TravelStream™ news feed for member thomasbaker on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/thomasbaker en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:57:46 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1206392400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1206392400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1206392400/tpod.html Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:57:46 -0400 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Lucknow, India

Hello all,

Time for one last blog entry before I return to England.

After my trip to the Chitwan National Park, I spent a couple of days In Kathmandu, and am very glad not to have missed it out. I'd heard lots of people complain about the hassle and pollution, but actually I found neither to be that bad, certainly not anywhere near Cairo! Kathmandu's Durbar Square, packed with interesting temples of both the (Indian) Shikhara style and the more oriental Nepali pago style, was most impressive.

I also walked to Swayambunath, the 'Monkey Temple', which lies a few kilometres from the city centre in the early morning, and was the only tourist there. Swayambunath is one of the two biggest Buddhist stupas in nepal, and indeed in the world. As you can imagine, the atmosphere was very intense given the large numbers of Tibetans living nearvy and worshipping at the stupa, and whilst in Kathmandu I was very conscious of the large police presence - they were heavy-handed to say the least in putting down the protests, though I personally saw little of this. Later I visited the even larger stupa at Bodnath, where the protests had taken place in the preceding days, but all was calm by the time I got there. Later in the day I took a taxi to Patan, a neighbouring town which escaped the ravages of the 1934 earthquake and thus has the best Durbar Square in the valley - absolutely beautiful. It also has a fine museum established by the Austrians in the old Rana palace, and demonstrating the techniques used to create the fine Buddhist and Hindu metalwork sculptures.

After my visit to the capital, I returned one last time to Pokhara, and had a wonderful farewell meal with J.P. Cross, Buddhiman and family. They were all so kind and hospitable to me, and I miss them all already. In particular I have learned so much from the colonel himself and have been quite inspired by him. The following day was Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, which coincided almost with Easter this year, and worked out as a great send-off for me. In the morning, the remaining students - still in their SLC exams - along with Balaram, Vijay and Lok held a farewell ceremony for me, and presented me with a Dhaka Topi - a traditional hat worn by Nepali elders, which I shall treasure. Then in began! One of the students, Sujan, put a tikka mark on my forehead with red powder paint, then quickly emptied the rest of the packet over me - holi had started! We had a huge waterfight, and considering that they are all partially-sighted or blind, they all had very good aim with ice-cold buckets of water!

After this, I walked over to J.P.Cross' house one last time, getting liberally covered in paint by everyone I met on the way there, and said a final farewell. Then I went over to Lakeside, and got another covering of paint from Raj, Sonti and everyone else at the hotel. Raj then gave me two packets of tikka paint and took me out of the motorbike - him driving it and me throwing paint over people we passed. After this we all had a cool beer and I turned in eraly, ready for my bus to the border early the next day.

After more tikkas from Raj and family, I started the 9-hr journey to Sunauli on the Indian border, then a 2-hr jeep ride to Gorakhpur. After a 4-hr wait at the station, I got the 6-hr train to Varanasi, arriving in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Lots I've people I'd met who had been to Varanasi raved that it was the best place in India. Personally I was slightly underwhelmed, but perhaps I missed the point of the place. My first impressions were of a very dirty town of limited architectural interest, sloping down to a smelly and polluted river full of dead bodies and people scrubbing their armpits. As the day went on, the place grew on me, especially towards evening when it became far busier and people offered their puja to the river, which Hindus believe to be a goddess. I went on a boat ride to view the ghats, on one or two of which cremations constantly take place. I found the ceremonies interesting, but thought the attitude of some of the tourists was little short of ghoulish - gawping at the burning bodies and families of mourners. Two bodies, one half-rotted and one rather more recent bumped on our boat on their meandering journey down stream. They had one been saddhus or holy men, whose dead bodies are not cremated but thrown into the river as they are. I was dismayed to see the boatload of tourists next to us clambering over each other to take snap-shots of what, after all, had once been a living, breathing person.
Overall, then, I can certainly see the attraction of Varanasi, but it was not entirely my cup of tea, and by lunchtime I had decided I would change my rail tickets (not an easy thing to do with beaurocracy-loving Indian railway officials!) and spend a day in Lucknow, where I am now.
Lucknow is of course very central to the history of the British Raj, and as I'd hoped there are many fine examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture here. Tomorrow I will visit some of the Imbabas, Oudh-dynasty mausoleams, as well as the Dawzat-ar-Rumi, a copy of a Byzantine gate in Istanbul. Most of all I am looking forward to seeing the Residency, the scene of the infamous Siege of Lucknow in 1857. So far, I like the look of this city.
Lucknow has a long Muslim past, and some of the mosques here are most impressive. I couldn't help noticing though, that many people fixed me with most unfriendly scowls, (the first time I've experiemced this on the subcontinent) and so far I have only seen one other white person here. I'd expected it to be off the main tourist route, but nonetheless am surprised to see so few Westerners. I can't really imagine the reason for the stand-offish attitude that some people seem to have, though I had heard that memories of the Empire are not forgotten here. Still, I will reserve judgement until after a much-needed night's sleep. The Moghlai cuisine here is tops, anyway!

