Stage 4: Kathmandu - Lahore

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Nepal

Enter the Gravy Train...

I have now stepped from being completely off the tourist radar to being well and truly on it. This means abandoning deserted highways, non-English speaking locals, remote ruins and replacing it with craft markets, coffee shops, bakeries and marijuana sellers. However with places like this I always try to remember that "they are touristy for a reason". That means that there has to be some reason behind the droves of gringos that fall upon this place. It happened for me in Peru when I went to Machu Picchu. In Cuzco you are surrounded by scenes that are absolutely fake and put on for the tourist droves, however when you see the magnificence of Machu Picchu you realise that you wouldn't miss this for the world... Even if you had to barge through 50 trinket sellers to see the thing.

Anyway putting that behind me I am awaiting to see that magnificence that brings the tourist crowds to this place. The main reason is of course the Himalayas and this is the prime reason that also draws me to this country. Well lets start:

I settle into an area of Kathmandu called Thamel. The Thamel area is just a tourist haven that has video bars, bakeries, cafes and a huge number of trekking gear shops. It is a huge shock to my system after where I have come from in Bangladesh to now having everything a Westerner would ever dream of. The city is constantly covered in smog and cloud which force the temperature skyward and make you seem like your breathing through a straw. Determined not to stay too long in this tourist trap I book my flight to the Everest region for the very next day. One day of relaxation is enough methinks.

The start of the circus. After a hectic previous night of buying large amounts of warm clothing I load into a taxi bound for the airport. My destination is the town of Lukla high in the Himalayas and the shortened start for the ascent to Everest base camp. I arrive at the airport and am shocked at the scene that is unfolding. Amongst the hundreds of people pushing there are bags scattered everywhere and a distinct lack of control. After pushing my way to the front of one of the counters I manage to get a boarding pass and throw my bag on what I hope to be a trolley bound for my plane. One hour, two hours, three hours, four hours..... and so on and so forth, the great delay has started. We are informed that there are delays due to the smog/fog at Kathmandu, once this clears we are now delayed by snow at our destination Lukla. By now there are hundreds of trekkers waiting with tempers rising and rising. Nine hours after arriving at the airport all flights are canceled, go home and try again. I go back to the dust bowl at Kathmandu and walk into my travel agents office, a new ticket is issued for tomorrow.

Circus Act 2: After the previous day of misery I anxiously step into the airport again. Surprise surprise the flights are delayed again. My temper is rising however I must say having many other trekkers in the same boat as me helped to reduce the anger. I meet a really cool group of Australians (Is there such a thing I hear your ask?). We all pass the time by organising a mass game of UNO on the floor of the airport. The look on the faces of the Nepalese watching us play UNO was absolutely priceless. Fast forward another 9 hours and bingo same result, back to Thamel to see the look on my travel agents face AGAIN.

Circus Act 3 (There will be no 4 I tell you!): Same story canceled again, I cannot go on I need out of Kathmandu.

After the three days of no joy I decide to go mountain biking the next day, there is no way that I am going back to that airport. I think someone really has it in for me because after 3 hours of intense climbing in the middle of no-where I manage to split the wheel rim in half. Great I am about a 5 hour hike away from Kathmandu pushing this piece of junk bike. My run of bad luck continues when I get back to Thamel to find out that ALL flights today left (14 in total).

My bad luck run continues when the next day I head to the Tibet border for some canyoning. I arrive at the place after 4 hours only to find out that the instructor has called in sick today. Man when I rains it pours! The next day I have better luck and we spend the day heading down wild rivers by abseiling the water falls, jumping off the ledges and sliding down mossy banks. A real adventure

Circus Act 4: It finally happens, I catch the first flight out of Kathmandu into Lukla. I really cant believe I made it, 4 times to get here.

Everest

The flight through the Himalayas to reach Lukla is spectacular especially as we come into land. The Lukla runway has a width is 20m and the incline is a staggering 12%! (MISSING)This means that you come into land and you think you are going to smash into the end wall but because you are landing uphill you come to a rather abrupt stop.

