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Published: March 16th 2014
exchange rate $1AUD = 87NPR
We departed Australia from the Gold Coast flying the no frills Air Asia. Our departure was made a little unpleasant thanks to a grumpy old customs lady that thought that if she explained the tax refund scheme rules louder and louder each time that we might understand what the hell she was getting at. Ahh love, why not just try saying it different next time as opposed to yelling it.
The flight to KL was around 8 hours and went by quite quickly. I’m reading “Into Thin Air”, all about the 1996 Everest Disaster where many people were killed after being surprised and trapped by a raging storm, just to get me in the mood for our upcoming trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC). Surprisingly the Air Asia food was actually really nice. We had a 2 hour layover in KL and went through international transfers resembling a herd of cattle that you may see in one of Australia’s largest outback cattle ranches. We then paid a whopping $20AUD for 2 beers, unbeknown to us as we didn’t ask first. For those playing at home that’s equivalent to about 30% of our daily budget.
Lesson #1: ask first buy second!
The flight from KL to Kathmandu (KTH) was entertaining to say the least. The plane was 80% Nepalese and I swear they are no larger than your average hobbit, and they seem to walk around with a very confused look on their faces. We sat next to a shorter Nepalese man who couldn’t reach to put his bags in the overhead compartment, so I helped him out with that one. Then as he sat quietly waiting for takeoff his stature really became apparent as he began to swing his legs from front to back, yes his feet could’t touch the ground! Mid flight he became so hot that he also unbuttoned his shirt to let his oversized pot belly feel the cool aeroplane air. Classic!
We were greeted at the airport by Ganga, our Nepal Hiking Team manager, to drive us to our hostel, Elbrus Home. The roads are organised chaos. There is no central line, no traffic lights, no zebra crossings, and the horn lets others know “I’m coming around you”. There is also no road rage! People just push out in front of each other, slow down for one
another, and merge with elegance. To cross the road you need to use the same rules, just walk out and the cars and motorcycles will stop. On our third day in KTH we were standing on the side of one of the busiest intersections eagerly awaiting a break in the traffic which didn’t come, when all of a sudden a boy perhaps 8 years old and no taller than your average garden gnome walked out in front of a bus with his hand on the air signalling the traffic to stop. So we took his lead and followed him across.
Our hostel is brilliant, the location is perfect, just out of the busy Thamel district to the North, and the staff are always super friendly and kind hearted, making sure you are happy and comfortable. There is free breakfast, wifi, mineral water, electricity, and hot water, although the latter two are on perhaps for only 20% of the day, which is fine. There is always one light in the room that runs off the generator. I would recommend a stay here, and try to jag room 401. We moved to this room after our first night, they called it
the Australian Room, as it is easily the sunniest room in the bunch with corner windows and it receives the first gentle rays of the day.
We met our Aussie friends on day 2, Adam and Steph. Adam is a work mate of mine and it has been a little scary just how closely our Nepal itineraries have matched. We both booked Elbrus. we will be at EBC on the same day and fly out of Lukla on the same day. And this was without swapping notes. We ate breakfast together then went our separate ways for the day as we had to visit our trekking company to pay for our trek. A one hour detour to Nepal Hiking Team and then we were in the hustling bustling heart of the tourist district, Thamel.
We got our first slap in the face with culture shock! The amount of people, the dust, the 2,500 tourist travel shops, it really was a lot to take in for our first day out of Australia. It was however a somewhat pleasant shopping experience as we were never hassled by the shop owners to come into their stores or pressured to buy anything
that we showed interest in or asked the price of. Quite different to say Bali, or Phuket. We needed to find some last minute gear for our 18 day assault on Everest (well the bottom of Everest). We budgeted $500AUD for picking up some day bags, water bottles, trekking poles, snacks, face masks, sunglasses, beanies, and hiring big fluffy down jackets, and -20 degree sleeping bags. After bartering hard and checking the prices in many shops, we paid no more than $200AUD. The prices here really are surreal. I would recommend anyone coming to do a trek to pick up your gear in KTH, the prices are easily a quarter of Australian prices, and in some cases up to a sixtieth. We paid $1AUD for wool beanies that have flaps that come down and cover the ears, easily $60AUD in Oz.