I won't write another update before getting home, I shouldn't think. Tomorrow evening I take an overnight train back to Delhi, where I plan to visit the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and one or two other sites of interest, before getting my flight home early on Thursday. However, I shall write up about all that when I get home, and stick up the rest of my pictures.

All best,

Tom
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1205691840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1205691840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1205691840/tpod.html Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:51:09 -0400 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hello all,

Just a brief update to tell you about my recent Jungle Trek in the Chitwan National Park.

I have finished teaching at the achool entiorely now - most of the students have finished their exams and gone home for the holidays, with the exception of the Level 10 students who are sitting their all-important School Leaving Certificate exams this week.

So last Thursday I headed down to the Chitwan National Park. The first day was spent doing a short trek in the jungle to the river that flows through the park, where we enjoyed a cool beer whilst watching the sunset. After this there was a 'cultural evening', watching traditional dances of the Tharu people who populate this area. Lowland Nepal (the Terai) is completely different from the hill and mountain areas. I think it is this wonderful mix of terrains and peoples in such a small country that makes Nepal such a captivating place to visit.

The safari was teriffic - first we went on a canoe trip down the river to spot birds. The canoes are dugouts, made from a single tree and very unstable! After this, we had another short trek before visiting the Elephant breeding centre in the park. First we went down to the river for the elephants bath-time. The elephants seem to love this, and constantly squirt you with water from their trunks! They are incredibly gentle and intelligent animals. After this, we mounted the howdah, or platform attached to the elephants back, and trekked into the jungle for four or five hours. The wildlife arte not disturbed by the elephants' presence, so we got very close to several family groups of the rare one-horned rhino, as well as spotting crocodiles, musk deer and several rare bird species.
The Saturday was spent on a bird-spotting trek, where we saw parakeets, orioles and many others. It was really good fun. After this I headed back to Pokhara by bus. I had just nodded off when I was awoken by a great fracas, with loads of people screaming and yelling. I'm still not quite sure exactly how it happened, but it turned out the luggage-handler of our bus had been clambering around on the roof whilst the vehicle was hurtling along a top speed. I think he must have been clipped by another bus, but anyhow he was thrown off and landed in the raod in a heap. he was very lucky not to be killed, but as it was got away with some very heavy grazing, a nasty bump on the head that concussed him, and some bruises on his back.
It was interesting to see how different tourists reacted to all this. I and aGerman girl saw to the chap as best we could, checking his spine and seeing that his eyes weren't dilated before trying to clean him up a bit. Most tourists stayed calm, offering water and warm clothes when we asked for them. Some, however, went into a complete flap, whilst others tutted and looked very annoyed about the inconvenience of having an injured man clogging up the gangway and causing a delay to their journey. Anyhow, the bus driver stopped at the nearest 'hospital', and after a wait of less than an hour, the man, unblievably got back on the bus, looking a bit shocked and groggy but generally not much the worse for his experience. A lesson learnt, I fancy!

I will just be in Pokhara for today and tomorrow, mainly to hear more of J.P.Cross' accounts of his long and fascinating career. On Tuesday I will head over to Kathmandu for a couple of days to see some of the temples there, before returning to Pokhara one last time to say celebrate Holi with all my friends here, before finally saying farewell and heading back to India on 22 March.

I plan to spend a few days in Varanasi, as I hear it's not a place to miss, as well as perhaps paying a brief visit to Lucknow to see the ruins of the Residency, the scene of the infamous siege of 1857, before heading back to Delhi in time for my flight home on 27 March.

