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Published: November 2nd 2008
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I am now back in civilization after 18 days of trekking through rural Nepal.
Our bus left Kathmandu on Oct 12 at 1:00pm "Nepali time" (which meant we left the hotel well after 3:00). Our entire group of 13 trekkers, 6 porters and 2 guides were crammed into a tiny bus, which was still to large a vehicle for the crowded city roads. It took a good fifteen minutes to get out of the driveway. We proceeded so slowly down the street that a man in our group managed to purchase chips and drinks drive through style from road side vendors. We hadn't gone too far (thankfully) when we realized that the road narrowed ahead and that the bus was to big to fit through. As there wasn't enough room to turn around, we had to drive backwards until we could find a side road to turn into. A symphony of honking (and what I can only assume was Nepalese swearing) surrounded us as our poor driver did his best to get us underway. The whole ordeal lasted nearly an hour.
Once we were outside of Kathmandu the drive was quite nice. The scenery became more and more green
as the gray cement and dust of the city was slowly replaced by the lush jungle which poured from the steep hills surrounding the Kathmandu Valley.
The road was often very narrow, with steep hills rising on either side. It was easy to understand why crashes here are not infrequent. Sharp corners, sheer drops at the road's edge and impatient drivers do not create the safest driving conditions.
The next day, on Oct. 13, we began our trekking. It was a nice hike, but the weather was very hot.
In the first hour a woman from Australia slipped and hurt her arm. It became pretty swollen, and they suspected a fracture but it wasn't confirmed until four days when we reached the closest "hospital" (I didn't see it myself but apparently the equipment used on the show MASH put this place to shame).This girl was a trooper though and finished the rest of the trek in a cast.
That first night we stayed in the riverside village of Nadi Bazar. The views were great but I saw a spider the size of my hand on the wall beside my bed so the place did not receive
a five star rating in my books. That night a group from the local women's shelter came and preformed for us, for "donations" of course. The music was a bit repetative (I think they only knew one song), but it was still entertaining. Especially one very charasmatic and energetic young boy who got us all up to dance. He is probably only eight or nine years old, but you can tell he will be a pretty successful salesman when he grows up.
Over the next few days we hiked through lush rice paddies which were cut into the hills like stairs - it is so impressive how the farmers make use of every piece of fertile land, even in the steepest sections of the hillside.
We walked past too many waterfalls to count and crossed over many suspension bridges. The bridges started off being pretty sturdy but the further we walked along the trail the fewer bolts the bridges seemed to have retained.
On Oct 17 we were around 3200m in altitude and the landscape started to changing. Jungle terrain was traded for pine forests and the surrounding hills began to look more like those in British
Columbia. It really shocked me that a country on the other side of the world could look so similar in landscape to another. With the smell of freshly cut pine in the air I could almost imagine I was in Canada, of course the convoys of donkeys were quick to remind me where I was.
The weather also cooled off quite a bit, especially at night and as we climbed towards Manang at 3540m the landscaped changed yet again. The terrain became more mountainous, with less trees and more rocks. And it was windy during the afternoon.
The village of Manang was small but they a few good bakeries, with delicious apple muffins, strudel and pie. There were also a few "movie theaters". Our first night there many of us watched a showing of the Everest thriller "Into Thin Air".
The theater itself was pretty rugged. The seating consisted of wooden benches covered with yak furs and the projector sat on a stack of wood. But the screen was a fair size and the wood stove at the center keep us warm. They even served us cups of lemon tea. About three quatres of the way through
the film there were some technical difficulties, but the impromptu intermission didn't last too long. As the owner was trying to solve the problem a man in the front row quoted one of the more epic lines from the film: "Got to try......" It got everyone laughing.
The next day we had a "rest day" in Manang to help us acclimitize. In the morning we had a tough hike 500m up to the Gangapurna glacier. At the top of our climb we had great views of the mountains, the glacier and the village and lake below. The lake was only around 50 years old and had formed due to the melting of the glacier. It was a brilliant icy-green colour.
After our hike I had a hearty lunch of apple pie and yak cheese and a few of us in the group decided to go see another movie. We went to a different theater and even though the showtimes were listed as 3:00pm, 5:00, 7:00 and 9:00 the owner was flexible. We were able to choose our showtime of 4:00 and pick out our movie. We watched "The Bucket List".
This theater wasn't as classy as the
Swing
There are bamboo swings like this in every town, always surrounded by a group of local kids. first. Instead of a projector system, there was just a standard T.V. set of no exceptional size. Also the floor wasn't slanted, instead the seats were raised at varying increments. The first bench was barely a foot off the ground and the last one required a step ladder. Still, to give them some credit, they had covered any hay and/or farm equipment with black sheets. It was a nice touch.
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Lucille Knox
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Rafting
Don't forget your waterwings!! mum