TravelStream™ news feed for member ben_b on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ben_b en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:26:24 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ben_b/1/1208368800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ben_b/1/1208368800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ben_b/1/1208368800/tpod.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:26:24 -0400 Travels in India & Nepal (but mainly Nepal)

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Kathmandu, Nepal

...

The trip down to Dzonglha (4850m) via. Lobuche felt like a different route altogether from the one taken on the way up. Whereas before the poor weather obscured any views, the clear weather for the trip down made the walk enjoyable. After lunch at Lobuche we took a different trail in order to reach Dzonglha, situated down a side-valley. Tricky walking high up on the top of windswept valley sides on slippery mud and slushy snow. The lodge at Dzonglha (one of only two) was pretty basic (the trip to the outside long drop was not pleasant in the chilly temperatures!) and surrounded by deep snow; one could easily imagine being snowed in here in the winter months. Once again we hoped for continued good weather for the following days' crossing of the Cho La Pass. The stark warnings in our trekking book against attempting it in anything but clear weather was enough to plant a few seeds of worry in our minds regarding the Pass' difficulty!

A 6.30 start in (as you guessed!) clear weather, with Cholatse (6440m) looming behind. After an easy 40mins walking on fairly flat snowy ground we reached the start of the Pass proper. The path more-or-less disappeared and walking became more of a scramble up a very steep ridge, pushing ourselves over large boulders and squeezing in between gaps in the rocks with heavy snow and lots of ice underfoot. After a couple of hours of this slow and difficult progress we arrived at a flat snowy area littered with cairns from where we could rest and enjoy the view. Soon we reached the high-point of the Pass at 5400m after a 600m scramble. Thankfully the path(such as it was!) began to drop, crossing a deep and expansive snow field, perfectly pristine apart from the narrow trail of compacted snow meandering through its middle. After a hard trudge we reached the other side and refuelled near a glacier before embarking on the even steeper and more difficult scramble down the other side.

The trail fell steeply and the melting snow, ice, and slippery scree made the descent pretty treacherous. Eventually we reached the bottom and found ourselves in a huge boulder field of glacial moraine where we followed cairns, hopping from one boulder to another. After another hour or so walking on a more conventional path we reached Thangnak at the Western end of the Cho La after a 700m descent. A truly memorable day and the first (and only!) one of the trek that took us off the more heavily beaten track and on to some more unusual terrain. A great adventure!

The stunning region of Gokyo, with its crystal clear lakes, glaciers and mountains was a short walk away the next morning. With the sun beating down, the village itself felt like some kind of high-altitude lakeside resort, perched idyllically on the edge of a turquoise lake encircled by mountains. However, with plenty of the day left there was little time for relaxation as we set off to the peak of the nearby Gokyo Ri, 600m above the village, at around 5400m altitude. After a relatively quick and breathless 90min ascent we we reached the top to absorb the stunning view. Perhaps even topping that at Kala Pattar, with a better view of the dark blue Everest and a 360 degree panorama that included great sights of Nuptse (7861m), the brown peak of Lhotse (8414), the treacherous Cho Oyo (8168), all seemingly within touching distance! Together with the view down on Gokyo's colourful lakes, the Ngozumba glacier (Nepal's longest) sprawled behind, and the impressive Gyuzumba glacier feeding down from Cho Oyo, the sight was quite magnificent. Half an hour was spent at the windy summit, watching a the clouds dramatically roll in over the peaks to the South-West. Elated, our guide Mohan and I sped back down to Gokyo in a meager 35 minutes and I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the quiet, friendly and cosy lodge with a large portion of Dal Bhat in my belly.