Will try and get a few updates in if I get the chance....

Until then, all best from Pokhara!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1204913520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1204913520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1204913520/tpod.html Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:10:13 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hi,

I am back in Pokhara again having completed a terrific 7-day trek to Annapurna Base Camp. The adventure began last Friday morning, following a terrific puja party to celebrate the completion of the new house of Ramesh, Raj's pal. It was a terrific event of music and dance, with the builder being adorned with tikkas and priests blessing the house. It was the first time I'd seen Nepalis drink, and the wonderful dal bhat, curries and tirkari went down nicely with a couple of glasses of whisky! Nepali hospitality is wonderful.
The next day, it was an early start as I left Fire on the Mountain with Lilbahidur Thapa, orn 'Lila', my guide for the week. Lila is Magar, ten years older than me and married with two children. His father was in the Gurkhas, and Lila truly knows everything about the moutains. We drove to Nayapur, and entered the Annapurna Sanctuary at Berathanti, were we stopped to eat a delicious lunch of dal bhat with fresh fish from the river. We trekked up to Jhinu, which is high enough to be pretty cold and I was already very tired by the time we got there! However, I felt much refreshed after bathing in the natural hot springs there. The trek through the 'alpine rainforest' was beautiful, and we saw several langurs and sprays of rhodedendron. There was a lovely scent of jasmine everywhere also. Lila pointed out the scat of a wildcat, and told me that very occasionally snow leopards are seen in the higher altitudes.

We left the tea house early on the Saturday and trekked up to the Himalaya Hotel, seeing many sights on the way, including a man thatching a new buffalo shed in the traditional manner. I happened to be suffering from 'Delhi Belly', which had started the day before leaving Pokhara (great timing; I had had no problems for the entire previous month!) and was feeling a bit weak by this point, but as I saw my first really good views of the snow-capped Himalayas, soon forgot this. The weather started closing in and snowing soon after this, and the last stretch of the day involced us sprinting across a recent avalanche to lessen the chances of getting caught up in another - a very exhilirating way to end the day! Soon after, we reached Deurali, where we were to spend the night. Lila looked as though he'd enjoyed crossing the snows just as much as me - he says every trek to the mountains is as much fun for him as his first. Even he looked a bit tired out and said 'Tom Bhai, room resting, clothes changing, tea drinking!' It had been such a great day, I only wished my Dad could have been with me too as he'd have loved it - it was the time he and I climbed Cadr Idris in Wales when I was about 10 that sparked off my enthusiasm for trekking in the mountains.

What struck me throughout the trek was the level of work the people put into their daily lives, oblivious of the hordes of tourists trekking past. The steep hillsides are cut into neat, terraced fields which are painstakingly ploughed by buffalo team. The houses are all sturdily and traditionally built, and despite the hard work, evryone seems really happy, always grinning. It's such a great place to visit, and I would love to see more places like it, further away from the tourist trail. Another very impressive sight is people heaving their huge doko loads up the steep paths.
Lila had suggested we speed up our itinerary so we could also visit Ghorepani and Pun Hill on the way back down to Pokhara valley, so we reached Annapurna Base on the third day, rather than the usual four. The weather was pretty snowy, but we got up before dawn the next day to see that it had cleared, and we got some staggering views of Annapurna I and II, Annapurna South, and the tobleronesque Macchapucchre or 'Fishtail' peak, which glinted in the sun like the moutain at the start of a Paramount Pictures film. It was just fantastic.

On the way back down, Lila spotted a rare Davi pheasant, and at his suggestion I crawled up a snowy slope to get nearer to the thing and get a good pic. It is a wonderful bird ton look at, more of a peacock than a pheasant but much larger, with a shimmering blue body and a bright gold bar across its fanlike tail. They are rarely seen, so I was very lucky, moreover very lucky to have such a good guide. Lila took it upon himself to teach me as much Nepali as I could hope to learn in a week. We sprinted most of the way to Chomrong, where we spent the fourth night. Gurkhas are famous for being especialy fast down-hill - it was all I could do to keep up, but whenever I tried to slow down I norally ended up face-first in the snow! Needless to say, it was another awesome day.

