Advertisement
A recap of the intro to set the scene ....
A deep seated yearning to go back. A willing friend to go back with again. A supportive husband happy for me to pursue the dream. A trusty guide willing to have us back.... it's on.... Bistari, Bistari 2.0. So, after 318 days or 45 weeks (rounded down) or 7632 hours or 457,920 minutes or 27,475,200 seconds Mary and I are going to be heading back to Nepal. In August 2012, we formulate "The Plan" - fly to Kathmandu via Bangkok, trek the Langtang/Gosainkund Region over 19 days, trek the Upper Mustang over 14 days, spend 3 weeks volunteering in a nursing capacity and intersperse all of that with time at various other spots- organic farm accomodation, traditional home in Patan, back to the Paulines in Chandeswori, somewhere random in Pokhara after Mustang, etc, etc. There is also the possibility that we will cross paths on the Langtang Trek with the Bavarians that we met last year. Back to Bangkok for 6 nights (side trip to Chang Mai for a jungle trek anyone ?). Culminating in a return to Perth after 74 days, 10 weeks (rounded down), 1776 hours, 106,560 minutes or 6,393,600 seconds..... you get the picture. That's the plan... Fast forward to January 2013 There's a new plan... Fly to Kathmandu via Bangkok, trek Everest Base Camp and Gokyo over 19 days (not Langtang), trek the Upper Mustang over 14 days (same, same), spend 2 'ish' weeks volunteering in a nursing capacity (a week less) and intersperse all of that with time at various other spots- organic farm accomodation, traditional home in Patan, back to the Paulines in Chandeswori, somewhere random in Pokhara after Mustang (same, same), BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE - LETS ADD IN A THIRD TREK!!! Yep, hopefully going to squeeze in a 10 day Langtang at the end. A number of things have precipitated the change in plans- * there is now no possibility that we will cross paths on the Langtang Trek with the Bavarians that we met last year- Mr Bavarian now has a bunch of professional appointments that have meant them rescheduling Nepal to October * a certain French friend has re-ignited our interest in the EBC thing and the thought of that very exciting Lukla flight was very hard to resist, and, * why be content with 2 regions if you can
squeeze in 3? So, we re-negotiate the deal with our guide over a period of 8 hours, 7 emails, a grocery shopping expedition, lunch, the weeks laundry, reading a book, 2 lots of washing dishes and the making of a passionfruit cheesecake on Australia Day! The rest of the trip is unchanged (at this point anyway ...) Back to Bangkok for 6 nights (side trip to Chang Mai for a jungle trek anyone ?). Culminating in a return to Perth after 74 days, 10 weeks (rounded down), 1776 hours, 106,560 minutes or 6,393,600 seconds..... you get the picture.
Feb 21 - 24
It is so good to be back.
Do the all important airport things, give the Nepali Government USD$100 for a 3 month visa. Make our first friend- he is wearing an akubra hat (oh dear..), he's 20 something, his name is Elliot. He lives in the USA but was born in Australia. He has one of those weird mixd up accents. We must look "experienced", he asks us lots of questions which we dutifully answer and we bid farewell. He starts EBC tomorrow.
Our guide (we had him for the Annapurna Circuit last year)
Welcome...
Dhana greets usmeets us with a very big smile and a very big garland of flowers. Bigger things to do first though. Detour to the Thai Airways office to lodge a report- my money belt is somewhere between Perth and Bankok- maybe on the plane? maybe in someone else's pocket , I am hopeful that some Good Samaritan has handed it in. Given that it was to pay for my entire trekking itinerary and then some I am feeling somewhat gutted. (It transpires that the money is never found, so, whoever has found it, or acquired it, I hope you use it well- I am trying to put it down to experience and erase it from my consciousness.)
We stay at Tings for 3 nights (sunny backpacker room). Tings is a very cool little boutiquey house transformed into a travellers respite. It has a great feeling about it, great food and a steady stream of interesting people to chat with.
http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g293890-d2006156-Reviews-Tings_Lounge_Hotel-Kathmandu_Kathmandu_Valley_Bagmati_Zone_Central_Region.html What we don't do this year is any formal touring. The sun is out and it is beautiful weather. We just walk absorbing the noise and the dust and the pace. The footpath from Tings to Thamel is
Cab to Tings
Mary resplendent in pink and orange, matching the bed spreads in the next slide under construction so it is even more chaotic and dusty this year. Manage to while away 2 days wandering around, making multiple cash withdrawals, drinking coffee, taking photos, etc. I really like the graffiti art splashed around the city, it adds a lot of character IMO. The small lane ways around Nursary Galli are rich with it, i've added only a small selection of photos to this blog! We also find the Farmers Market this year- it is held on the grounds of 1905- an historic house turned restaurant. Its pretty fun to visit- they have fresh produce, cheese, wine, coffee, soaps, clothes, etc, etc. Nice way to spend an hour or so.
Have our pre-trek meeting with our guide and establish the ground rules. Without dwelling on it this is really, really important. Establish that the price you are paying is covering what you think it is. It pays to have every email correspondence with you so that there is absolutely no room for misunderstanding- being a bit OTT I had my colour coded spreadsheet detailing every date/destination/costing/transport arrangement/contact detail/bla bla bla printed out in triplicate- it came in handy! That out of the way we could get
Tings
Its very nice to be back on with a final repacking of the bag to take on the EBC trek the next day. I was really pleased to have it come in under 10kg (theoretically getting less along the way as excess gear was discarded and the chocolate bars were consumed!). We also each left a bag at our guides house that we could access in between and post treks.
Cannot wait to get started, roll on 0500.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.121s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0763s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
mary
non-member comment
can\'t wait to read the rest