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Gokyo, Nepal

i said in my annapurna entry that chronological writing would be boring, so i thought i could test that theory in this belated scribble concerning our trek up to gokyo ri. it's going to be written mainly for other potential trekkers who are interested in walking this route, but hopefully the rest of you will find it entertaining enough to read to the end...

hmmm, i may even put an table of contents into it... fancy schmancy eh?

table of contents (there you go...)
01. List of stops (inc. altitudes)
02. List of trekkers in our party (extensive)
03. Luggage breakdown
04. Financial accounts
05. Daily notes

01. List of stops (inc. altitudes) starting 15.04.2008
Day 01 -> KATHMANDU 1,355m - PHAKDING 2,610m (via LUKLA 2,840m)
Day 02 -> PHAKDING 2,610m - NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m
Day 03 -> NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m (acclimatisation day)
Day 04 -> NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m - PHORTSE TENGA 3,680m
Day 05 -> PHORTSE TENGA 3,680m - DOLE 4,110m
Day 06 -> DOLE 4,110m - MACHHERMA 4,410m
Day 07 -> MACHHERMA 4,410m (acclimatisation day)
Day 08 -> MACHHERMA 4,410m - GOKYO 4,790m
Day 09 -> THE SACRED LAKES (day trip from GOKYO)
Day 10 -> GOKYO 4,790m - GOYKO RI 5,360m - MACHHERMA 4,410m
Day 11 -> MACHHERMA 4,410m - NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m
Day 12 -> NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m - LUKLA 2,840m
Day 13 -> LUKLA 2,840m - KATHMANDU 1,355m

02. List of trekkers in our party (extensive)
Trekker 01 -> ME
Trekker 02 -> ANNIE

03. Luggage breakdown
Having overloaded with clothing and gear on the annapurna trek, i decided to cut down on both, sacrificing cleanliness (godliness went decades ago) and a sated appetite for a lighter backpack. it helped that we were trekking 2-3 weeks further into the spring season, which meant that although the altitude we climbed was another 1,200m above annapurna base camp, the conditions were milder (despite me losing all feeling in my fingers up gokyo ri at 6am when trying to take sunrise photographs). it's about a month since i got back so the list may not be complete, but it'll be pretty close to everything i took with me.

-> 33 litre backpack
-> sleeping bag
-> thermal socks x2 (thick)
-> thermal socks x2 (thin)
-> trousers, trekking x1 (cargo)
-> walking shoes, trekking x1 (hi-tec)
-> fleece jacket x1
-> thermal long johns x1
-> thermal top x1
-> breathable trekking top x2
-> t-shirt x2
-> pac-a-mac x1
-> scarf x1 (thin, khmer rouge style)
-> hat x1 (yak wool)
-> sunglasses x1 (rayban aviators... nice)
-> toothbrush/toothpaste
-> soap x1
-> cooking stove, gas x2, saucepan (ok, annie carried these most of the time, but i took them for the last couple of days)
-> noodles, dried x8
-> coffee, sachets x7
-> trekker bars x3
-> sweets, melon candy drops x38 (i counted...)
-> camera, nikon D80
-> camera, panasonic DMC-FX12
-> ibuprofen
-> knife

04. Financial accounts
i failed to get any money out the night before we left because the power was out in kathmandu, and again in the morning at the airport for the same reason. however, i knew i had about 9,000 nepalese rupees so i wasn't worried. this altered slightly when i actually checked my pockets in lukla and realised that i only had about 6,000 rupees to my main... and the entrance fee to sagamartha national park would cost me a further 1,000r. but i decided to budget myself according to my means, which gave me a target of approximately 400 rupees each day (this is about 3.50GBP).

i shall break it down by day giving a code for each item:
a = accommodation (we shared a room every night, so this is half the actual room price)
b = breakfast
l = lunch
d = dinner
s = snacks
e = extras
d/t = daily total
if n/a is next to b, l or d, then i skipped that meal for the day. if prepaid is marked, then i brought the food with me. if 2x is written, i treated annie to something. if FREE! is next to any, then annie treated me. all prices are nepalese rupees, which at the time were approx 62 rupees=$1

Day 01
a = 100r (friendship lodge, phakding... adequate, but poor food)
b = 100r (sherpa stew @ potala guesthouse, lukla... delicious!! the best ever!!!)
l = n/a
d = 140r (sherpa stew @ friendship lodge, phakding... not good)
d/t = 340r

Day 02
a = 100r (khumbu lodge, namche bazar... also has $15 rooms. well established, well run)
b = prepaid (noodles)
l = 150r (dal baht@ a guesthouse in monjo... terrible - actually had coleslaw in it)
d = 150r (sherpa stew @ khumbu lodge... nice)
e = 200r (hot shower, shared with about 50 dead bluebottles, but fantastic anyway)
d/t = 600r

Day 03
a = 100r (khumbu lodge... if you get lucky with your room, they have the best duvets)
b = prepaid (trekker bar)
l = n/a
d = 160r (fried noodles with veg @ khumbu lodge)
e = 100r (this is where i bought the melon candy sweets)
d/t = 360r

Day 04
a = 75r (river resort, phortse tenga... very basic facilities, but good food)
b = prepaid (noodles)
l = 150r (sherpa stew @ snowland lodge, mong...food okay, but with fantastic view)
d = 100r (veg noodle soup @ river resort... good)
s = prepaid (trekker bar)
d/t = 325r

Day 05
a = 100r (yeti inn, dole... basic, dark, western toilet and also hay squat toilet)
b = prepaid (trekker bar)
l = 140r (veg noodle soup @ a guesthouse as you arrive at dole... average)
d = 280r (dal baht inc. full refill @ yeti inn... not worth half what i paid)
d/t = 520r

Day 06
a = 100r (namgyal lodge, machherma... great food, good rooms, attractive female staff)
b = prepaid (trekker bar)
l = 175r (thukpa @ namgyal lodge... excellent)
d = 295r (sherpa stew & tibetan bread... good stew, but bread was gurung not tibetan)
d/t = 570r

Day 07
a = 100r (namgyal lodge, again... acclimatisation, and appreciating the girls' looks)
b = n/a
l = 195r (fried potatoes with cheese & veg... delicious)
d = n/a
s = prepaid (trekker bar)
d/t = 295r

Day 08
a = 75r (namaste lodge, gokyo... thin walled rooms, but surprisingly warm. very good food)
b = prepaid (noodles)
l = 160r (cheese omelette @ namaste lodge... extremely good)
d = n/a
d/t = 235r

Day 09
a = 75r (namaste lodge, again... the owners are very friendly and nice - highly recommend)
b = 160r (cheese omelette... because i enjoyed the last one so much)
l = FREE! (noodles and tomato soup - annie cooked in the room)
d = 205r (cheese omelette & veg fried rice - we ordered a dish each, then shared... yum)
d/t = 440r

Day 10
a = 50r (trekkers lodge, machherma... namgyal was full, this was full of russians. not good, but annie managed to only pay half the full room fee. which was nice)
b = 150r (gokyo special soup @ namaste lodge... awesome fare!)
l = 150r (hash browns with cheese @ trekkers lodge... not bad)
d = n/a
s = prepaid (trekker bar)
s = 80r (hot chocolate x2)
d/t = 430r

Day 11
a = 100r (khumbu lodge, namche bazar... didn't get the room with the great duvets)
b = FREE! (cheese omelette @ same g/h on outskirts of dole... okay)
l = n/a
d = 190r (noodles w/cheese & veg @ khumbu lodge... good)
s = 80r (hot chocolate x2)
e = 200r (hot shower @ khumbu lodge... so necessary, so good)
d/t = 650r

Day 12
a = 100r (potala guesthouse, lukla... lovely people, brilliant sherpa stew, yappy dog)
b = n/a
l = 360r (2x apple pie/custard @ apple pie restaurant, phakding... don't bother)
d = 100r (sherpa stew @ potala g/h... the cheapest and the best, by miles)
d/t = 560r

Day 13
Flew back to hotel cosmic in the thamel area of kathmandu, having been treated to an apple crumble and coffee breakfast by annie at a bakery next to lukla's airport.

i left the trek with just 5 rupees in my pocket. but i had managed to avoid borrowing money, living on or about $7 a day. the people who propose $15+ every day must be stuffing themselves with food, or are getting fleeced with accommodation... i tend to think the former. annie is not a person to miss a single meal, and she managed to average a daily spend of approx 600 rupees.

05. Daily notes
Day 01 -> KATHMANDU 1,355m - PHAKDING 2,610m (via LUKLA 2,840m)
The day began with our flight to lukla at 8.15am. this was one of the highlights of the trek, as i was really looking forward to flying a yeti. the twin engined otter aircraft, propeller driven, 20 seats, plus pilot, co-pilot and stewardess, was full. gaps around the door when it closed showed the early morning light, which shined onto the very nervous face of annie. i'm not sure the complimentary sugardrop or wads of cotton wool to protect your ears helped alleviate her fear. i am much happier in smaller aircraft, although the big ones rarely bother me these days after so many flights in the past few years, and truly enjoyed the experience in this plane. there was only one shaky moment, sorry for the pun, when we had to climb over a ridge to get into the valley and onto the flightpath to descend into lukla. this gave us a few minutes of fairly robust turbulence, with the aircraft dropping 10-20m at a time in dead air pockets. annie looked quite white, but managed to send some vitriolic swearing in my grinning direction.

lukla's 'hillary tensing airport' is small. very small. the runway can't be more than 150-200m long, and sits on the side of a moountain. when landing you hurtle towards a rock wall, and taking off means you drop off the edge of the runway into a deep valley. not for the fainthearted. lukla is a small town with most of what you need in the way of supplies, teahouses, bars and restaurants. We didn't stay overnight on the way out, but did stop off at the Potala Guesthouse for something to eat - sherpa stew, which turned out to be the best of all the ones i had on this trip, and probably my favourite dish during my whole time in nepal.

the trek to phakding was relatively easy, much easier than most of days on the annapurna trek. there were some steps to ascend/descend, but nothing compared to before. also, plenty of rope bridges (although termed 'rope', they are made from steel cable and steel crossboards, so are much more durable than their wooden counterparts) to cross, which cheered me up no end, but did nothing for annie's vertigo. i laughed a lot at her discomfort, and occasionally swayed the bridge more than necessary... evil being that i am...haha...

we arrived at phakding around lunchtime, and decided to call it a day. staying at the 'eco-friendly lodge' was basic, with pretty ordinary food. like most of the lodges on this trek, the rooms are built using plywood partitions, which don't give much protection from talkers and snorers in other rooms.

