day of grass, molasses, salt and grain.

The keepers live in very basic accommodation and all seemed very young.

Suk led Rob and I back along a different route, looking for birds and I spotted a gorgeous kingfisher above the river. We visited a bird education centre which focuses mainly on teaching local famers the perils of pesticides. They produce organic manure from elephant dung – how sensible – and sell it to help finance their programs. We are going to try and donate $100.00 to them – easier said than done. Suk is a lovely man, he looked after our interests so well. Both fell asleep on our return, both have dodgy tummies. We struggled out to find a light lunch without success and ended up eating a stodgy pancake and both felt worse.

At an internet café we got bad news emails. The internet crashed while trying to send replies and we gave up on local technology. To cheer up I bought 2 lovely handmade elephants - carved from the Sal wood found in the jungle here. One is carved from a single piece of wood and has a baby inside, the other has babies around it. It seemed only fitting to have an elephant or two as a memento. 

After a rest we joined the others down at the riverside for a drink, and attempted to eat dinner at a rooftop restaurant. Both of us gave up before our meals even arrived and we headed back to try and pack, both feeling awful. We suffered all night and we were not looking forward to the coming long travelling day to Kathmandu.

Singapore

After a very hot and steamy night, we found our way down to the Bugis MRT, managed to buy tickets and were soon on our way to Sungei Bulah Wildlife Reserve. There we set off on one of the routes around the wetland. Every now and then we’d come across a hide or a platform, and even a tower.  At one of the hides we saw many different waders and on the track a couple of monitor lizards, one in the process of devouring a fish. It was very hot, but later on in the day it thundered and there were a couple of heavy showers. We spent a few hours at the reserve, then retraced our transport to the hostel where we crashed for a time before hitting the markets looking for dinner. We bought pineapple, oranges, melon and durian. The latter is not nice. It tastes a bit like old tinned asparagus and has a slimy texture and smells like poo. So now our room smells of stale cigarette smoke with an overlay of poo.

Next morning we hopped on the SIA hop-on hop-off bus and alighted at the Botanical Gardens. We spent a couple of wonderful hours there.  The orchid garden was really worth going to, it was beautifully landscaped and the orchids stunning. There was a great display elsewhere of orchids and carnivorous plants.

We walked around the lake and Rob spotted a green pigeon, so he was happy. We ate our oranges and then hopped back on the bus to Little India where we headed straight for the Banana Leaf Restaurant. Our meal arrived and a pile of rice was put on one banana leaf plate, to which we added our chicken khadakai curry, bindi masala and raita. It was delicious, probably the best Indian food I’ve ever had! We washed it all down with a pot of Jasmine tea. Full as fat pigs we wobbled back to the bus, went a couple of stops to the Singapore Art Museum. Spent an hour looking mainly at a current exhibition of modern art and installation pieces, fairly weird and wonderful, but is it art? Back to the hostel, changed shirts and shoes then carried/wheeled our bags to Bugis metro. It was not too difficult as the market crowds had thinned out and we avoided the worst bit.

At the metro station we met a lovely Singaporean man who was helpful about getting to the airport and imparted lots of local knowledge. English and Mandarin is compulsory in school, population 4.2 million, 4 main ethnic groups – Chinese, Malay, Indian and expats (500,000).

We had no trouble on the metro although it was quite crowded until we changed for the final section. After spendin the last of our cash, we boarded our plane.  A smooth flight and as they ran out of our preferred meal we got 1^st class steak dinner which was excellent. We were given a host of snacks – filled rolls, snickers bars, dried cranberries and apples. Good grief, we certainly wouldn't go hungry.

Back in God’s own country, a real palaver getting our bags checked in at domestic – and I had to haul out my wooden elephants at customs, but the guys were friendly and funny.

 So here we are at the end of our holiday. Was it wonderful? Yes, it was wonderful, despite abduction, theft, hospitalization and adverse weather!!

Goodbye Nepal, hello Singapore

A sad day, our departure from Nepal. All things considered, we loved our time in Nepal – even the CIWEC clinic was excellent. Doug and Kate have been wonderful hosts. 

Rob, Doug and I walked Singhy and Tashi through the rice paddies, and when we got back dear Mithu, Aite and Brin were there to say goodbye. They had walked all the way across Kathmandu to farewell us, amazing. We had Nepali tea and biscuits with them in the shade house and they presented Rob with a lovely Nepalese hat, and they each presented both of us with silk scarves – these are presented as a sign of respect and good luck. It was so sweet of them.

Kate and Doug arranged a taxi for us and they kindly came with us to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to all the dogs back at the house, and of course to Doug and Kate.  

We sat outside Gate 2 waiting for our boarding call, and when it came everyone made a rush for it. Rob looked exactly like a dignified Nepali man wearing his lovely hat and scarf.

The flight, our first on an airbus A350 , was smooth, uneventful with good food and service. Although we asked for seats on the left, we were given seats on the right, so we had to crane our necks to see the stunning views of the Himalayas which seemed to stretch for miles and miles of endless beautiful snow-covered peaks.