The trip back down to Lukla was done in only three days, first following the thunderous Dudh Kosi river before entering a beautiful and lush alpine environment, in sheltered surroundings of rhododendron, pine, silver birch, and a surprising amount of (apparently endangered) juniper forest. Even caught a glimpse of the -definitely endangered!- musk deer gamboling at a waterfall. Continuing down the valley we passed through the relatively prosperous town of Khumjung populated by trekking lodge owners, local mountaineers and trekking company bosses, and the location of the Edmund Hillary school (established by the great man himself!). Soon we had passed back through the trekking hub of Namche and after a night at the lovely village of Monjo (where we stayed at a spectacularly good lodge with incredible solar showers and great organic food) before we knew it we were back in the rather drab Lukla with a beer in the hand and hailstones battering down on the tin roof above. We stayed in a lodge almost literally on top of the airport runway ensuring only a hop-skip-and-jump to check in the next morning. Unfortunately we still had to wait another couple of hours before the plane actually arrived. A short but turbulent flight later we were back in the stifling heat and pollution of Kathmandu...a bit of a culture shock but the luxuries of urban living (beer, steak, unlimited showers...!) were most welcome after a memorable time in the Khumbu!
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Kathmandu, Nepal

Tashi Delek to all (that's hello in Tibetan/Sherpa)!

Writing this after enjoying our first non-walking day for two weeks. Good to get back to Kathmandu's tourist ghetto (despite the noise, pollution and traffic!) and all its creature comforts - hot showers, beer and decent steak - after a fantastic but pretty tough trek in the Khumbu region; home to the Big Daddy, Everest / Sagamartha and a bunch of other 6- 7- and 8000 meter peaks.

Compared to our previous trek in the Annapurna, Khumbu was very different. For a start it was harder, mainly due to the altitude: we reached a maximum of 5500m and surpassed 5000m several times, as well as many nights spent at over 4000m. It was also much less picturesque. The pretty rhododendron forests were replaced by more stark silver birch and stunted juniper bushes, although at the high altitudes a non-flowering but sweet-smelling dwarf rhododendron covered the valley's sides. This trek was also much more mountainous, following Ama Dablam and Thamserku up the valley and getting close-up panoramic views of countless giant peaks such as Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Cho Oyo.

The trek actually had two destinations. First, the highly popular slog up to Gorak Shep and the nearby Everest Base Camp and panoramic view from Kala Pattar. Second, the Gokyo region: home to a number of beautiful high-altitude lakes and another cracking view point at the peak of Gokyo Ri.

After a slightly hair-raising light aircraft flight to the Tenzig-Hillary Airport in Lukla, we took two days walking uphill through Sherpa villages and pine forests to reach the trekking mecca of Namche (3440m): a sprawling town jam packed with trekking lodges, shops stocked with every kind of trekking paraphernalia, German bakeries, pool halls, bars...

After an acclimatisation day here we headed North up the valley under clear skies and sunshine with views of Ama Dablam (6852m) and a few glimpses of the tip of Everest (8850m), dodging yak trains, porters and massive trekking groups on the way. We took four days (quicker than the books advise!) to reach Gorak Shep (5170m), staying at several interesting places along the way...:

The desolate, cold, and wind-swept town of Tengboche (3800m)had the feel of a frontier town and is home to a justly famous Buddhist monastery ('Gompa') which until not so long ago was thought of as being located in a sacred hidden valley. Beautifully adorned with colourful Thanka paintings, we sat in on a rather perfunctory ceremony (probably more for the tourists than anything else!). The walk to Dingboche (4350m), further up the valley, took on more alpine surroundings, with gushing rivers and pleasant forests, the trees covered with Spanish moss. As the trail climbed higher up the side of the valley, however, the surroundings changed. The sky grew larger and the trees were lost, replaced by Juniper scrub. The mountains encroached, with striking views of Ama Dablam behind, and the imposing Lhotse (8414m) - Nuptse (7861m) 'wall' up ahead. From Dingboche the weather deteriorated, making the already barren landscape feel even harsher. Much of the walking was along glacial valleys with rocks, boulders and moraine to negotiate, as well as the snow underfoot. After a night at Lobuche (4910) and definitely feeling the effects of the altitude (although nothing serious) we arrived at Gorak Shep, positioned right behind the Khumbu Glacier.