Day 02 -> PHAKDING 2,610m - NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m
the trek from phakding to namche bazar runs along the dudh koshi khola (khola is nepali for river), crisscrossing it over more of the rope bridges along with lines of pack mules, porters and other trekkers. although we were travelling in the final week or two of the trekking season, there were still plenty of other travellers going in both directions. two hours into the walk brought us to monjo where we bought our tickets necessary to enter the sagarmatha national park. sagarmatha is the nepali name for everest.

this was a mucher tougher day, possibly the toughest if you discount problems due to altitude. but saying that, i felt really good as did annie, and we made great time. the distance we covered climbed over 800m, and took us about four and a half hours. the final ninety minutes is probably the hardest part as the steep trail takes any remaining energy out of your already exhausted legs. i arrived at the police checkpoint on the outskirts of namche ahead of annie, and chatted in broken english to the policeman on duty as i waited for her.

khumbu lodge was a good place to stay. rooms were either 200 rupees for a double, or if you wanted an ensuite bathroom, you could fork out $15... we went cheapo. the highlights of this place were a much needed shower, and huge duvets which were appreciated as the temperature continues to drop as we go further up - the days are fine, and hot, but the nights get bitterly cold.

Day 03 -> NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m (acclimatisation day)
after spending most of the night awake, cursing the town's continually barking, howling and baying dogs, i tried and failed to find an atm. all that was available was someone based in a bakery who wanted my card details and also 10% for the transaction... i don't think so.

spent a fairly lazy day just playing cards, writing a little of a novel i've begun, and photographing the chuten in the centre of town.

Day 04 -> NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m - PHORTSE TENGA 3,680m
the effects of altitude seemed to be much worse when i lay down. because there is a lot less oxygen available to breathe (67% of oxygen at sea level), it makes sleeping quite difficult. read about it here, you can see how the increasing altitude decreases the oxygen content if you punch in the heights here.

it took us five hard hours to get to phortse tenga. although the climb only looks to be a 240m increase, we topped out at 3,900m at mong, which offered some stunning views while we had lunch. the drop back down to phortse tenga involved a steep descent taking twenty minutes to complete - we were not looking forward to going back up that on the way back, i can tell you!

river resort was very basic, but the food, good. lucky really, as it is about the only place to stay on this side of the river until you get to dole.

Day 05 -> PHORTSE TENGA 3,680m - DOLE 4,110m
annie had a terrible night's sleep, and mine wasn't much better, but we set off at 7.15am intent on reaching luza if we could. this would give us an extra day at gokyo, to help with acclimatisation. however, what was recorded as a ninety minute trek to dole, turned into well over two hours, and annie wasn't feeling up to going any further when we reached this little scattering of guesthouses. we breakfasted, and on discussion with a doctor we met whilst eating (he organises volunteer doctors for HRH, the himalaya rescue hospital), decided to end the day there so as not to incur any altitude sickness. this gave us virtually an entire day to kill.

the yeti inn at dole is another basic guesthouse, with adequate food. there was only one other couple staying while we were there, because of the lateness in the season. we saw our first hay toilet here - a hole in the floorboards where everything drops through onto a huge pile of straw, which i presume is eventually used as fertiliser...? there is also a western toilet for the more squeamish, or less balanced of us. there is also a fantastic view of thamserku (6,608m) and kangtega (6,685m).

Day 06 -> DOLE 4,110m - MACHHERMA 4,410m
i failed to sleep well again, with heart palpitations and hyperventilation waking every time i dropped off. my thermals went on for the first time - longjohns and long-sleeved vest - and stayed on permanently until our return to namche bazar five days later...phew...

the day was another short stint, timewise - under three hours. but a hard walk all the same. it was a very welcome sight when machherma finally came into view!

namgyal lodge is one of the best places we stayed at on the trek. the room was warm (relatively speaking), clean and draught-free. the food was excellent, the dining room toasty, and the female staff were the prettiest on the entire journey. a huge shame that it was fully booked on the return.

Day 07 -> MACHHERMA 4,410m (acclimatisation day)
because i was feeling the altitude again, i decided to climb the rise above us to give me a better chance of sleep - if you climb and then descend again, your body has acclimatised to a higher altitude and theoretically helps when you descend. from the top of the rise we could see right up the valley, including the glacier running down, precarious paths hugging the slopes of the surrounding mountains (one of which we would be walking the next day) and the ubiquitous porters carrying their phenomenally heavy loads, whilst wearing completely inadequate clothing. i won't write too much about the porters because i would like you to visit a website dedicated to supporting them, and their rights. suffice for me to say, that anything you can do to help them would be greatly appreciated by them and their families who suffer much more than they should or need to.

Day 08 -> MACHHERMA 4,410m - GOKYO 4,790m
the climb i did on the previous day worked well. i had a good night's sleep, despite a two hour period from 2am-4am when i woke up and couldn't sleep again for overthinking. still, no hyperventilating or anything...!

the trek to gokyo which lasted four hours was the most stunning of all our days climbing. walking up the valley above a river raging with glacier melt, passing yaks clinging to mountainsides and drinking from ice cold lakes, treading warily as we climb wobbling rock steps with a long drop into the river just inches away (no comforting handrails up here, mate...), weaving our way through a 'field' of rock cairns built by previous trekkers, and eventually emerging at gokyo, heralded by a chorten covered in tibetan prayer flags. gokyo sits in the valley surrounded by the third sacred lake named dudh pokhari, goyko ri which looms overhead another 570m higher, and the ngozumpa glacier, which is the largest glacier in nepal.

we parked our butts at the gokyo namaste lodge, run by a very friendly family. although the room looked like it would be freezing, with large windows and thin plywood walls, it gave me good sleeps. the dining room was cosy, and the food was excellent. plus the room only cost us 75 rupees each!

Day 09 -> THE SACRED LAKES (day trip from GOKYO)
on our way to goyko the previous day, we had said a quick hello to an irish girl travelling in the same direction. today, as we did an acclimatisation walk further up the valley towards the fourth sacred lake, we met her again and went further than we probably would have done otherwise. this unfortunately almost certainly cause us problems when attempting the climb on gokyo ri the following day, but maybe it was just coincidence. anyway, instead of just stopping at the fourth lake, admiring the view and taking a score of photos, she convinced us to push onwards to the fifth lake, to a point where it was possible to see mount everest. i think it was this part which drained us of the energy necessary to complete gokyo ri. i went as far as i could along the ridge that ran alongside the glacier, listening as it groaned, creaked and cracked in its inexorable path down the valley. by this time, about midday, the weather was starting to close in, and i decided that it was time to go back down. annie agreed, as she was feeling unwell (probably altitude sickness), but emily wanted to go on. she is an experienced trekker and was comfortable with carrying on alone. we had some misgivings about leaving her, and constantly looked back all the way down, but we descended and waited for her return. she arrived back about the time i predicted, although without seeing everest - the weather had closed in too much for her to catch sight of the mountain.

an early night, straight after dinner, at 7.45pm, as we were getting up at 3.30am for a 4am ascent of gokyo ri. i woke at 1.30am and watched the moon rise, playing it rays across the lake and lighting up the scenery around us.

Day 10 -> GOKYO 4,790m - GOYKO RI 5,360m - MACHHERMA 4,410m
i'd spent the a few hours the previous day watching people climb and descend gokyo ri. it loked hard. it looked very hard in fact, and i was unconvinced i could complete it. i swayed from being optimistic to sure that i wouldn't reach the summit 570m up a steep path. but if i didn't try, i would spend the rest of my life kicking myself.

at 4am we stood at the bottom, and started off. i took my usual method off going as fast as possible, exhausting myself, then gathering my breath and energy for another stint. everywhere else this has worked well, both on this trek and on the annapurna one. but here, it failed me. the previous day had depleted my energy levels, and the altitude did the rest. a climb which i had estimated should take 90-120 minutes, was sucking the life out of me. added to this, i was endeavouring to gain the summit in time for sunrise at 6.10am. i struggled up, consoling one german bloke who was having altitude problems and had turned back, but was still 50m from the top five minutes before the sun was due up. rather than miss it by continuing upwards, i traversed round to the front of the mountain facing the east, and sitting on a large boulder started taking photos with both cameras. i had two pairs of gloves on for the climb, but had to take both off to work the cameras, and this froze my fingers to the bone in minutes. i got some good shots, watched a beautiful sunrise, with blues and pinks and yellows bouncing off clouds, snow and ice, ate a high energy bar, spent ages trying to open my frozen water bottle, and rested. after 20-30 minutes i rose to finish the ascent, only to find that my legs were like jelly. i just couldn't climb any more. walking back round to the path, i thought it was stupid not to get to the top as i was a mere 50m or so below the summit, and set off up the trail again. but after getting up another 10m, i was certain that i could go no further. i was utterly exhausted.

descending, disconsolately, i stopped frequently to chat with people still climbing. what had taken me over two hours to climb, took me twenty minutes to get down. annie had turned back at an early stage, suffering from the altitude sickness which had worried her the day before. emily reached the top ahead of me, but because of the glaring sun, had failed to get a good view of everest. that was some small consolation, that i would have been disappointed of the lack of view of everest (which i had actually seen a couple of days earlier from the rise above machherma). still, it was a disappointing day in that respect, so when i got back to the lodge and breakfasted with annie, we decided to head back downhill to machherma.

leaving late morning, it took us a mere two and a half hours to walk down again. as we reduced our altitude, our breathing got much easier, our energy levels rose, and our spirits grew. the final kick in the teeth for the day was that namgyal lodge was full, and the alternative we picked (trekkers lodge) was full of russians... fair to say though, they weren't as loud or as obnoxious as i had come to expect.

Day 11 -> MACHHERMA 4,410m - NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m
we woke to leave at 5.45am, determined to reach namche bazar, and a hot shower, by the end of the day. annie was exhausted, and i was very drained myself. we stopped at dole for breakfast, then after a steady walk to phortse tenga, halted at the bottom of the steep climb to mongla. ordering hot chocolate at a little teahouse, or thinking we had anyway, and finally giving up and going after a break of 30 minutes, was a welcome rest before this most daunting part of our return. however, this was where my method came up trumps, and i managed to make it to the top in 75 minutes, with annie following closely behind only ten minutes later. after lunch, and a chat with a nice swedish couple, we completed the final leg of the day arriving at namche bazar, khumbu lodge, and a hot shower around 3pm. so, over nine hours hard walking, with maybe an hours break, after yesterday's monumental effort, gave us an immense amount of satisfaction... and aching limbs.