It was quite a different experience to arrive in Singapore after the chaos, disorganization, pollution and dirt of India and Nepal. We went around the corner from our hostel to a brilliant food court, open 24 hours where Rob had dumplings and I had a create your own noodle soup. Excellent. We topped it off with ginger tea and an almond and longans icecream, then wandered through the warm evening back to our room.

Last day in Nepal

We got off to a slow start, doing a few chores, walking 2 of the dogs, sitting round relaxing on the porch with cups of tea and biccies. Then Doug, Kate, Rob and I set off walking down the road, checking on the dog house Kate is helping to develop – and then Kumar the taxi man drove us to the area near the Boudhanath Stupa. We walked along some lovely paved roadways in the centre of the city and I bought Tibetan prayer flags and bundles of sandalwood incense. We went to the Stupa View restaurant for lunch where the food was good but comparatively expensive. We all enjoyed cold lime sodas before our meal as the day was hot, and it was delightful sitting out on a rooftop overlooking the Stupa.


We got some rice from the proprietor, then walked some back alleys to locate a street dog Kate is administering pills to twice a day. We found the mangy dog, a very sad little creature delighted to see Kate and the rice! From there we went back to a main road and got a taxi to the old area of Patan, Durbar Square. The ride was incredible, right across the city, very busy with the usual traffic and people. Patan was fantastic – old wooden and brick buildings built in the 16^th century in a sort of Japanese pagoda style. Ornately carved lintels and windows, doors and pillars adorned the complex of buildings. We spent an hour or so in the museum looking at the old treasures – mostly Buddhas and Gods, Bodhisatvas, some quite beautiful.

Another taxi ride took us to the Assan markets, which we wandered our way through, admiring all the stalls of spices, teas, vegetabless, fruit and everything else you could imagine. We headed to KC’s, one of the first western-style restaurants in Kathmandu where we had an inexpensive but tasty dinner and a few beers, sitting out on a rooftop garden. It would have been great except for a power cut – a common occurrence in the city – meant the noise of a generator had to be tolerated.

 Yet another wild and bumpy taxi ride in the dark but still busy streets took us back to Kopan.  A cup of tea then bed after a long, interesting and memorable day.

Braving the Bus

I was so anxious about the coming bus ride I wrote this in my diary:

In case we don’t survive our local bus to Kathmandu and someone finds this diary, please let our children know we love them.

After a sound sleep and a substantial breakfast we boarded the local bus with a zillion locals. The bus took off, people jumping on as we left Dhunche, parcels being thrown aboard as we moved along. Half an hour later the road was blocked by a broken down jeep and we had no idea how this problem could be resolved. Mithu and Rob got off the bus, I had no idea what was happening! Okay, calm down I thought, and finally we started moving again. The poor tourists on the jeep, it looked bad.

Many hours later we had a stop at Trisuli for a delicious dal baht and a glass of sweet hot tea. It seemed to take forever to drive down and down and down to Trisuli, and the same driving up the other side. The road was steep, narrow and winding. Once on tarseal the driver went faster so it seemed even scarier than the bumpy gravel road crossing slips.  

In Kakami we got stuck in a big queue of buses and trucks at roadworks. The bus trip was fascinating and a great way to see a slice of real Nepali life – old women, young mothers, girls, boys, young men. Everyone just piles on the bus, room or not – with big bags and sacks and all sorts of stuff. Younger lads climb up the sides on to the roof. Rob had a little boy sitting on his knee for about an hour. It’s much cheaper to travel by bus than jeep, but much slower and more dangerous. However, we made good time to the city, arriving early afternoon to instant culture shock at being thrust back into a big bustling, smelly, grubby city.

Mithu found us another bus to take us near Kopan where we jumped in a taxi and were soon at Doug and Kate’s garden gate, setting all the dogs to barking. It was lovely to be back safe and sound - and feeling healthy, but it was really quite sad to see Mithu and Aite go, they were wonderful to us, and we had become very fond of them both. I felt I would really miss them.

Down to Dhunche

Off to an early start at 7.30 am into the crisp cold morning, glad to leave the cold and high altitude but sorry to say farewell to such a special place. We all enjoyed the track down, great scenery in the sunshine. 

We stopped at the same place in Larabina for a cup of tea and then carried on down. At the place where we’d had morning tea on the way up, Mithu deviated from the main track and we climbed up and over a hill, and then continued along the side of a hill through lovely azaleas and rhododendrons, lots of little flowers everywhere including a late-flowering orchid. I loved the scent of the chrysanthemums which seem to grow everywhere, and the myriads of little butterflies flitting around.

We rejoined the main track, good views of the mountains again, and after a short stop for snacks we arrived back down at Sing Gompa for lunch. We ate far too much food again at the Red Panda Hotel.

Then came more descent which seemed to go on forever and ever, we could hear the river far below us but it never seemed to get any closer. We spotted some gorgeous sunbirds, a couple of monkeys and a deer on the track. We had a short stop to rest our knees then down and down we went, Aite taking my hand whenever it was slippery. Near the bottom we had to climb up around a cliff to reach a bridge – then we had tea and biccies at a little tea shop, sitting under a huge wood and straw umbrella. By now it was spitting on and off and there were great claps of thunder. A bit of up and down then some very welcome flat stretches brought us into Dhunche in rain.

