http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Nepal en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 01:18:19 +0000 Sun, 19 May 2013 01:18:19 +0000 This morning I woke up to the sound of gongs and chants from the nearby monasteries. It39s a peaceful hypnotic sound and I fell back asleep feeling strangely comfortable in this new completely foreign place. I39m in Bhouda or Boudhanath a holy site in Kathmandu. At the center of the area is a stupa a kind of circular religious shrine where pilgrims come to pray and meditate. It39s c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Boudhanath/blog-786469.html Hi allFirst of all many thanks for all the kind congratulation messages on here and on facebook email etc. It39s been a bit surreal being in the middle of nowhere and not celebrating as we would if we where at home so it39s been nice to get all the messages from friends and family.We39re now in Manang and enjoying a couple of rest days. We39d been trekking for 9 days straight so it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Annapurna/Manang-Mustang/blog-786142.html Upper Pangboche to Thore Thare 4290mHappy Birthday to you......Happy Birthday Dear Mary.....Happy Birthday to youAwake from legendarily good sleep ah 0330 Great. The room smells strongly of kerosene I wonder if there is to be an arson attempt a new way of killing roof rats Korean BBQ.... At 0600 when I wake up again it39s gone. Another Himalayan mystery. The sun is pouring through ou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Himalayas/blog-786140.html Dzonghla 4830m to Upper Pangboche 3900mRoom Service Who39d have thought The porters are still all asleep in the dining room so we get tea and porridge in the room. I think the porridge has kerosene in it therefore NPI score of 110. The 1 being for the fact that it is hot. We are out the door just after 8am delay is due to 39discussion39 over a 750 NPR about AUD9 bill for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pheriche/blog-786108.html Many couples when 39honeymooning39 might have some basic desires like a double bed or a hot shower or maybe even a cocktail once in a while. Turns out that 19 days hiking through the Himalayas sleeping in our little single beds usually in a private room at least sharing a pit toilet with sometimes much of the village and suffering cold showers or none at all at 10000 feet was so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Himalayas/blog-786059.html Headed gingerly back down the valley from the snowbound Macchapuchhere base camp sliding down steep banks where thesnow had compacted into ice from other hikers even the porters fell over a few times . Fell over fairly spectacularly myself luckily managing to break the fall by a combination of my rucksack and watch... Further down the mountain reached the Jhinu hot springs near Tikhedhunga h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Chitwan/blog-786008.html Manaslu Trek is a wellloved trekking route providing with pristine mountain views rich culture and genuine adventure sum up the trek experience around the 8156m Manaslu. Opened in 1992 this area offers a combination of rich culture heritage unsurpassed beauty and biological diversity.Manaslu at 8163 meters 26 77539 is the 8th highest peak in the world and is located near to the border o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/blog-785955.html Lobouche 4930m to Dzonghla 4830An easy steady day says Dhana. The actual walking time was just over 4 hrs that certainly constitutes easy. Right Nope the walk was actually pretty damn hard work.We took a trail heading down from Lobouche towards what appeared to be a frozen lake it was actually just ice covering the valley floor super slippery stuff but really fun. We had our little cra http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Himalayas/blog-785943.html I eventually arrived at the bus stop in Kalanki and set off in search of a taxi Thamelbound. Rather than check out the guest houses I39d noted down I opted for Khangsar where I39d previously stayed. It wasn39t the most modern or cleanest of places but the staff were lovely and it was ideally located.I was pleasantly greeted by one of the guys there who told me it was good to have m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Thamel/blog-785935.html I woke up around 420am on Saturday and got ready for my bus rude to Kathmandu. As I was preparing to leave my room I heard a lowpitched grunting sound from outside the back window. I froze casting my mind back to the tiger attack story although from my expert experience of watching the Discovery Channel the sound didn39t strike me as tigerlike.As time was ticking by I decided to make a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Thamel/blog-785934.html Hi everyoneWe are delighted to let you know that Donald and I got engaged 2 days ago ......here39s the details ........We hired a guide took a 4 day detour off the main Annapurna circuit into the restricted Nar Phu valley in order to visit the high desert like plateaus and traditional tibetan villages. Night 2 was spent at 4100m in a small village where we were the only visitors. I had a b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Manang/blog-785868.html Bonjour je me suis rendu compte que je n39avais pas mis de photos de mon voyage au Npal en octobre 2009. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-785735.html Hi all We39ve now met many people in our time in Nepal based on this we can confidently say that we39re the tallest and whitest people in the country.We appreciate that we39re very lucky with this trip for any of you who were jealous here39s something for you a description of the Nepali bus experience. You39re told it will take 6 hours it takes 9. Imagine a mediumsized sauna http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Annapurna/Annapurna-Circuit/blog-785701.html Gorak Shep 5160m Everest Base Camp 5340m Lobouche 4930mRelatively late start 0835. Dhana thinks it will be quiet at EBC when we get there as most people tend to arrive early afternoon given that we were completely alone at the top of Kala Patthar yesterday we are inclined to take his advice. Chitra is coming with us this morning so the 4 of us set off we retrace our steps of yesterday http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Gorak-Shep/blog-785692.html Lobuche 4930m to Gorak Shep 5160m to Kala Patthar 5546mSay goodbye to the Christians they are heading for Gorak Shep and EBC we are doing Gorak Shep with Kala Patthar. Out the door in a lot of clothes with the addition of the crampons we bought in Kathmandu. They are small lightweight and just slip over your boots. Getting them on is challenge though when your fingers are soooooo freezing http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Gorak-Shep/blog-785665.html Dolpo is a high altitude and culturally Tibetan region in the upper part of the Dolpo district of western Nepal. Phoksundo and Mugu Karnali valley lies in the north west and the sixth highest mountain in the world Mt. Dhaulagiri 8172mtr. lies in the south west of this region.Dolpo is a home to some of the highest villages on earth almost 90 of the region lies above 3500mtr. It is one of the l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Himalayas/blog-785594.html Upper MustangForbidden land tripWe were 10 persons altogether in the group. Six of us including four French tourists took plane from Kathmandu to Pokhara and rest of the group had already gone there by Bus. Next day our flight was scheduled early in the morning from Pokhara but had to wait little bit due to bad weather. Finally we flew to Jomsom. We gradually left the cloudy part and became f http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Annapurna/Manang-Mustang/blog-785592.html As predicted there was no hot water on Tuesday morning so a cat39s lick had to suffice before setting off for Chitwan. I took a taxi with Patricia and Marissa twins from Germany who were on a different bus but ended up at the same lodge as me to the bus station and we were put on separate buses headed for the same place.Throughout the five hour journey I was right up front next to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Chitwan/blog-785554.html Dingboche 4360m to Lobuche 4930mBad start Mary is feeling really dreadful today decision made to stay a bit longer and see how she feels after breakfast. This girl is such a trooper she never gives up. After some Panadol wonder drug and Psuedafed and a LLD little lie down she appears saying she39s feeling a lot better. The breakfast porridge arrives it has a distinctly weird smell t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Dingboche/blog-785477.html REST DAY DingbocheUnusual porridge this morning 6.510 on the NPI thin sweet with 1 peanut . Todays rest day entails a hike to Chukhung Village an elevation gain of approx 490m its supposed to be a 56 hr return trip knowing how these estimations now work it might mean 8 hrs who knows While waiting to head out Dhana and I have an impromptu game of point scoring via an ice hockeysoc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Dingboche/blog-785450.html