Day 12 -> NAMCHE BAZAR 3,440m - LUKLA 2,840m
we didn't set out to walk all the way back to lukla, mainly because we were shatterd and there was now real reason to do so as our flight out was in another three days. but, as the day wore on, and my energy levels rose, and subsequently my cajoling of annie increased, we got closer and closer to the end. we took a break at one point, and after we realised we were a lot closer than we had presumed, annie found untapped reserves, and we traipsed into lukla an hour or so later in the dying afternoon.

as the sherpa stew at potala guesthouse had been so good, i wanted to stay there and have some more. annie ordered it as well this time, and agreed that it was delicious. the room was fine, although there was no electricity or lighting, and there seemed to be something scurrying around directly above us in the attic, which was probably a rat. despite this, i had a solid eight hours sleep, my best since leaving kathmandu.

Day 13 -> LUKLA 2,840m - KATHMANDU 1,355m
because of lack of funds, and our desire to get back to kathmandu, we left early to get to the airport in an attempt to change our flights. after some to'ing and fro'ing, we eventually found the office of yeti airlines, and easily altered our return date to 8.40am that day. after paying the departure tax, i left the ground and the trek with just five rupees in my pocket. not bad. the flight was good, the usual turbulence going over the ridge out of lukla, but annie was more relaxed this time, and there were only four passengers, so we had more room to spread out.

that's it. that's the tale of our gokyo trek. i'd do it again, if only to conquer gokyo ri. and i would recommend trekking in nepal to virtually anyone. i saw children walking with their parents, geriatrics and all manner of trekker. i'm not sure i'd want to go in high season though as i think the experience would be compromised by the amount of people on the trail. but this trail is nothing compared to what it would be like on the everest base camp trek across the valley... and you can't even see everest from that base camp! if you have any questions concerning my experience, please email me to ask.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1207981020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1207981020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1207981020/tpod.html Sat, 12 Apr 2008 03:20:47 -0400 India-Nepal-UK...A holiday from my holiday.

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Chitwan National Park, Nepal

After everything i said about staying away from kathmandu during the elections here, we ended up slap bang in the middle of it... but no harm done - there's been no obvious problems, security is pretty tight, and the elections themselves have passed off remarkably peacefully considering everything that went on beforehand. the acid test will be once the results come in, in about 2-3 weeks. plus there are about 55 polling stations which need to rerun for various reasons (out of 21,000). we'll be out of here by then, as we're off to trek up to gokyo ri in a few days. this will bring us to a point 5,500m above sealevel, and with the vantage of seeing mount everest in the near distance (something which can't be done from everest base camp, strangely).

but back to the recent past...

after leaving pokhara - and we found that each and every one of us was sick of the place in just a couple of days, with the overpricing, lying and general tourist malaise that infects so many locals in popular haunts - we took a bus almost directly south to chitwan national park. the most famous non-mountain orientated attraction in nepal is where you can warm up (with temperatures 35C and upwards while we were there), chill out, and for a price (of course) see many animals which are completely unexpected when you think of this country.

we were reluctant to book onto a package deal, partly from the exorbitant prices, but mainly because we didn't want to troop around a 'traditional tribal village, staring and pointing cameras at 'traditional tribal peoples', giving money to tourguides who hand over little or nothing to the villagers themselves - exactly the thing that mirror in thailand is so set against.

so we did it independently - booked bus tickets, got picked up (somewhat cheekily and without much choice) from the bus stop and taken to one of the many 'jungle camp' resorts in the area. this one was pretty nice though for the price (300 rupees a night for a twin room - approx $5), and was based right on the bank of the rapta river opposite the park itself.

the girls did some scouting in the local village (sauraha) and found competitive prices for a jeep safari (much cheaper than our resort offered), which we booked for the following day.

i won't go into the whole day in detail as much was just sitting on the back of a jeep staring into the undergrowth either sides of the dirt track, trying to see animals. but there were a few outstanding moments which i have to share :)

firstly, i noticed the dirt on the track. as we drove along, it was parted by the jeep wheels like water. the dust was so dry and the particles so small, that it seemed that we were on board a speedboat rather than an old banged up 4x4. as the powder parted, it made waves before floating into the air for a few inches and then settling on the track again, as well as coating the bushes and trees either side with a layer of dust which gave the normally green leaves a grey/white pallor.

secondly, let me ask you a question. do peacocks fly? my experience of these birds is limited to ornamental gardens, parks and not much more. i heard plenty of them around the taj mahal in india, but saw very few. here though, within the first hour, i saw maybe two dozen of the males. some of them were doing a convoluted mating dance, with their long beautiful tailfeathers spread out in the characteristic fan to attract females, turning in slow tight circles, showing their colours, and backside, to their potential partners. this was ruined by us barreling through the middle of their courtship play, with presumably irritated birds dashing into the undergrowth. to answer the question though... yes, peacocks fly. a sight which practically dropped my jaw, as it was something i'd never really considered, and was amazed to watch. and as i looked around, i could see individual birds sitting high in trees with their tailfeathers dropping below their branches by as much as four feet. a nice thing to begin the day with.

we saw some deer, jungle chickens (we knew they were jungle chickens because they were wearing loincloths and swinging through the trees on vines), a game bird which reminded me of a partridge or a grouse, monkeys, and some wild boar, as well as a large variety of birds in a myriad of wonderful colours. interesting, but not something which is likely to lift you from your seat very far...

...but then our driver, with our guide sitting cross-legged on the roof of the cabin, took us to a point just off the trail. where we watched a couple of rhino watching us in return. this was it. rhino for crying out loud... i'm in africa... how did i get here from nepal??? over the course of the day, we probably saw more than a dozen of these creatures, mostly immobile as they weighed up our potential danger. a small family of them ran across the track in front of our vehicle, and there was one how started to move towards us, as i imagine it viewed us as a threat. the driver took us out of there before anything untoward occurred though. most had had their horns removed to deter poachers, although we did see a couple with fully grown, and very sharp looking, points.

...and then as we drove along part of the track, and i was staring at tracks in mud at the side of the road (we were passing over a large pond, with reeds and lilies obscuring the view of the water), i saw a back. calling to the guide to stop, we backed up a little and jumped out. well, a lad we had befriended called james, and me jumped out. he is very interested in wildlife and loves snakes above everything else. i had seen an indian python. as we approached it, i got photos of its back and head, while james was endeavouring (we discovered afterwards) to pick it up! but the snake was too wily for him, and as we watched, it retreated backwards into the reeds keeping its head realised defensively as it did so. but this was fantastic, i loved that discovery. largely because i'd seen it as we drove along, but also because it wasn't on the list of animals we expected or even hoped to see.

this sight competes with the other highlight of the day. we had eaten lunch by a lake, watching two rhinos cool down in the heat of the day on the other side of the water, and were all getting tired. soon after this we approached one of the many military outposts in the park. i still haven't ascertained what they were there for - they look too comprehensive for being solely concerned with poaching, with defensive perimeters, barbed wire, sentry posts, machine-gun pits and lookout towers - but possibly the proximity of the indian border has an influence. anyway, as we came driving up to it, we saw another jeep safari ahead of us, and they were reversing and waving us back. our driver ignored this and drove up to where they were. about a hundred yards away, a bull elephant, one of many wild elephants in the park, was in a really bad mood for some reason. it was posturing in front of the barbed wire fence and making moves towards it. around this time, it saw us (apparently elephant eyesight is not so hot, so maybe it just smelled us - we hadn't washed for a while so that seems more likely), and then the most hilarious thing happened. imagine a bull elephant - not a small delicate creature - virtually tiptoing quietly from tree to tree, and then hiding behind them to see if we could still see it. it acted like a big game hunter as it circled us over the course of about ten or fifteen minutes, stopping at each tree (with its backside sticking out a mile) to check on our position. once it had reached the road, with the jeeps between us and it (we had retreated to a position next to the main gate of the army post), it bellowed a few times and then made to charge us! i would guess that it probably didn't travel more than a few yards before stopping, but by this tiume the guides had shouted and dived for the safety of the compound. seeing this everyone else followed suit, with legs, arms and cameras flying over, under and through the gate (only annie walking around it with an air of calm, allegedly). from a position of relative safety, we watched as the soldiers and guides beat plates, cups and cutlery, whilst shouting loudly, to deter the young bull from attacking. this was probably a redundant move as the elephant appeared to be happy that it had established its superiority over us. within a few minutes, still being cock 'o' the walk, it strutted back the way it had come, and disappeared into the treeline. the adrenalin had pumped through all of us, and we laughed with excitement, as well as a degree of relief. another thing which we hadn't expected on our day out.

the rest of the day was an anticlimax, and we drooped visibly after the entertainment of the elephant episode had worn off. and although we never got to see the sloth bears, or some of the bengal tigers which populate the park, we felt we had got more than enough fun for our money. and i shall never forget the tiptoing elephant hiding behind those trees.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1207027380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1207027380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1207027380/tpod.html Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:55:35 -0400 India-Nepal-UK...A holiday from my holiday.

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Pokhara, Nepal

the most logical way to lay this entry out would be chronologically. it was twelve days of trekking up the modi khola valley (khola means river, and 'modi' is its name), and then back down again. but, chronological order tends to be boring doesn't...

...day one - we start walking, oh isn't it hard work, ouch my feet hurt, ooh look at the big hills, whoops i tripped over a rock, stop looking at the hills while i walk, gosh i'm tired, sleep...