Mithu got us all bus tickets for th following day and a room in a hotel. It was a big room with our own bathroom, a flushing squat toilet and supposedly hot water. We stripped off our wet gear, had a shor rest and then joined Mithu and Aite for a celebratory dinner. We even managed to get them to eat something other than dal baht, although Aite had something close to it.

We were in bed by 8.00 pm and ready to sleep. A great trekking adventure had come to a close, I would miss our lovely companions – we had such a lot of fun together and we couldn’t have asked for more. We planned to give them large tips as well as socks, overtrousers and headtorch.

Freezing in Gosaikunda

In Gosaikunda it was snowing and freezing cold and I would never have made it without Mithu, who walked sooooo slowly for me, and Aite who kept me company on the last stretch while Mithu and Rob went ahead to get a room. I was so exhausted I could hardly write this diary.

We left Sing Gompa at 7.30 am, very cold but we soon warmed up. The first part was lovely, through some old forest and we got glorious views of Langtang Lirung. Mithu bush-bashed looking for birds, but we saw very few. At 9.00 am we had a cup of tea, and then came the hard part, for me anyway. The weather changed too after a while and I got quite chilled. I was so glad to stop about 11.00 am at a guesthouse in Larabina where the kind owner let me sit by her cooking stove. It was fascinating to watch her cook me potato and onion soup and fried potatoes for Rob, dal bhat for Mithu and Aite. She had 2 pressure cookers on the go, a kerosene stove and her wood fire. On that she put a wok and did all the potatoes, etc, adding spices, vegetables, water. It was delicious and my soup was good. We must have rested for an hour or more. I talked to a young French girl who arrived, she had a female guide with a young boy. The girl was feeling a little unwell, but I think she made it to the lake – I think I was the last.

After lunch, Aite and Rob went on up ahead, and Mithu walked granny steps with me for maybe two hours. By now we were up above the bushline on a rocky path, but generally easy going. The scenery became even more dramatic, in fact stunningly beautiful, especially when we got up near the lakes. There was snow on the mountains and the lakes were calm and clear. Finally we reached the little collection of hotels beside the holy Lake Gosaikunda, and Mithu who had gone on ahead had managed to get us a room with a view over the lake in a very old hotel called – wait for it – Lake View. Before I had time to collapse, Mithu ordered tea and biscuits which we had with cheese, and then he forced us out for another walk around the lake! But it was beautiful, with all the little rock cairns everywhere and a view back to the village. We even sat in sunshine for 10 minutes before heading back as snow began to fall.

I had to wear every stitch of clothing that I had with me and I was still cold. Dinner was was very embarrassing as I made the mistake of ordering fried potatoes and was served before everyone else in the crowded room, while every last one of them had dal bhat!!

After we had eaten we managed to squeeze in over by the fire and finally got warm. We went to bed really tired and had to put up with a hell of a noise for hours – the place was overflowing.. I did fall asleep, only to wake at midnight and that was it. Rob couldn’t open our door to get out and have a pee, so in desperation he climbed out the window into the snow. Then he couldn’t get back into the hotel as the doors were barred, so he had to struggle back in through the window. It was very comical, and later on when he had to pee again he used his drink bottle – which he has since chlorinated I hasten to add.

 I felt breathless all night, it was pretty horrible and I was glad when morning came although I felt reluctant to get out of bed. It was very cold, frost on the ground, but the mountains and lakes looked wonderful.

Sing Gompa in the sunshine

Yay, we awoke to the most gorgeous view from our room, the sun gleaming on snow capped peaks in the far distance. Stunning. A blue sky, sunny day. It enticed me to buy a lovely woven bag that our hostess Mingma had made.

 After a nice breakfast we did a final pack and set off at 8.00 am into sunshine. Up, up, up, we had to climb 1100 metres today, most of it in the morning on a steady, sometimes zig-zagging path. We saw a few more people today heading up to Sing Gompa.

The track wove through pine and rhododendron forests, really lovely, and we saw lots of birds. Our first real stop was about 9.30 am at a tea shop with a lovely view over the valley and down to Syabru. We had cheese, coconut biscuits and tea, donned packs and set off again. The scenery was fabulous and I loved Mithu’s slow and steady pace, with plenty of breathers. We enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest and the scented air.

At 3210 metres we had lunch in the sun and a good rest. We chatted to an Australian woman we had seen on previous days, her companion an incredibly fit elderly man. She was interested in birds and we lent her Rob’s book. Packs on again and we headed up through more delightful forest, the grade more gentle now. We saw a green woodpecker on the ground, and further on a large party of maybe 20 Langur monkeys swinging through the trees – an impressive sight.

Mithu decided we were walking more like Nepalis as it took us only 4 ½ hours to reach pretty Sing Gompa. We got a nice room in the Red Panda Hotel, spacious with great views, the late afternoon sun streaming in. We unpacked, had a short rest, saw a 101 year old woman who had cataracts, was deaf and suffered from arthritis, but who seemed to have lots of people looking after her.

