Up to our necks in a 3rd world country!

Asia » Nepal » Annapurna
April 24th 1997

Published: August 2nd 2016

Friday 25/4 – Shell:

We left Bangkok and caught our flight to Nepal. It was only a 3 hour flight but unfortunately we didn’t get to see the Himalayas as it was too cloudy. It was a pretty bumpy flight – a little bit nerve racking, made more so when descending through the stormy clouds there was a huge bang and a blinding flash of light. No cause for fear; only lightening hitting the plane!!

We finally landed safely and instantly fell in love with Kathmandu and Nepal. As we got off the plane and were crossing the tarmac, we looked around there was an old man dressed ‘Nepali’ style sitting crossed legged in a field just watching us... Cool!

A tout dragged us into a ‘taxi’ (a ’74 Toyota, no seatbelts) and drove us the 7km into Thamel, flat out, hand on the horn, dodging cows, dogs, cars, trees, rickshaws, people, chickens, gutters – you get the idea? It was one of the most profound experiences of our lives. Although thoroughly shocking we loved every minute of it, seriously scared and hanging on for dear life!

We found a nice (?) place to stay for a couple of nights, dead bang in the centre of Thamel. Thamel itself is an experience. It’s very hard to describe unless you’ve been there. We walked around the narrow streets which are lined with shops, pubs, beggars, touts, dogs etc. The animals are revered in Nepal which we soon found out when going along in our taxi, we asked the driver if they had any road rules or traffic laws, to be told (verbatim) “We hit cow, very big fine” to which we replied “What about if you hit a person?” His response”Big fine” we asked.”Any other rules?” reply... “Hit dog, small fine”!!! As there were cows lying down, quite happily, in the middle of the road, dogs wandering across and a woman with a baby on her back sweeping the middle of the road, whilst tonnes of cars and rickshaws swerved around her, we were surprised there were no fines today!

So far we haven’t eaten much as we haven’t been that hungry and I had to work up the guts to see if it was ok! Luckily it was really yummy! I think I’ll stick to veggie food while I’m here as it’s really nice and I don’t feel that safe eating the meat yet!

Sat 26/4 – Gav:

We’ve been in Nepal for one and a half days and it feels like a week! So much packed in! Up at 7am then half an hour walk into Kathmandu. It’s sort of like little Burke St, but 10 times more populated. Kathmandu – lepers, beggars, street stalls, temples and holy men. Amazing pollution and crazy traffic; this place blows me away! In Durbar Square we met a guy who asked “You know Melbourne? Fitzroy? Pellbridge St? I have friend there!” All this with no prompting. We hired him to take is to the monkey temple (Swayambhunath) about an hour’s walk through traditional Nepali villages, over and across rivers (more like huge sewers) with locals washing buffalos and herds of pigs (razorbacks). Through the villages the kids are gorgeous and the woman beautiful in a modest way. Closer to the temple we saw more Buddhist monks, including young trainees. Also lots of beggars nursing sick kids “Mali! Just one rupee? (2c!).

We climbed to the top of the temple (365 steps), lots of handicrafts, stall and offers of photographs for money. Interestingly the real Buddhists and holy men are happy to be photographed for free. The temple itself is amazing (see photos) we payed our guide (Krishna) 120rps and walked back by ourselves, taking it all in.

Back in Thamel we went and had a few beers at ‘Tom & Jerry’s’ and off to dinner at ‘Typical Nepali Restaurant’. Sensational veggie food and an extraordinary host – dancing and singing “Ressam Pedi Ree, you are a donkey; I am a monkey, sometimes trekking, sometimes rafting, ressam pedi ree” Awesome atmosphere, no electricity, great food, nice wine, French, German, Nepali and English guests. More singing!

We booked our bus to Pokhara – 200rps, 7 hrs, 200kms – they wanted our room number – “No!” We’ve seen no evidence of theft, but the feeling remains - we love it here. Some people can live here for months, for some one day is too much (Scott Jones). Live music, unbelievable. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Four non-blondes and the worst ‘Under the Bridge’ renditition (nepali accent!)

Monday 28/4 5.25pm – Gav

We arrived in Pokhara yesterday after a 9 hour bus trip with two flat tyres and only one spare! This trip was an insight into more traditional Nepali life – small towns and rural villages, rice paddies, kids are very friendly – wanting to shake your hand and say “Hellooooo!”

Beautiful scenery, valleys, rivers and flat land. The whole trip was beautiful! There was so much to see, something different every turn that even with 2 ¾ ‘downtime ‘we were always excited.

We arrived in Pokara at 6pm. This reminds us of Airlie Beach or Noosa. With a huge glassy lake cradled in the mountains, it’s probably like Switzerland. Heaps of tourists, few local Nepalis. We are starting to pick up the language (about 8 words!). We can’t see the Annapurna’s yet as its cloudy. We were dropped off at the bus station (nightmare) – we had about 15 touts yelling at us – Shell went off!

You can hire a bike here for 30rps (75c) a day. Maybe tomorrow.

Shell is mali (sore throat and chest) and I have rumble guts – we hope we’ll be ok to start trekking tomorrow.

Shell: I tried to send a fax to mum and Rob but it wouldn’t go through – charged 500rps anyway! I wanted to wish mum a late happy birthday! Very upset!

