Nepal.......never ending peace and love????

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Hello! Wow, been a while since I updated this. Still, better late than never I guess! So Nepal……mmmm. Bit disappointing in the end to be truthful. Had high hopes when I got there, but was pretty glad to leave a couple of months later.
I went trekking for a couple of weeks at the end of May…..up to Llangtang, which is just north east of Kathmandu; West of Everest in the Himalayan range. It was pretty good, but not quite as good as I’d hoped. Originally, I was going to go without a guide. The paths around that area are pretty good and there are loads of teahouses to stay at along the way, where you get a very basic bed and food…….the further you go into the mountains, the more basic, and the more expensive it gets. At the last point we stopped on the trail, mineral water was over a pound a bottle! Anyhow, eventually, having spoken to a few people, I decided to get a guide. It was right at the end of the season and hence, there are very few people on the trails, so basically, you can be walking for hours on your own. Being female, I was persuaded maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. Taking a guide made the whole thing a lot more expensive, so I decided to do something a bit ‘extra’ to make it worthwhile. There’s a pass leading down from Llangtang to Hellambu, which is due south, towards Kathmandu. There are no teahouses there so you need to take your own tents and food. I was on a budget and didn’t want to pay for a porter as well as a guide, so we decided dry food was the option rather than taking cooking stoves etc. As it was my pack was a good 10 kgs……..crampons, food and cold / wet weather gear. So, bag packed and guide sorted (a guy the hotel put me onto) we set off about 7 in the morning for the bus stop. It’s a long ride to Syrabu Besi on the bus and the bus was packed! Despite booking seats, we were 6 on the backseat plus baby, where the bus is only built for 5 in the back! Still, managed to sleep for an hour or so of it, and a couple of drink / food stops later and we were there. Met up with a german lady at the hotel in Syrabu who was going the same way as us. Up around a ‘lesser’ trail, which is still pretty unspoilt as it hasn’t been on the map for long. She had a porter with her as well, so the next morning the four of us set off. I remember what it was like to feel fit……when I left England! I was about to find out a year traveling hasn’t done much for maintaining it! Every time I put my pack on it felt heavier and I was lagging behind from day 1!! The german lady didn’t have a pack as her porter was carrying her stuff……skipping along like a billy goat! I on the other hand felt more like an elephant climbing up the hills! The cultural circuit was lovely though........ From Syabru Besi we headed to Thambuchet on day 1(1768m), then up to Tatopani (2607m) (meaning hot water in Nepali re the hot springs there) on day 2; Day 3 uphill to Natalie (3165m) then down to Thuman where we stayed the night (2338m); day 4 down to the valley and back up to Briddim (2229m). The places we stopped were basically nomadic villages....people are self sufficient, living off the land and what animals they have. It seemed pretty idyllic, but looking beyond that, bet it’s a really hard life. In one of the villages we passed, we met a young guy who’d been lying in bed with a broken leg for 2 weeks. He had a wound on his foot as well which was looked pretty grim. His family had no way of getting him to the hospital in Kathmandu. We gave him what medicine / painkillers we had, but there wasn’t a lot more we could do. We stayed in some really nice places around that little circuit…there’s some photos on Facebook, or there will be soon (the connections really bad up here in Ladakh, hence no photo uploading!). One of the places had a natural hot spring……really warm water pouring out the mountain into a hot tub. It didn’t look particularly inviting…..the water had taken on a lovely brownish tinge from the earth, but you have no idea how good it felt getting in there after a couple of days walking. I think I must’ve spent a good couple of hours splashing around in the mud!! That night was hilarious as well. There was a medicine doctor in town, who was coming to visit ‘granny’ in the house we were staying at. She had rheumatism and apparently he could sort her out and we were invited into the kitchen to watch the procedure. There was the four of us, mum, dad, another guy, the medicine man and of course, granny in the kitchen. First of all, granny had to stip off down to the waist, and sit with her back to the fire. Then medicine man took up his weapon……a handful of branches from, apparently, a particular tree. He then spent the next half hour dipping his branches in boiling hot water on the fire and flogging granny with them! There were sound effects too which are a bit difficult to put in writing, but if you imagine some old Jackie Chan movie, you’ll probably have a good picture in your minds! Unbelievably, Granny didn’t really seem to mind an audience! I honestly hadn’t laughed quite as much in a long time…..