Then Mithu took us walking again - he is definitely a sadist, we obviously hadn’t done enough walking that day. We wandered around the village, up and down hillsides for a couple of hours, looking for birds – oh the joy of being a bird-watchers wife! Most normal people were sitting in the sunshine enjoying a cold beer. But not us. We persuaded Mithu to head back rather than climb yet another hill, and we bought a kg of yak cheese back in the village. We both enjoyed the luxury of a warm, almost hot, shower and I even rinsed my hair. Bliss.

There were yaks in the field below, the sun was shining and all was right with the world.

Syabru

More rain fell in the night, but a strong breeze woke us and it seemed to blow the clouds away, at least briefly. We walked down to the restaurant in Rimche for a breakfast of Tibetan bread and cheese, and set off from there at 8.00 am, heading for Syabru. The mist lifted enough to reveal snow-covered peaks high above us. It was downhill most of the morning, very pleasant. At breakfast we had seen a wealth of birds, and a new species in the river which was raging down over the rocks.

We stopped at Bamboo for early morning tea, and I photographed kids playing on a huge rock right on the water’s edge. We saw a deer up on the far bank, and another species of monkey, a brown one. More pleasant walking although the muddy slippery track kept us on our toes, so to speak.

We stopped at a restaurant called Landslide, run by 4 delightful girls. Our lunch was huge. Other people there were talking about the weather which is apparently bad all over the mountain areas. Some were cutting short their trip, but not us - we are still heading upwards. And after lunch it was just that for a couple of hours, interrupted by one downhill to a huge bridge across the river.

We had a bottle of sprite at a lonely little villa at the top of the first major uphill haul. The rain started again after lunch and was reasonably persistent. We continued up a gradual slope, then up many steps through the pretty village of Syabru until we reached Hotel Bluestar. Don’t you just love these names? We had a nice room which would have provided us with a lovely view had it not been so misty. Also a cold shower –we made the most of the ability to at least have a decent wash – first one for days. We enjoyed a good hot cup of tea in the dining room – only 2 other tourists and very quiet in town – but there was a pleasant group of children in the hotel. Our hotelier spoke good English and was a great cook. We bought a book called Easy Trek, The lower Langtang to support the local school. Outside, a couple of guys tried to sell our hotelier a myriad of jewellery and other items they kept producing from plastic bags.

We dragged ourselves away from the warm fire and walked up to the top of the village and visited the beautiful and very old monastery. Some village children ran up there with us and showed us in. In the village we watched two men using a handsaw to cut through a huge log, and Mithu helped a lady fix her door. We saw some very old women with bare feet carrying huge loads, and running around were a few dogs and loads of skinny chickens.

Aite, Rob and I spent ages doing an easy Sudoku which we didn’t finish until after our excellent dal bhat dinner – served with steamed vegetable and potato momo. At 8.00 pm there were stars in the sky – a hopeful sign.

Rimche in the rain

We spied fresh-snow covered mountains when Mithu took us to see some pretty little lakes on the other side of the river. We bush-bashed through a rhododendron forest before rejoining the main track. We love these little side adventures Mithu discovers for us.

We enjoyed our morning walk, nearly all downhill but even so I felt quite breathless for the first hour or so. Lots of tourists, porters and even a train of donkeys shared the trail today, which was pretty muddy and slippery after yet more rain last night. At our timely morning tea stop it rained again. We met a very intrepid Italian who was doing a round trip to Kathmandu, walking all the way. We bought glucose biscuits and had them with the delicious yak cheese we had bought the day before. Mithu spotted a bright blue bird on the cliff-face above Langtang – I saw it but Rob didn’t much to his annoyance. Mithu said it was the national bird of Nepal, the Himalayan Monal or Danphe. We later saw a white collared blackbird and some amazing long-tailed magpies, and had some great views of monkeys.

We were glad when lunchtime came around it - was about 1.45 pm before we ate and we were ravenous. Unfortunately not long after lunch it really started to rain and it didn’t stop. We reached Lama Hotel but there was no room at the inn, so we had to plod on to Rimche where Mithu managed to find us a room in Moonlight Riverview Lodge.  When we first arrived we changed our sodden clothes which we later dried at the hotel, and climbed into our sleeping bags for an hour, quite exhausted after more than 8 hours of walking. We still had more walking to do – it was 10 minutes down the hill for dinner!

The dining room was a league of nations, no spare seats, boots drying around the very hot fire, and the kitchen crowded with guides and porters. We had to strip down to t-shirts in the warmth of the fire, but had to pile everything back on again for the return to our lodging, in the pitch black and stumbling through mud and rocks! 

Tsergo Ri

I got out of hospital one week ago today - and that's my excuse for failing on our mission today - to climb over5000 metres to the top of Tsergo Ri.

We woke to a misty morning but had glimpses of mountains. After our Tibetan bread breakfast we set off, walking further up the valley then climbing up above the braided river alongside steep eroded slopes. The climb quickly became hard for me, although Rob could have run up. Aite never showed his impatience with my plodding pace. I think my body was just so tired already, it couldn’t cope with the extra stress. After a zillion stops and starts and passing and being passed by a group of young people from Scotland, I finally gave up in tears, feeling nauseous. We’d been going for 2 ½ hours and must have got to over 4500 metres.

