Running for refuge to Nepal


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November 6th 2008
Published: November 23rd 2008
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The so-called "blogging" seems to have fallen by the wayside recently, so this entry is intended as an update on our movements and activities over the past two months. From Varanasi we headed west into Madhya Pradesh to visit the temples and palaces of Khajuraho and Orchha. The temple complex at Khajuraho dates back over a thousand years. They are very grand and are intricately covered inside and out with detailed carvings, reliefs and statues depicting gods, scenes of daily life of the period and erotic scenes so explicit they would make modern day pornographers blush. Well maybe not. The temples are dedicated to the usual gods of the hindu pantheon; Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Kali, Parvati and Lakshmi. For us, visiting the temples was an experience not to be missed, but we found the town to be a proverbial "hole" and the majority of its inhabitants made the Varanasi-wallahs seem comparatively honest and compassionate. It was as though the entire town was complicit in trying to make the visitors' experience as unpleasant as possible. The hassle was relentless and carried a whiff of sadism. The temperature was in excess of 40 centigrade with a 90% humidity. It was easy to spot a tourist coming down the street as they were invariably accompanied by an entourage of at least a dozen vendors pushing postcards, toy flutes, ornaments and various other souveneirs of the tackiest quality. We saw the temples and got out as quickly as we could, taking with us only intestinal parasites as a souveneir.
Several people had told us that Orchha was a relaxing small town, which sounded appealing. We eagerly read in the Lonely Planet that it is "refreshingly free of touts". As we stepped off the bus in the centre of town we were immediately greeted by invitations to spend money in a variety of ways. We let out a theatrical groan and trudged off to find a hotel. An important centre for both the Rajputs and the Mughals, Orchha boasts some impressive palaces and temples. We spent a few days exploring them but perhaps without the enthusiasm that they deserved. Battling with the oppressive heat and our parasitic guests we began dreaming of Kathmandu, pleasantly situated at 1350m above sea level. Emily's experience told her that Nepal is in many regards more relaxed and manageable than India, which promised to be a change for the better. Hardly a day passes in India when you don't witness a heated and violent outburst, arguments which often end in blows. Cruelty to animals is considered by many to be highly amusing and entertaining. Lying and cheating are so commonplace and culturally ingrained that people do it even when they have nothing to gain. I am convinced that many peoples' minds are incapable of making the disitinction between a lie and the truth. Reading the newspaper on any given day confirms your suspicions that you are indeed in a madhouse. With bombs going off in Kashmir, Delhi and the northeast, mob violence and lynchings in Orissa, devastating floods in Bihar, stampedes in Himachal Pradesh and factory explosions in Rajasthan we felt like we couldn't get out of the country fast enough. On the train heading up to the Nepal border I read Kushwant Singh's novel "Delhi", a base but well written account of 500 years of the city's bloody history. This passage towards the end of the book resonated strongly with me; "insert quote"
Yet India has a magical energy which casts a spell on you. Now, two months later, the thought of returning fills us with excitement and anticipation. Many travellers become addicted to India, always coming back for more of this quality that you can't quite put your finger on. The intensity of India is not restricted to its more unpleasant attributes but pervades the entire experience. It is culturally and historically fascinating, with amazing diversity from one region to the next. Religion permeates into almost every aspect of daily life and there is a culinary expertise second to none. Although at the time the experience may sometimes seem intolerable, somehow in hindsight it all feels worthwhile.