The trek to Everest Base Camp (5300m) was a difficult and -due to the near blizzard conditions- a relatively unrewarding one: 2 hours across slippery snow-laden moraine, walking parallel, and at times encroaching on to, the Khumbu glacier. As we neared EBC, the glacier lost its drab covering of rocks and transformed into a beautiful river of ice: jagged peaks and deep crevasses coloured an almost fluorescent blue that seemed to glow, despite the lack of sunshine. The interest in reaching EBC was more for novelty than aesthetics. There's no view of Everest, and on our day no views of much at all! There were, however, dozens of expeditions preparing to ascend Everest. This is the climbing season and teams of porters were busy preparing platforms for tents, cutting them out of the glacial ice underfoot. The Khumbu icefall reared menacingly behind and with a close look you could spot teams of ant-like expedition-members fixing ropes and preparing routes up the ice for the mountaineers. The walk back was seemingly never-ending; the terrain so uniform and indistinct. By the time we reached Gorak Shep we were both suffering from bad headaches, hoping they wouldn't be there in the morning for our ascent up Kala Pattar...!

The next morning our hopes had been answered: our headaches had lifted, as had the clouds of the previous day to reveal a beatifully clear 5am sky as we embarked to climb to the view point at the top of Kala Pattar (5500m). It was a tough walk in the freezing cold dawn, but punctuated by moments of rest and visual relief as the surrounding mountains emerged: Everest, Nuptse, Ama Dablam and Pumo Ri among dozens more. After a 2-hour, 400m climb I reached the top and took in the magical panorama, at its most impressive in full sunlight and deep blue skies. A stunning view, with peaks in the foreground and reaching all the way to the horizon. The hike back down was swift and enjoyable and after breakfast back at the lodge we headed down to Dzonglha, the start of the second section of the trip: across the formidable Cho La Pass and up to Gokyo...
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Pokhara, Nepal

Am now back in Pokhara relaxing and reflecting upon a fantastic last 10 days trekking in the Annapurna region of the Himalayas. After some time of relative inactivity (other than our teaching exertions) it has been a real tonic to get in to the mountains and to enjoy the rewarding simplicity of walking for several hours a day from place to place.

Rather than give a day-to-day account of the trek, I'll just give you the best bits...:

The first 2 days of the trek were spent walking to the largeish town of Ghorepani and superb view of the Annapurna range that can be found from the nearby Poon Hill. This short trip is very popular with tourists and on our early-morning jaunt 500 metres up to Poon Hill we were joined by dozens of other view-seekers. Despite the number of people, the view was spectacular, particularly as the first rays of bright sunshine struck the tops of the peaks making them light up agains the dawn sky. We spent about an hour here before returning to tour guest house for breakfast and heading off on the next part of the trek: to Chomrong and the start of the Annapurna Sancturary trek 'proper'. This day's trek was the most enjoyable so far with more great views of some of the more prominent Annapurna peaks: Macchapuchhre and Annapurna South. The path then descended through the first of many spectacular rhododendron forests and followed clear mountain streams.

From Chomrong onward the villages we passed through were entirely dedicated to trekkers: there were no permanent settlements here until the trekking industry took off, just small goat-herders huts occupied for a few months of the year. As well as the steady increase in altitude from Chomrong onwards, the prices of food and lodging also increased in proportion to the distance required for the porters to deliver supplies. Still, at around $4 for an all-you-can-eat meal of Dal Baat (lentils and rice with curried vegetables) it was hardly expensive! Also the menus changed with more carb. heavy foods reflecting trekkers' needs. The pick of the new additions was without doubt the 'Snickers Roll': a Snickers bar wrapped in pastry and fried...no doubt introduced by a passing Scot. Similarly, all the menus featured Swiss Rosti (or 'Roasty')introduced by a group of home-sick Swiss in the 1970s! Still well within the rhododedron forests, despite the increasing altitude, the trail followed along the Modi Khola river.

