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Nepal…an other place that had been on the wish list for quite a while but this time the least I could say is that I was absolutely not expecting to land on the very first day the Maoist declared a national strike, also called “Bandh” …
This trip was mostly about experiencing some of the best white water rafting in the world with a five days descent/ camping planned while enjoying the legendary Nepalese hospitality & amazing vista ...mmm…Got a lot of the last two but didn’t see a paddle! Kathmandu, midnight, landing on the first day of the National Strike…
Long flight….North Korea Pyongyang - Beijing - Kunming - Kathmandu...pfff finally on for a nice long week of compensation leave! Well…the moment we exit from the airport, my flatmate Anne Catherine and I started to have a small taste of the
interesting turn our holiday was about to take! Thankfully, her friend had kindly offered to come pick us up at the airport with his car (diplomatic plate) as we were in the middle of the night, there was no taxi and the only people we could see were police armed with sticks… Jumped in and
Ok la!
Shanti Stupa, Pokharahad a quick update of the situation while turning on the warning lights and inside light on to make sure the Maoist patrols could see that we were all foreigners.
So, while we were on the flights, the Maoist declared a national strike, Bandh and started to stage demonstration in the streets all around the country armed with
wooden sticks & red flags (coming from North Korea felt like I hadn’t left…) with patrols at key cross roads.
Bandh means that basically no vehicles are allowed to drive (taxi, bus, truck, motorbike…basically anything that has a motor except the planes & the truck bringing water into the city), all shops, restaurants, banks, schools, administrations are closed and
you better enjoy walking as it is the one and only option to go around. Massive demonstrations were taking place across the country with people from the countryside being carried to the cities by the Maoist to grow the rank of the protesters & Maoist patrols organized to make sure everyone respect the Bandh (a few incidents were reported where shops were wrecked because they had decided to remain open or people who dared to drive injured by wooden sticks and stones…).
Annapurna!
Pokhara, Nepal Not the first time Nepal experienced the Bandh (the last one was in 2005) but for sure not something we were expecting!
Welcome to Nepal! Somehow, glad that we had booked a flight the next morning to Pokhara. 200Km east of Kathmandu, if we got to be stuck somewhere it might as well be in a place offering beautiful vista and lots of opportunities of trek!
Buddha Air… 30mn flight and a small preview of the snow capped mountains
Might be one of the most expensive half an hour flight I got to take (USD 100 one way) but it was definitely worse it. Got you from point A to B in less time that it takes you to say it & it allows you to see Kathmandu spreading all over the valley, the mountains, canyons and
in between two clouds the snow capped Himalayan chain… Small tips here for the one who might decide to go for it…tickets cannot be purchased online so the best bet if you wish to take a flight upon arrival is either to try your luck at the counter (but might be tricky to find a seat during the high
season as they only have small planes) or simply ask the travel agent with who you have booked an activity (in our case the white water rafting) or the hotel to purchase it for you and meet you at the airport. Ok, ours had to come on foot to meet us at the airport at 8am on Monday due to the Bandh but somehow it gave us a preview of Nepalese friendliness!
Welcome to Pokhara…where the air had never been so pure!
First day of a trip during which we spent a lot of time walking, with the
“airport transfer” old style, on foot that is… Glad to have come to Nepal with a good backpack as it took a good hour between the airport and the lake side where most of the hotels are located.
Some tourists had came with large suitcase and you could see here and there some locals desperately trying to fix those on the back seat of bicycles or simply carrying those heavy bag all the way in exchange of some payments by 35 degrees that is…
The great thing about the Bandh is that there is no traffic and
thus no pollution or noise outside of the one of the demonstration passing by time to time.
During our stay in Pokhara we opted for the
Trek-O-Tel a nice medium range hotel located across the lake and I would be glad to recommend it to anyone who is not looking for one of the really cheap guest house/ hostel. Proper room, lovely garden, great location and staffs who did everything they could to make our stay as pleasant as possible in the very special situation we ended up in.
The “ballet of iron curtains” or the hide and seek game, Nepalese style!
At first, we were really wondering how long the Bandh would last and more importantly how we would handle the fact that the entire place was shut down with what looked at first as no restaurants or shops opened.
Well, we quickly understood that
the hide & seek game was truly becoming a national sport in Nepal! Some grocery shops/ restaurants would slightly open the iron curtain (wide enough to put a hand under it) which could be taken as a sign that the owner and most likely guests were inside.
A
knock on the curtain, and the owner would quickly look and open the curtain before putting it immediately down the moment we walked inside.