( the chang (local rice wine) may have contributed) Even mum, dad, the other guy and granny were laughing! I was glad it wasn’t a serious affair, otherwise I may have had to leave the room :O)
By day 4, things were getting easier……the blisters were healing a wee bit and my pack was starting to feel a bit lighter……not that it was, but I think I was just getting used to it! It was a good thing, because that day was pretty hard. We basically had to go down a really steep hill, cross the river at the bottom, and then head up to pretty much the same altitude the other side…..about 2000m down and then the same back up. I have to say, the way down was the worst. They’d been a forest fire so the trees and the earth were completely charred and loose. Every step you took you thought you were going to follow the stones that were sailing off down the mountain. It felt a bit like snowboarding did when I first started…….inching down the mountain on your back edge, petrified that you were about to loose grip and take out the person in front of you! Reaching the bottom was such a relief…….I hadn’t actually thought about the climb up the other side! I think that was probably the best way, and to be honest, it didn’t feel so bad like I said. It was this day I realised that my pack was heavier than Bols.....that made me feel much better about being behind! We made it to the next stop in pretty good time….about 3 in the afternoon. Good opportunity to do some washing…..the local way……. in the stream!
The next day, we headed off to Llangtang, having been presented with ‘good luck’ scarves from the people in the guest house. We stopped at a teahouse for lunch….the guy in there had a bucket load of frogs…..not too sure what he was about to do with them, just hope my lunch wasn’t involved! The following morning, before leaving the guest house, we each had a blob of ‘good luck’ butter on the head. Now there was no stopping us……scarf round neck, butter on head……how much luck can one person have!
We got to Llangtang on day 7 and day 8 headed up towards where we were going to take the pass. It wasn’t to be though unfortunately. The night before we headed that way we met up with a European guy who had been hoping to go the same way, only he had about 3 porters, a guide and a sherpa with him to help find the trail through the mountains. They’d been up there and spent 2 days tring to find the trail and had to come back. It had been snowing up in the mountains for a couple of days and hence the trail was hidden. Even the sherpa couldn’t find it. Hence, they’d headed back. I have to say, I was really disappointed. I was really looking forward to it, not to mention the shed load of weight I’d been carrying specially for that bit of the trip. Bola (my guide) got really pissed that night……..maybe he was relieved! Luckily the next day was a rest day…….think he needed it……as did I!
Instead of doing the pass, Bol suggested we head towards his home town and spend a couple of days there. Sounded like a good idea. He didn’t mention it was a couple of thousand metres lower and hence a good 15 degrees hotter! Overall, it was a bad move! Someone got into my bag on the bus (not sure how as I was on the roof with it the whole time) and nicked my phone and a few other bits. When we got there, not only was it hot and really hard work walking, but the excitement of heading home obviously took over for Bola. We walked for a good 13 hours as he was determined to get there that day. We stopped at one ‘pub’ a couple of kms before his home town and had a couple of beers and then walked the last little bit to what I thought was a shower, food and bed. Bola had other ideas, so eventually managed to get to sleep in the back room of the pub where he’d met his mates! I have to say, I wasn’t particularly impressed as I think the guiding duties should maybe have taken preference to the pissup with his mates. Still, I could understand…….if I saw my mates now, I’d be wanting to spend time with them too. Tomorrow was another day after all.