After Chomrong, we got to Ghorepani, though much of that days trekking was in fairly heavy rain in the jungly lower slopes of the moutain. At one house we passed, a puja to exorcise a malevolent spirit from a rather bemused-looking little girl was going on. The priest was chiming a hand bell and intoning some prayers, whilst the family took a statue of a buffalo-headed god to the top of the hillock upon which the house was built, and sprinkled it with chickens' stomachs, intestines and blood. That was quite a sight to see!

On my penultimate morning in the mountains, we got up at 4.30am to climb Pun Hill in time for the dawn. Even this relatively minor foothill is still more than twice as high as Ben Nevis! We then had a fairly short trek to Hile, where for the last night of the trek. We got there early and as we had the afternoon to while away, Lila suggested it would be good training for me to help carry the fodder to the buffalo beloning to the family who owned the tea-house we were staying at. The daughter of the house shinned up a spindly, broad-leafed tree near the house and cut down a mass of foliage, which she then tied together with a harness equipped with a broad head-strap. I hauled it onto my bag and let the weight hand off my forehead. I suppose it was only about 17kgs or so, but the presure on the back of one's neck is huge! I don't know how people can lift the loads they do - rocks, slate, gas canisters, you name it! However, I managed to struggle my way up to the buffalo house, to the good-natured laughs of everyone in the village! The family were so kind, and rewarded me with a scalding hot glass of fresh buffalo milk, which is a bit thicker than cows' milk and has a sort of smoky flavour. After this, Lila and I celebrated the end of the trek with a couple of mugs of rakshi, the local millet spirit, along with sakuti - dried and fried buffalo meat.

It was an unforgettable week - a stupendously beautiful place with some of the world's nicest and most impressive people living there. But the best thing was Lila's company, and I learned a lot from him. On return to Fire on the Mountain, Lila found out he was to a lead a two-week trek starting the following day! He grinned and said 'samarshe choina!' - 'no problem!', and said farewell before going home to see his family and rest. I later went to the Shivatri festival - Shiva's night is something like our Guy Fawke's night, with a massive bonfore being lit, from with people set light to sugar can that they then strike on the floor to create a fireworks-like explosion of molten sugar. Unlike Guy Fawkes' night, it is the one time of year when ganga, or marijuana is legalised and people encouraged to smoke it. They also eat bhang lassi or bhang cakes. It was quite a spectacle but I was so tired I went to bed fairly early.

This morning I got back to the school, it's great to see everyone again. The English medium students are still sitting there exams, then they break up so I won't be teaching them again. I will carry on helping the blind students with their studies for another two weeks, however, before heading back to India and Delhi to catch my flight home on 27th March.

Will no doubt have more to write about before then though!

I have uploaded a small selection of pictures from all stages of my journey so far, on the facebook website. If you are not a facebook user, you can still see the pictures by following this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=105812&l=63015&id=223304887

Best wishes,

Tom
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1204134780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1204134780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1204134780/tpod.html Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:31:30 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hi guys,

Just a short blog entry this time as there is not a great deal of news! I forgot to mention in my last update an excursion that Lok and I went on last Tuesday (a national holiday) with Devas, Sondar, Sujan and Nermal - four of the older students- to Sangarkot. This is a half-ruined kot, or armoury, built in the days of the Shah. It is situated in the foothills above the town, and gives wonderful views onto the lake, and on any other day, the remarkable Annapurna massif. However, the weather last week was fairly overcast and we had a few showers. It was a good climb, and very nice to see a bit of Nepal outside of the city. We took snacks with us and sat at the top drinking hot, sweet chiya (tea). It was a really great day, and needless to say very impressive to watch four blind or low-vision guys casually marching up and down this steep and rocky terrain - another example of the kind of attitude these chaps have!

The weather has cleared up now and each morning on my jog to the monsatery I am treated to an incredible view of the snow-dusted mountains glistening and picked out in the pink early-morning rays of the sun. It should be good for my trek, which I start the day after tomorrow.