Mithu kindly escorted me slowly down, while Rob and Aite went on, and made it right to the top. Fantastic. It was snowing up high, but nothing seemed to daunt them, and they even bush-bashed a different route down just for fun! On top they found there were many prayer flags.They were stoked they had made it. Rob was glad I hadn’t carried on as it had become bouldery and quite difficult.

Mithu moved all our things into a different room located at the far end of the corridor away from the toilet. He’s so thoughtful.  But persistent - he wanted to take us for another walk, but we put the kybosh on that idea - we need some time to simply relax, wander around and buy some local produce.

We bought two pigtail hats made here in the village from yak and sheep wool, and 2 Tibetan necklaces. We visited the cheese factory where we saw the huge vats used for heating milk, the separator, hand churn, and the store house. We bought a ½ k for 250 R. It was cold outside and we bolted back to our warm dining room.

 Today we saw a wild Tibetan mastiff – just like Doug and Kate’s dogs.

Kyanjin Gompa

We were up early and caught glimpses of the surrounding mountains towering majestically all around us – including Langtang Lirung at 7227 metres. Aite brought us tea, we had porridge oats with honey to sustain us and were walking by 7.30 am, in a beautiful sunny morning. All the snowy peaks came into view, we were very lucky. The landscape we walked through was stunning with diverse colours in the rocks, trees, flowers and the roaring river running through it. There were mani stone walls and a square chorten up on the ridge. The air got even thinner and I definitely felt short of breath. After 2 ½ hours or so we stopped at a stone wall for water and a muesli bar – a welcome rest.

 

Another climb, yaks and wild ponies dotting the scene, and suddenly we arrived at Kyanjin Gompa, 3870 metres. Mithu headed straight for the Super View Lodge, where he found us a very nice room with sunshine and mountain views. We both felt weary, but Mithu only allowed us a short rest before leading us up to the Langtang glacier. I actually think he tried to kill us!

We hiked up behind Kyanjin almost all the way to the glacier terminus. We could certainly see it clearly, and we went beyond that, climbing to well over 4000 metres – it sure felt like it – to a cluster of stone houses used by the yak herders in the summer. All around were lovely fluffy yaks. Mithu found a wall creeper bird, quite rare, so Rob was happy, and also a mouse like creature, quite fluffy with big ears and not much tail.

We climbed on – I was dying by then – to look over a ridge down to the remains of another old glacier. Suddenly mid afternoon the weather changed and we had to hightail it back. Mithu didn’t have a proper jacket and Aite had none at all – I was worried about him as it was so cold, and the rain became heavy. Rob and I were okay in our good gear although I was completely knackered. The boys are so caring of me, helping me over rocks and slippery bridges. It took us just over an hour to get down, with a 1 minute rest sheltering under an overhanging rock.

On the way up through the village we had seen sheep being shorn with hand scissors. We also passed a cheese factory – we must buy some and we must buy some of the gorgeous knitted hats complete with ear-covering pigtails.

On our return we changed clothes, got into our sleeping bags and nearly fell asleep. I was so overcome with tiredness that Rob made me cry by saying he was organizing the next holiday and it would involve palm trees, sunshine, beaches, fales and it would only be a ½ km island and we would stay there until we had each put on 2 kgs!

We eventually made our way downstairs to the very full and busy dining room where everyone was crowded around the fire. Aite got us a brew and biscuits, and Rob taught him Sudoku. We met a great group of Germans from Hewlett Packard – I liked them instantly as they thought I spoke such good English that I must be from the UK! A very noisy night as our room was opposite the loo and I swear everyone in the place went at some stage.

Langtang Village

Aite the good lad arrived at the door at 6.20 am with two steaming mugs of tea. We could really get used to this sort of treatment. I might have to try and persuade him to come back to New Zealand with us!

We ate potato pancakes with honey for breakfast and were on the trail by 8.00 am, climbing gently at first through forest, the big trees draped with mosses. The morning saw us climb high above the Langtang Khola on good track all the way and crossing some fantastic bridges. We had a brief glimpse of snowy peaks ahead, but they remained hidden from full view. We walked slowly for nearly 3 hours, and stopped at Ghodatabela for a very welcome cup of tea and a snack. A great bird spotting site, lovely knitted items for sale and a sweet little stone hut. Rob had another good bird day and even saw a woodpecker at our morning tea stop which was at 2972 metres.

We came upon an army checkpoint where we had a conversation about binoculars with the soldier on duty, before heading into a really beautiful area of meadows – yak pastures – and - surprise surprise - we saw our first yak - with enormous vicious-looking horns. He was quietly grazing right beside the track. Further on Mithu pointed out a wild horse.

The valley widened out and dramatic cliff faces towered above. Lunch was at Thangspa-Thyangsyapu, 3140 metres.We met a couple from Wellington would you believe, Kosta and Gretchen, and the latter knew Sam! 

The trail climbed gently on and up, the scenery beautiful and we could see Langtang Village in the distance. At 3.00 pm we arrived in the village, and ended up staying in Friendly View lodge. The clouds lowered and it was fairly cold, but cosy enough inside. A huge pile of garlic was drying on a balcony outside our room.


