Nepal

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Wednesday: Woke at 7.30 and went to go for a shower. No hot water, in fact no water at all! so you couldn't even flush the squat toilets. Not a happy camper! A water pipe had busted up the mountain due to another landslide. We were keen to move on and not stay another night in Zhamgmu. Ling arranged for us to go to Nepal a day early. Our drivers and guide drove us to the border crossing which entailed a hairy drive for half an hour down the mountain due to landslides, washouts and big trucks trying to pass us in the opposite direction. We said our goodbyes and gave them a well deserved tip for their excellent service.
At the border the chinese guards went through all our luggage looking for papers or pictures of the Dali Lama. Poor Nepalese who had gone to china to purchase goods carried massive loads on their heads to avoid the extra costs of taking goods through in trucks. These people were in severe pain carrying the weights on their head and it was not only men, but women and boys. We crossed the river bridge on foot into Kodara, Nepal and made our way to customs. Our mini van transport which met us just fitted the twelve of us. Kodara was a slumb city made up of shanties on the side of a cliff road. Our minibus could not go anywhere as a local bus had broken down a little further down the narrow road and no cars could move up or down the mountain. We all got out and walked down to check it out. After some time, Ian suggested to them that they move a couple of the parked cars and push the bus to the side, which they eventually did. In the process, they couldn't work out how to move one of the cars as they couldn't find the owner. Again Ian helped out by opening the car's drivers door and pointing to the ignition; which had the keys in it. So many people, so little idea! Everything got moving again slowly and we were heading out of Kodara by 4.15pm. Crammed into the minibus it took us till 7.40 to reach our destination via steep mountain roads with landslides every kilometre. The scenery was spectacular and we saw Ping's: a special bamboo swing constructed for the Dashain festival in villages along the way. It got dark about 6.30pm which meant the rest of the journey was crammed conditions and we had nothing to look at. Everyone was extremely glad to escape the minibus when we arrived at our hotel in Dhulikel. The 100+ steps up to the hotel were not a problem as porters carried our bags (70rupee tip for 2 bags) (66rupee to $1AUD). The hotel was great! Each room overlooked the valley and the rooms were spacious and clean with private bathroom and toilet! We were here for 2 nights and very happy. Dinner at the hotel restaurant brought a great suprise for the group, as Brett had made his way back via India to rejoin us.

Thursday: We were up early again and enjoyed relaxing and reading for a while before breakfast. At 10 we took 2 local buses to reach the historical village of Panauti; and no one was allowed to ride on the bus roof. Here they cremate Hindu's and sprinkle their ashes into the river which is a tributory of the Ganges as it flows towards India. The town was really nice and the people were very happily going about their business. Many of the women were sifting the rice to remove stalks and husks and also peeling soya beans from their shell. A little boy about 3 or 4 was herding kid goats into his house. He was so cute and very good at it. We all clapped when they were finally in the house and his mother and grandmother were so obviously proud. We hiked for about 90 minutes back to our accomodation via rice paddies and villages. It began to rain quite heavily and I was lucky to have my umbrella and pack cover while Ian had a rain poncho to keep somewhat dry. Others had nothing and were saturated after an hour of hiking in the rain. It was fun and since we haven't done as much hiking as we had all been expecting throughout the trip, everyone was keen to keep going. After a shower on our return we all met for lunch at about 1.30pm and stayed at the restaurant drinking till about 4.30 when we all went up to the roof top to play cards (shithead). We then started to play BRUTE (each player attempts to blow cards off the deck balanced on top of a wine bottle, without blowing off the last card) and invited the resort owner to join us. He love the game and managed not to blow off the last card so he did not get a charcoal mark on his face. Eventually other workers at the hotel also joined us. Dinner was eventually served and we all (at least all those who had managed to blow off the last card) had to walk back into the restaurant with our charcoaled faces. I had three spots, as did many others. The staff thought we were so funny!

25th Friday: Up early (5.30) and packed our bags ready to head to Kathmandu. Everyone was in good spirits despite all the drinking yesterday. Our bill for the hotel was 6300rupee and included all food and drinks. As we got to the bottom of the stairs to get back in the minibus, the staff had just killed and beheaded the goat for Dashain festival. This is part of the ritual and the blood of the goat is smeared on their car tyres and motor for safe travel. There were not enough seats in the minibus, as we had not expected Brett, so he had to sit on the floor. We left Dhulikel at 10.15 and arrived in Kathmandu at 11.45. Could not get into our rooms at the Thanker Hotel so we walked to Thamel which was about 15 minutes away from hotel, for our orientation tour. We were supposed to pay $US90 for our room as we had chosen to forgo the extra night in Zhangmu, however we found another hotel in Thamel for only $35US which was nice and much closer to the action and had free internet. When we returned to the Thanker Hotel kareoke was going on under our window in hotel bar so we could not get to sleep. We decided to move to the Thamel hotel the next night. To move we had to pull out of the tour. and so Tess, Keith, Monica, Brett and Claudia all decided to pull out of tour and move to take up room in the Holy Himalaya instead. We went to the Third Eye restaurant for dinner (1800R).
Lunches averaged about 275rupee.