As we approached our night's stay at Macchapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) at 3700 metres we finally emerged out of the tree line and into the harsh mountain environment. Apart from some long grasses, clumps of bamboo and rather pathetic low, spindly, trees we were unsheltered from the elements and face-to-face with the imposing mountains around and infront of us. We soon hit the snow line and were forced to take a sensible detour around a prominent avalanche route due to the late hour and the likelyhood of melting snow. Starting to feel a slight headache and shortness of breath, the weather took a turn for the worse and visibility was soon dramatically reduced as the clouds descended. Together with slippery conditions underfoot and the altitude this was pretty hard work, but also great fun! Soon we were esconsed in a rather basic lodge at MBC and slowly warmed up aided by hot lemon and blankets just as the snow and hail started to pound down on the lodge's tin roof. After Dal Baat it was an early night, sleeping in full thermals, hat, sleeping bag and blanket, and hopeing for a clear morning for our hike up to the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)and the views of the 'Sanctuary'.

Luckily it was a perfect starry start at 5.30 the next morning and as we trudged up through the snow the dawn began to break revealing hints of the mountains around us. Soon daylight was upon us and as we ate breakfast at ABC (4200 metre) the full glory of the Sanctuary hit us. We were almost entirely encircled by extrodinarily big mountains. Straight ahead was Annapurna South (7219m)which we has been able to see from the first few days of the trek, flanked on the right by the South face of the mighty Annapurna I (8091m) famously summited first by Maurice Herzog (although not from the South face), and on the left by Hiunchuli (6441m). Less significant peaks filled in the gaps. Behind us, down the valley we had just walked up, we could see the distinctive fishtail of Macchapucchre (6993m) and hints of Annapurna III (7556m) and Gangapurna (7454m). In the perfect air and blinding sunlight we could easily have spent hours in this pristine environment, but eventually had to head back down.

The route back followed the way up except was done in almost half the time. From Chomrong we took a different route back via the glorious hot springs at Jhinu Danda and then down hill (more or less) through small villages and agriculatural terraces until the town of Damphus from we we could see Pokhara down the valley below. We were soon in a taxi and relaxing back at our hotel, looking forward to a spectacular steak dinner and a day of rest before heading to the crowds and pollution of Kathmandu!
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Pokhara, Nepal

The main event this week has been the Hindu festival Shiva Raatri on Thursday, a celebration of the God Shiva. It certainly trumps any religious festival back home for fun, excitement and general atmosphere. While the biggest event took place at a prominent holy site near Kathmandu, celebrations take place in any Hindu area.

Shiva Raatri is centred around a large bonfire, in our case next to the main road in to Pokhara. We watched it being built earlier in the day.

The main source of entertainment, certainly for the local children (of all ages!), was making loud and spectacular explosions by heating lengths of sugar cane in the inferno before drawing them out and smashing the hot end against the road.


Incredibly this creates a fantastic bang and often the end of the sugar cane fragments into several pieces that are propelled high into the air, to fall back to earth like fiery comets, often onto the heads of innocent by-standers! This was made all the more entertaining by the sheer abandon with which people went about it: tiny children running through the crowds, their bright hot cane wildly swinging about their heads, simply to smash it into the ground often at the feet of unnerved onlookers! I bet this would be a great success back home, but I hardly think our health and safety law-makers would allow it. I'm still tempted to look into the import of sugar cane from Nepal: bring joy to British children and assist the stagnant Nepali export-economy in one swoop...!

As well as all this going on there were the more expected activities. A large group behind the fire were engaged in singing and rather manic dancing, accompanied by some tambourines and some kind of repetitive religious dance-music.