On Monday evening, I was invited by Colonel Cross to a talk he was giving to some new British Gurkha officers at the camp, followed by as superb curry dinner. I won't discuss the talk too much, but I must say it was riveting. I would recommend anyone to read some of J.P. Cross' books - he has had an completely unique life. Whatabouts and Whereabouts in Asia, Jungle Warfare and The Call of Nepal are three titles. After the talk, I reflected for a long time on the undoubted veracity of the famous epitaph to the Gurkhas - "Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had a country friends more faithful than you'.
Buddhiman also attended the dinner, and i tried to practice what little Nepali I have so far picked up, by telling him about my planed trek. Unfortunately, I confused the verb chudnu (to climb) with chaadnu (to vomit), so what I actually said was 'Nest week I will vomit up to Annapurna basecamp'. However, we all make mistakes!
Lessons are going well at the school, and I hope I have been of some help. Next week the students will be sitting their exams, so it is the ideal time for my trek. It will take 7 days - I wish I could do a longer one, for example the three week Annapurna circuit, but time is whizzing past. In fact I am halfway through my time in Nepal already.

Today we had a visit by some Japanese students, two of whom were deaf and one was blind. They wanted to see how blind students in Nepal are taught and exchange some ideas. Lok told me that one thing the school could do with is an embosser - a Braille typing machine, and I plan to see if I can do some fundraising for it when I get back - let me know if you'd like to make a donation! It would allow the school to produce its own study materials, rather than applying for them centrally, which can take ages.
I will be sure to write about the trek when I'm back in Pokhara. Until then, best wishes for a happy Mothering sunday weekend (especially to my own Mum!).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1203606900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1203606900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1203606900/tpod.html Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:01:06 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hi all,

Can hardly believe ten days have gone by since my last blog update; time is going quickly because my days are quite full.

Every morning I help to teach English to classes 4 and 5 of the Blind School. This normally consists of reading out a given text, asking questions about it and helping with the answers. The students write this down, either in long-hand or Braille depending on the level of their eyesight, and I ask them to read it back. The main problem for them is pronunciation - Nepali sounds are very different from English, and many of the students find it difficult to differentiate between the letters 'p' and 'f', and 'b' and 'v'. They can't look to see how I pronounce it, so it is quite difficult for them. However, they work hard and are quick to learn, so make progress nonetheless. Incidentally, the Braille users have one great advantage; they can keep studying even during the many power cuts!

During the day, I help at the English Medium school, where I have been given a timetable staggered between all the classes, so as not to interrupt their schedules too much. I concentrate on getting them to talk, and give them written homework. They will sit their exams the week after next, so I have postponed my Annapurna trek until then.
In the evenings, I help the Level 10 students at the Blind School, who are also preparing for their SLC exams.

Last Friday, Lok and I went to the British Camp, where we were given an excellent lecture by the Co of the Gurkha Welfare Scheme in Nepal. Prior to this, I hadn't realised how wide-ranging their work was - as well as helping ex-Gurkhas with their financial and health needs, they provide huge community support - water supplies and so on - that really give something very tangible back to the people who have stood by Britain for so long.

After this, Lok gave me a tour of central Pokhara, and we ate a delicious meal of Momo - something of a national dish for Nepal. It is boiled lamb (or goat) in pasta-like parcels, rather like ravioli, which are then dipped in a piquant sauce. Very good!

Saturday is the only day that is completely free from study, and last week some of the blind students took part in a sports competition at the national stadium. They ran a 50m sprint, which is conducted individually. The runner holds onto a slider attached to a rope, and by means of this keeps in a straight line. The winner was Devas Gurung, followed closely by Sondur Limbu. (Gurungs and Limbus are two of the most famous peoples from whom Gurkha soldiers are traditionally recruited).

After this, I met Hemant (Buddhiman's brother-in-law, with whom I visited the Mountain Museum last week) and his pals Ram and Soam. We went over to Lakeside and took a boat across the lake, past Barahi temple island, and on to the thickly wooded far shore, in order to climb up to the Buddhist Peace Pagoda, one of Pokhara's most famous landmarks.

Since Sunday it's been back to teaching, but I have also found time for my daily run up to the Buddhist monastery and for a bit of Nepali study. I have no particular plans for this weekend, but will no doubt do some more sailing as Fewa lake is such a great setting for it. Next Friday I plan to start my week long trek.

All best!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202874000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202874000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202874000/tpod.html Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:03:18 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hi all!



Yesterday was my first full school day, and I'm already into a good
routine. I get up at 5.30 (Nepalis get up very early) and we all have
tea and biscuits at 6.00.