After emerging from the plane we are shuffled off the runway as waiting passengers are piled in and within a few minutes our plane is gone again. From here you just pick up your pack and just start walking, is quite uncanny.

I join a Swedish couple and we walk the first few hours together. You make really good ground when walking here. Unlike in NZ the track here is huge and relatively flat. But best of all you sleep and eat every night in Nepalese tea houses. These are mostly just converted houses with rooms and bathrooms that provide showers, heating and best of all great food. So in reality you only carry your clothing so my pack weighed in at a meager 8 kg.

After 4 hours of walking I stop at the small town of Monjo and check into a delightful little tea house. After checking into my room ($2 a night) I nestle up next to the fireplace and make friends with a few people. I meet a great Swiss couple (Martin and Nicole) and two Spanish girls (Christina and Belinda) we spend the night laughing next to the tea house fire. A great start to my 2 week adventure.

The next few days are a blur of acclimatisation to ensure that we don't drop dead of altitude sickness. The basic schedule is get up, huge breakfast, walk a few hours, lunch walk some more then crash out at a tea house that's not more than 300m higher than your previous nights altitude. A few notes that I will make about the first few days is the absolute access to all things modern throughout the walk. This includes things like espresso coffee, hot showers, bakery goods, internet and amazing food ranging from yak steak to pizza. All goods here are carried in on the backs of the porters that seem to run the track with 30+ Kg strapped on. An additional note to this is the genuine lack of "wilderness" on the trail. I started this trip under some impression that the alps were an isolated wonder. Not this trail you couldn't get lost if you tried to with the constant foot-traffic of huge guided groups, porters and of course the massive mountain yaks.

So anyway I will rejoin the journey about 5 days in the town of Dingboche an altitude of 4400m. I have split from my great Swiss and Spanish friends and now alone in the high altitude town getting hit by a severe snow storm. The next day I press forward in spectacular weather to reach Lobuche at 4900m. The views of the himilayas are amazing and I cannot take more than a few steps without taking another picture.

At Lobuche I suffer my first bout of altitude sickness. I start getting severe headaches and cannot sleep all night. I have been hospitalised due to altitude sickness before in South America and remember the absolute pain and hardship that goes along with it. I know that I am not in any serious trouble however I know that I will be a whole lot more comfortable if I get down quickly. Therefore I make the decision to make for the highpoint of my trip (Kala Patter 5500m) and then descend quickly all in one day.

The trip from Lobuche to Gorak Shep (5100m) is painstakingly hard. Every step feels like I am walking with concrete boots on. The scenery of course is great and the thought of making my goal drags me along. After a few hours I make the final town of Gorak Shep and prepare for the final ascent. My highpoint of Kala Pattar is another 400m from where I stand and I start doubting myself. As per usual I employ the "Just go for a little bit" technique. I employee this technique over and over for the first hour and I manage to climb 200m and see the monolith that is Everest. I almost turn back at this point however I employee my technique again to push me higher. It is excruciatingly slow and painful, it is very hard to explain to anyone who hasnt been over 5000m what it truly feels like. I think the only way I could explain it would be like running a 100m sprint one after the other while trying to breathe through a straw. Then after another hour I round a corner and see the top... I get my tenth wind and push to the top. The view is amazing, Everest is a true beauty. Basecamp, the Kumbu icefall all come into view to provide a wonderful vista. However this is short lived as my breathing at rest is struggling now and my headache is turing into a jackhammer.

After what seems like an eternity I make it back to Lobuche and under 5000m. My steps start to get easier and I move faster, however my headache has not improved. I then push down to an even lower altitude to the Town of Dughla at 4600m. My headache starts to improve however it is replaced by something which I know to be much worse when my stomach starts turning. It starts easy but I know from experience what will happen soon and it most definitely does at about 3am. For the next 3-4 hours I am stuck on a disgusting squat toilet at altitude vomiting and with Diarrhea.

What happens next is a bit of a blur but I manage to make it down the next day to a hospital and the doctor to inform me that I have food poisoning combined with altitude sickness and I must descend as soon as possible. He also informs me that my planned trip to island peak (6100m) is off. I am gutted however I for one person knows what food poisoning is like and there is no way I want to be over 6000m and suffering from it. Therefore I call my poor travel agent to tell her the bad news and make my way down the mountain.