...day two - we start walking, oh isn't it hard work, ouch my feet hurt, ooh look at the big hills, whoops i tripped over a rock, stop looking at the hills while i walk, gosh i'm tired, sleep...

etc etc... so no thanks, i'll write it hotch potch instead :)

to start with, i better tell you what we did, where this trek is, and other salient facts that should help you visualise... especially as you'll get to see no photosd until i return to the uk and am able to throw them up online without waiting for hours in an internet cafe, paying a fortune for the privilege.

the annapurna conservation area is a vast (sort of) national park north west of kathmandu by a couple of hundred kilometres. it covers a number of the largest mountains in the himalayas, including annapurna I, annapurna II, annapurna III (aren't they clever with coming up with these names?), annapurna south (slightly better named), and the wonderful sounding machhapuchre (aka fishtail, because it has twin peaks which viewed from certain angles looks like a... yep, fishtail). these mountains form a huge circle at the top end of the modi khola valley, so that if you look down on it all it would be the shape of a keyhole.

can you visualise it? the bottom of the circle is the opening to the valley which drops down to the plains around pokhara and nayapal. there is another, more popular, trek called the annapurna circuit which goes round the outside of the circle. but we scoffed at this idea when we saw how many internet cafes were scattered along the way. with the multitude of trekkers who would be walking that way, it would be like going to town on a saturday afternoon (albeit a town with dirt tracks, forest, and snow).

so we decided to 'do' the annapurna sanctuary instead. i know i said i wouldn't write chronologically, but here's the itinerary (just to get it out of the way...)

day 1: phedi-pothana
day 2: pothana-new bridge
day 3: new bridge-chhomrong (it's not a spelling mistake... they like double 'h's)
day 4: chhomrong-bamboo
day 5: bamboo-deurali
day 6: deurali (altitude acclimatisation day)
day 7: deurali (annie sick)
day 8: deurali-machhapuchre base camp
day 9: mbc (with a day trip to annapurna base camp)
day 10: mbc-bamboo
day 11: bamboo-jihnudanda (aka by us as 'jill dando')
day 12: jill dando-birethanti (then taxi back to pokhara)

right, that's that. if you want to know where these places are, you can research it on the web. i intend to buy a map of the area be3fore i leave so if i see you, i can show you on there what i have lamely tried to describe here.

the travel up the valley, and the stay at base camp (mbc, not abc) were all at what are commonly known as teahouses. what they are though, essentially, are guesthouses. much the same as you'd get anywhere when you travel. sort of a bed 'n' breakfast without the free breakfast. and without any bed linen apart from a base sheet and pillow. and being made in the nepali style, with slate stone piled on top on each other (like a drystone wall in yorkshire etc) and windows and doors loosely fitted in, the wind (and more importantly, the cold) seeps in with hardly any obstruction. this is fine at the lower end of the valley where cold isn't really an issue, but up at deurali, and especially at mbc, we were frozen to the bone.

teahouses are very basic, as you can see. there is a common dining area, which has a single large table for eating. in the evenings, a gas stove is shoved under the table (which is surrounded by blankets to keep the heat in) so that trekkers can warm their legs (and cockles), and also any clothing which they are prepared to shed so it can be dried - usually very smelly socks. the food is standardised all the way up the valley, and the price is controlled by the 'tourism sub-mangament committee'. this means that trekkers pay a fair price, and no unscrupulous hostellers can charge outrageous fees because someone is struck halfway up a mountain with no other choice. the prices rise with the altitude, so that by the time you reach the base camps, most things have at least doubled. why should this be you ask... have you asked? if not, please ask now or you'll have to skip the next paragraph.

thanks for asking... i'll tell you. the porters, which you'll probably know as sherpas. the most famous being sherpa tensing who carried edmund hillary's spare socks and underwear when the ascended everest for the first time in 1953. but sherpa is the name of a hilltribe, like the akha or lahu in thailand. in our area the dominant hilltribe are called the gurung. anyway, the porters are the people who do all the hard work. an incredibly sturdy, hardy, overworkede and underpaid set of men, women and children. while we are huffing, puffing and complaining our way up a 500m steep hill with knees jarring and thighs screaming out in pain carrying our 8-10kgs of supplies, clothing and sleeping bags, these people are carrying on average 50kgs, every day of their lives, for much further distances than we can ever hope to achieve. all for the princely sum of about 300 rupees a day (approx 2.50quid or $5). i even saw some, trudging through the snows around mbc, just wearing flip flops - these are nepalese flip flops which are the most uncomfortable and painful things you can imagine). most porters have the 10,000 yard stare needed to cope with the daily grind up and down the hills, but if you greet them with a 'namaste' and a smile, the majority return it. and when they sit down at the end of the day, eating and sleeping in the same dining halls that we slurp our noodle soup in, they are full of jokes and fun, eat voraciously the dall baht (like an indian thali), and take the odd nip of bolied water and rum to warm their own cockles. the porters carry all the supplies needed to sustain life up in the hills. this includes: the ingredients for cooking - eggs, rice, noodles, most vegetables, spices, pizzas, burgers etc; products to sell to the trekkers and climbers - chocolate, drinks (soft and hard), toilet paper, cigarettes, snacks; building materials for new houses; gas bottles; live chickens; and everything necessary to keep the community and the trekkers in some semblance of comfort.

these people are akin to the hilltribe people of thailand in other ways as well. apart from the hardiness and hardness of the life, they share a path back to a common ancestry, which hails from china. listening to their speech, i can hear echoes of akha, with similarities of tone, emphasis and mannerism. it made me feel a little homesick for chiang rai and mirror. there doesn't seem to be a discernible style of dress above the wearing of long, modest skirts from the women, traditional hats for the men, and earrings for just about everyone (girls get the extra bonus of a nose ring). but again, most people as you pass will smile happily as you 'namaste' them (i should say that 'namaste' basically means 'hello').

once we left the taxi which dropped us at the bottom of a dauntingly tall hill, and began to climb it, we didn't see another petrol driven vehicle until we reached birethanti twelve days later (apart from the odd helicopter). everything that had to be carried, delivered or despatched, was done by human effort, or pack mule. here's what both have to endure to get and down the valley...

remember the shape when looking down? now add to that impression by viewing the valley end-on from the start. so we look at the wide end of our keyhole. either side are hills (when does a hill become a mountain btw?) which rise usually 300-600m. don't forget that we started at around 1,300m above sea level. you have the modi khola running down the centre of the valley, but coming in from the sides, cutting their way down the hills are tributaries which flow into the main river. over the millennia, these have created deep gashs in the hills meaning that when you walk up the valley, you have to go 300m+ up one side of a hill, then usually 300m+ down the other, cross the tributary, and then start again. to get up the entire valley i think we must have crossed 10-12 of these, and then maybe 6-8 going back down (we took a different route back after new bridge which cut out a couple of the worst of these). it can get very dispiriting getting to what you think is the top of a hill to find that you have another 50m to climb. and then you get there and there's another 50m. and another. and when you do finally reach the summit, you look across the valley to see that you have to do it all again when you have jarred your knees to pieces getting down the other side of this one. but, by crikey, i'm fitter now than i have been in years, and slimmer than i have been in months.

there wasn't too much animal life that we saw. the outstanding sights for me were the eagles. because we were so high up (we finally peaked, at abc, at 4,130m - about 12,500ft), we often watched them wheel below us, on the search for prey, and on our last day as we descended down the valley one cruised above me, just a few metres over my head, casting a large shadow which made me look up. a beautiful awe-inspiring sight. the other notable wildlife, which only tom and dawn saw, were some hamster/mouse type animal. from their description it sounds like a jerboa (which is the emblem of the WWII british army division, the desert rats. but i have no eye deer whether they are also found in nepal.

fauna was strange in that even above 2,000m we saw not only bamboo growing, but also banana trees. scattered across the hills randomly, and sometimes complete forests, were rhodedendron trees with vivid magenta/pink flowers, which i understand is the national flower of nepal. i can see why. at the top, not much grew above 3-4 inches above the ground. the weather is too severe and the climate too harsh for much else to endure. there are the odd tree and bush which brave the elements, but it isn't until you return to the valley that there is enough protection to allow more plants to take a grip on the earth.

finally, i'll tell you about our reason for going. the whole point of the trek. we could see, occasionally, peaks of mountains as we ascended. usually fishtail, and annapurna I. but the others largely remained hidden from view, either due to the surrounding hills, direction of the valley, or clouds. as we got to mbc and entered the arena, the stadium, the inner circle of annapurna, we dropped our jaws at the sight. but even that was nothing compared to the view at abc. an extremely hard two hour climb, across rock, boulder, scrub, through snow, at sub zero temperatures, at an altitude which left me breathless and walking like a drunken 90-year old with asthma (stopping every few yards to suck in more oxygen while my lungs screamed and wheezed at the same time), ended with one of the most magnificent views i've had the honour to see first hand. it isn't until this point that you realise the scale of the mountains, or the beauty of the circle you standing in the middle of. it's difficult to describe, but if you can imagine walking into the centre circle of somewhere like wembley stadium or the bernabou, and increasing the size by 100 times, and swapping the stands for snow capped jagged mountains which dropped minor avalanches of melting ice, snow or rock as the sun beats down on them, and send an enormous glacier through the middle of it all which carves its way like an earthdigger sending up piles of dirt and stone to either side on its journey, and cover the whole scene in glistening snow... then you may have some idea of what i mean.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1205838840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1205838840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1205838840/tpod.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:40:35 -0400 India-Nepal-UK...A holiday from my holiday.

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Kathmandu, Nepal

to begin with, i have to apologise for lack of photos. i've just spent an hour trying to upload some of the taj mahal, india in general, and some of nepal... but internet access here is slow at best, and uploading pics to travelpod is much more difficult than it should be.

i also think the title of this travelogue is going to change fairly soon. with the events in tibet spiralling, and the chinese insisting it's the fault of that well-known warmonger, the dalai lama, i'm loathe to visit now. as you know, tibet and china were both on the list of countries, but currently tourists are unbable to enter the tibet autonomous region as far as i'm aware. this will undoubtedly be because the chinese authorities intend to use violent methods to contain this protest, and do not wish the outside world to see or condemn. so if i cannot enter one country, then i refuse to visit the second. the chinese will have no more money from my pocket until i see some progress in the longstanding issue of tibet.

okay, with the apology and editorial out of the way, let's get down to business...

so, nepal. yup, love it. LOVE IT! it's everything that i thought india would, and should, be. friendly, relaxed, cheap. from the start, with smiling and chatty passport visa officials at kathmandu airport, our time here has been almost unblemished joy and fun. the obvious downfalls have been a few taxi drivers and hawkers, but even most of them have a smile on their face (sometimes even broader when they realise you've caught them trying to stiff you for a few extra rupees more than fair).

the following are a few notes of thoughts etc, under headers... i think it'll be easier for me to write this way, but let's see what happens...

