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Published: April 30th 2010
The last time i sat down to write about our travels, we were sat sizzling in the approaching monsoon heat of Southern India. It is fair to say we have been through the whole range of weathers and emotions in the weeks since I last wrote.
From Kerala, we took an overnight train to the state of Karnataka where we were due to arrive at our stop at 3.08am. Knowing the poor reliability of Indian trains, I had visions of Alex waking us up at 2.50am (She always has to be early for everything!) and then the train being delayed for 6 hours and us having been sat up all night waiting for our station. As it turned out, it was on time and we jumped off into the pitch darkness into a very un-Indian scene of a peaceful one-platformed rural train station. We sat on a bench until the sun came up and headed the short distance to a beach village called Gokarna. We had heard reports from other travelers of a very peaceful, beautiful beach which was un-developed and deserted. It was an OK place but we didn't share our fellow travelers love for the place for a
few reasons. A recurring theme- shit everywhere (dog, cow, human) and an unpleasant incident involving a camera toting Indian taking unrequested photos of bikini-clad women. When he turned his lens on the very conservatively dressed Alex (in T shirt and long skirt) it took a 'firm' warning for him to scarper and I admit i was pretty close to losing it!
Farther up the coast, our Indian odyssey became far more pleasant and we based ourselves in Palolem in Goa sleeping in an actual building rather than a bamboo hut this time. Our days were spent walking up to neighboring beaches over headlands and eating delicious seafood by night. Our favorite day was spent on a motorbike heading north through villages and rice paddies towards an old Portuguese fort which now lies in ruins. The traffic was mercifully quiet and the miles flew by with regular stops for banana lassies! I thought it was strange at lunchtime how the fuel gauge was still on 'full' but put it down to our new slender figures taking less fuel to haul up the hills! about 5 miles from home, the bike spluttered to a halt having run our of juice but
the gauge was still on full! A good Samaritan got on his own bike and came back with a litre of the most expensive fuel in India to get us home so all was well!
From Goa we had managed to find a dirt cheap flight up to Kathmandu in Nepal. Unfortunately this was a 3 legged flight including being deposited at midnight onto the streets of Delhi and being told by a soldier that we could not physically enter the International terminal until 3am. A sleepless night was spent in an all night coffee shop until our flight was delayed on the tarmac for a further 4 hours. The feeling of fatigue and frustration instantly washed away when we had to stack and wait to land for an hour above Kathmandu. We had amazing views of Everest and the Annapurnas which left us awestruck and excited about the month ahead.
Kathmandu is even more frantic, polluted, and captivating than i remember it. We set about getting things sorted for our trek. Permits were sought and stamped and we then had to leave our passports to apply for a Chinese visa. We spent 2 days buying all the
essentials for a jaunt into the Himalayas such as sleeping bags, down jackets, fleeces etc. having spent 3 months in the tropics, we were used to traveling pretty light and fast but we were now a couple of backpackers who resembled the people we ofter pitied laden with huge bags and gear!
We headed to Pokhara, the finishing point of our trek and left most of our stuff there. We then took a local bus to Besisehar and set off on the Annapurna Circuit trek. The first few days were spent walking up through rice paddies and marijuana fields staying in basic family run lodges who's matriarch would cook up amazing Dal baht (the national dish of lentils curry and rice) on nothing more than a wood burning stove. The views at this stage were pretty impressive with some of the highest mountains in the world greeting us at sunrise. As we got higher, so the haze and mist receded and the views got even more special. A half hour side walk up another valley would often change the panorama completely and we spent quite a bit of time just sat staring at the skyline. We decided not to
take reading books (weight restrictions!) but we did not miss them as we met some great people and had the scenery to keep us occupied. The lack of power in most places meant that the day started as the sun rose and we got on the trail by 6 or 7 and we were going to sleep at 7.30 some nights as the sun went down. We read so much about preparing for the high altitude section of the trek and I have had a bit of experience at altitude so we did everything 'by the book'. We spent a week getting to 3500m and kept well hydrated, abstained from booze and once above 3000m, we did acclimatisation walks above our sleeping height. We reached the village of Braga where we were scheduled to spend the next 4 days doing walks up to the surrounding glaciers. By the time we got there, Alex was feeling a bit rough and was puffing away at the slightest exertion. We walked up 700 vertical metres to 4300m on one climb in 2 hours up to a meditation cave used by an ancient Tibetan monk in the 8th Century who survived on a diet
of stinging nettles and therefore turned green! Alex however was turning green for another reason and was not eating well. The decision to turn round and go back down the same way was an easy one as people die up there each year by ignoring the symptoms so we weren't about to make that mistake. The family at the lodge where we were staying for the week took really good care of us and Alex in particular, serving up ginger tea and garlic soup which are supposed to help with acclimatisation. When we eventually left to head down we were touched by their gifts of silk prayer scarves to give us good luck on the descent. We needed all the luck we could get as we had to pass back through the areas where rock falls and landslides were common and it was safest to go as quick as possible. We found one of the best ways of making sure the path was not going to give way under our feet was to follow one of the mule caravans as we figured if the path can take a mule, it could take us!
Alex was feeling good coming down so
that confirmed that all of her ailments were due to the altitude. We made great progress and by chance we stayed in the same lodges as a descending mountaineering expedition which had just climbed Cholou East. The Japanese clients were pretty experienced having climbed Everest amongst others and it was good to be caught up in their collective celebration of a successful expedition. A chicken was killed for the occasion and a few beers went down (by them- we hadn't finished yet!) We were very focused on finishing the trek and getting back to Pokhara at this stage and in particular an amazing pizza restaurant we had found! On getting to a ridge top village called Batundanda on our last days walking we were told that it had all kicked of politically with the Maoists again and they were blockading the road to Pokhara for the next 3 days. The news was pretty devastating at the time as we wanted to get back int 'civilisation' and recuperate. On getting to the road, we discovered that although busses all the way to Pokhara were not running, there were busses to the next town down the valley. We swapped from packed bus
to packed bus (at one point i was passed a small child to have on my knee and at the end of the 2 hour journey realised I also had a live chicken between my feet!) and eventually made it to Pokhara after a relay of 4 busses when the strike was concluded.
The Trek had been part of our plans all along for the trip and is the reason we flew to SE Asia then back on ourselves to South Asia. Our Christmas present from my mum was an IOU for a few nights of R&R on our return from the trek. We ended up at a place called the Castle which was built on a ridge overlooking Pokhara by an eccentric Irishman. The biggest draw was the swimming pool though and we have just returned to budget accommodation having been thoroughly spoiled! Last nights dinner was roast chicken, stuffing and all the trimmings- heaven! Thanks Mum!
Nepal has been absolutely amazing and we have both fallen in love with the people and the geography of the place. I am sure one day we will try and come back once the memories of blisters and aching legs
have suitably subsided. So on to China.............
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Rose Kurton
non-member comment
Hello you two
Hi Ben and Ali Have thoroughly enjoyed the blog - very descriptive and interesting. What a marvellous holiday you are having with so many experiences - life changing stuff!!! Be safe with love from Rose xxx