Walking with Buddha

The trekking got off to a surprisingly good start. We had left Pokhara pretty early in the morning and had driven to a place called Lumle. This was where we were to begin our trek. Not surprisingly we were accosted by women trying to sell us jewelery the moment we stepped out of the vehicle, but our excitement canceled out any annoyance that was felt because of this. The trek itself started out well, although we were disappointed to find that the sky was completely overcast. This meant that although the scenery was pretty, we didn't quite experience the stunning views that we had been hoping for. The first day's trek was short - just three hours. We were trekking from Lumle to a place called Biritanthi, passing small villages and a rushing river. When we arrived at the Sanctuary Lodge (our accommodation for the night), we were a little exhausted, but not overly so. We had a pretty good lunch and then headed back to the table outside our room for some rest and relaxation. This proved to be short lived. Just as we had settled down for a game of rummy with our guide Buddha (who by the way was clearly lying when he said that he had never played the game before and didn't know the rules) two families arrived. They were traveling together and between them had six children, aged between 6 and 17. The screaming and yelling started almost immediately and we found it difficult to be enthusiastic when they told us that they had the same programme as we had for the next three days. It was fairly cold and we were glad of the extra clothes, that we had bought in Pokhara. To our delight the lodge bar had a happy hour before dinner, which involved the consumption of extremely strong, free alcohol. It was very cosy sitting around the fire, being warmed by both the flames and the local rum. Dinner wasn't bad either, although the company left something to be desired. Thankfully we were provided with hot water bottles, but these did not prevent us from going to bed fully dressed as it was so unbearably cold.

Buddha had told us that the second day of trekking would be the hardest, as almost the whole six hours would be spent walking uphill. It was a beautifully clear day and we were able to get an excellent view of Fish Tail Mountain. At first the trekking was fairly easy going and we were able to enjoy the scenery without exhausting ourselves too much. We had been given a bag of snacks by the staff at the last lodge and this sustained us as we traipsed through the countryside. The last leg up to Ghandrok was however incredibly painful as it involved steps, steps, and more steps. It seemed as if it would never end. By the time we reached the lodge at Ghandrok my legs were a little shaky. We were however greeted with fresh lemonade, which instantly revitalised us. After a hearty lunch we once again sat down to relax, only to be disturbed again by the noisy children a little later. It was Christmas Eve, and for both Gustav and I this meant that it was time to exchange presents (in both Sweden and Germany people exchange their presents on Christmas Eve as opposed to on Christmas Day as in the UK). During happy hour at the lodge we were served mulled wine, which went down very well and made us feel a little more festive.

Our third day's trekking involved a relatively leisurely walk back to Sanctuary Lodge for lunch, taking a slightly different route to the one that we had taken the day before. After lunch and a little rest we continued walking to the Gurung Lodge, which was another 2-3 hours trek away. This part of the trek was similar to the previous day's walk as it too involved a large number of fairly uneven steps. It was at the Gurung Lodge that I started to feel unwell. I only had a sip of rum punch because I wasn't feeling too good - a sure sign that something was not quite right. After dinner I returned to our room and the suffering began. I had a terrible stomach upset. It hadn't seemed much like Christmas anyway so I wasn't too bothered about missing out on that, but I felt awful. The next day's trek was agonising and it was all that I could do to put one foot in front of the other. I was feeling incredibly weak and had found it impossible to eat breakfast, which meant that my energy levels were very low. As we neared Dhampus, the place where we would be spending the last night of our trek, we were stopped by some Maoists. The Maoist presence in this area seemed stronger than it had in any of the other villages that we had passed through. The Maoist 'fee' for passing was modest - a mere 100 rupees per person, but it didn't feel so good knowing that the money was going to an organisation that has been responsible for so many deaths and so much destruction. We were given a leaflet full of Maoist propaganda before being given leave to continue with our trek. Unsurprisingly it was not much of a read. As soon as we got to the lodge in Dhampus, I retired to our room. My illness had become worse and I was now vomiting on a frighteningly regular basis. I couldn't even keep a sip of water down, never mind any medicine and to make matters worse, Gustav wasn't feeling too well either. We were due to leave Nepal for Tibet two days later, and I was determined not to miss out on that part of our trip. It was a very bad night and the next morning I was in no fit state to trek back to Lumle, where our transport to Pokhara would be waiting for us. Buddha was incredibly helpful and managed to organise for us to travel back to Lumle in a local jeep. It was a bumpy ride, but it was definitely better than walking. We were picked up in Lumle and taken to Pokhara, where we rearranged our belongings before heading to the airport. I was feeling marginally better by this time. The airport was a bit of a shambles and I would guess that not a single flight left on schedule that day. We were flying with Buddha Air to Kathmandu and had been hoping to get a good view of the mountains on our way back to the capital. Unfortunately a group of Japanese tourists had taken all the seats with the good views and we had to settle for reading our books instead.

When we got back to Kathmandu, we decided to go back to the Pilgrim's Rest House, albeit for a slightly pricier room. We figured that when you're feeling ill, it's best to stick with what you know. The main thing was that we had heating and hot water - everything else seemed unimportant. We had one more day in Kathmandu ahead of us before we were due to leave for Tibet, so we decided to explore some of the temples in the surrounding area. I was feeling slightly better when we headed to Pashupudinath early the next morning, although I had been sick a few times during the night. There was something eerie about the place. Part of this was to do with the cremations that were taking place on the ghats along the river, and part of it was to do with the early morning mist that hung over the temple, but there was something else too. There were a number of Sadhus wandering around, some of whom were undoubtedly fake, and countless people insisting on being our guides. After strolling around the temple for a while we took a taxi to Bodinath, the site of a huge stupa. Walking around the stupa with the Tibetan chant 'om mane padme hum' playing in the background was an incredibly soothing experience. Monks wandered around amongst pilgrims and tourists, prayer wheels spun, and prayer flags flapped in the wind. It was an incredibly peaceful place despite the crowds. Our final site of the day was the monkey temple. We had lunch in a small restaurant near the temple before climbing the steps that led up to the main temple complex. This was another Buddhist temple, famed for the many monkeys that live on the grounds. We strolled around a little and took in the views of Kathmandu, before heading back to Thamel. We would be leaving for Tibet the next morning and although we were feeling better than we had been on the last two days of our trek, we still hadn't completely recovered. Tibet would not be easy and so we decided to get as much rest as possible before our departure.

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