KATHMANDU
The capital of nepal, if you were unaware. a sprawling city, with plenty of slums and poor citizens, but a lot cleaner than anywhere i saw in india. that's not to say it's spic 'n' span, it's not. there are areas which overflow with rubbish, and the roads are full of potholes in many places. however, overall, it could be a lot worse considering the level of poverty and government infrastructure.

we didn't do much sightseeing in kathmandu. partly, we were just happy enough to catch up with tom and dawn (our friends who we are spending all our nepalese trip with) who we hadn't seen since june, and partly we jsut wanted to chill out after the indian ordeal. staying in the backpacker area of thamel (pronounced tamel - same as thailand, in that you don't pronounce the 'h'), we spent most of our time in that area, eating, shopping and kicking back. i bought a few extra necessities for our treks - a trekking stick, waterproof trousers, a 45l rucksack - and some souvenirs which we'll be sending back to the uk when we return to kathmandu in a couple of weeks.

the city, and indeed the country, is gearing up for elections in the next few weeks, and there are plenty of animated people around. the highest profile party is the maoists, who until recently were a rebel group operating out of mountain strongholds, fighting the government and army. now they are part of the political process, although reading the 'kathmandu post', you'd be forgiven for thinking they were still fighting. the newspaper appears to be a government mouthpiece, but there are a few stories which have more than a small grain of truth about them. the maoists seem to be sending out the members to bully and coerce citizens in remote areas to vote for them. in the cities, they use loud, organised, marches and meetings to push themselves. we have seen one such meeting in bhaktapur, and more than one march in various areas. only time will tell what will happen if they come to power, or possibly worse, if they don't.

BHAKTAPUR
what a fantastic city! well, what a fantastic old walled town within the city... bhaktapur dates back to around the 11th century, and is a maze of little streets and alleys. buildings lean at impossible angles, some with huge logs propping up the walls, cutting out virtually all light, and warmth, from these small walkways. the sense is of a medieval town which has hardly changed in a thousand years. there are, obviously, the tourist cafes, ATMs, souvenir shops and electricity, but for the most part, the people here carry on as they have for centuries past. even the electricity is not a constant of modernity, as every day here (and in most parts of nepal), power shuts down for 4-6 hours usually in the evening. this leaves the town with an even older feel, as candles are lit, and the hum of generators produce light from bulbs strung across occasional shop fronts.

the streets are interconnected by squares. pottery square, durbar square, and an armful of others litter the map. each one has it's own character - pottery square understandably is full of potters, throwing the clay onto stone wheels, and sunning the resultant pots in the courtyard before piling them up with straw to create an instant kiln. durbar square is full of temples, as well as the museum, whilst our square holds one of the oldest temples in bhaktapur. every morning, starting around 4.30am, devotees (for bhaktapur means, 'city of devotees') arrive to pray. they ring the bells around the shrine, make offerings, and around 8am, the shrine caretaker throws a bowl of water against the garuda in front of the temple splashing all that gather - this is considered good luck for the forthcoming day.

we stayed at 'siddhi laxmi' guesthouse, and i befriended a young university student working there called lasta. she gave us a good discount on our rooms, and took us out to a cheap, 'non-tourist' restaurant on our last night there. we all spent far too much money on souvenirs whilst in bhaktapur, but i don't think any of us regret it at all. and we've all fallen in love with the place, so much so that we mused for hours about living there.

BHAKTAPUR-CHANGU NARAYAN-NAGAKOT-NALA-DUHLIKHEL-NAMOBUDDHA-BHAKTAPUR
we thought it would be a good idea to test out our trekking capabilities before embarking on a two week hike through the mountains. sensible, eh... so, probably not my idea. looking at a map of kathmandu valley, we decided on a relatively gentle three-day walk taking us up to around 2,000 metres above sea level and in sight of the himalayas (or part of them at least). tom was still suffering from a stomach bug he'd picked up just before we arrived in nepal - there's a rumour that dawn poisoned him with the toothbrush she uses to clean her toenails, which he proceeded to clean his teeth with, but it's more likely the dodgy chicken burger he ate - so him and dawn jumped into a taxi headed for nagakot with a dutch couple, while myself and annie headed off on our walk. i tried to limit what i was carrying, but because of my SLR camera i had to use two small backpacks, which was ungainly and a little uncomfortable. this is now remedied as i have a hip bag just large enough for the SLR, so although i shall probably smell like the backside of a yak by the end of two weeks, i can fit everything necessary for a two week trek into one 33l backpack (i hope).

the first 90 minutes saw us walking along a tarmac backroad, followed by a fairly steep climb to changu narayan temple. this vishnu shrine dates back to as early as the 2nd century, and has some beautiful carvings sculpted into the stone and woodwork. we lunched on soup and sprite before starting off again on the walk to nagakot. the trek took us along a dusty and rock strewn dirt track this time, in the middle of a hot afternoon. annie was feeling under the weather as well, although not as bad as tom. we took it slowly and apart from a short break when myself and some nepalese children were taking bets on whether she'd throw up or not, we completed the first half of the journey without too much hardship. this took us to talkot, approximately halfway to nagakot. it's recommended that trekkers take the bus from here because the second half of the journey is not only boring, but very steep and windy. we took a seat outside a shop and waited. after ten minutes a taxi pulled up in front of us. 'nagakot? you want go nagakot?'. hmmm, yes, but how much would he charge..? 'only 500 rupees!'. we laughed, and then asked a local policeman when the bus would arrive, 'fifteen minutes', he replied in heavily accented english. 'no, no, no. bus very late. two hours. big problem. only 500 rupees.' as we told him we'd wait for the bus, him smiling at his cheekiness as much as we were, the bus appeared around the corner. the smiles got broader and the taxi driver moved off chuckling. the twenty minute bus ride cost us 10 rupees.

tom and dawn were waiting for us in nagakot, where they'd already booked into a room in the 'hotel at the end of the universe'. when the guy tried to charge me and annie more for a room with less facilities than tom and dawn had, we compromised and all moved into a larger double room for 150 rupees a head (about 1.25GBP). the hotel is a very chilled out place atop the highest point in nagakot. it makes for spectacular viewsd of the mountains, especially at sunrise. well, it would when there isn't a mass of mist, clouds and haze covering everything. unfortunately for that time, and indeed every day since we had arrived in nepal, this had been the norm. not even a hint of a mountain top could be seen, either in the evening or the dawn of the following day. but we rested in a nice wooden common room, ate good nepali food and played cards. the night was cold but having brought my sleeping bag with me, i was snug enough.

after the disappointment of the sunrise next morning, we paid our bill and set out on the next part of the trek, to duhlikhel via nala. this took us downhill for much of the walk, and as we exited the hills and moved across the valley floor, we went indian file along dirt walls which separated the multitude of potato fields. kathmandu valley seems to have two major industries - potatoes and bricks. both vie for the same land, as the dirt which is so fertile in producing potatoes is also ideal for making bricks. we often walked past fields which were half and half, as one crop was in the process of converting to the other. by the time we reached (and walked through without realising it) nala, everyone was hot and tired. at this point we hopped on one of the local buses, which dropped us at bandepa where we caught a second bus to dulhikhel.

within a few minutes of arrival, a wide-eyed, staring nepalese man, with scars all over his face came aboard. he sat in front of me looking around the bus, and as it pulled up to our stop, he stood and came nose to nose with me. 'duhlikhel very nice, my hotel very good. you come with me..' thrusting a business card up my nose as he spoke. 'ah, yep, no thanks' hoping that would be the end of it. but no, he followed us without speaking much more, but as we crossed the road to grab some lunch he moved onto another english couple on the same bus. however, as we ate he returned and sat outside the restaurant room, waiting. followed annie to the bathroom as well. but we got more insistent and vocal towards him, and he eventually got the message. that completely put me off the town. but ti was getting late in the day, and we had nowhere booked for the night. so, with a quick glance through lonely planet (sorry, paul), we walked off towards shiva guest house (annie had phoned, and they had rooms). but, when only a couple of minutes away, we changed plans and decided to go up the hill to panoramic view guest house. what a killer climb. children were running around us and we hauled our weary bodies, loaded down with gear, up the steps and dirt track. thirty or so mins later, we stood outside the hotel, looking down on the valley below. the guest house, as is often the case apparently, was empty. understandable from the climb, but not so understandable when you looked at the view. i took a chilling and wonderful cold bucket shower, before we relaxed on the roof top. an early meal was followed by an early retirement to bed - 7.30pm or so if i remember rightly.

annie woke me in the morning with the words, 'mountains'. i jumped up and dashed to the window. a huge grin spread across my face as i saw, for the first time, 100km or more of the himalaya mountain range, sweeping from the horizon on my left side towards the haze covering the remainder on my left. dawn, then tom, came out, and we all stood with stupid, inane smiles as we stared at the beauty in the distance.

once we had breakfasted on the roof, we thanked our hosts and set off again. this stage took us along a dirt track which hugged the side of the hills, gentle rises and falls aiding our progress, and isolated villages dotting the path we walked. for the first hour or more, we were able to keep the mountains in our view, majestic and imposing even at this distance. then we rounded the brow of one of the hills and lost sight of them. but that morning, more than any other so far, brought home to me the fact that i am in nepal.

midmorning we stopped for a rest on the side of a hill near a newari settlement, and chatted to a young nepali goatherder and his father. as we spoke, and shared biscuits, we watched as eagles soared and circled a few metres above us. a wonderful sight on a sunny and beautiful day. one of many wonderful sights - the boys playing poram in the villages, the women washing at the communal watering holes, the women walking through the forest on their way to collecting firewood for the day laughing and pointing as we said 'namaste' and smiled at them.

when we got to namobuddha, our destination for the morning trek, we flopped into seats at a small shop and drank our fantas, cokes or tea with gusto. an irish lad on a yogic pilgrimage talked to us about his time in nepal. nearly four months of studying in yoga centres, with various diets to enhance his meditations, hadn't stopped him from tucking into a big bag of crisps i noticed. but i didn't comment. again, we had tired early so decided to climb aboard the next bus. this came within a few minutes and with an eagerness of bouncing, rattling, honking and shouting, it carried us down a steep, slightly precarious, track. first to panuti, where we changed bus, then back to bhaktapur via banepa.

a final night in bhaktapur, the evening which we dined out with lasta, bought our final souvenirs, and slept soundly, before taking a taxi back to kathmandu the next day.

