Nepal (aka Dal Bhat and the 4,810 steps)

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Namaste!

After only 45 minutes flight (and an eternity of bureaucracy at the Indian Airlines departure lounge in Varanasi) we arrive in Kathmandu (KTM) to find Siling’s smiling face waiting for us. According to him we’ve put on weight; according to us he has more gray hairs!! We’d last seen him 18 months before when he was the trip leader for our trek to Everest base camp. He’s now set up his own company, Responsible Travellers, with his wife Tina - a Brit who came to Nepal to do some vol work and has now settled here, and they have arranged the itinerary for us in Nepal. They had also arranged our overland trip from KTM to Tibet via Everest Base camp - they China side - & with 4 wheel drive this time - however we agreed to cancel when the trobles flared up even before China closed the border! We are disappointed & who knows when we will be back to do this - if ever. What is worse is the unfortunate events in Tibet!!

We arrive at the lovely Hotel Shanker, an old Newari palace, and M & Siling engage in some sort of bizarre ritual of shutting each others fingers in the car doors! An ice pack each later and after a good chat and meeting Tina we head off for dinner at Kilroys in Thamel - very good.

S&T have some interesting observations on life in Nepal and the political situation in the run up to the Nepalese constitutional elections (a historic event in this nation’s history) due to take place on 10th April. For the last few weeks there have been blockades in the Terai (low areas bordering India) by one of the Nepalese ethnic groups that has felt marginalised. As a result some essential foods & supplies, including gas and oil, have been unable to get through to KTM and other areas causing substantial hardship. When we head off the next day we pass queues miles long of vehicles waiting for petrol. There are also regular power cuts due to load shedding; 42 hours per week which makes phoning or internet access difficult for us. The elections are greatly anticipated - the first democratic elections for the country. They could change the face of the country. If the Maoists do not secure a share of power they have threatened to resume acts of insurgency. The ruling Congress Party suffer from a great deal of infighting that has hindered progress in addressing key challenges for the country. Poverty is one; average earnings are only $250 a year. There is a system of proportional representation here and a sense that people are looking for a change. The outcome of the elections - a Maoist majority government is likely - take every one by surprise - even the Maoists; they will have to start making some difficult decisions rather than snipe from the side lines. A positive outcome from this result is that there are few post election troubles.

Responsible Travellers is different to many tour companies in that it was set up as a means of generating income for a charity Siling established, Chance for Children which is registered in the UK. All the profits made go to support community projects and they also run voluntary work options that can be combined with treks and tours. See their excellent website, http://www.theresponsibletravellers.com for more info. When we arrive they are busy running a conference on community sustainability for a group of students from Glasgow Uni - we’ll be joining them for the community project work at a local village, Tika Bhairab in the KTM Valley. The project has been arranged by Chance for Children in conjunction with KEEP (Kathmandu Environmental Education Project), a local NGO.

The community project is a highlight of our trip. We are assisting the village in building a first floor extension (3 new class rooms) to the school to accommodate higher grade children. And as an added bonus we get to live with a local family. The village sits on the junction of two rivers in the valley. It has a fairly small centre with the school and a number of shops. Houses are built on terraces around the lie of the valley and, as is typical in Nepal, the terraces are sectioned into small plots and cultivated with wheat, rice or vegetables. There are many houses spread across the valley for which this is the local centre. It has two quarries as the main employment and many women and children also work breaking stones into gravel which they sell to the quarry company. They get paid R’s 10 per basket (large ones made of weaved bamboo and used for a multitude of things - carrying food, leaves for cattle, shielding chickens from kites etc etc ) for the gravel and can probably fill between 5 & 10 per day - and we think we have it bad!

We stay with Sabina and her family; Mum & Dad who run the local butchers shop, Sabina (20) and Ramesh (18) who have finished school but don’t yet have jobs, Umesh (15) and Sanju (14) both at school. Also staying are Sharmila (26), the eldest sister who lives in KTM but is visiting for a week with her son Sanish (8). On our last day we are also joined by their other sister Nabina (24) and her husband Jaram and little boy, Ajeet (4).