After 3 days and a whole lot of drugs (Thanks Keira/Adam) I am back where I started and catch the next flight back to civilisation. Unfortunately due to the nature of mountaineering trips I lose all my money that was paid for Island peak. After a few days back in civilisation resting I start to feel better and although disappointed about missing out on my trip, still happy about the experience. With that aside I think I am harboring some bad thoughts about the Everest experience which are formulated from my New Zealand upbringing methinks. It goes like this: As a child I was raised with awe in what was Everest and going into the area I thought that I was going to be absolutely blown away... blow away anything in NZ. The truth is that I thought it was amazingly beautiful but I expected more. That is an absolute terrible thing to say that I was disappointed. But coming from NZ with 4400m mountains I thought that Everest would be twice as big and technically it is but if you are standing at 1000m looking at Mt Cook it is the same as looking at Everest from 5500m. Im a snob, really I admit it but I cant help it I come from NZ.... damn you NZ you beautiful country, you have raised a mountain snob.

Well with that out of the way and my stomach feeling better I head to the Chitwan nature reserve. Here I ride elephants to search out the elusive Bengal tiger and one horned rhino. Next stop is the border town of Lumbini to see the birthplace of the lord Buddha. Is quite a cool place because all Buddhist countries have built there own temples in there own styles. Is great to see a golden pagoda from Burma, bought back great memories.

India

Arrrgh back to India and the famous non-hospitality. I head to the Hindu pilgrimage site of Varanasi. Varanasi is famous because of the thousands of Hindus that come here to bathe in the Ganges river and wash away their sins. Is quite a sight to go out onto the river and see the pilgrims mass bathing, washing clothes, doing yoga and playing cricket. It is an absolute wealth of humanity beating through the vein of this river.

Agra is my next stop in which I take an overnight Indian train. The trains here are amazing, some of the best I have ever encountered. Agra as one of my Australian friends told me: "Mate, Agra is the ass end of India.... except for the Taj Mahal, that thing is beautiful!". Trust an Australian to sum up things so efficiently and in so little words because indeed it is stunning. It is hard to describe how beautiful the building is and even try to understand how a structure can provoke such grand feelings. I spend the afternoon just strolling the gardens and reading in front of this beauty which I could say would be one of my Indian highlights. The next day I visit the Agra fort and see the massive structure that Emporar Akbar used to protect his people for so many years.

Now I head to the capital Delhi and I take a much earned weeks break from traveling. I check into the YMCA and just spend the week eating, going to the gym and getting my Kyrgyzstan VISA. Is great to just relax and not worry about finding food as they provide your breakfast and dinner. I even get to put my clothing in a draw not in a backpack, wow so modern! After a week it is quite hard to say goodbye however I must push on.

Next stop is the city of Chandigarh and the viewing of the Nek Rock Garden. The garden was put together over the course of 20 years by a guy who used nothing but recycled rubbish. My final stop in India is the Sikh city of Armristar. Here I am treated to the magnificence of the golden temple. The site is a holy pilgrimage for all Sikhs and rightfully so. It is a temple in the middle of a massive pool and is covered in solid gold. Around the pool are hundreds of men stripping off their clothes to bathe in the holy water.

My last sight in India is the famous border closing ceremony. The goose-stepping of Pakistani and Indian soldiers creates a daily spectacle at the Wagah border post, where a few thousand spectators gather each evening to watch the flag-lowering. The clunk of heavy boots, glowering looks, aggressive snorts and a final martial handshake. It is quite a spectacle seeing soldiers from each side trying to outdo each other all to the hounds of the massive crowds on each side.

Pakistan

I now cross into Pakistan and plunge right off the side of the tourist trail into the unknown.... is good to be back. I am instantly hit with the kindness of the people, my two bus rides to get to Lahore I don't pay for as the locals would not allow it. A sign of good things to come I hope.

Here is the link to my pictures:

Nepal Photos
India2 Photos

Shaun

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