It is also a traditional custom to smoke - often Marijuana - on Shiva Raatri as it is believed to help the mind communicate with Shiva. Certainly some of the revellers were apparently still firm believers in this aspect of the day. Many Hindu holy-men (Sadhus) regularly smoke for this same reason. There was an amusing article in the gossip section of the Himalayan Times which featured different celebrities' takes on the matter. Several t.v. actors admitted to enjoying a spliff or two on Shivaraatri, while others weren't too bothered! Interesting to see a different cultural take on the whole matter compared to the U.K.'s.

Otherwise, this week has been taken up with our teaching activity at the local Paramount Public School - one of the many private schools in Nepal. While we have been given a lot more responsibility than we expected (i.e. free reign over 3 or 4 classes a day) I've enjoyed it a lot.


The children vary in age from 9 to 16 and classes are based on ability rather than age which means some of our classes have had age ranges of 3 or 4 years. The kids are almost all very enthusiastic and have surprisingly good English, indeed all their classes are taught in English, with only Nepali being the exception. The principle, Mr. Gurung, told us that this often means that the standard of the Nepali is actually pretty low...rather ironic!

One of the best aspects has been long chats with Mr. Gurung and his wife over lunch, fielding questions about life in the U.K. and asking many of our own. Mr. Gurung is the only of his brothers and sisters left in Nepal - they are all in the U.K. and one is even a Gurkha stationed in Aldershot. One of the most insighful things we talked about was the Nepali political situation and the rather shocking the fact that Maoists occasionally more-or-less blackmail the school for money due to their stance against anything privatised. This obviously worries the principle and his wife greatly as it has not been unknown for school staff to be threatened or even killed if payment is not forthcoming. This really shattered my previous image of the Maoist party as an increasingly democratic and lawful organisation. It is quite frightening to think that they may soon have a position of legitimate power in the national government.

Well that's about it for now. Tomorrow we are off on a 11 day trek which culminates in a natural amphitheater of 7- and 8000 metre-plus mountains called "The Sanctuary". Should be great!
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Pokhara, Nepal

We've reached a pleasant lull in the trip, enjoying sleeping, lake views and drinking tea at the numerous tourist restaurants here in Pokhara.

This had seemed rather natural after the sensory excesses of India, and has also been necessitated by waiting for my body to get rid of the illegal bacterial immigrant from India stowed-away somewhere in my colon! In actual fact my body's defences haven't been up to the task so I've succumbed to the antibiotics brought over from home, with almost instant results!

We have managed to do a few things in between doing nothing, however...

The World Peace Pagoda is an impressive building - as its grandiose name suggests - built on a hill high above Pokhara.

It seems to have a mainly symbolic purpose, and we couldn't even get in due to repair work, but the walk there and back was good training for trekking! The path was reached by getting a boat to the other side of Phewa Lake and walking up steeply through Chestnut forests.
PHOTO_ID_L=the-pagoda-up-close.jpg]
The view from the Pagoda would have been incredible had it been clear, but unfortunately the haze that has enveloped the town since we arrive persisted.

The walk down was easier and more sedate and brought us out in a new part of town away from the tourist activity of 'Lakeside', showing us a more real side to life here with men working the paddy fields and plenty of laundry being done in the river!

The afternoon was spent at the International Mountain Museum: $5 well spend, if only for the sheer volume of content to take in, including a 20 foot high scale model of a nearby mountain peak and countless photographs of famous mountaineering expeditions to the 8000 metre-plus peaks, many of which are in Nepal (including Annapurna I which we hope to see while trekking!).

Yesterday morning was spent checking out the island temple in the nearby Phewa Lake. It turned out to be a great day to go as it was a hive of activity with scores of locals dressed up in their equivalent of Sunday Best offering all sorts of things from coconuts to flowers to pigeons and goats



to the Hindu gods. A very spiritual atmosphere,

although the plumes of holy insence smoke made me eventually feel pretty sick; but perhaps that's just my aetheism talking!