They are a very generous and welcoming family and we have great fun with them. Sharmila does all the cooking, assisted mainly by Sanju, and produces some beautiful dal bhat - the Nepalese staple. It consists of rice with a lentil soup (dal), vegetables and some chutney. We often get meat too which we are sure is a special treat. Dal bhat is served twice a day; at lunchtime (9-30 in the morning!) and in the evening. And truly - we never get fed up of it because of the variety of dal and veg and the masala’s (spices), all fresh. Meals are taken sitting on the floor in the main room where all the “kids” sleep while we are there. And in local style we choose to use fingers not spoons to eat. Somehow it just tastes better.

Their home is a simple 4 room cottage (one of which is given to us) on the edge of the village. One room is the kitchen, there is an outside tap for washing (and an outside loo) and they have a small garden where they grow spinach and some other veg. The fact that M speaks Hindi causes great excitement (and not inconsiderable relief as their English is limited) - the family do too (as a result of watching Indian movie DVDs) although this does mean M has to act as interpreter for C all the time. Evenings are spent with Sabina, Umesh and Sanju helping them learn English and they also try to teach C to speak Nepali. We find that they are all much better at English than it first seems; they lack confidence though so we create games to try to help them. We also get them an English Nepali dictionary as they can read well but don’t necessarily understand what they have read. This is also easier for M as he is having to translate English into Hindi for them to try and work out what it means in Nepali!!! When load shedding happens (or rainstorms knock out the power supply) we all huddle together around candles and a rechargeable light.

The arrival of the group of volunteers at the village is marked with welcome speeches and we are all presented with garlands and tikka’s (red paste marks of welcome) on our foreheads. We meet the teachers and the school committee members and of course the children, most in their uniforms and best clothes for singing and dancing. The school would normally be starting again after holidays at this time but the government has delayed restarts until after the elections.

Work starts later that day and mainly involves shifting huge piles of bricks and sand from the land behind the school to the first floor for the bricklayers. All the work is being done by local people on a voluntary basis (and this was one of the reasons this community was chosen for support as they don’t have a any finances to pay for the construction work). The intention is to put a concrete roof on the rooms so that they can build more rooms on top in future. The sight of a group of foreigners forming a “conveyor belt” line to move things soon fires the children’s (and other adult’s) enthusiasm and they rapidly join in. This causes some consternation over child labour, however, this is soon reconciled as community engagement and hopefully will result in a real sense of ownership and pride for the kids in what they will have built. There are some real characters amongst them and they have great fun laughing at our inept attempts to speak Nepali. M spends much of his time taunting Murdo, one of the Scottish group (a Chelsea supporter) and Yalamber, the local organiser from KEEP (an Arsenal supporter) about MUFC’s performance. They seem to take it with good grace!

Mumta, a very gregarious 16 year old, teaches dance classes at the school and many of the kids are locked away with her while we work to learn dances for the leaving ceremony. One lad, when he reappears in the line is happily twirling and singing as he passes on the bricks. Sabina is also part of the dancing troupe and they also “bag” Annabel, one of the Scottish group as a special guest dancer.

On our final day of vol work, all the volunteers go on tour around the village to visit each of the host families to say thank you. At one we are supplied with the local brew, rakshi, which they make themselves from millet and yeast. It’s a bit like whisky - served warmed - and very nice!! Word soon gets back to Ramesh and co as he goes out in the pouring rain to buy us some beers for that evening. This is the day that Nabina arrives and all the boys (and C) sit in our room drinking beer and sampling some lovely smoked buffalo meat that Sharmila has made for a treat. Mum also brings in fruit and snacks and Dad also joins for a chat briefly.

All too soon it is time to go. The family have been told not to feed us for beakfast but Sharmila & Nabina do chapattis and dal and veg even so which is really yum. The top of the steps to the house have been decorated with puja and as we leave they present us with gifts and mark tikka’s on our foreheads. We take lots of photos and exchange hugs before we leave. At the school there are more ceremonies with lots of dancing and speeches - including thank you’s from us, and then we are presented with more gifts and certificates to mark our work. I don’t think they realise how much we valued the experience.