POKHARA
we spent two nights in kathmandu, the first of which involved footie and a few beers. this is one of only three nights where i (and the other three) have had any alcohol. three evenings, and only 2-3 beers each time, in over two weeks. i feel like a martyr to my cause... :)

the rest of the time in town was a combination of sleeping, reading, watching tv, eating too much, shopping for final trek bits and not much else. on tuesday morning, at 7am, we boarded the 'tourist bus' to pokhara. bus is a slight misnomer. bus yes, but only 25 seats, packed into a vehicle which would comfortably fit 15 seats. at least the journey was broken into three stages with 20 breaks at rest stops along the way. i spent most of the time with one arm dangling out of the window to give myself a little more room stuck up in the corner on the back row. it also gave me a good view of the crashes along the way. nepal is notorious for it road traffic accidents. many a bus or lorry has plummeted down the side of the mountains they drive along, and this thought wasn't lost on me as we careered at high speed around blind curves, or over deeply scarred and potholed roads. at the end of seven hours though, we made it to pokhara. haggling over the price of a taxi didn't improve our moods, but after walking away from one, we managed to convince another driver that four people and their luggage would fit into (and onto) one taxi. ten minutes and 105 rupees later we stopped outside 'sanctuary guesthouse'. tom and dawn had spent two weeks there earlier in the month, so were greeted like old friends. with the exception of a bus journey into town this morning to stock up on food for our trek tomorrow, and a bike ride to the offical office where we obtained our trekking permits, we have little need to travel further afield in our short visit here. a small cafe opposite the guesthouse and this internet place on the corner, is virtually sufficient for all our needs.

okay, that's it for now. as i said we are starting our trek in the annapurna mountain range tomorrow. we are taking the sanctuary route, aka the ABC (annapurna base camp) route. this should be a 9-12 day trek, but we are aiming to take 14-15 days, with a one day diversion to poon hill. i have no eye deer whether there is internet access along the way, so will bid my farewells now.

hope you enjoyed this entry, and hopefully i'll have a very exciting one to write for you on my return!

catch you all soon :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1205211900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1205211900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1205211900/tpod.html Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:37:40 -0400 India-Nepal-UK...A holiday from my holiday.

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Delhi, India

So part two of the india section of our journey...

what to say...? well, i have been disappointed with my time here, as you have already surmised from the last entry. delhi showed a semblance of friendliness, more so than any other of the cities. but it was too little and too late for me. i may return one day, and if so it would have to be for at least three months, and away from the major cities, but that trip is now well down on my list of priorities. tom, one half of tom & dawn who we met up with in nepal, said that their travels (6 months throughout the country) had also left him not wanting to return. he was amazed and unhappy with the fact that tourism has taken such a hold in every place they visited (these two have been travelling for three years now and have seen plenty).

we spent our single day in delhi visiting the red fort - a huge complex built by the mughals 400 years ago - and the spice market. the spice market is a seething mass of humanity which assails your senses from the moment you arrive. if you think india in general is busy and overcrowded, go to the spice market. thousands of people jostle with each other; traders buying and selling by the sack in a little courtyard area, like a spice version of wall street; retailers searching out the cheapest and most fragrant spices for their restaurants, porters rushing to and fro carrying sacks on their heads; sellers sniffing samples to test their quality; and the occasional sightseer naive enough to enter this mayhem.

i also managed to find a camera shop, and purchased a new zoom lens (sigma 28-300mm for 181GBP). i had been very unhappy about the quality of my photos without my other zoom lens, so thought the buy a necessity. the fact that it was a good deal less than i'd buy in the uk, and also that i was interested in getting one like this eventually, helped to cushion the financial blow. speaking of which, my bank seems to have finally gotten the message - i arrived in kathmandu and am now able to withdraw a decent amount from the atm (well, the first time at least as i haven't tried again yet). this has only taken about six months of emailing, pleading, moaning and threatening to close my account. which i will do anyway upon my return to the uk.

the final goodbye to india, at delhi's indira gandhi international airport, summed up the week we had there. the flight to kathmandu is approximately 70 minutes. it took us, from door to door, 12 hours to reach our hotel in kathmandu. delhi IGI airport is a nightmare. don't go there! really, it will send you nuts! arrive; work out for yourself which gate door to go through; show guard your ticket to prove you are allowed to enter; wander aimlessly looking for an electronic sign to find which area you need to check in at; join a likely looking queue; find that it's a queue to put your baggage through as an initial security check, which wraps said bag in a security tape; fight through thousands of other people looking lost and bewildered to check electronic sign for check-in area, unsuccessfully; ask passing, harried and hassled, member of staff; go to check-in area; wait for two hours; get pushed in front of by arrogant russians; grumble, but say nothing as you are british and have a stiff upper lip and don't descend to arguing; check-in (tv's showing correct desks do not work, of course; join yet another, incredibly long, snaking queue; watch as more russians push in front; forget about having a stiff upper lip and tell them what you think of them before shoving in front; smile as a large indian wiht a broad scottish accent hurls abuse and then storms off to call the police; stare intently at said russians and also tell them what you think as they stand and smirk; watch the grins disappear as they are told by police to go to the back of the queue; chat amiably to scottish indian (lives in falkirk, and has for 30+ years); go through passport control - that's what this queue was for; watch as the russians sent to the back of the queue are whisked through this and the following hand baggage security check because they have caused their flight to be delayed by an hour; laugh a lot!; laugh a lot less when you have to wait until 11am, instead of the intended 6.45am, to take off because of heavy fog at delhi; snooze on the aircraft; land at kathmandu; get greeted by happy, smiling faces; meet more russians intent on pushing in; give up; listen to lots of grumbling; don't care as we're in nepal!

yippeeeee :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1204877820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1204877820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/5/1204877820/tpod.html Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:18:56 -0500 India-Nepal-UK...A holiday from my holiday.

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Kolkata (Calcutta), India

I left you saying that i'd moments to pack before i went off on my trip. of course, if you leave things to the last minute, you're bound to forget something... well, i didn't exactly forget it, but i didn't check the little grab bag before i stored in safely in my drawer awaiting my return... so i'm here on a three month trip around some of the most beautiful and interesting countries in the world, and i don't have my zoom lens. bugger. i'm hoping that i can find a camera shop in delhi which isn't going to try to screw me to the wall on the price of a new (and improved)lens.

so anyway, here we are. sitting in an internet cafe in downtown (or uptown, who the hell knows) agra - home of the famous taj mahal. famous why? largely because it's so beautiful, both from an asthetic point of view and architecturally as well. as hard as i tried, all my photos that i took of the place, yesterday afternoon, and this morning at sunrise, just look like picture postcards. it would be hard to convince you that we are truly here, so myself and annie made sure we got shots of each other stood in front of it. not like some people who felt the need to pretend that they were either holding it in their fingers, leaning up against it, or some other ridiculous pose which was based on optical illusion - people, trust me on this... you look like idiots!

it has been a rollercoaster ride through india, and one which has caused me to think long and hard about how i feel being here. having only arrived 4-5 days ago, it is difficult and probably unfair to make concrete statements about the place. this would mean writing rash generalisations, and painting an entire country with the paintbrush of just a few moments of experience. but (isn't there always a 'but'..?), i will give you my impressions, and my thoughts.

kolkata (calcutta to the old school lot)
full of crows. everywhere! never seen so many of the things. more crows than sit in the trees around farmer giles' fields in autumn. hmm, as i started with crows, i may as well do the whole animal kingdom. cows are sacred here - if i got my facts right, the hindu god shiva appeared as a cow once and this is the reason for their status. this means that they can do pretty much what they wish, which usually entails sitting in the middle of the road flicking their tail as the swarms of tuk-tuks, motorbikes, rickshaws, pedestrians, cyclists and oxcarts jostle their way past. dogs are as much of a part of life here as they are in thailand. too much a part of life as i found out watching an english speaking indian news programme - in srinigar (north india) there is one dog for every six people. this means the city contains two million dogs. not for long... the municipal authority has decided to cull them through the use of poison. dog lover that i am, you can imagine the effect this has had on me!

arriving in kolkata didn't seem real. the first few days in fact has been largely a sleepless dream in which we have staggered from one tourist sight to another, flung overselves wearily into hotel rooms (or train carriages), or slumped over cafe tables before gulping down some delicious indian food. in kolkata we scoffed muttar paneer, naan breads, vegetable curry and drank lassi. it's great to look at a menu and see the majority of food on offer is vegetarian. nepal will be the same, although i have worries about china (especially if we decide to divert northwards into the steppes).

we walked everywhere in kolkata, ambled more to the point. no real intentions of visiting anything in particular, although the one place annie wanted to see - mother therasa's missions of charity - eluded our efforts. it's the old thing of knowing it's there, probably walking past it half a dozen times, but never actually finding the place! no worries, we had enough to look at and drink in.

varanasi
the holiest city on india. a hindu mecca, and also one of the four holiest places in the buddhist faith as well. after a fitful sleep in our 3AC sleeper train carriage, we were guided to a tuk-tuk driver, and eventual guide, called shiva. coincidence that his name was the same as the god which this city reveres more than any other..? not sure, but i heard others call him the same, so maybe the god inspired his parents. he took us to a guesthouse (commission-paid i'm sure) and after showering and resting, we engaged him to drive us to some of the sights of varanasi - the university, whose grounds also housed the museum, and the only shiva temple in india; a monkey temple, where the armed guards joked about my t-shirt (a target printed on the front, and 'shoot me please' written on the back... i confirmed that it did indeed say what they thought, then added, '...but don't okay' just to be sure. they laughed a lot, and i laughed too, not too nervously); a third temple was next, although we didn't go inside as i got hacked off with the police at the front who were manhandling my camera like it was a toy. i grabbed it back off them and walked off. done a bit of walking off recently as people as hacked me off, but that's india i guess.

the ghats by the river ganges at varanasi go on for miles. ghats, quays in english, run are massive sets of steps leading from the bank down the the river. used to bring in goods and produce historically, they now serve as laundrettes, bathrooms, and stages for boat trips. the nearest ghat to where we stayed stood next to the cremation site for hindus. this is right next to the river and serves all hindus who can afford to be cremated here. the cost is 2,000 rupees and involves a funeral pyre made from wood - 150 cremations are performed every day. if you don't have the money, or are of another religion, you can be cremated in the electric ovens that stand a little further up the bank. alos, there are five categories of people who cannot be burned: holy men; children under ten years old; pregnant women; lepers; and those killed by cobra bite. these people are bound in a shroud and cast into the river ganges. this is to continue the cycle of life - fish eat the bodies, the fish are caught, people eat the fish, the people die from something which means the are cremated... (i hope that's right... pretty sure it's the essence of what we were told).

in the evening we took a boat trip down the ganges to see some of the activities which marked the beginning of the big shiva festival of the year. we had no eye deer this was taking place until we arrived, or we made have planned to stay longer. but by the end of an hour sitting in the boat, we'd been bitten to death by mossies and hounded by little flies, so enough was enough.

the ghats, like everywhere else you go here, are littered with hawkers and pedlars selling boat trips, postcards, beads, hashish and any amount of rubbish for a few rupees. these people are the ones that have blemished my time here. these, the tuk-tuk drivers, rickshaw drivers, and everyone who pretends to be nice and then demands money, or just overcharges you for something. this place is riddled with greed. i can understand beggars who do it from necessity, and it's obvious who is a beggar and who is a scammer, but of all the people we've talked to and engaged with, i can truly only think of around five who have had open hearts and been pleasant for the sake of it. maybe it's because we're on the tourist trail. as much as i hate tourists, i have no option but to call myself one here - seven days in india, in four different cities, leaves me no other choice. but is it really in the best interest of the individuals involved, and the wider communities, to hassle and rip off everyone they think can be taken for a ride. it has made me think twice about coming back. if i do, it will be into the country as my distaste for cities has been cemented by my time here.

