Nepal 2004

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My first sight of Nepal was a cloudless, red sunrise over Mount Everest, the perfect welcome! I also met three lovely Nepalis on the plane who I’ve spent time with since, in their homes and around the city. I think Nepal might just be the friendliest place on the planet. Kathmandu is fantastic; totally crazy, beautiful yet crowded and polluted, filled with incredible temples and surrounded by mountains. I've arrived at an auspicious time since next week is ‘Tihar’, the festival of light, and I’ve been invited to various people’s houses for the celebrations. Also, I've discovered that Nepali tea is definitely my new favourite drink! Yummy!

On day two, I did what is probably number 1 on the list of things not to do for a girl travelling alone: went around Kathmandu on the back of a Nepali guy’s motorbike! But naturally it all turned out fine and he has proved to be a very trustworthy and good buddy, he’s a journalist who also makes documentaries. We went to Pashputi, the holiest Hindu temple in Nepal, which was incredible. It’s so ancient and oozes thousands of years of history. Sandalwood fills the air while monkeys play amongst the worshippers. I watched two cremations whilst there, and actually think that the way they deal so openly with death is really quite refreshing. The highlight so far has to be Boudha Nath, a spectacularly beautiful and huge Buddhist stupa with the famous all seeing eyes, which was all aglow with butter lamps as I was fortunate enough to turn up on the night of the full moon. It’s a deeply peaceful place with Tibetan monks strolling around with their characteristic smiley faces and the soothing chant of 'Om Mani Padme Hum' ever present in the background. I truly admire the open, relaxed inter-faith tolerance in this diverse land, that's how it should be. I already love this place and it’s people. The kids are particularly sweet here too. I’ve spent most of my time with the locals and therefore mainly been to traditional places rather than tourist hangouts.

Having said that, I met a Brit guy from Primrose Hill! He’s been travelling for over a year now and we enjoyed sharing stories and went to the ancient Durbar square, filled with temples of old, and the home of Kumari, the 6 year old ‘living goddess’ who auspiciously appeared at her window so that we got a glance of her.

.......I’m now back in Kathmandu from Tibet, (see Tibet blog) after a great drive through the countryside of rivers and rice paddies with women in saris tilling the land. I’m loving it here, it feels like home now back at the peaceful sanctuary that is the ‘Kathmandu guest house’, and one of the best people I’ve met on my travels so far happens to be staying here too. He’s an American guy who I met in Tibet who went to Everest the day before me and said it was the highlight of his 8 months of travels. Today we relaxed under the sun while I read ‘Tintin in Tibet’. Great little book if you haven’t read it. It says “In the roof of the world, the mountains are superb and the air’s like champagne”. Couldn’t agree more!

(I was glad to have been in the middle of nowhere and oblivious to the American election until yesterday. Not so glad by the result however.)

Nov 16th 2004

Mo Kushi Chu! (which means 'I'm happy, all is well' in Nepali)

Those of you telling me I'm missing Michael Palin's Himalayan adventure on TV, I met him before coming out here and he told me who to look out for and where to go, (politely!) He said I should find a sherpa called Wongchu who was his guide, and has climbed Everest.....twice! (As one does). He also said 'Ni'! (A Monty Python reference for anyone who's confused.)

Speaking of Everest, I went to a bar called Rum Doodles in Kathmandu a few times, a great spot where the mountaineers hang out, and met the sherpa who summited Everest in 10hrs, 25 mins from base camp! If that's not crazy enough for you, his record has already been beaten, it's now 8hrs! Naturally when I was at base camp, I pondered on popping to the top and back down before lunch, but I decided it was not yet time for my sky burial.

So, I have now lived with 2 different Nepali families, both really lovely, and I've had various Nepali lessons, my favourite teacher being Janevi, a 6 year old who teaches me all the more fun and less practical stuff. My new favourite phrase is: "ping kelnu jam!" which means "let's go and play on the swing!" Brilliant. I also seem to have adopted another nickname, this one is Nepali- 'Santi', meaning Peace. The kids call me that, or 'didi' meaning sister.

No matter how much you say 'when in Rome...', there's one habit I don't think I'll be adopting; the custom of everyone spitting everywhere, preceeded by a massive great honk! Along narrow streets in Kathmandu, I had this funny image of tourists walking along in the dry season with umbrellas, just incase they're in the line of fire from above! Nasty.