Gav: We left Pokhara on the 29/4. We hired a taxi with Rob & Fen to Birethanti (1 hour and 20 mins – 500rps). Our first walk with packs. Left Birethanti at 11.30am. Great scenery with small villages, waterfalls, pools, donkey trains and a monkey. We got stuck in the rain which was heavy but cleared quickly. Shell got a very bad bronchitis attack and had trouble breathing. Got to Hille/Tirkhedungha about 3.20pm then up 3318 steps – 2 hours – 550mtrs. This was a shocker! Stumbled into Ulleri at the top of the stairs, exhausted Gav now fully sick, vomited off the verandah, as well as diarrhoea. Then went off to bed for 12 hours while Shell stayed up drinking beer and feasting other trekkers.

Up early, Gav feeling better but still not hungry (2 mars bars in 48 hours!!) Now thinking about a porter. Left about 9am then walked to Ghorepani – about 4.5 hours because Shell is constantly stopping for bronchitis attacks. The route is still fairly hard. Great views through forests of oak and rhododendron. We stopped at a pool to cool off. Stumbled into Ghorepani around 1.30pm, exhausted again. Met up with Rob & Fen and stayed at the ‘Tibetan Mustang Lodge & Restaurant’. It has a warm fire in the rotunda which is worth the 80rps itself. Had a nice warm shower and a little bit to eat. We then walked a further 10 minutes to the top of the village, Shell gasping all the way. Our first proper sighting of the mountains – cool! Machupuchare, one of the Annapurnas and others from 20km plus away. Back to the fire pit before heading off to bed.

It was very cold and we borrowed blankets. Our cook (Santa) woke us up at 4.30am(he actually woke at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep). We walked up to Poon Hill in the dark (one and a half hours) and just missed sunrise but got a spectacular view of mountains up to 8000m high. (Kosciosko is 2200m). Shell is still having big problems breathing so we decided to stay an extra day here to see if she got better.

Friday 2/5/97- Weather – Morning; slightly cloudy, 1pm rain and hail. 5pm clear/cloudy.

Shell:

Today we said goodbye to our new friends at ‘Tibetan Mustang Lodge’ (Santa & Tika). We took a photo and they asked if we could send them a copy –which we will. We planned to trek the 4-5 hours to Tadopani today so set off about 9.15am after a yummy breakfast of omelets.

The first hour or so was all uphill and quite steep but with magnificent views of the valleys below. Half an hour downhill to Deurali then 1 hour steep descent down stream towards Bithanti. Along the slate paths we came across a large monkey. It was about 40 metres away but ran away before we could get a photo. We stopped at Birethanti for a coke (about 1 ½ - 2 hours before Tadapani) only to have it start raining heavily then hailing for about 4-5 hours. We decided to stay put until it stopped which we did until about 5pm. We had looked around the lodge we were at, considering an overnight stay but the beds were damp, blankets wet, with moisture on the walls – no thanks! We ate ‘dinner’ there (fried rice and spring roll – more like a spinach pastie). They tried to get us to stay but we decided to push on to Tadapani before dark.

The journey was downhill for 45 mins – rocky, muddy and very wet and slushy, then we started to ascend again.

We arrived at Tadapani and found a nice lodge with magnificent views of Annapurna South and Machhapuchare. The rooms were dry and clean so we dumped our stuff and went to the dining room to have a couple of beers with the other trekkers. Overall the days trek had been beautiful and interesting!

Saturday 3/5 – 7am; Shell

We woke at 5.30am to look out our bedroom window and be greeted by even better views of the Himalayas. They are so close to us, it is awesome! The sky is clear and blue but we know that it will probably cloud over and start raining from about 1pm- 5pm – it has every day we have been here so far. The locals say that the monsoon is coming early. It’s still quite pleasant as long as we find a lodge before the rain comes.

Today we have decided to go to Ghandruk (about 3-4 hours downhill). We will stay here overnight unless it stays clear in which case we’ll push onto Birethanti (not the same as Bithanti!)

11.30am

We have just arrived at Ghandruk and it is absolutely beautiful! We have found a place to stay the night – Hotel Trekkers Inn (80rps) . It’s the best lodge we’ve seen so far – lovely rooms, clean bathroom with hot shower, sink and western toilet!! Yipee!! The sky is still quite clear with a few fluffy clouds. I’m sitting in a lovely courtyard, in the sun (probably mid 20’s) and it overlooks the hills with Annapurnas rising above them (at the moment they are cloaked in cloud). The trek here was brilliant. All flat or downhill going through beautiful forests with glimpses of the snow covered Annapurnas!

Finally I think I’m over my bronchitis! I could actually walk and feel fit and healthy instead of gasping for air. It’s the best feeling!

We have taken a photo of the lodges mule driver, his wife and kids (3 ½ years and 8 mths). They have no photos of their kids at all. We’ll send them one from Pokhara.

Sunday 4/5/97 – Sunny and Hot! 33c

We finished our trek today with mixed feelings. Pleased to no longer have to walk but sad to say goodbye to the hills. The trek took us about 4 ½ hours with a few stops but it was all flat or downhill for once. On the way we heard some drums beating only to look up and see a procession of villagers walking down the hills towards us. The first person was carrying a tall ‘flag’ and the others carrying large pieces of wood. We asked what was happening and they told us someone had died. When they got closer we noticed two people holding up a chair with a dressed body in it. This was the funeral parade as they were heading down to the river for the cremation! We decided to put the camera away – a bit of respect!

We got back to Pokhara about 3pm, put our stuff in the hotel and went and had our long awaited lunch. I had been craving the spinach homemade pasta in Pokhara all week! We wrote some postcards, called home and watched a huge wind storm sweep over us! A bit scary, with dust and signs blowing over etc! At least there was only a small bit of rain for once!

Up to our necks in a 3rd world country!

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