Next week we hope to start some volunteering work at a local school. Will keep you updated!
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Pokhara, Nepal

Hello and welcome to my first entry!

I am writing this from Pokhara, Nepal's second city - not our intended first destination in Nepal but road blocks prevented our bus from getting to Kathmandu. Perhaps this has been a blessing in disguise as Pokhara is a great place: very quiet and friendly; seemingly paradise after coming from the unbelievable intensity of India.

So, after a decent enough flight in to New Delhi we arrived at our fairly grotty hostel in the main backpacker district, set in the middle of a bazaar. The place was littered with cows (often just sitting in the middle of the road obvlivious to the onrushing traffic), people selling wares, and a constant stream of horn-tooting 'auto-rickshaws'...a taste of what was to come!

We were eager to get out of Delhi but nevertheless succumbed to a city tour which was included as part of our travel arrangements to (supposedly) Kathmandu. We visited the Indian government buildings, India Gate, and a bunch of generally pretty amazing temples of various kinds:










Due to no seats on the train, we were taken by taxi to Agra - home of the Taj Mahal. Thefirst stop here was the Red Fort,



an enormous complex of gardens and temples all surrounded by a moat and towering red brick (not the university kind!) walls. It was used, rather incongrously, as a barracks and arsenal by the British in the 1800s!

The exhaustingly busy environment of Delhi was replicated in Agra and the Taj Mahal was a perfect haven of tranquility, the gardens filled with water, green grass and songbirds.







The Taj itself certainly lived up to its billing. Incredibly beautiful, its marble seemed to take on the changing colour of the sky making it appear as if almost sitting in the clouds. The throngs of tourists soon brought it back down to earth! Up close you could really appreciate the level of craftmanship that had gone into its 20 year construction with semi-precious stones inlaid into the marble to create inticate floral patterns. We had been treated to a thorough explaination of this process the night before at a marble 'factory' (read shop) that our taxi driver had dragged us to.


On we went to Varanasi, a holy city on the Ganges. We took a rather late (hardly a surpise considering it is a British legacy!) night train which in practice was much less romantic than it might sound. Very cramped bunk beds and constant distractions - mainly from Chai sellers pacing up and down the carriage - made for a fairly unpleasant trip.

Varanasi was, despite the squalour and dirt that eveloped it, a facinating and beautiful place. Unfortunately we were not there long enough to properly get to know it. However we did manage to take a night time boat trip along the numerous ghats that lead down onto the Ganjes. They have different purposes. Many are just for washing, while some have more significance as the site for marriage rituals or funeral pyres. We passed one ghat on which there must have been a dozen seperate cremations taking place; apparently it continues around the clock. Hardly suprising considering the sheer amount of serious illness that must be around the town. There were also two marriages taking place. Massive affairs with hundreds of onlookers and much music and ritual. We, along with a throng of other boating tourists watched on from the river with the ceremonies carried on above us.







And from Varanasi it was the small matter of a cramped bus trip spread over two days to Pokhara, made all the more difficult by a rather chronic bout of Delhi- (or should I say Varanisi!) belly!

It is fantastic finally be in Nepal and the contrast with India could not be greater. The people seem happier, healthier (although they are much poorer) and not constantly trying to wring you out of yet another rupee; the landscape far more pleasant: lush valleys, semi-tropical forests (we are still at quite a low altitude), steeply banked terraces...hardly any shit on the streets...

While we are staying in the tourist hub of Lakeside, we took a walk up to Pokara-proper today through tiny streets lined with quaint little wooden Newar (the dominant ethnic group in this area) houses and elaborate Hindu temples. We spent a few hours at the main temple complex the Bindyabasini mandir, mainly sitting and watching a procession of marriage ceremonies and soaking up the rather spiritual atmosphere. Unforunately we missed the animal sacrifices - the only disappointment of the day!





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