Now if I'd ever been asked to invent a festival, it would certainly have been a festival of light because light transcends all differences, barriers, beliefs, religion, science etc, and I've always just had a thing about light. However some other genius thought of that a good few centuries before me! and what a great thing that is because it's the best festival in the world (in my humble opinion) and sooo much fun! I was lucky enough to experience it in the beautiful, ancient looking city of Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu valley. Every building there is hundreds of years old and during Tihar (the festival of light) the entire place is lit up at night and transformed into a fairytale-like city all awash with light. It looked so magical, there were candles and butter lamps everywhere, along the streets, every window sill, even floating on the lake. Music filled the streets while children were singing and dancing all around. We even managed to find ourselves in the middle of a peace parade. Candles were handed to us as we joined a long line of Nepalis singing 'let there be peace in Nepal and the world'. Not your average night out, but one I'll never forget!

Another brilliant bonus of being here during a major festival is that that's the time when they use these massive beautiful bamboo swings. They are unlike any swings I've seen before or since; very high, lovely to look at and more fun to play on! We were going on a 4 hour trek through gorgeous countryside towards a farmhouse for the night, and came to the top of a hill with nothing on it but a bloody great swing with the best views imaginable for 360 degrees! We spent a good half hour up there as young kids, old women and I all swung to our hearts content. Actually even that has a heart warming belief behind it here: supposedly at least once a year everyone should use a swing, so that their weight/ burden is lifted from mother earth for a brief moment. Scientifically innacurate but nonetheless very sweet. (We also met a wonderful 104 year old man near there, who has defied Nepal's low life expectancy in style and had a broad smile and some good stories to tell.)

The roof of a bus is the only way to travel! (A tip from my friend Mark.) Now, having said that, a vast number of people would disagree with us, primarily insurance companies, and now that I've said that, probably parents too. I had a hysterical journey on the front of the roof of a bus, sitting next to a smiley monk. The views were magnificent but we got the giggles about the prospect of decapitation due to an unruly tree branch (not an unlikely occurance). This led to a 3 hour giggle fest until the journey ended.

Naturally I've managed to find the only dolphin sculpture in the Himalayas! It was hiding behind sculptures of Shiva, Buddha and Ganesh, waiting for me.

Now I'm in Pokhara, home for the next few weeks. It's genuinely a wonderful place. I've started 'work' at the orphanage, which is actually great fun and doesn't feel like work at all. All the children are incredibly sweet without exception (17 of them, all between 4 and 15), and they are refreshingly open and show abolutely no signs of 'woe is me', quite the opposite. That was what has struck me the most. In fact they're all very smiley and friendly, surprisingly so. I admit I hadn't anticipated that. I'd envisioned entering a world of sadness tinged with self pity. Not so; I quickly realised how wrong my assumption was. I'm teaching them lots of things but in truth they are teaching me a great deal more; about life and the right attitude to have towards it. My main job seems to involve playing, and helping with homework. Great stuff so far.

I'm delighted to have discovered there's a large Tibetan community here and they're pretty chuffed with my small grasp of their language, so I've got loads of invites to their homes which is great. One woman in particular is amazing, she lived by mount Kailash, considered to be the most sacred mountain in Asia, and she had to leave Tibet when she was 7 and things went bad. She's been sharing stories with me of her life in Tibet, and her sadness at having to leave it behind, quite probably forever.

Yesterday we treked down to a great cave with a Hindu temple inside it, by the Devi falls. Going boating on the lake tomorrow. Pokhara reminds me of that Shakespeare quote in As you like it: "I like this place and would willingly waste my time in it."

24th Nov

So far work has involved digging a vegetable garden at the orphanage, cutting millet and grass with a scythe in the fields and carrying it on my back in a basket Nepali style (I insisted on that, it made the local girls smile lots), sifting through rice for stones, helping make Dahl Bhat (the traditional dish here), playing football, netball, teaching headstands, teaching English to one of the women who runs the orphanage, taking the kids to and from school etc etc. All good. One little rebel girl in particular has attached herself to me, and funnily enough her brother who is the complete opposite is my other newfound best buddy. He's much more shy with a lovely temperament and will grow to be a very handsome young lad. He is an artistic little soul who keeps painting me sweet pictures.

The Maoists have been causing a few problems locally which culminated in the shooting and death of a professor at Pokhara university. As a result, our home, the base of Himalayan Encounters (which organises all the treks and rafting expeditions) was searched by soldiers the other day. I however was completely oblivious to this as I was up on the roof at the time, under the sun, laughing out loud at the book 'The Ascent of Rum Doodle'. It's one of the funniest books I've ever read, about a group of eccentric Brits' attempt to ascend the world's highest mountain and it all goes pear shaped. I highly recommend it... I'm not worried about the Maoists though. The greatly simplified gist is that there are 3 groups: the monarchy, the government and the maoists and each wants control over the country. But they seem to have specific targets and aren't a real threat (so far).