But there is no rest for the wicked. After tea and biccies, Mithu and Aite took us on a long walk (!!) up through the beautiful old stone houses of the original Langtang Village, then up through herb fields with wild rhubarb-like plants, orchids, and lots of pretty flowers. The fields were full of stones, no wonder there are so many stone buildings and walls everywhere. Mithu was looking along the cliff faces for animals and the national bird.  We returned after 5.30 pm and the woodburner was lit – I felt bad as there is very little wood for burning, but it was very cold. Aite has very few warm clothes, and both Mithu and Aite just don flimsy plastic capes when it rains.

I smelt kerosene, so that was also being used – which means some poor person had to carry it up to the village.

I could hear a man in the kitchen reciting prayers, and we saw water-operated prayer wheels dotted around the place, and long walls of mani (prayer) stones.









Rob had dal bhat and I had an excellent egg fried rice for dinner. The place was full, we were first fed and first to leave for bed at 8.00 pm. We had the luxury of an electric light so for about the first time on this trip we enjoyed the luxury of a read. We had just got off to sleep when everyone else came noisily to bed!

Lama Hotel

Rob's birthday was heralded in by Aite bringing us a cup of tea at 6.30 am. We were on the track by 7.40 am, and headed straight up the valley, following the river all day. We had over 1000 metres to climb, and Mithu set a slow and steady pace, Aite bringing up the rear. He provided me with a steady hand over the wooden log bridges, and carried most of our gear. I just had a small shoulder bag, and Rob carried my backpack.

We were mainly in broadleaf forest with patches of bright flowers. We had to don parkas as the rain became steadier and views of mountains were obscured, but we had a wonderful time with Mithu’s sharp eyes adding to our experience. He spotted 2 tiny deer on the far slopes, I have no idea how he saw them, they were so hard to see. Later on he found a family of monkeys with black faces and incredibly long tails. Rob spent the day in bird heaven, seeing many new species of brightly coloured birds. Mithu also pointed out fungi, and bee hives hanging from boulders.

We had a lovely cup of tea with fresh lemon squeezed into it about 10.00 am, then set off with frequent stops for rests or spotting, or to let people pass. There were many trekkers in both directions, local people carrying huge loads, and a couple of elderly goatherders in traditional garb including kukuri (knife) with a large number of animals. We had lunch in a Tibetan place called Bamboo at 1900 metres, very good fried rice and more tea. Beside us, the river pounded down over massive rocks and waterfalls fell from the cliffs far above us.

After lunch we had a pretty steep long climb, it seemed to go on and on until finally leveling out at the tiny settlement of Rimche at 2544 metres. From there it was an easy half hour to our destination, Lama Hotel at 2470 metres, which we reached mid-afternoon. Jungle covered hills towered above us, and Mithu found us a basic room in the aptly named Jungle View Hotel,  where we tried to get warm with hot cups of tea, biscuits and the host even lit his stove.

Right outside were many birds, pigeons, chickens and a busy squirrel. By 7.15 pm it was very dark outside and just 1 solar powered light inside. Fantastic that a wood-fired stove in a primitive kitchen can produce so much tasty food for so many people.

Trekking in the Langtang Valley - Syabru Besi

What a wild ride. First the crazy streets of Kathmandu, the busy ring road, then the climb out of the Kathmandu Valley on a narrow road paved as far as Trisuli Bazaar. We frequently met overloaded buses with people sitting on top, the vehicle taking up most of the road, as well as jeeps, lorries, motorbikes and weird diesel tractors. Add to that the people who seem to live on the road, chickens, cows, goats and potholes – no wonder there are many accidents.

We turned right and followed the east bank of the Trisuli River, climbing, climbing, climbing on a rough unpaved, narrow and winding road. Thankfully there was little traffic now, so we made good progress, a quick stop at the entrance to the Langtang Park, and we arrived in Dhunche in under 3 hours from Trisuli.  Our driver was excellent,  I can only stand in admiration at his driving skills. The Toyota Landcruiser was really comfortable and we were only badly shaken around on the very worst parts of the road which were over slips with horrifying drops over 1000 metres to the valley far below. Tiny villages clung precariously to the cliff edges, fields of corn millet, mustard, and I guess foraging in the forest helps sustain them. Often the people were beautifully dressed in their finest clothes. We saw women and children carrying enormous loads of foliage, while most of the men and boys semed to be sitting around admiring the view, playing games or chatting. The last hour before Syabru Besi at 1400 metres was the wildest – 12 zigzags down to the river on a bumpy road, but we arrived in one piece, the village clean and our simple guesthouse just fine.

 A cup of tea in a little shop was organized by Mithu our guide. Our porter is his good-looking 21 year old son, Aite. The two of them took us for a walk in the afternoon - it turned out to be at least 2 hours, with the air scented by wild marijuana. First we went down steep steps to the hot springs by the Trisuli River, then crossed over a bridge and wound our way up through a pretty village where we saw a woman using a spindle to spin wool and watched a woman weaving. We climbed up towards some caves, then visited a Buddhist monastery where we met a lovely young lama and were invited to have some salty tea made with yak butter. I felt embarrassed that I couldn’t drink it all.