It was after 10pm when we arrived in Kathmandu. We checked into a guesthouse in Thamel, the main tourist district, and went out in search of food. Most of the businesses were already shuttered and the cops were prowling the streets, half-heartedly and ineffectively enforcing the 10pm curfew imposed by the new maoist government. Down an alley we found a place still open and sat down and ordered some food. A moment later four Nepalis in their early twenties entered, two male two female. They ordered some hot drinks and proceeded to light cigarettes. We were amazed. In India it is so rare to witness any kind of social gathering of young people, but with members of the opposite sex? and women smoking! Indeed we were in a different country.
We spent a week or so recovering from India and our parasites, watching satellite TV and exploring Kathmandu's old city. The narrow streets and alleyways are a delight to walk around and get lost in. The old Newari style brick buildings and ornate wooden windows and doorframes are very atmospheric. Every corner reveals some kind of treasure; a beautiful courtyard, a 13th century temple, a 5th century shrine, a vibrant and obscure marketplace. We discovered Freak Street, which received its name in the 1960s, being a major stop on the hippy trail. For many hippies it was the end of the line after travelling overland from Europe through Turkey, Iran, Afghanisthan, Pakistan and India. Naturally the locals thought they were a strange bunch, hence the name. It was supposedly the haunt of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Cat Stevens, Mick Jaggar and other icons of the day. Despite being bathed in mystique, today it is a pretty low key place, it's cafes popular with trendy young Nepalis. Long grey beards are however not an entirely uncommon sight.
We enrolled in a ten day course in meditation and Tibetan buddhist philosophy at Kopan monastery. This tranquil oasis sits atop a hill on the edge of the Kathmandu valley. The monastery was founded in the 1970s by two Tibetan lamas with the specific intention of teaching dharma to westerners. The proceeds received from the tuition fees help to support and educate the 700 resident monks and nuns. We spent ten days within the compound with 50 or so other students from around the world. We slept in dormitories, ate delicious food, and every day we meditated for 3 hours and received 4 hours of teachings. Our free time was spent making use of the excellent on site library and enjoying the well kept gardens. Our teachers were wise and kind, and inspired in us the desire to practise the precepts of buddhism in our daily lives.
Our time at Kopan was both relaxing and mentally challenging and tiring, but afterwards we felt the need for some more physical activity. We headed to Pokhara with the intention of walking the popular Annapurna circuit trail, which loops around the impressive Annapurna Himal. It is one of the classic "teahouse treks", where trekkers walk from village to village along trails established hundreds of years ago. There is no need to carry camping equipment or food, and these days the trek can be done with a degree of luxury; hot showers are commonly available and extensive menus offer Italian, Mexican and Chinese food. For over 30 years foreigners have been coming to Nepal specifically to trek in the Himalayas. The Annapurna and Everest regions are the most popular destinations and 60,000 foreign tourists entered the Annapurna Conservation Area in 2007 alone.
With little or no natural resources to exploit and virtually no exports, agriculture and tourism are Nepal's only industries worth mentioning. The majority of the population work in agriculture, often on a subsistence level, but overall the country does not produce enough food to meet its needs. But there is money to be made in tourism and increasing numbers of Nepalis are looking in that direction to earn their livelihoods. The new maoist government plans to open up more remote areas to trekking tourism in order to generate more income for the local (currently agricultaralist) population. They are approaching this multi-faceted issue with no more foresight than the notion that tourists will bring money. Indeed all the people I spoke to in the Annapurna region had a the-more-the-merrier attitude towards the hundreds of trekkers passing by their homes each day. The Annapurna region is held as a shining example of the success of such a venture, with the local population growing wealthier through their lodges, restaurants and shops, and additional employment being created for porters and guides, not to mention other tourist related businesses in the cities. And all this without excessive visible damage to the environment. But critics speak of cultural erosion. Of course the inevitable process of globalisation is occurring in Nepal but we were left with the impression that the residents of the Manang valley at least are masters of their own domain, able to adapt to the new economy and everything that comes with it whilst maintaining the essence of their traditional culture. However this is not always the case and an increase in tourism needs to be coupled with educational programs if the venture is to be at all successful or sustainable.
The trek starts at an elevation of 750m and basically follows the same river upstream for the first week. Initially the vegetation is lush and tropical and we passed through orange and lemon groves, banana plantations and rice terraces, the jungle covered mountains forming a picturesque backdrop. The villages were quaint, the architectural style evolving as we progressed up the trail. October being peak season, the trail was fairly busy, but not so much that you spent all your time in the close proximity of others. People generally seemed to be in good spirits, happy to be out walking in the mountains. Any time my backpack started to feel heavy I looked to one of the many porters for inspiration. A porter will carry loads of more than 50kg along the often steep and uneven trail. He carries the load on his back but most of the weight is burdened by the neck, via a strap looped around the forehead. He does this wearing footwear no more elaborate than a pair of plastic sandals or flipflops and he generally walks significantly faster than the tourists whose luggage he is carrying. But it is a profession which predates the tourist industry by a long way. As long as the Himalayan people have been trading there have been porters, but now there is more need for them than ever. All the food, utensils, building materials, fuel and furniture that cannot be produced on location are brought in by porters. Ponies are also used in some areas but for some reason to a lesser degree. Even on the other side of the mountains where there is an airport and jeep road, porters trudge along the road with their heavy loads, staunchly clinging to their jobs as passing jeeps kick up dust in their faces.