I help with the Level 5 English class until 8.30, at which time we have
our 'lunch'. Nepalis tend to have two main meals in the day, with tea
breaks in between.



After that my time is my own, to go for a run or study some Nepali,
until 11.00 when I go to help at the English medium main school,
conversing with the students there.



Yesterday school finished early as one of the teachers, Mina, was
retiring, and the kids had put on a show of traditonal dance and music.
They had clearly put in a lot of effort, and the show was great. The
teachers are all extremely nice and clearly are dedicated to their
work. The students themselves are hard-working and enthusiastic about
there studies, so it's a great place to be.



In the evening, I help the Level 10 students in the blind school with
their homework - they will soon be sitting their final exams. We have
our evening meal at 8.00pm, after which I try and learn a bit of Nepali
from the students - last night they taught me some traditional folk
songs, and asked me loads of questions about life in the UK,
particularly our festivals. Next month is the Hindu festival of Holi, which
celebrates colour and consists of chucking brightly colours powder
paints all over the shop - it should be quite something to see!



This morning, Lok showed me a great running route through old Pokhara,
which involves a massive flight of steps to a hill-top Hindu temple,
then another lot to a Buddhist moastery - very picturesque but more
over very tough!



I am hoping to do a trek the week after next to Annapurna base camp, so
this weekend will see about organising that. Nepal really is a great
country!



All best,



Tom
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202722200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202722200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202722200/tpod.html Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:48:29 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hello guys!

Yesterday J.P. Cross and Buddhiman Gurung picked me up from Fire on the Mountain and took me to the colonel's home where we drank tea and talked about the Gurkhas and Nepal. It was a fascinating talk, and it is clear that J.P. Cross' knowledge of not only Nepal but most of Asia is vast.

After this, Buddiman dropped me off at the school where I am to be assisting in English teaching; Shree Amar Singh memorial school. The school was originally established by Gurkha families using the payments made by the British government for their lost menfolk during the War. Attached to it is a school for blind and visually impaired children, set up by Major Richard Willis (Simon's father). I will mostly be assisting Lok Gurung, the English teacher, but also helping with handwriting and conversation classes in the main school.

It is such a well-organised, happy place and the teachers all seem to have exceedingly good English, especially Lok. Indeed, I'm not sure how much help I can be since Lok's knowledge of English grammar is spot-on - far better than mine! However it is good for the students, who are aged from 7-20, to talk to a native English speaker.

At the moment I am having trouble learning the names, which are always given in full and are quite long! I am so impressed by how helpful and kind the kids are to each other, and how well they apply themselves to their study. Later in the day I watched them play a cricket match. The ball is pea-rolled towards the wicket, and has a gadget inside which makes anoise, but as far as I could see the completely blind kids were almost sensing its presence. All were extraordianrly good at it. All Nepalis seem to have a great liking for sport, and these kids simply won't let visual impairment stop them. Some of the students are classed as 'B1' - completely blind, up to 'B3', which is severly visually impaired.

Many study alongside the sighted children in the main school, and the two groups mingle and are firm friends. In exams, the blind students have a 'writer' from the main school to help them, but in lessons often use a braille 'slate' and 'sylus'. Thick paper is clamped into the slate, and the stylus used to punch out the words they are learning in Braille. The teachers are great and the students learn fast. I can't describe how impressed I was by the place, or how happy everyone there is.

Today, after going to the temple with some of the students, I went for a walk with Buddhiman's brother-in-law, Hemon, and we visited Pokhara's very interesting mountain museum. We are now on Lakeside, and as soon as we have finished our emails I plan to teach Hemon how to sail - unfortunately the wind is not great today though!

As ever, warm regards and thanks for reading. Will try and get some photos up before the end of the week, too.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202550600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202550600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202550600/tpod.html Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:10:05 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hello from beautiful Nepal!

After my last update, I caught the overnight train to Gorkhpur, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. On the train I met a trio of French travellers - Edith, Nelly and Xavier, and passed much of the journey in conversation and card-playing with them.

In my compartment was a Gurkha soldier, and I tried out a few sentences from my Nepali phrasebook, which provoked chuckles if not conversation!

The journey lasted about 18hrs, and on arrival at Gorakhpur I and the Frenchies jumped onto a jeep for the 2hr trip to Sonauli, the nearest border crossing. This was straightforward enough apart from the fact that there is some funny business about bringing Indian 1000 or 500 rupee notes into nepal (forgery problem etc) so one is forced to excahnge them at a poor rate.