 We continued back across the river and along a road the Chinese are building to the border with China. We noticed that the drilling crew wore no ear protection but were proud of their work and seemed to want us to photograph them. We continued to a fork in the river, with various groups passing us by, including very young children carrying great loads of potatoes.

It was dark by the time we returned, our feet filthy from the dust and mud of the track and road.  By 8.45 pm we were both exhausted and fell into bed. 

An unplanned interlude

Doug arrived with Mithu and his cousin to help interpret, and we went over our trekking plan. Handed over wads of dosh, 3 photos each and copies of passports and more dosh for trekking permits. Jeep is organized and all set to go on Monday. I was feeling miles better, Rob too except for sore chest and very tired.  

We piled into a taxi Doug had waiting, and did a very interesting back-street drive across the city to Doug and Kate’s rented house in Kopan. From the road we had to walk along a little track and ring the doorbell on the gate. Kate arrived to let us in – she is looking great – after making sure all the dogs are contained. Pema the housekeeper served us drinks in the garden gazebo and then we were introduced to the dogs. Singhy the top dog came first – he was nervous of us and I was nervous of him – both parties will take a while to get used to each other. Then we met Nagphu and Tashi the oldest dog, a different breed. The Tibetan mastiffs are beautiful. And big. Two of the female dogs were allowed to meet us briefly, but that caused a bit of chaos, which one suspects could often be the case!!

 We eventually left the beautiful garden and entered the cool house, full of intriguing things – stones, gorgeous Buddhas, prints, wall hangings. It’s fabulous. We have a lovely bedroom upstairs. Doug and Kate fed us well – a delicious soup that takes days to prepare and a fresh – just picked from their huge garden – salad. We contributed bread rolls from Pumpernickels, and we also ate good Nepali cheese.

After a short rest we set off for a 2 hour walk through back streets of the village and up on to the hills below the gompas (monasteries), through forest and around and down again. It felt great to be breathing clean air and in quiet, uncrowded places. Drinks, then a superb brown rice and fresh vegetable stir-fry followed by banana cake, and fruit. We ate far too much, it was all so delicious, and I noticed a bit of a pain in my back. Rob fell asleep in the lounge. Tashi and Singhy were also tired from the long walk, and are slowly accepting we intruders.

Unpacking -great to discover the bottom of my suitcase – and so to bed – but for me, not to sleep. When I lay down the pain in my lower left back slowly but steadily worsened, and I could find no position to relieve it. I was awake all night with the pain becoming unbearable. I knew I had something seriously wrong with me. I staggered downstairs in the morning and nearly collapsed with the pain – apparently I was ghostly pale. Doug and Kate were marvelous, got hold of the Swiss CIWEC clinic and made an appointment, tried to get a decent taxi but had to settle for Puna and his old jalopy. Somehow I got out to the cab, shut my eyes, gritted my teeth and held on to Rob, at times tears were forced out and the odd groan – a 45 minute ride from hell on bumpy roads. How I didn’t faint I don’t know. On arrival at the clinic tears streamed down my face, just the relief of getting there, and I was soon in the kind and careful hands of Francosie, Sharmi and Dr Ravi. A shot of voltaren in the backside was the first indignity but it took the edge off the pain.

 At first we suspected kidney stones so I had an x-ray – which showed nothing. Several proddings and pokings, a blood test, a urine test, a poo test, and IV line inserted – I felt like a battered hen. Apparently I looked terrible and spent the whole day in the foetal position, mostly with my eyes shut and no smiles. Poor Rob and Kate who had kindly accompanied us to the clinic sat valiantly through it all until we got some results – mostly negative. A slight temperature and a high white blood cell count. Dr Ravi eventually ordered an ultrasound, the poor radiographer arrived beautifully and elegantly dressed – she had to interrupt her festival activities just for me. She found no stones and all organs normal. 

After all this Dr Ravi diagnosed sigmoid diverticulitis, an infected pocket in my bowel. I got hooked up to a drip before the ultrasound and that continued, plus antibiotics of a heavy variety. The pain in my back subsided, thank God, but I was a bit of a wreck. Kate managed to get hold of Mithu and put our trek on hold – the way I felt it was never going to happen. The Dr. gave me a choice of going back to Doug and Kate’s and having to return next day, or staying in for the night. We settled on the latter and hope insurance pays the $500 fee.  

In the night I was given more antibiotics, panadol and a sleeping pill which seemed to work, despite 4 hourly drip changes and blood pressure tests etc. In the middle of the night my blood pressure rocketed up, as did my temperature. Panadol brought the temperature down and me out in a sweat, I felt pretty nauseous and had quite severe chest pain. So weak and tired too, but at least I did get some sleep.

Today was supposed to be the start of our trek, and here I was in a clinic hooked up to an IV line! Not at all what we had planned. I had another blood test and an ECG – surely not many tests can remain in their arsenal! Dr Ravi decided I needed to stay another night, mainly because my stomach is still sore and he wants to keep me nbm (nil by mouth). I’ll be dreaming about food soon. My hand where the line goes in is a bit sore and my right shoulder hurts, probably from lying on it continuously. Dr Ravi is now talking colitis/enteritis. Meantime, Rob is looking and feeling really good, and he had a great night’s sleep without me. Hurumph.