Saturday: Woke at 6.30, had buffet breakfast (inc) at 8 and moved to new hotel at 10. Hotel Holy Himalaya. Ian and Keith went to Himalayan Java for footy while Tess and I went shopping. We met the rest of the group for dinner at the Thamel House restaurant on the final night of the tour "Last Supper". We all had a great night and enjoyed lots of rice wine which was expertly poured from a great height by the waiter (see pictures) into little clay dishes. Everyone but Ian tried the rice wine, as he could still vividly remember the hangover he had from rice wine overload at our home stay in Vietnam.

Sunday: Woke at 6.30 and got on the computer to catch up with emails. 7.30 Ian and I met Claudia and walked to Durbar Square where much of the Dashain celebrations were going on. The markets were so colourful and there were different stalls on every corner. We had breakfast at the Yak Restaurant on our way back (200R each). We had a quick nap (still catching up from days of insomnia) and then went to Himalayan Java for lunch. Wood fired pizza (230-290Rupee per pizza) and I had a caramel macchiato which was my first enjoyable coffee. We went for dinner at Helena's with Tess, Keith and Claudia (2140 R per couple). At midnight I woke with diorrhea and vomiting.

Monday: I was still feeling sick! Ian went with Claudia, Keith and Tess to hire bikes and rode to the monkey temple. By dinner time I tried to go out with them to eat, but the smells at the restuarant made me feel sick, so I decided not to stay. I walked back to the hotel by myself. Ian and the others had a great meal.

Tuesday: I was still not feeling too well but Ian and I went to Helena's for breakfast with Keith, Tess and Claudia. I managed to eat 1/4 piece of toast and 1/2 cup of tea. Ian and I then tried to walk around for a while, but I was feeling really weak so we just went to buy some cd's and dvd's and then I went back to bed. Ian found himself some nice restaurants and had a couple of walks. Just after midnight Ian woke with diarrhea and vomiting.

Wednesday: I was feeling much better but now Ian was sick with the same thing! talk about a tag team effort!! Although Ian didn't want to be sick he was glad he didn't have to come shopping with me. I spent a few hours shopping and then booked in for an afternoon of pampering: 1hr Body scrub/1hr Aromatherapy/ 1hr Fruit facial (3500 rupee). What a bonus - I felt soooo much better! Caught up with Brett for dinner while Ian stayed in bed.

Thursday: Ian and I went to Himalayan Java for breakfast. He is feeling much better and we walked back to Durbar Square and had a drink on the rooftop restaurant. I managed a few more hours of shopping. It is so hard to be sure if the silver is authentic as the prices vary so much! I may be buying a dud if I pay too little and if I pay too much I may be getting ripped off. Price doesn't necessarily indicated the quality of what your buying! 3cm x 2cm oval moonstone pendant (550 rupee); silver ring with black stone (450 rupee).
Water pashmina (250 rupee).

Friday: Last breakfast at Himalayan Java and then booked out of hotel. The Holy Himalaya Hotel was great! We arranged taxi to airport (300 rupee) which took about half an hour. There is no water or shop once you go through customs and airport security to the boarding area at the airport. Lucky we had waited most of the time in the first waiting area. The Silk Air flight was full and only had non sound inflight entertainment. Food OK. We arrived at Singapore Airport and walked straight to our boarding connecting flight. We both decided to watch a couple of movies and after 4 hours decided to go to sleep. within 5 minutes of turning off our lights the cabin lights were turned on and the crew began to serve breakfast. So much as for sleep on the way home!

Saturday: Arrived at Brisbane airport about 20minutes early. Picked up our duty free alcohol and had no problems with customs as we declared our food(candy, spices and tea) as well as our boots for dirt. Kath was there to collect us! It was so great to see her!

What a fabulous adventure. We would recommend this trip to anyone, but would advise them not to train too hard as the trekking is not arduous at all!

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Photos

Zhangmu
in the background, Kodara on the left

Going nowhere in Nepal
Ian suggested they move the bus

Landslides everywhere
crossing the border; Zhangmu-Kodara

Dhulikel hotel
luxury by comparison

Last Supper
group celebrates our last night together. Rice wine flows

Durbar Square
during Dashain festival

Too chicken to ride
Ian rides to monkey temple

Cattle offering
Durbar square