So, we then took some reprieve in a little side street restaurant called Big Belly, where we ordered 4 steamed vegetable momos (the national dish, just like a steamed dumpling), and chicken fried rice and a vegetable biriyani. The waiter seemed a little confused continually asking us, you sure you want four momos? Yes we replied 2 each
will be fine. After a few minutes he returned, “are you sure”… “you want 4 plates of 10 momos… 40 momos!?” Hahaha, well we sure are glad he returned to confirm, we would have looked like real peanuts with 40 momos and 2 main dishes in front of us. So we culled our order back to 2 plates, and even that was too much. However the food was delicious, and cheap. I think we paid around 900NPR for 20 momos, 2 mains, and 2 drinks.
For dinner we met up with Adam and Steph and hit Thamel again, and went to Yangling for some more Tibetan food. The dish of the day was by far their pork chilli momos. Absolutely delicious, so much so we ordered another before leaving. Again great food at excellent value. We had 30 momos, chicken chow mein, pork fried rice, and 4 tall beers (750mL) between us all for only 2200NPR, that’s $6AUD a head. The beer selection was Everest, Nepal Ice (at 7% alcohol), and Gorkha. By far the best was the Everest. We then hit Tom and Jerry pub for a night cap before turning in.
The next morning we met
our trekking guide Prakesh, who we would grow to adore. He has been trekking for 14 years, is 29 years old, has a wife and a young daughter, and is always smiling, joking, and laughing. Oh and did I mention he is so small, and he eats nothing but kilos and kilos of dal bhat?! We then hit Himalayan Java with Adam and Steph (fast wifi) for a coffee and ventured into the heart of Kathmandu Old Town to do one of the Lonely Planet walking tours.
The tour is around 2 hours and takes in 26 main sites, 20 of them being temples. The Old Town is a jumble of mass people, old buildings that are standing only with the help of a few dodgy looking timber braces, temples of course, fried samosas, hand crafted clothes and beaded jewellery, lazy street dogs, manic traffic, and dust, lots of dust. We all make like a local and wear dust masks to protect our lungs from the constant dirt particles that hang in the air. It’s amazing to see 5th century statues in plain view, but yet out of ones focus, plonked next to a dark entry to a seedy
looking set of stairs the seems to lead to nowhere, and on the other side an old man basking on the sun. These statues are so old and must hold significant value, they wouldn’t look out of place in the London Museum. But yet that just about wraps up Kathmandu with a symbol. Aged but timeless, and unnoticed but so rich in value.
Nearing the end of the tour is Durbar Square, however we decided not to enter the square at a price of 750NPR each, so instead we hit a nearby restaurant for lunch. The chilli chips were amazing, and the masala tea was exquisite. On the way back to Elbrus we exchanged around $1500AUD, so we were walking around with wads of cash, about 130,000NPR. The largest note denomination is 1000NPR, however we mostly had 500NPR notes, so we had a stack of around 200 notes on us. There are really no ATM’s in the mountains so we had to take out all of our trekking cash in advance.
We packed our Nepal Hiking Team duffel bags that were provided to us, as the porters prefer to carry these over backpacks, and then all hit dinner
at Mandap Hotel in Thamel. It was my first full day off the alcohol in preparation for the altitude, so it was pretty hard watching Adam enjoy his big Everest beer. Best dish was the chilli chicken, so moist and so so tasty. So it was back to our hostel to get a good nights sleep in preparation for our flight to the world’s most dangerous airport (Lukla) and our first day of Himalayan trekking.
Favourite Food Finds:
chilli chicken at Mandap Hotel
pork chilli momo at Yangling
and in general…. masala tea
Favourite Exercise Experience:
....the first 3 days of our trip were largely exercise free besides walking around the town, but I won’t be counting that
We'll Remember This Place For:
dust in the air
organised traffic chaos
Elbrus Home staff
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Em
non-member comment
Favourite exercise could possibly be having to squat over that toilet for an extended amount of time ... great workout for the quads & gluts!