Back in KTM we have our first showers for a week and get ready for the start of the Annapurna Sanctuary trek tomorrow. The Shanker have given us a great room - a suite, which is usually for special guests such as Sting and Cat Stevens! At £40 per night this place is really a bargain - though outside our trip budget. An enjoyable extravagance. We head out early next day for the 7 hour drive to Naya Pul with all the rest of the group and spend 2 hours trying to get out of KTM! The roads are gridlocked, not assisted by bad driving. Buses stop in the middle of the road to pick up passengers, other drivers try to go around and then block lanes for oncoming traffic, lorry drivers constantly stop in the middle of the road to have a chat with the driver going the other way; motorbikes try to fit into any small gap and horns are in constant use! The roads outside KTM - even on the outskirts are pretty awful - large pot holes every where - some which look like a meteor had hit the road - and loads of road with no tarmac, so progress is normally very slow!!! It's also very dusty as a result so many people walk around wearing face masks - including the traffic police. We eventually arrive just in time for a tremendous downpour. This turns out to be a regular feature; rain, thunder and lightening in the afternoon and evening. We are more than happy to start early to miss the excesses.

In the morning we part company with the rest of the group and Siling as they are doing a shorter 5 day trip and aren’t going to the Sanctuary. Our next 10 days will be spent with Balram, our trip guide and Gumbo, our porter. Our main destinations are Poon Hill (3120m), Machhapuchhre base camp (MBC) (3788m) and Annapurna base camp (ABC) (4130m).

The trip notes Siling gave us refer to a steep climb on the first afternoon. He wasn’t kidding! As we sit having noodle soup for lunch at Tikhedhunga, we look up the hillside opposite to see a stepped path climbing all the way to the top; our route! Going for distraction therapy C decides to count the steps - 4,810 of them to our lodge at Ulleri. Boy do our legs ache. After 5 months on the road we are clearly not as fit as we should be. We are delighted to get to the lodges each night and rest and warm our bones by the woodburning stoves in the dining room. Higher up the stoves change to kerosene burners which are placed under the tables which have blankets around the edges which you use to cover the legs; very cosy. They all also have hanging wires under the table to help you dry your clothes which are wet from the days trekking. The dining rooms are great places to catch up with other trekkers and their experiences. We meet many of them again on the trail - and in Pokhara and KTM when we get back. One couple in particular; Paul (NZ) and Karolina (Pol) who we part company with at Chhomrong then meet again in Thamel, KTM. They give us a list of recommended places to visit in NZ.

The next few days are spent walking mainly through the most amazing rhododendron forests - reds and pinks, and magnolias (thanks Mum for remembering the name) which slightly distracts us from the fact that we are going steeply up to go steeply down to go steeply back up again! What’s wrong with bridges!! Balram is a great bird spotter and we see some beautiful, colourful birds including scarlet minivets (males are bright red and females bright yellow), white capped water redstarts, barbets, bulbuls, woodpecker, warblers, and up in the Sanctuary a rosefinch. We also see eagles, griffin, vultures and langur monkeys. Also some beautiful plants, flowers and trees including tree orchids which are just flowering as we head up and are in full bloom on the way down. What we like less is the number of steps. Steep paths are fine as you can set your own pace but many of the steps are high and uneven so take much more effort - and concentration if you are not to throw yourself down them.

At Ghorepani we have an early (4-30am) start to go up Poon Hill for sunrise by torch light. This is beautiful with a full 360° panorama of the peaks around; Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South (7219m), Annapurna 1 (8091m) and Machhapuchhre (also known as Fishtail) (6993m). It feels a bit like a European ski resort, there are so many visitors. Walking down is a challenge as the views constantly distract you.

