Blogs from Nepal, Asia - page 3
April 8th 2012
Had the best night out in Pokhara. Lyndesy and myself went to the Silk Road resturant where we saw the two girls we met there the other night and invited them to join us along with Philippa, her husband and a very funny man from their kayaking trip. Ate my last momos, which I will miss a lot. Throughout the past few weeks I kept joking with Philippa i'd order a party bucket (very very big drink) on my last night. Managed to convince the two girls to join me and then the bar tender to let me make it. So for one night only I got to work as a bar tender making the very big cocktail, which was served in a vase. So was a very fun last night, though a bit sad saying ... read more
April 7th 2012
Day 1 (Bangalore-Delhi-Kathmandu): I’m propped up on two pillows on my firm double bed here at Thorong Peak Guest House in the heart of Thamel. I’m really tired as it’s 8.30pm now and I’ve been up since 4.15am having had to fly Bangalore-Delhi-Kathmandu. Getting here was a bit of a ‘mare as getting through Delhi airport took a span and then the visa queue at Kathmandu airport took an hour to get through. But I’m here! Back in Nepal for the first time in 4 years. My accommodation is great. It’s in the heart of Thamel – I’ve never seen so many white tourists in my life, of course I’m one of them but like everyone else I think I’m superior to the rest, illogically – but tucked around a corner so it’s surprisingly quiet. I ... read more
April 6th 2012
Namaste! We are leaving tomorrow morning for the Poonhill trek, so I thought it would be a good idea to get this updated now! The past week has been full of unexpected surprises :) The most notable has been the thunder/lightning/rain/hail storms that have been happening for the past few days. As we rarely get lighting at home, it is so exciting to have it go so frequently for hours at a time! Also, the rain comes down so hard you get soaking wet in a couple minutes, and half-foot high water crowds the streets. Everyone was quite confused when I was running around the streets so gleefully... I guess weather is not that entertaining when they are soaking wet. On Wednesday the group headed to a Tibetan Refugee Camp / Buddhist Monastery to visit a ... read more
April 6th 2012
Yesterday was a sad/happy day as it was my last day with the Street Kids. Had the most amazing and fun few weeks there making lots of friends. We had our last lesson, though most of them just played with pipe-cleaners i'd left in my bag. In the afternoon it started pouring it down again so we were all under the tin roof trying to keep cover. We brought in boiled eggs for them to decorate for Easter, but forgot the pain and glitter, though they liked colouring them in. After that they were all quickly eaten. We bought a bag of sweets and spend about twenty minutes tying them to string, and then they had to catch all the sweets. The game last 20 seconds. Left my camera in charge of the children, so have ... read more
Waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more...
Published: May 18th 2012Asia » Nepal » Kathmandu » Thamel
April 6th 2012
We were supposed to fly back to Kathmandu around 9:20AM. Rather than hang out at Hotel Yeti, we decided we would skip breakfast and go to the airport around 8:00AM which was early. In Nepal, 45 minutes is enough time to arrive before a domestic flight. When we checked in, they said our flight would be delayed 30 minutes. No problem. At 1:00PM, we were still in the Pokhara airport. Our frustration was visible, especially Megan's. This was her last day in Nepal. I at least had all day tomorrow. Our flight had a mechanical problem. No one bothered to update us. No information was provided. No announcements were made. This is the way in Nepal. So we waited. Our flight finally arrived around 1:30 and we made the short 45 min flight to Kathmandu. Nabin ... read more
Day 4 Ghandruk - Naya Pul - Pokhara - Circuit Complete!
Published: May 18th 2012Asia » Nepal » Pokhara
April 5th 2012
Was supposed to sleep in till 7AM today and of course, I couldn't. I hate that. I was up by 6:15. Nabin came to get us at 7:00 and we went to take pictures of Annapurna South from the other end of Ghandruk where the view was amazing. I have never seen a mountain like this one. I have never seen anything like the Himalayas, and I've seen a fair number of mountains! We were taking pictures next to a hotel and there were two young girls who lived in the hotel with their family. They must own it. I got some great pictures of the little girls. After we took pictures we stopped at the Old Ghandruk Museum (75NPR) which is small, but has quite a collection of artifacts. There are two museums in Ghandruk, ... read more
April 4th 2012
So yesterday after a very busy morning of Math and English at the Street Kids Centre, the storm started, just before I was due to leave in the morning. So we were all huddled up in this little room with tea and biscuits waiting it out. After nearly an hour and a half it stopped enough to leave. Later we decided to have some fun and bring face paint and balloon modelling to the kids. Our limited skills with balloons soon became apparent when the only thing we could make were swans. So we had several swans, and I made a snake which took a lot of imagination. The face paints were a lot of fun, and we had everything from trobal warriors, to spiderman, batman and butterflies. Then it was mine turn to take the ... read more
April 4th 2012
Up at 5AM to make the 45 min trek up to Poon Hill. In the past, I have been so disappointed by anything that required me to get up so early. I have yet to see a sight that was truly worth getting up this early. It had poured rain the day before, but the weather was clear this morning. I wasn't really sure what we were supposed to see from Poon Hill. I thought we were supposed to watch the sunrise, and while we started out in the dark, the sun soon rose and we were only 15 min into a crowded 45 min trek. I struggled with the uphill in the beginning. A lot. And I was secretly wishing I'd just stayed in bed a while longer. I soon understood why so many people ... read more
April 3rd 2012
Day 8 Up to Thulo Syaphru Today begins the next leg of our trek enroute to the very holy Gosinkund Lakes, again at 4600 metres. Unfortunately we must continue down the river valley through the morning before we meet the trail up the other side of the valley. We drop to 1700 metres which means a combined climb of 2900 metres over tbe 2 and a half days. Treks are measured in elevation up and down rather than distance as there is so much climbing and descending and switchbacks that distance is meaningless. All we know is we walk 6 to 8 hours a day up and down and are alwys exhausted at the end of the day. We stopped at a guesthouse called Rockslide for lunch. One of the groups of trekkers passing heading up ... read more
Day 2 Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek - Next Stop Ghorepani
Published: April 28th 2012Asia » Nepal » Gorepani
April 3rd 2012
The pictures in this entry are actually from Day 1 to Tikhedhunga. Got my days mixed up. Pictures from Day 2 are in the last entry titled Day 1 Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek. Woke up at 6AM again and had our usual - muesli and hard boiled eggs. But once we saw what Nabin and Madhur were having, we decided to have that tomorrow! It was spicy curried potatoes and beans with this gorgeous bread. Will definitely have that tomorrow! We started walking at 7:30. We'd already been warned about the steep uphill for the first 2 hours or so of our trek today. What we didn't realize is that we would actually be going uphill all day! Just not as steep as the beginning. Lucky for us it was perfect trekking weather again and the ... read more