Got up at 5am the other day to go up to a place called Sarngkot for sunrise over the Himalayas, it was....well, Himalayan! Nepal has 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world, many of them visible from here. The next day we took a boat across the lake and walked up through jungle/forest to the World Peace Pagoda on top with great views all round and paragliders passing by. The 2 Nepali guys who were with us were so much fun and kept us entertained with songs and sillyness the whole day. The Nepalese as a race, really are incredibly kind and sweet, it's often the way in the 'developing' countries, however cliched it may have become, they seem to be the most generous and friendly people, putting the 'developed' countries to shame in comparisson. Obviously there are exceptions on both sides but that's my observation so far.

I took the children swimming the other day as a treat, as I'd heard they only went once last year. They loved it! I found a big outdoor pool at a hotel for them. I'm not sure who was having more fun, them or me, despite some nerves on my part knowing some of them couldn't swim!

Yesterday I was walking near the lake when I heard "Nyima Lhamo" behind me. It was my 3 Tibetan lady friends and they invited me to join them for their celebrations of the anniversary of the Dalai Lama's Nobel peace prize. (It doesn't feel right that they'd do anything to meet him and I got to spend 3 days with him in 1999.) The irony being that as a result of his forced exile from his country, the world at large has benefited enormously from his wisdom and compassionate nature, yet those who revere him the most, those in Tibet, are still today not allowed to even have a photo of him in their home. The consequences are atrocious.

When I'm not working, I spend most of my time with the guys from Himalayan Encounters, all Nepali and all great fun. We've been to various good bars (for those who know Pokhara: the Blues bar, Mike's and Amsterdam club rank highly.) We've had some pool contests, earning Everest beers as prizes. I've learnt more Nepali too, my new favourite word is 'pagal', meaning crazy. They all are!

I met a Venezuelan paraglider pilot! How random is that? (given that I'm half Venezuelan)! So I'm going flying with him after trekking.

06th Dec- An eventful interlude!

Greetings from Pokhara again, after a crazy 11 days of spectacular views, near death, a leopard sighting, raging rapids and plenty of giggles....

We were given a lift to our trekking start point by Tony who runs 'Himalayan Encounters', he is a genuine artical, mad, wonderful, eccentric Brit. He set up 'Encounter' overland in the 60s doing trips from London to Kathmandu, which was the beginning of the overland craze, he started it! After travelling the world, he settled in Nepal, married a lovely Nepalese woman and now runs the show from here. He'll have awesome stories to tell for the rest of his life.

The trek to Sikles was fantastic; long days with endless vistas. We crossed rivers either hopping along stones or on Indiana Jones style bridges. We walked up and down hills passing lines of horses carrying rice to remote villages at altitude, and every night we stayed at a Nepalese tea house where we would eat dahl bhat with the family, cooked from a hole in the ground fire stove, the main and sometimes only feature of the room, which I grew to love as it provided every necessity; you warm yourself by the fire on the cold nights, and eat the much anticipated delicious food by it. The blend of the mountain air with the spice flavoured smoke from the fire gives off a welcoming feel and aroma to these remote mountainous homes. I tried to imagine a life spent entirely up there. Was it Wordsworth that spoke of plain living with high thinking? and Thoreau suggested one should "simplify, simplify."

I've been re-reading 2 of my all time favourite books: Siddhartha and the Snow Leopard, somehow both seem even better when read in the very places they were set.

Now on the second night of trekking, I had drifted off to sleep mesmerized by a flickering candle by my bed after having the best dhal bhat yet, however I woke up suddenly at 4am and just managed to get outside in time to be sick. This happened again at 5 and 6, (the only consellation being the full moon and luminous stars lighting up the mountain range backdrop. Yes, I actually noticed that mid vomit.)......By 7am, stomach problems addded to the mixture and it didn't bode well as the problem decided to present itself the morning that we were due to do a steep 9 hour walk to Sikles. Fantastic. (I admit I'd been feeling quite invincible having not had even a sniffle or any health issues since starting the trip, whilst seeing others get ill around me.) Now my turn! Our guide sensibly suggested I stay at the teahouse to rest for a day, then either go back to Pokhara or join them later. My 'sick bed' for the day was a mat out in the sun, with a book and water with rehydration powder, (and a cute kitten) beside me. From there I could see the magnificent Anapurna range, straw huts, colourful prayer flags blowing in the wind and the lovely Devi (who lives there and became my best friend for the day, a very beautiful girl) drying millet beside me, oh and a stunning double rainbow that came to lift my spirits. There are worse places to convaless!