Oddly, the Nepali side was far more frantic than the Indian, and it took quite a bit of fuss to sort out transport to the nearby town on Bhairawa, where we spent the night. the hotel staff were exactly as I had hoped and expected Nepalis to be; kind, polite and with a ready smile.

The next day we caught a bus to Pokhara, a journey which ought to have lasted some 6 hours. in the event, due to a rather indirect choice of route by the driver, it took 9 and a half! however, we were treated to some wonderful scenery. Frankly I was just happy to arrive in one piece, unlike the two crashed vehicles we saw on the way!

On arrival in Pokhara, I followed the kind advice of my friend Simon Willis, who made the same trip a couple of years ago, and took les Francais, who were by now looking slightly unhappy with life (as no doubt did I!) straight to 'Fire on the Mountain Hotel', where we were warmly greeting by the manager, Raj, who remembers Simon and his family extremely fondly. Nepali hospitality is second to none, and Raj is one of the nicest people I've ever had the fortune to meet, as is his wife. Within no time, showered and changed we were sitting down to a delicious dal bhat with chicken curry, and I to a cool, crisp Everest beer. As I sipped contentedly of this delicious lager, looking at the photocgraph of Tenzing Norgay planting the Union Flag on the summit of the world's highest mountain, I can't say i felt any regret about breaking my plan to give up alcohol for Lent!

Today I rose late, and made my way to the roof of the hotel to see the craggy, snow-swept peaks of the Annapurna range glinting majestically above Lake Phewa and the town - it's indiscribably beautiful.

I had a fantstic breakfast of lassi, bananas and muesli, wahes down with spiced chay masala, before going on a tour of Pokhara with the French, led by Raj. We took a boat to a Hindu temple situated on an island in the middle of the lake, where we were blessed by the priest and given 'tikkas' on our foreheads. I quickly noticed that there are some very smart sailing dinghies for hire on the lake, so am just off for a gentle afternoon sail, now that the wind has picked up.

Tomorrow Colonel Cross will collect me from the hotel, and I am looking forward to meeting him very much.

I am struck by how vastly different Nepal is from India. I am so happy to be here, but hope before too long to see a bit more of India too, a vast country (or, as Churchill said '"India" is nothing more than a losse geogrpahical term; it is no more a country than is the Equator"') of so many differntent culture, religions and traditions....

I am so impressed by this part of the world, and very aware of how fortunate I am to be here.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202340720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202340720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1202340720/tpod.html Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:59:11 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Agra, India

Hello from India! It's been a wonderful, if rather a surreal few days but already India has made a huge impression on me. After a very plesant weekedn spent with my pal Cooper in Oxford, I got to Heathrow for my flight to Delhi, via Kuwait, arriving early on Tuesday morning - Delhi is five and a half hours ahead of GMT. I decided to head to Agra straightaway, and took a taxi to New Delhi station with a very nice Slovakian girlcalled Kristina whom I met on the plane, who was also planning to go to Agra, then on to Varanasi and thence to Darjeeling.

We booked our tickets for the Jhelum Express to Agra, which left us a few hours to explore Delhi's main bazaar. Delhi is an incredible mass of people, sights, sounds and smells and by the time we had got back to the station we had seen a number of holy cows contendedly munching away at the various produce on the market's vegetable stalls, a Hindu funeral with a number of women in bright saris howling over the cloth wrapped body of the deceased, and I was given a blessing by a bearded priest toting a huge incense burner and a statue of the elephant-headed god (Ganesh?). He put a 'bindi' on my forehead using his thumb dipped in red pigment and seemed extremely happy with the 10 rupees I gave him.

The train to Agra took a little under four hours, and I spent most of this sleeping, but it was a really enjoyable experience. In our compartment was an extremely venerable elderly couple who I think were on their way to Assam or somewhere, but spoke at length about all the things there are to see in Northern India - there are many! I soon realised that Indians are very proud of there country, and one can see why. People generally seem very friendly and polite, and though being a tourist does of course attract a lot of attention from hawkers and touts, they are not in the least threatening or unpleasant.