Unfortunately, tomorrow didn’t get too much better. I pitched the tent in his parent’s front garden, and then was desperate for some clean clothes. Bol sent his little brother to show me the way to the river where I could do some washing. That done, I headed back up to the house, but surprise surprise, no sign of Bola! I spent a couple of hours with his family, which was hard…..they didn’t speak a word of English and I not a word of Nepali! They were really good though. I can only imagine what my parents would have said if I’d turned up with someone who didn’t speak a word of English and then buggered off with my mates leaving them with them. Anyhow, after a few hours of sign language I decided to head off to find ‘my guide’. No sign, so I headed back to the beer house we’d stopped at the day before. It was a bit tricky to find, (we’d had a couple there the night before so couldn’t remember exactly where we’d come from!) but eventually I found it. It’s quite funny the reaction you get as a woman somewhere like that. Local women never go there, so a woman alone enjoying a beer caused some amusement. In broken English, they were asking me where my guide was. Good question! After a couple of beers, I headed back. It was about 6pm by this point. Halfway through the village I met a very apologetic Bola. I have to say, I let him have it both barrels! I couldn’t believe having paid for a guide you were left on your own in a town where no-one spoke your language while he buggered off and played cards with his mates! He offered to make amends the next day, but by that point I’d kinda had enough and was ready to head back to Kathmandu. I have to say, he did surpass himself the next day and managed to get us a ride in a jeep for the same price as the local bus. He even offered to pay me back the money for the day he hadn’t lived up to expectations! All said and done, I thought he was a nice guy, just 28 going on 18 if you know what I mean. We stayed good friends when we got back to Kathmandu, or so I thought……up until the night he turned up at 2.30 in the morning. I had to be at work the next day and had told him a couple of times before it was rude where I came from to turn up at that time expecting someone to get up and join the party! (manners don’t seem to play such a big part over here as they do in England.....they don't really understand the concept of rude like we do........you basically do and say whatever you like!) Hence, I ignored him n rolled over and managed to drop off again despite the very persistent knocks and callings through the window! Then, not sure how long after, but probably around half hour later, I woke up to hear someone trying to get in through the window and coz of the light on the landing saw a silouhette of someone there with something in their hand. Bit dazed n confused like you are when you wake up and called out 'who's there'. Heard a Nepali voice, not Bola's, say something like 'is that the first thing she heard', which made me think it must still be Bola and one of his mates. Got up and got dressed…….none too happy by this point. I was ready to give him the full chicken impression....feathers flying and all that :O) but by the time I'd got some clothes on and opened the door, they'd gone. I thought he might have gone to put back whatever he'd borrowed to try n get in the window and he'd come back but 10 minutes later, still no sign. Walked up and down each floor....no noises, no sign of anyone awake. Went down to reception......all quiet, guy looking to be asleep (the night people sleep on a mattress in reception over here) so went back upstairs thinking 'am i going bonkers?'. Well, what can I say. I may have a few looney tendancies every now and again, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t imagined the whole thing. Having spent 5 minutes or so contemplating whether or not I should be heading back to graylingwell, I came to the conclusion I wasn't quite at the window licking stage just yet, and went back downstairs, determined to find out something. The guy was still looking asleep in reception but now the radio was on......mmmmmm. Hence I decided to 'wake up' the sleeping person, who did a pretty good impression of being 'woken up' but I'm reasonably sure that's all it was...an impression. I went through the whole 'who was trying to get into my room' bit, and got the whole ‘tired, don't understand, no haven't let anyone in’ routine, ‘did I see who it was’, ‘am I sure I don't know who it was’ etc, before ditching the idea and heading back to bed. Pretty sure after that it was Bola. He knew the guys at the hotel and no doubt persuaded the guy in reception to let him in. Making a run for it when I woke up didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth though. There’s only one reason he’d want to get into my room if he thought I wasn’t there. I didn't see Bola for a couple of days after that, which was pretty unusual…..he normally popped round at some point during the day. It kinda re-inforced what I thought had gone on. Shame, but just shows, you can’t be too careful, even when you think you know someone.