I could eat nothing all day unfortunately and at one point the porter, Krishna, who'd kindly stayed with me, suggested a drip in hospital in Pokhara, as I was still being sick and losing all energy. That was enough to make me engage all internal powers to get better quickly! And believe it or not, the next morning I awoke feeling perfectly on form, not only that but we continued on to Sikles uphill and made it in record time, 7 hours! Krishna was so happy and we had the best welcome from the others who now think I'm superwoman. I think I was working on reserves beyond physical, but I've felt great ever since. The body and mind are indeed amazing things.

One day, while the others sat in a tea house for lunch, I chose to grab some food and eat outside by the rushing river in front of Lomjung mountain. A huge graceful eagle swept by me and glided above seemingly playing with the rising and falling thermals in a powerful silence. I felt the urge to join him up there but I had no paraglider handy at that moment! Oh, and on the last night I found the yeti!!!! (then realised it was my huge reflection from my torch on the wall while I brushed my teeth. (My friend Michael back in England had requested a photo of the Yeti from me! Sorry Michael, I'll keep looking!)

When I looked in a mirror for the first time in a week, I discovered I was 7 shades browner, after my first shower in a week, I was only 4 shades browner!

Rafting was totally amazing! So much fun, and with the best, most resourceful guides ever. We floated gracefully down the Seti river for an hour (after narrowly avoiding a maoist bomb on the road en route!) From the raft my eyes became fixated on the most beautiful Himalayan sunset I'd seen yet, there was a spectacular lavander/pink blanket of light over the entire range. It seems that you get to see the best of Nepal from her rivers.....This meditative state was rudely disrupted by the shout of "back paddle!" as we hit a big rapid and my sunset was interrupted by an icy shower! Most amusing.

We camped at the river's edge on otherwise deserted little beaches, swam while the sun shone and made a big fire each night as it cooled down (rapidly). Then we'd eat under the stars with some rocksi (Nepali wine). These rafting guys have got life sorted, they seemed utterly content with their lot and their lifestyle, an enviable trait indeed. I stayed up talking with them by the fire every night while the others slept. One of them, Dill, made Obelix look weak and pathetic! He'd turn up with 2 bloody great trees over each shoulder for the fire, smiling his big smile as if he didn't realise there was any weight involved. He was undoubtedly the most resourceful person I've ever met.

We joined the cold Trisuli river to head down towards Chitwan (avoiding the worst road in Nepal). On the way there was much laughter and lots of people falling in or getting pushed overboard.

Chitwan National park was a pleasure to behold. Sunshine-yellow mustard fields everywhere, with the Himalayas behind them still clearly in view despite being miles away. Stunning. We went out in a dug out canoe down a river at sunrise where we saw 5 large male crocodiles sunning themselves on the riverbank. (3 months ago, a local fisherman was killed by a croc here.) Later that day, a baby elephant came up to me and played with my hair and arm with it's trunk! Adorable! Then we went bathing on an elephant, as you do! This involves getting on it's back (very acrobatically I might add), then the elephant (called Lucky) walks into the river with you on top and then proceeds to roll over and throw you in! I couldn't stop laughing, I got back on her and she would squirt me and the others with water continually. We splashed her, she splashed us. A water fight with an elephant! She won of course. So funny. I loved it. They are very playful and docile unless angry in which case their power becomes awesome and you don't want to be anywhere close. They're also the second most intelligent mammal (after, of course, the dolphin.)

This trip has reminded me of a necklace I used to wear given to me by my friend Michael, with a Japanese proverb on it: "No day is more wasted than one without laughter." Most of the entertainment is provided by our guide, who keeps trying to show off to us and it frequently turns around and goes hysterically wrong for him! Like one time during rafting he decided to do a James Bond-like stunt with one foot on each raft. Of course someone decided to back paddle, he opened out into the splits, a look of shock flashed across his face, and in he went quite unglamourously!Fortunately he too has a sense of humour.

Later we had an unexpectedly exhilarating elephant ride. I had anticipated a gentle stroll on a 'tourist track' but thankfully I was very wrong. Within 5 minutes, we'd seen 4 rhinos close by, then out elephant changed direction and headed straight into the thick jungle, and it turned into an adrenalin filled hunt for wildlife. We saw 10 or more deer, loads of monkeys and langurs, all colours of birds, and then the beautiful, elusive leopard graced us with her presence! It sent tingles down my spine, they're so lythe and beautiful. (I'd seen leopards before in Africa, but it's much more rare to see them here and none had been sighted for a month), so there was a party that night to celebrate it, including traditional local fire dances.