i don't want to harp on about it, so will leave it there. it doesn't mean i'm having anything other than an interesting and fun time here, it just means it could be a lot better. that will only happen if i return and spend longer here i think. it's no different to thailand or any other country when you go to tourist hotspots, but it is more intense - like everything in india.

the thing that has hacked me off more than anything else is my bank. i can't use any atm at the moment, and after emailing them through my online account, can't even access that any more. this is after sending, and receiving a reply from customer services, an email stating my travels plans. frustrating, and if it wasn't for the fact that i am borrowing off annie, ultimately disasterous.

i don't want to finish my entry off like that so will tell you a bit more about what has happened...

we managed to get it slightly wrong on our first train - kolkata to varanasi. our ticket said 'coach B1, seats 61 and 64'. so we duly found coach B1, lumped our stuff on the relevant seats and sat down for a game of travel scrabble. this interested the other passangers, and the one opposite annie was staring at the board with an intent beyond belief. three-quarters of the way through the match (i was getting royally shafted by annie for the first time ever), our intent companion announced he wanted to sleep so could annie move her things... hmmm, but that's her bunk we said. oh no it isn't, he relpied. after the ritual two minutes of pantomime too'ing and fro'ing, we halued out all our respective tickets and found out this was coach B2, not B1. shame-faced we withdrew to the correct carriage, with commisserations from the others that we had unfortunately ruined our game with the error - i was pleased as punch at the interruption for obvious reasons, but that scallywag, annie, refused to call it a day as the game was magnetised and nothing was lost apart from time and a little pride. bugger.

oh, the funniest thing of all! we had booked a sleeper train from varanasi to agra. the guy we went through couldn't get us 2AC or 3AC bunks, so we had to go for sleeper class. not a huge amount of difference but i had read that you can expect anyone and everyone to join your bunk to find a bit of space. we got to the station with fifteen minutes to spare, grabbed some water and snacks from a concession stand and looked at our carriage. my heart sank as i saw it was brimming with people. it was the epitamy of of what you have in your minds' eye about an indian train - heaving full, with people hanging out of windows. when we got inside, it was even worse... two white backpackers, with full rucksacks and secondary bags, going half the length of the carriage down a narrow passage.. which is littered with bags, sacks, people, bare feet dangling off the overhead bunks in your face... and finally arriving at our bunk area to find... yup, this is the train to bihar, not agra. bugger. again.

so, with looks ranging from amusement to contempt, we thrust, barged, begged, cajoled and pleaded our way off the train again, and went as fast as our packs would allow to the bridge across the other seven platforms. with five minutes to spare before our journey was due to begin. walking and asking at the same time we found it - the final platform of course. but as most clouds have silver linings, as we descended the steps of the bridge, i caould see that the train was as bereft of people here as it was full on the bihar train. luxury. apart from the 3am talkers, and the 5am snorers and farters, the journey to agra finished up being quite pleasant and easy.

when i get to a point where i can upload my photos, i'll let you know. until then, namaste. it's not really namaste here, as they speak bengali, but i don't know the translation in that language.

for those of you anxiously awaiting my return - indeed counting the minutes and hours (i know it's practically all of you!), we should be booking our flights back very soon. maybe before we leave india. it's almost certainly end of may, early june. i shall keep you informed.

love you all!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1204239660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1204239660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1204239660/tpod.html Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:00:43 -0500 Thailand, Korea, Thailand, and Laos

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Chiang Rai, Thailand

Hey all,
I'm flying out to Bangkok at lunchtime, having packed nothing yet, exchanged money, or all the other things a responsible and organised traveller would have done by now. but these things usually work out in the end, don't they :)

so this gives me about an hour or so to bring you up to speed with what's been going on over here. i'm going to miss bits out, forget things and generally keep it short. but don't worry because when i finally get to see you, i'll be boring the pants (underwear, not trousers, for you colonials...) off you with my tales of adventure..!

in no particular order...

i have made a couple of trips to laos since xmas. the first one i told you about briefly. the second was to meet pooki's laotian side of the family. apart from one cousin, she had never met any of them. her mum, before she died 10 yrs ago, was laotian (her dad is chinese), and came from the captial city - vientiane, or as it should be called, wieng chan. her uncle still lives there, retired from the police, with his wife, children and grandchildren. the bulk of the family live in a three house terrace, with a few sub-families scattered locally. he has ten children and seventeen grandchildren, which came as a great shock to pooki.

they are a fantastic family, and in keeping with the culture in se asia, made me feel very welcome - this usually manifested in forcing me to eat as much food and drink as i could take. it is a poor family, as are most of the average families in laos. but poor only financially. it is one of the richest i've met when it comes to love, understanding and openhearted goodness. we took a couple of pooki's female cousins to the local market one day, and bought presents for each grandchild, ranging from spiderman costumes and dresses, to footballs and shirts. the looks on their faces was worth every penny.

i became especially close to two of the grandchildren, nam fhun and lang. nam fhun is a little three year old girl who latched onto me from the word go. she was in tears by the time i left, and it was hard to say goodbye (i'll add a photo of her, as well as other family members). lang is eight, deaf and mute, with one brown eye and one piercing blue. we were interested in seeing his school, and the family took us out one morning to visit it. it is the only school in vientiane which teaches deaf students - out of 76 students enrolled, about half live at the school because they come from rural families. it is very under-funded, with few aids or amenities. the teachers are generally ex-students, teaching sign language which is understood by thai signreaders as well as laotian. pooki is returning in july/august to learn the language (i may try as well, although it's hard enough learning thai at the moment). i spent the ridiculously small sum of 600 baht (about 10 quid), which provided an exercise book/pencil/rubber for each student plus a couple of ink pads and spare ink for their picture stamps (used as visual aids).

when i return to the uk, i may well be nudging people for help in some way, either financially or in kind. if anyone is interested in providing something, please let me know.

we spent a few days in luang prabang, but didn't enjoy it at all. after the generosity of pooki's relatives, the money-grabbing attitude in that city left a very sour taste in the mouth. everyone was interested in how much they could squeeze out of you, and nothing else. too expensive, too few smiles, too much demanding. i could bang on for a while about this, but it isn't worth my effort. shame because the city itself is beautiful.

while away, a german tourist died in vientiane. he'd been cycling near one of the city sites, when he was overcome by the heat. unfortunately he passed out right in front of a lorry, which pretty much took his head off. we heard because another of pooki's cousins is a policeman and was part of the investigation squad. speaking of family members in the police, she also has a female cousin who works at the border with thailand at nong khai - what a godesend that was! we'd had an hour or more of chaos coming into the country (i'd decided to get a visa-on-arrival). but when we left, i gave my passport to her the night before and she sorted all the details out for me. when we (half the family came to see us off, and have an afternoon in nong khai as well) got to the border, there was a snaking line consisting of me, pooki and about ten laotian family members breezing through the checkpoints (me chuckling to myself at the bewildered and dirty looks from westerners queued up for stamps).

one trainride later, i parted from pooki who flew back to chiang rai, and into a storm at work which ended up with her quitting. i stayed on for a few days to meet up with dabs and trev, a couple of mates from back in bury. dabs had been out earlier in the year, and trev is his sister's boyfriend. we had a couple of days of fun in bangkok before they went off to koh phnagan, and i came back up to chiang rai.

i finished at mirror yesterday, and moo has given me a letter of sponsorship which will help me get my visa for next year. i'm also going to get an international driving licence whc=en i return to the uk so that i can drive for mirror - could make the difference between me getting a wage and not. although if that's the case, i'll need to apply for a work permit, which ain't that easy.

what else...?
i fall for just about every other girl every other day still - this country is jampacked with beautiful women - both beautiful to look at, and with a genuine personality too.

got involved in a police investigation briefly, but the sting operation we were setting up failed due to circumstances beyond our control. hopefully they will catch the criminals before i return, but if not i would like to get involved again if it will help. can't say much more than that in case it tips anyone off (lots of people other than you lot read these blogs, so news can filter out). ask me when you see me and i'll fill you in.

oh, not that it matters right now, but i put out a new mobile number recently, and managed to get it wrong! it's 0066 83947 6535. i should be on the same number when i get back here in june/july.

if you don't know already, i'm off travelling for a few months. start on sunday when me and annie fly to calcutta. we then go across by train to delhi, via varanasi and agra (taj mahal) - if we can get the damned tickets sorted that is! whatever happens, we fly from delhi to kathmandu (nepal) on the 9th, meeting up with tom and dawn who i met in korea. six weeks or so of trekking around nepal will hopefully get rid of most of the 10kilos i've put on since last year! after that we intend to go to tibet for a couple of weeks, traverse china by train for a month, and then return to the uk from hong kong.

i would like to meet up with as many of you as i can, so start clearing the diaries..!

right, there's bound to be tons more i should be writing here, but i'm done. so, thanks for reading about thailand, and that vegetarian's hell, korea. next stop and a new travelogue, india!

sees ya!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1201793580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1201793580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1201793580/tpod.html Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:55:18 -0500 Thailand, Korea, Thailand, and Laos

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Chiang Rai, Thailand

so i'm sitting here, half watching the UAE play Iran on TV, listening to the arabic commentary which is far more interesting than the game...