At night, the Maoist allowed the restaurants and shops in the touristy area to open between 6 and 8pm. Suddenly, the lake street was alive again with shop keepers selling at bargained price, bars playing music, restaurants trying to attract customers as they could & travel agent doing their best to sell whichever activity was still available.
And then before you realize it, it was past 8 pm…
no need to look at your watch as you could hear the Maoist coming back with whistle, slogan & quasi simultaneously dozens of iron curtain shutting down & all lights turned off. Party time is over… time to finish your dinner & glass of wine before walking back to the hotel in a semi deserted street. At least for a change, went to bed early which means as well early wake up and plenty of time to enjoy the days.
So…what do you end up doing when the whole rafting trip is aborted and everything is closed…
Ok, forget about the shopping & the wild rivers…not
Alternative way of transportation...
Phewa Tal lake - crossing to reach the trail leading to the stupa going to happen (although I kept hopes until the very last day…). Proper trek around the Annapurna was not an option as no cars/ buses were available and anyway we would have needed special permits which as the administrations were closed was not available either. So, we opted for a
mix of day trip treks, horseback riding and biking which ended up being a fantastic way to explore Pokhara and surroundings during those five days.
“Wild” horseback riding
On the very first day as we landed early & had quickly covered the main street running along the lake, we opted for a half day horseback riding which was really fun and allowed us to go much further down along the lake and then up.
Great panoramic view although at some stage really felt like my horse was going to pass out of exhaustion so ended up walking up to the view point next to him.
Maybe the horse felt grateful or it is simply that he would only listen to the 10 years old kid who brought the horses and stayed with us during the trip, but managed to have some great gallop once back on the lake
side. Funny to have tourists taking pictures of us as we by-passed them full speed and laughing like kids, not used to it (well at least outside of China were the blond effect still works…)
And then we simply went speechless…
Anne Catherine and I suddenly looked in the direction of the mountains as we were approaching the hotel on the horses, and
THE Annapurna were there…We were simply speechless, the clouds had cleared during the ride and you could see the entire
chain of 8000+ meters high mountains! Wow…Definitely the kind of moment, you never forget…
Promptly went back to the hotel and up to an other hotel near ours with a fantastic roof top terrace from where you can see the entire chain of mountains (Hotel view point). Great way to get introduced to the so called
"Goddess of the Harvests" (Annapurna meaning in Sanskrit) which highest peak reaches 8,091 m but as well the
Dhaulagiri Range (“white mountain”) that rises at 8,167 meter & the so called
Fish-tail (Machapuchare - 6993 meters)
World Peace Pagoda, trekking shoes back on! (and swim suit would have been appropriate too…)
Morning time,
short boat ride across the mirror-like water of the Phewa Lake & off we are for a steep one hour climb up to the Shanti Stupa. The trail goes through the
forest and passes by different viewpoints where the Annapurna shows on the other side of the lake. Clear blue sky, bright green forest and as we approach the stupa, more and more colorful prying flags punctuate the ascent. A bottle of water later & half sun burned, we finally reach the stupa which lies on the top of the hill overlooking the lake, the mountains and surroundings of Pokhara. The stupa in itself
offers vivid contrasts to the blue sky and green forest with its bright white color and golden Buddha facing the four cardinal directions. The peaceful scent of incense burning next to one of the Buddha is all you need to feel rested and take your time to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings.
Energy back, we opted for the long way down through the other side of the hill leading gently
through paddy fields & farmer houses on a warm earthy red rocky trail. The next stop was the devil falls which are located about 20 mn
walk after the end of the trail. Well…the fact the we were on the second day of the Bandh had somehow skipped our mind while walking in the forest but we got a reality check as we discovered that the door was closed…
To add on the list of things closed due to Bandh: touristy sites that are not religious or set in the middle of the nature…mmm…
Ended up heading to the
dam side (at least there was no way this would be closed…) and
the sight of hundreds of people literally spread everywhere warmed our heart: women doing their laundry, colorful clothes drying under the sun shine on every available rock, kids laughing & jumping in the water…A little like a
living painting, and the kind of the situation where you simply do not know where to look as you are crossing the river higher up on a monkey bridge and there is simply so much happening further down.