All of the adventures above were 'thrown in' by GVI (Global Vision International) for helping at the orphanage. I can't help thinking I get the better deal.

29th Dec

Namaste! So, back in Pokhara I managed to squeeze in a quick 3 day 'retreat' in a super peaceful spot overlooking the lake, all very 'santi'. It was run by my Tibetan friend Sonam, who is one of the lovliest people I've ever come across, both inside and out. I'm really glad I did it, it was fascinating and great fun. It involved early morning yoga, a candle meditation, discussions on Eastern philosophy/ modern science and some meditations on topics like the interconnectedness of all things, gratitude, love etc. We also got to talk to and be taught by the high lama of the Tibetan refugee village (made up of the original freedom fighters of the 50s and 60s.) He resembled Yoda in both looks and speech. He was brilliant and seems to be a great fan of Mandela who we talked about a lot. I had the good fortune to meet him at a Red Cross humanitarian lecture in London.

My final day in Pokhara was one of the highlights of the whole trip. Pure jamminess all day! It started by me going to say goodbye to the kids at the orphanage (which was a sweet but tearful event all round.) I was showered with gifts and they followed me down the road which made leaving very tricky. I plan to go back and see them again someday.......Now, I had taken a real gamble and only left one morning free for paragliding, but sure enough I woke to a totally clear sky and perfect conditions. Add to that that the pilot was a Venezuelan dude, quite a pro who had an award winning DVD of him flying over the Angel falls and all over the world. It turns out he knows my Venezuelan cousin (who is also a paraglider) and my friend who flies a microlite over the island 'Los Roques' off Venezuela! The world is not as large as it seems.

So we ran ourselves off a perfectly good hill, another completely rational everyday thing to do! and followed an eagle to rise with him in the thermals. It was invigorating to be up there, so very peaceful and free, and we had uninterupted views of the mountains, particularly Machapuchare (or 'Fish tail') which is as yet unclimbed because it is considered too sacred (or perhaps it's because it's too difficult!) Quite surreal to be flying high with the birds, speaking Spanish to a Venezuelan amigo in Nepal. The joys of travelling! Looking around so much I admit to feeling slight queeziness after a long flight, so, we eventually left our eagle buddy and came in over the lake for a smoothe landing.

As soon as I landed I found my 3 Tibetan women friends to give them various clothing and bits that I wanted to leave with them, they were delighted and gave me Tibetan jewellery in return, then I set off on the long journey down South to Lumbini, near the border with India, accompanied by a laid back Kiwi guy and one of the main men at Himalayan Encounters who'd decided to come for a mini adventure (which it certainly was). We arrived late and the others chose a place to spend the night in the town, but I had a hunch that something special might be on offer. Sure enough, I went exploring and soon noticed a glow in the distance in the fields which turned out to be a room entirely filled with butter lamps flickering through the night. I was mesmerized. It was one of the most beautiful images I've ever seen, and turned out to be part of a huge Tibetan Monastery. I'd auspiciously arrived during the annual 'Sakya Monlam' world peace festival (I seem to be turning up in the right places at the right time recently!)

I tried my luck and managed to get the very last/only room at the guest house there on the grounds that I left it by 6am as it was reserved for a high lama coming to the festival. I explored the place to discover that I was there at the best time of the year because most of the highest Tibetan lamas were staying there, including the Dalai lama's own teacher! The extremely highly respected Chogye Trinchen Rinpoche. I am now donning a 5 coloured string bracelet/blessing from him. It was such a wonderful experience just to be there. I actually felt an inexplicable connection to the place. I sat in the huge monastery surrounded by red robed monks, while they chanted the mantras for peace which filled the room and no doubt winged their way across the world. I felt so privileged to be there witnessing it all. I believe I was the only non-monk in there. A couple of monks told me it was no coincidence that I was there at that time. All I know is that I felt lucky whether some pre-ordained magnetic pull had led me there or sheer chance. Although I admit I tend to believe everything happens for a reason and therefore there are no coincidences.

I paid a visit to Buddha's birthplace, amongst ruins of what was obviously an enormous monastery in its time, which now has coloured flags flying gracefully above it. That's where I had an odd, strong feeling of deja-vu which I can't explain and won't even try to. Suffice it to say that Lumbini is a really special place which I now feel somehow strongly connected to, it's well worth visiting, and has monasteries of every religion and nation there I'm told, a real example of a place of oneness, I loved it.

So, onwards to India!.......

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