...blahblahblahblah... vasco de gama... blahblahblah... mujahadeen... blahblahblah... danny boy, the pipes they are a-calling...blahblahblah

...what to write...? well, i visited laos early this month for a week, piggybacking an existing tour which paul was running. a group of 10 students and 2 teachers from a college in australia had raised funds to pay for the building of a library at a school near vientiane. the time i was with them was spent lazily slowboating down the mekong for two days, chilling out in luang prabang for another couple, travelling by bus through some amazing scenery down to vientiane and then having a wonderful time at the school - a varsi ceremony, lots of dancing, beer and food flowing freely, chatting with the schoolchildren, teachers and locals, tears, laughs, lao whiskey at dinner with one of the children's parents, and finally a frantic dash to the airprt as i managed to get a last minute flight to bangkok. i would say more, but my pics speak pretty much for themselves: http://picasaweb.google.com/thellie37/LaosJan2008

now i'm preparing for my trip to nepal, tibet and china, with a week in india to begin with... i had a long motorbike ride to chiang mai the other day to apply for my indian visa, and have another next week to pick it up. then me and pooki are travelling to bangkok so she can apply for a uk visa - while i'm travelling, we're arranging for her to spend some time in the uk improving her english. once that's over and she returns to thailand, she'll have a better chance of qualifying for a nursing job in australia. whether we stay together or not after that is academic, as i feel i'll have done a good thing by giving her the opportunity to improve her life.

for those of you in the uk, i should be back for a month or so in june (give or take a week or two). i need to renew my visa, and i also want to get an international driving licence which will give me more opportunities to work out here. mirror are happy to give me a leeter to help with my visa application, and i am hopeful that i can gain a work permit at some stage in the near future. so, uk-ites, get ready to welcome me back... i'm hoping for smiles, beers, a the occasional sofa/bed/gutter/shed for the night as i meet you all... :)

stay safe, stay warm, stay in touch
xxx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1201141620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1201141620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thellie/thailand_2007/1201141620/tpod.html Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:28:09 -0500 Thailand, Korea, Thailand, and Laos

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Chiang Rai, Thailand

Children's Day is a national event in Thailand, taking place on the second Saturday in January annually. In fact, Children's Day is an international event, usually held on June 1st each year, celebrated in over 40 countries. Shamefully, the UK has never been involved in this.

Mirror Foundation hosts an event each year on this day, inviting children from many hilltribe villages to come along and enjoy a day of fun and celebration. This year we counted 1,209 children through the door, along with parents, stall traders, staff, volunteers, friends and members of local government offices. Preparations began days and weeks before, with the activity becoming frenetic as the day drew nearer. Hundreds of boxes of toys and games were received, many donated by the generous staff of a large company in Bangkok. Over twenty of them traveled up to Chiang Rai to help unpack, wrap, and label the presents. Large gazebo type tents were hired from a local Wat (temple) along with chairs and tables. Cooking up the noodles and other food for children and guests began in the dark early hours of the morning, as the gates would open at 8.30am.

The main point to children's day, and I can't think of a better reason, is to remind children that they are loved and special, and important to the future of the country. Children are taught from infancy to wai others (the pressing together of palms) as a sign of greeting and respect, so it is only fair that children are shown the same respect from the beginning as well.

Ok, that's the intro out of the way.

We got there around 8am, to find a large queue already formed down the dirt road leading to the gates. It took about 10 minutes to get the motorbike through the crowd, and another 10 minutes to convince one of the thai volunteers on the gate to let us through the last five yards. Once achieved, I realized that I'd left my camera battery charging in the room! I looked at the crowd, at my camera (cursing myself, fate and narrow dirt roads), and then at pooki. After lengthy tongue-in-cheek negotiations involving her receiving assent from me that she could eat as much as she liked (especially ice cream) during the day, she went back to get it for me. In the meantime, I wandered around trying to be useful, but basically became an interested onlooker as final preparations were put in place for the various games organized by each of the projects in Mirror. Thai Citizenship had created a game involving wearing motorbike helmets with pins attached, which the children would wear, and a roof full of balloons which the contestants had to jump up to burst (balloons full of flour). Our EcoTour volunteers had a lucky dip and game involving putting garbage into the correct bin - organic, recyclable and garbage - to promote waste management. The young group from Eltham (who you'll hear more about in my Laos travelogue) were handing out Australian bits and pieces and trying to convince Thais that vegemite is a nice thing to eat.

After the gates had been open for an hour or so, we had the official opening, which choked me up quite a bit (bless my cheesy cotton sox...). A parade of children in traditional costume (Akha, Karen, Thai, and Lahu were the ones I recognized), walked to the main area, with flags and a young lad beating a massive drum carried by four of his friends. Once there, and the drum set down, he continued to beat the drum and more rhythms began... dancing started in front of this and drummers would take it in turns, the beat being maintained the whole time. This carried on for a good 10-15 minutes, and it brought a lump to my throat as I listened to the music, watched the young players and dancers in their costume, and looked around at hundreds of children and adults rapt by the scene before them. Several of the other volunteers around me were similarly affected, and I knew I was experiencing something special.

Although I was unable to photograph the spectacle, it was a blessing in disguise as it meant that I could focus my whole attention on the opening ceremony, and appreciate everything going on. After the speeches were completed I was able to find Pooki and start taking pics.

There was plenty more dancing taking place, and traditional songs were being sung from the main stage (the original stage where Mirror Art Group would put on subversive and entertaining productions 15+ years ago when they first arrived in Chiang Rai). In front of the stage, at one side of it, and under an awning in a third area were all the presents ready to be handed out (after lunch). Each one was numbered, and a corresponding number was being issued to every child as they passed through the gate.

Lunch was served around noon. Over 1200 small bowls made from banana leaf had been made to hold the mountains of noodles on offer. Queues formed and our volunteers handed out the food in an orderly fashion. The weather by this time was very hot, so people sat down to eat in every, and any, available shady spot, shuffling every few minutes to stay out of the glare of the sun.

I spent quite a while wandering around with A-boo, a beautiful and cheeky little Akha girl who has taken a shine to me, and who I adore completely. She's about 3 years old and is cared for by a Lisu tribe couple who work for Mirror. Her mother was killed in a road traffic accident about 18 months ago, and is the woman who is on the main webpage for the Mirror Foundation (http://www.mirroartgroup.org). We chatted for ages in (my slowly improving) Thai about colours, and flowers and how beautiful everything was. Later I also saw the little Akha/French girl who I'd befriended at the Swing Festival in August. I talked with her father a while and found out she can speak Akha, Thai and French and I would assume English at school as well.

Dust hung in the air all day as thousands of feet threw it up from the dry ground, people wearing masks or scarves to stop breathing it all in.

The presents were handed out around 2pm, with the children being directed to the relevant area. A horde of volunteers took the numbers and looked/shouted for the ascribed present. The faces raised up to me as I handed out gift after gift were full of happiness, and sometimes a little bewilderment, and rounded a fantastic day off perfectly.

You can see all my photos of the day at http://picasaweb.google.com/thellie37/ChildrenSDay
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Chiang Rai, Thailand

i thought that i would tell you a little about what we get on tv over here. i've been living in apartments (this is my third) since returning from korea in august. each one had a tv in the room, which has given me the opportunity to get a wider (and possibly distorted) sense of thailand and its culture.

in many ways it's similar to tv back home - 95% rubbish. thankfully i haven't seen a single reality show, and i hope that remains the case, but the quality of the other programmes on offer is, to my eyes, poor. let me tell you about a couple of differences first.

first and foremost is the amount of programming related to the royal family, especially the king. i can't emphasise enough how much the thai people love their king. it was his 80th birthday on december 5th, and he has ruled for over 60 years now. governments, coups, military regimes, wars, corruption and countless other events have dogged the country throughout his reign, but he has been the constant that people look to, in the good times as well as the bad. the guiding light who sets the example of how to live the right way.

i imagine that this is how people in the uk thought about the monarchy there, until society became so jaded and disillusioned from the sixties onwards. not that the royal family have helped themselves with the shenannigans over the last thirty years.

it will be interesting to see what, if anything, changes when he dies. the heir to the throne (his son) is not a loved person, i think mainly from living a hedonistic lifestyle. although his daughter is cut from the same cloth as him, and is loved deeply by the people, she cannot ascend to the throne because she is female. the rumours that run through society about what will happen after his death could fill a book.

but, to get back to the point of this article, the television is full of programmes related to the royals. news stories about visits by the princess, the king's health, etc, are daily events in all aspects of media. there was a live broadcast yesterday evening of the King's appearance to watch a performance by the Mariinsky Ballet from Russia. It was his first non-ceremonial function since leaving hospital in early november. this was shown on every non-cable channel.

the main channels also broadcast the national anthem every morning at 8am, replicated in many towns, which also play it through loudspeakers on the streets - this speaker system is common throughout thailand. historically in many cases, but still active in lots of hilltribe villages, it is the best method of relating news - local and national - to a population who have no access to other forms of media. it is not something which happens in chiang rai, but i have heard it in fang, and also baan apa where i was for the akha swing festival.

another noticable difference is the level of censorship. it quite usual to watch a film with cigarette smoking blurred out. i have seen some films with drinking of alcohol blurred as well, and also a number where guns pointed at people are covered over. they are all well-meaning efforts to slow, halt or reverse the spread of bad living which is slowly eating away at traditional thai society. what the viewers of these programmes think about the reasoning, and more importantly the effects, i have yet to discover.

on the obverse of this censorial coin is the reporting. although close up shots of dead bodies are distorted, middle distance and long shots are a regular feature on news programmes. i have seen footage recently of a baby (maybe nine months old) being taken from the wreckage of a road traffic accident, minus a leg, and rushed to an ambulance, which was quite distressing to watch. although i'm not 100% sure, i believe she survived.

there is an ongoing situation in the south of the country, which is getting better, where muslim separatists have waged a terrorist war against government offices, military targets, and schools for the last few years. drug operations, albeit on a much smaller scale than the golden triangle was renowned for twenty years ago, still exist in some areas, especially on the thai-burmese border. both of these command media attention, and film of drug raids, shootouts and bombings have all been on tv.

a person arrested for a crime has no real protection of anonymity. camera crews have no need to break through police cordons to take shots, as they are often invited in to film the suspects being interviewed or having details taken. it may have a detrimental effect on their court appearance, although thailand does not employ a 'trial by jury' form of justice so media speculation will influence less people in a judicial aspect.

on the lighter side, i have noted a couple of things which make me laugh, or cringe.

firstly, any foreign movie dubbed into thai seems to use the same two actors for recording the voices. the male has a slightly strained, softly spoken way of speaking, for every type of scenario - i suppose you could say he's the roger moore of thai dubbed movies. the woman characterises all female voices, and also all children and babies. trust me, it can get hilarious!

someone got a new toy for christmas, or santa delivered the same toy to most of the channels, which adds in the 'funny' noises - you know the type i mean? ...someone falls over and there's the sound of one of those whistles that rise and fall. or someone gets hit with a giant plastic hammer, and a 'boing' accompanies the action. this would be more bearable if the person in charge didn't use it at every conceivable opportunity, and what's worse, in news items. thankfully, the sound of comedy 'boings' or the sight of cartoon-style 'biffs' haven't been used to enhance stories about bombings in the south, or playing the william tell overture as another baby is rushed to hospital, haven't been added in, yet.

so, to finish off... there is very little on tv here which interests me, unfortunately i no longer get the football, so i spend more time learning my thai or working on the computer (while listening to my music) which can only be a good thing.
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