A group of kids was somehow prompt to spot us, and as we walk higher up along the river trying to find a path leading down to the water, they escorted us, chatting the whole way, clearly hoping
Siesta ... Bandh style
for dogs...bandh seems to be the business as usual...sleeping during day time and preventing everyone else from sleeping during night time...mmm... to get something out of it (no candies in my pocket that day…) and when we finally reached the river bank and went for a swim they left without showing too much disappointment. Ok, the river was definitely not clean (picture the laundry expedition taking place higher up) & I would not dare to swallow any, but truly felt refreshing and somehow fun…
ok, maybe we didn’t get to go for the white water rafting but at least we managed to swim in one of the numerous Nepalese river, even if it meant climbing over the river bank rocks, bumping into some while swimming (truly requires a special technique not to…) and enjoyed a clean and long shower after!
All in all a nice six hours trek including the compulsory
Momo (fried dumplings) and
Thukpa (noodle soup with plenty of veggies) for lunch, way too many pictures and officially sun burned!
West and North of Pokhara covered...Let’s cover the remaining part!
Two hours later, after walking across town up North East, we finally reached the
Bindhya Basini Temple, a small hindouhiste temple located on a small hill. The temple in itself is quite small and there was
Shanti Stupa also called the World Peace Pagoda
A great place to have a full panoramic view of Pokhara, the lake and the Annapurna range... barely anyone outside of the few locals bringing offering or walking clock wise around it with one hand turning the prayer wheel.
Animal sacrifices were clearly still taking place at this temple with dedicated area although no ceremony was taking place when we visited.
An other two hours later after getting lost in what
felt more like a never ending village than a city, crossing a bridge over a
canyon so deep that it makes your head turn when looking down, we finally spotted the
Buddhist monastery standing on top of a hill (started to get used to it…)
The Karma Dubgyu Chokhorling Monastery is quite a large & showcases beautiful paintings and Buddha statues, the fact that
monks are actually still leaving there only add to the charm of the monastery. Walking inside the main prayer hall, we had the whole place for ourselves, taking our time to go through the different paintings and ceremonial items, while enjoying
traditional music played by two monks in the courtyard.
The garden located one level down and overlooking Pokhara is as well quite pleasant with three large Buddha statues and more prayer wheels. Great way to finish the visit before heading
back to the lake side (and getting lost big time while trying to do so…)
Enough walking, let’s go biking!
Seems that we were not the only one who opted for the biking option but still managed to find two mountain bikes with ok rear brake and off we went to the
Begnal lake located at 15km from the city main gate. Somehow, we managed to reach the lake without getting lost or taking some detours which appeared to be quite an achievement as the only indication I had was that it was located south east from Pokhara & we would have to exit from the main city gate (on the way back, I will never forget the reaction of Anne Catherine who thought I had a map/ itinerary to go there…).
The road going to the lake is a
pure blast as it goes mostly downward, so it doesn’t take much efforts and with the absolute lack of cars and motorbike, we had pretty much the whole road for ourselves (put aside locals on foot and on bikes). We run into a
large Maoist demonstration heading to town, and here again we were nicely surprised by
their
warm attitude toward us, letting us pass by, greeting us with a smile, a namaste or a hello or a full sentence made of whichever English words they knew patched all together which ended up making no sense at all but would systematically
trigger unstoppable laugh & smiles from both sides.
In the meantime,
country side life was unfolding around us, paddy fields, women wearing the traditional outfit chatting in front of their house with the kids running into our direction and saying Namaste while placing their hand together, buffalo enjoying some mud bath and farmers in their field or chatting around some local drinks under the shadow of massive trees.
The lake in itself is much more
peaceful than the main lake in Pokhara with kids fishing using a simple nylon string and some polystyrene piece as a floater or going for a dog style swimming using empty plastic bottle as a flotation device. Boats are for hiring to and should we have more time, it could have been worth it to slowly paddle on this quiet lake.
The
way back was much more challenging as it goes gently up pretty much during the entire 15km
Such a peaceful place...
Praying flags & the Annapurna back, the sun was up and the temperature way
over 35 degrees. Lots of short break along the way in the shadow, covering our head with whatever we had on hand, we must have looked like a funny duo greeted here and there by the usual Namaste and laughing coming from the kids. The sight of the city gate was a relief to say the least & some well deserved rest was all we needed after this intense day trip!
Early morning flight the next day, Bandh is still ongoing but it is time to head back to Kathmandu (we managed to secure two airplane tickets so not going to pass on it)…Anyway, don’t feel like walking the 200Km back to Kathmandu!
Part two of our adventures in Nepal to follow soon…(well as fast as time and the super slow north Korean internet connection allows it!)
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Great photos again! :)