The trail gained elevation steadily, the landscape changing from tropical to alpine as we moved towards the rain shadow of the Annapurnas. The region is very culturally diverse and every few days we would encounter a new ethnic group distinguished by their dress, language, architectural style and religious practices. When we reached the Manang valley the landscape became particularly dry. Here was perhaps the most dramatic scenery of the whole trek and the locals were especially relaxed and friendly. The highest point of the trail was the nearly snowbound Thorung La pass at 5416m. The ascent to the pass took two long days along a steep, narrow and congested trail with a cold and uncomfortable night spent at the overcrowded "High Camp" (4900m). Despite the difficult trail, cold temperatures (-10C at night) and lack of oxygen, around 300 people crossed the pass on the same day as us, presumably a typical number for this time of year. We saw an Israeli family with two young children, a group of overweight Americans and a French man well into his seventies all manage the journey without incident. The Annapurna mountains are truly spectacular and immense. Annapurna I, the highest in the range clocks in at 8091m, with a number of others not far behind. They are particularly striking as they catch the first rays of the rising sun. Within a period of 15 minutes they will change from a cool and glistening blue to a subtle pink then to a luminous orange, turning yellow and eventually to a bright and blinding white.
Safely across the pass we rested a few days in the village of Kagbeni, at a sensible 2800m. It lies on the southern edge of Upper Mustang "the Forbidden Kingdom", a region which is off limits to foreigners who don't wish to buy the $700 permit. It is a mystical and peaceful place that seems to have changed little in a thousand years. We arrived in the midst of the apple harvest and seized the opportunity to sample host of local treats such as apple pie, apple juice, apple brandy, cider and just plain apples. The "golden" variety grown here are the best I've ever had. From Kagbeni we headed south down the Kali Gandaki gorge and within a few days had almost completed a 360 degree loop of the himal. Reluctant to leave the mountains we turned north onto the Annapurna Sanctuary trail which leads into the midst of the range. This trail was physically more demanding, tending to cross over valleys rather than follow them. A lot of work must have gone into the construction and maintenance of the trail, some of the many stone stairways contained thousands of steps. The trail ends at Annapurna Base Camp (4100m) where you feel completely walled in by mountains and glaciers. The extra trip was definitely worth it but after 19 days of trekking we were getting tired. After taking our dawn photos at the base camp we turned around and started back down the trail in high gear.
Three days later we were in the southern Terai, a tropical plain dubbed "the granary" of Nepal, being the main rice-producing region. Fifty years ago the Terai was virtually uninhabited and was characterised by near continuous malaria infested jungle. This is in part what has allowed Nepal's culturally uniqueness and diversity to flourish. With the Himalayas to the north and the Terai to the south the country has remained relatively isolated. In the 1950s the jungles were sprayed with a liberal dose of DDT which succeeded in killing off the malaria. People wasted no time in clearing the forests to create agricultural land and now the region is home to more than a third of Nepal's population. Patches of jungle do remain however, among them Chitwan National Park, our reason for visiting. Chitwan is home to some 350 one-horned rhinos and about 50 tigers as well as leopards, sloth bears, crocodiles and 450 varieties of birds. Needless to say, wildlife populations have suffered immensely in the last half century. Habitat loss brought the local tiger and rhino populations to the brink of extinction in the 1960s, but despite the poachers best efforts numbers have risen slowly since then.
We were advised that the best way to visit the jungle with a chance of seeing some wildlife was on the back of an elephant. The national park has an elephant breeding centre which raises elephants specifically for this purpose. The elephants seem healthy and well cared for by their "mahoots". Indeed the elephant turned out to be an excellent vehicle and it seemed as though it were guiding us through its home. Almost immediately we began to see wildlife; rhesus monkeys, three types of deer, peacocks and various other birds. The animals were unperturbed by our presence due to their familiarity with elephants and the fact we were hidden atop the beast. A strange and eerie drilling-type noise pierced the silence of the jungle. Our mahoot identified the call of the rhino and steered the elephant in that direction. We were brought into a clearing where a mother and baby rhino were grazing. But they were not alone. They were surrounded by a dozen elephants, each with four tourists atop, armed with digital cameras. This did not bother the rhinos in the slightest and when we had all had our fill of photographs the elephants gracefully plodded off in different directions, disappearing into the forest. Our safari lasted a little over two hours and was a thoroughly enjoyable way to travel through the beautiful jungle. We saw a total of seven rhinos, much closer than what we would have been comfortable with on foot. They really are strange and beautiful creatures.
So here we are back on Freak Street preparing for our next trek. For now we are enjoying the simple pleasures of urban life and celebrations of the vibrant Diwali festival.


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23rd November 2008

A fantastic blog
And having done practically the same journey myself, it all rings very true!

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