More antibiotics today, and a hot sweet tea which was a bit much, but then a wonderful hot shower – I felt lots better, but tired and weak as a kitten.  A chest x-ray was done, and yet another blood test – truly, I felt like a pincushion. 

Finally I was given the all clear to go home. The chest x-ray showed no pneumonia, although there could have been a low grade infection present. We paid the US$1700.00 bill, said goodbye to all my new friends and headed home. The ride seemed shorter and way easier than the last one! It was very nice to get back to the house where everyone ran around looking after me. The dogs were all okay with me – I thought they might have forgotten me – in fact I think Singhy thought he had lost me and is now following me around everywhere! I ate more than I should have at dinner and fell into bed at 9.00 pm, hoping to have a good night’s sleep without nurses waking me up to stick things into me.

Mithu and his cousin arrived to check up on things and we said we’d aim for Friday departure. Meantime, Rob and Doug took Singhy and Tashi for a walk and Rob got his first leech! Then the 4 of us walked about 2 kilometres to the local supermarket, quite a modern affair. We got a few supplies and headed back across country, now very hot even at 11.00 am. I got pretty tired on the way home.

The next day we all took Tashi and Singhy for a long walk up in the hills beyond the Gompas – we did a big loop, walking through little villages full of lively children, goats and cows, and through pine forest. It was very hot even though we left shortly after 9.30 am. I got very dizzy on the climbs – not a good sign, but I hoped it was just the heat and the fact that I was still recovering. I feared my fitness for the coming trek. We also got a number of leeches, especially me and Kate. Ugh. They suck your blood and you don’t even know they are doing it until you see blood oozing out of your socks.

Kathmandu

Things didn’t augur well when our transport was delayed 30 minutes. Once the van arrived we were quickly loaded up and off we set for a bumpy, diesel-smelling, tiring but intriguing trip to Kathmandu. We retraced our route back to the main road, paid fees at a couple of places, filled up with petrol and other than that had just one brief stop along the way. Rob and I were suffering with sore tummies and everyone grew quieter as the hours wore on.

We slowly climbed up higher and higher along the Narayan River gorge, the road narrow and extremely busy with lorries and buses with people or goats loaded on top of the latter. On some occasions nearing the Kathmandu Valley we came to a complete halt for several minutes, but we only had one near head-on - our driver was very good! 

The countryside we passed through was quite beautiful, but how the people who live in basic little dwellings squeezed in between the road and river make a living is beyond me. The far hillsides were steep and jungly if not terraced for crops. Water was plentiful with lots of clean looking streams tumbling down from the slopes. Plenty of landslides as well – it must be such a tough existence.

6 hours later we were threading our way through the ever-narrowing streets of Kathmandu until we reached our guesthouse in the heart of the Thamel area - very touristy and full of restaurants, ATMs, internet and fascinating shops.

In town we tried a few ATMS – they didn’t have any money in them!! We finally managed to find a generous ATM and took out 60,000 Nepali rupees. We rested until it was time to go out for a birthday dinner at Rumdoodles. Very cool and funky, good food but we couldn’t do justice to a shared pizza, managed to down a pina colada. Prices are higher here, with a 10% service charge and a 13% tax added on to everything. Raj organized a birthday cake and we all wrote on a big “foot’ for the birthday boy, Graham, which he loved. A lovely evening all round.  We left the young ones to go to a nightclub and we headed home for a good night’s sleep.

We all went out to a place called Mike’s for a delicious breakfast, then went sightseeing to 3 World heritage sites.

Pashupatinath temple is one of the most sacred Hindu shrines in the world – many sadhus (holy men) make a pilgrimage to it from India. The 400ad old area is vast and includes the banks of the holy Bugmati river as it joins the Ganges in India. We saw cremations taking place on the river bank. The architecture was impressive.

Next site was Boudhanath Stupa, 36 metres high and in the middle of Nepal’s Tibetan population. It had prayer wheels all the way around the base and up on top. There are dozens of Buddhist monasteries around it. 

Finally, we went to Swayambunath, or monkey temple – but not so many monkeys as beggars and vendors everywhere. Climbing just 65 steps nearly killed me – not sure I will survive the trek! This is another of Nepal’s holiest Buddhist sites with a stunning view over the Kathmandu Valley.

We walked all the way back to town in the heat – it seemed to take forever – stopping outside Durbar Square, a complex of palaces, courtyards and temples once the seat of the Malla Kings. Built between 12^th and 18^th centuries, it is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s the social, religious and urban focal point of the city. Raj bought us momos from a street stall – buffalo meat dumplings in a sauce with coriander – excellent.

 My back was sore and all day I felt I couldn’t breathe and Rob not great in the middle of the day, but he had a better appetite than me – I really only nibbled at our farewell dinner where we said our goodbyes. One of the local vendors here at the hotel accosted Rob on our way back to our room, he had heard Rob was going to go trekking in the mountains and he said he revered him for it. Interesting. And so to bed, completely exhausted again.