As we go higher, always keeping sight of the snow covered peaks, past Dhoban at the entrance to the Sanctuary, the trees thin out and we’re into more scrubland and bushes, then gradually the moraine appears with avalanche paths that don’t melt despite the warm sunshine. This is great walking (no steps!) and we are soon at MBC - and thanks to Gumbo going ahead have a room in the only lodge with electricity in the rooms. Next morning is another early start for ABC. This is only 2 hours away and very pleasant walking into the amphitheatre that is the Sanctuary. We get there mid morning, walk around a little, have lunch and then go for a walk to see memorials to those who have lost their lives summiting ABC. But……. landslides have taken some of the memorials, the cloud rolls in to obscure all views and then it snows! The snow continues all afternoon, evening and night and by the time we rise in the morning for sunrise the landscape is changed; grey moraine has become white, tents of an expedition to summit A1 are buried, the sides of mountains appear to be covered in snow dunes, and new avalanche trails have appeared. Walking down is great - although a bit icy at times and always with the risk of stepping into a deep patch. C manages to fall over twice! So Gumbo takes it upon himself to grab hold whenever a slippery bit arrives; bless him.

Further down the return trail we get to Jinnu Danda, renowned for it’s hot spring pools nearby. As it chucks it down as we arrive we don’t go - which suits fine as we don’t fancy the 30 min walk back uphill afterwards anyway!
And so our final day; a great walk along “Nepalese level” (ie undulating) ground back to Naya Pul. There a taxi is waiting to take us back to Pokhara. Only 45 KM but with average speeds of 10 - 25 km/h due to the road conditions, it takes over an hour. Along the way we meet a procession celebrating the Maoist party success in the election; lots of red paints (looks like Holi) and loud music and, fortunately, a chap who directs us through the thronging crowd.

Pokhara Lakeside (the only bit of it we really see) - a long street running by Phewa Tal - is a very tranquil and chilled out place. It is full of restaurants, bars, Tibetan stores, trekking gear shops and internet café’s. Our hotel, Trek O’Tel is opposite the Lake and just enough off the town centre to be very peaceful. We meet Balram and Gumbo for dinner that evening - Boomerang which has Nepalese dance and singing shows, and thank them for being a great team for our trek. At the end of our meal an Exodus trek group (Siling’s ex-company) come in and we recognise Nhima, one of the guides from our EBC trip. It’s good to see him. The next day is spent lazing around Pokhara, enjoying a great lunch at a Thakali (ethnic caste) restaurant, and sorting out our washing!

Returning to KTM we have a flight - only 25 minutes with Yeti Airlines - great! If you sit on the left of the plane you get a great view of the Himalayan range of mountains. We meet up with Tina once again, have a good natter, and arrange to meet her and Yalamber of KEEP for our last night on the 18th for dinner. (Photo’s of them will have to follow in the next blog). Siling has gone off for another Everest trek and we won’t see him unfortunately.

A morning is spent touring Bhaktapur - the original capital of Nepal - which has great Newari architecture (lots of intricately carved doors and windows), shops with artists painting detailed Thangka artwork and a very peaceful Durbar Square (a UNESCO heritage site) with temples and palaces. It was Nepali New Year (2065) a few days ago and the city has banners up still and a large colourful cart that carries one of the statues of a God, which is pulled through the main streets by locals for the celebration. We are struck by the number of meeting places and bathing pools in the “city” (it feels more like a village especially as cars are banned) and given that many of the buildings were destroyed in an earthquake in 1934, how original the replacements look.

We discover a great restaurant by the Hotel called Bawarchi specialising in Indian and tandoori food. Does great kebabs with pudina (mint & coriander chutney) and kebab rolls - wrapped in thin, light parathas. Lush. Another evening is spent at Thamel House, an excellent Newari cooking restaurant on the edge of Thamel. We went there last time and had an even better meal this time - amply assisted by copious amounts of local rakshi which is poured from great height (sangria style!) with great skill by the waiter. Definitely recommended to all who visit.

And so ends this part of our adventure. On to China and it‘s wonders and mysteries………….. And really looking forward to meeting up with Sarah in Xian on May 3rd. See you there Sarah!

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Comments

[binita]

good one
Picture worth thousand words.