So, what else happened. Decided to do some work like I did in Udaipur. It was ok, but not as nice as the hospital in Udaipur. I ended up falling out with the lady who ran the place. When I first met her, I thought she was lovely. Well really, putting our differences aside, she is a lovely woman. Not many people in the world will put up a whole load of their own money to set up a hospital for street animals, and the world really does need more people like that. The problem was I think, she had a few issues with her staff and didn't want to say stuff to them herself but was telling me to say it to them instead. Basically, she put me in a really awkward position.......first when she found out I was trained in finance, she wanted me to look through the accounts to check there was no 'leakage' as she put it. I could see her worries coz Nepal is kinda like India and there's a lot of backhanders going on one way or the other. That aside though, you can imagine how that would go down with the staff. She didn't say anything to them, but she’d talk to me at the centre about it and then they’d be a really awkward silence when anyone came over. After a bit of this I got the impression the staff all thought something was going on and I was starting to feel really awkward. Hence, I phoned her one night specifically to tell her it had to stop..... I really didn't want to be put in an awkward position with the staff ….. I liked them and wanted to get on with them while I was there. She took that really well, said she understood, and what a nice girl I was etc etc. The very next day she rang me at the centre in the morning and told me I had to tell the vets they couldn't euphanise one of the dogs. When I said it wasn’t my place to tell the vets what they can and can't do (..... I’d only been there a couple of weeks and the vets know their job much better than I do......) she told me the puppy would die if I didn't ..... talk about emotional blackmail. I told her it really wasn’t very fair to put me in that position, and that she should really speak to the vets herself. At that point she burst into tears and hung up on me. It was all really awkward as this all took place in the office in hearing shot of quite a few of the staff and one of the vets. I also felt pretty upset about what she'd said about it being my fault if the dog died. That wasn’t really necessary. I decided enough was enough after that and didn’t go back. I kept thinking if she can put me in that position over veterinary decisions that I know nothing about, god knows what position she'll try and put me in over this accounts thing and I really couldn't face it. It was a shame though………I went there wanting to help the dogs and really didn't expect to be put in that position. I kind of expected to get an email from her once she’d calmed down, apologizing for what had happened. I did get one a wk or so later……not apologizing though, just copied me in on an email she wrote to the lady who ran the place at Udaipur, telling her I left because she asked me to check on the puppies. I wrote back, pointing out that that was rubbish and pretty much saying what I said above and that I was sorry she hadn’t written to me direct instead of involving a third party first. Basically, she denied the whole conversation. I’m pretty sure she felt really bad about the whole thing, hence didn’t want to admit to it. I’m just glad it’s over. Hopefully it won’t put me off working at some more places through south east asia.
After I stopped working, I decided to get an indian visa so I could come up to Ladakh…….it’s the only place you can avoid the monsoon. It was starting to get pretty wet and miserable in Nepal. Also, most of the tourists had gone so there wasn’t much social life going on. I decided to get a flight up, rather than going overland..... I’d had some kind of stomach troubles for a few weeks and couldn’t face the journey in busses / jeeps. It took a wk to get the visa, or 5 days, and once in hand, I booked the flight. The cheapest flight was a wk later, which was good as it gave me a chance to explore a couple of places……Bakhtapur and Nagarkot.
Before going to Bakhtapur, I visited the hospital in Kathmandu to try and get something to sort my stomach out. I’d walked straight back out again thinking I was likely to leave there with something more than I had already…it was the closest thing to a third world set up I’d seen……people lying all over the place in various states of repair! Luckily my guide book had an idiot’s guide to ‘the shits’ and I managed to self diagnose and got myself some antibiotics which seemed to clear it up. Yeay!
Bakhtapur was lovely…….a really ancient town, famous for it’s curd. The buildings are amazing there, It's like stepping back in time to medieval days ….really tiny windows and doors and incredible wood carving. The curd wasn’t bad either! Two nights was enough though and so I headed off to Nagarkot. At the right time of year, you’re supposed to get an amazing view of the Himalayas from there. Unfortunately, it was cloudy both days I was there, but the view was still nice…..just not of the snowy peaks. The guest house I stayed in was fab too. One of the wall’s of my room was all glass so you got an amazing view out. I was the only person staying there. In fact, I think I was the only tourist in the whole village! Again, it was nice for a couple of days. After that I headed back to Kathmandu for the night before my flight back to India. The time I stayed in Boudha. It’s an area on the outskirts of Kathmandu which has the biggest Buddhist stupa outside of Tibet. It’s a lovely place compared to the rest of the city. The people there are mostly Tibettan exciles, because of the stupa I guess. Every day, you get loads of people doing their ‘laps’ of the stupa. Apparently some of the really dedicated ones can walk around it more that 100 times a day! It’s quite nice to sit and watch…….not sure about the walking myself though!!
It's a shame Kathmandu didn’t really live up to the expectations I had of Nepal. I think the problems I had were pretty circumstantial though and I’m hoping the rest of the country will be much better when I come back to do the Everest base camp walk in October. ‘Never Ending Peace And Love’ the local people refer to it as, compared with India which they say ‘I’ll Never Do It Again’! Funny, but the ‘peace and love’ didn’t shine through for me in Nepal, and I’m heading back to India to ‘do it again’!

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