We got to Agra by mid afternoon and lost no time in getting to the wonder that is the Taj Mahal. It truly lives up to expectations, and as I saw its graceful main dome appearing over the trees and houses and had the same feeling of wonder as I did on seeing the tops of the Pyramids looming above Cairo. The monument has been described in may ways - the ultimate testament of love (it was built by the Moghal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife 'Mumtaz Mahal'). This in turn has led it to being decribed a a testament to the grace and elegance of Indian women - very appropriate, in my view, since the sight of scores of ladies wearing beautiful saris adds to the overall elegance of the compound. Above all though, it is simply an incredible beautiful building.

Today I headed down to Agra Fort station to arrange my ticket for an overnight train this evening for Gorakhpur. From there I will bus to the Nepali border, and if I'm lucky might even get to Pokhra by tomorrow evening. However it's more likely I will get there by Friday. After that I wondered round the town a bit with Kristina, and visited a very impressive Mughal mosque. The caretaker spoke a few words of Arabic, and seeing my interest in the building, asked me, much in the same tone as the tut-tut drivers ask you if you want them to take you to your hotel, if I would like to convert to Islam. I politely declined! Given the not-so-distant history of religious turmoil in India, I have found it very cheering to see Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and no doubt others living side by side and all contriubting to the fantastic, vibrant atmosphere of this remarkable place. There may well be resentment lurking beneath all this, but on first impressions it seems a harmonious place in terms of the way people seem to treat each other with a lot of respect. I can see that one could spend a lifetime trying to understand this vast country.

I spent the rest of today wondering round the amazing 'Red Fort' of Agra. This was even more interesting than the Taj Mahal, in my view. It's absolutely massive and highly ornate. In the centre is a vast courtyard, which reminded me somewhat of the Topkapi Serai in Istanbul in it's layout. It is after all an Islamic structure, and includes a suite of rooms with beautiful coloured glasse from Aleppo inlaid into the walls. Most impressive of all is the view across the river and scrublands to the majestic Taj Mahal - the same view, as legend would have it, that Shah Jahan used to gaze at wistfully when he was imprisoned here in the final years of his life. As I was leaving, I cam across a magnificent kite, which was lying on the floor alive, but obviously paralysed. On closer inspection I saw that it was missing most of its tail. I found an official who spoke good English and told him about it, and he said that it a fairly frequent occurence - the monkeys that abound the fort sometimes catch the birds and maul them. The poor bird was clearly beyond help (and I can't imagine than many people here would be particularly worried about helping it anyway) so the offical called over a one of the guards who hopefully dispatched the poor animal quickly.

I really could write pages and pages trying to get across just what an impact India has made on me. I can't believe I've only been here two days! It feels somehow very familiar - Britain has left a huge legacy here, after all, and the various Islamic buildings remind me of Egypt, Syria and so on, though they of course have a style all of there own. That said, it's quite unlike anywhere I've ever been to before. I find the atmosphere quite uplifting, though one does not have to look far to see extreme poverty. It's a beautiful place, however. Well, now I'm off to collect my bag, which I left at the hotel, have some dinner and then go and catch my train. As ever, kindest regards to everyone reading this - I'll try and keep it updated as regularly as I can.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1196923440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1196923440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/thomasbaker/tom-2007-2008/1196923440/tpod.html Thu, 06 Dec 2007 01:40:46 -0500 Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia, Shropshire, India and Nepal!

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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Hi there,

Here is a more detailed account of the last week or so ....

After returning to Gonder with Shoofy and Omer, we made arrangements for our onward travel to Lalibela. The road between the two places is unsealed and very, very long, so the bus journey must needs span two days. The buses, old Ivacos or Fiats, are always packed, and pong rather or whatever the passangers are taking with them - often goat fat, live animals and so on!

The first day comprised 14 hours on the road (and off it, repairing a cracked transmission), but the scenery more than made up for the discomfort. then, halfway through thew day, there was a commotion towards the front of the bus. On enquiry, we found to our initial disbelief that a woman was going into labour (!). Everybody besides Charles and me were Ethiopian, and we were the only ones to show any surprise at all. Fortunately, an old lady on the bus knew how to deliver the baby, and after an incredibly short amount of time, the healthy infant was born, and after yelling a bit, fell asleep on his father's lap, wrapped up in blankets, whilst his mother calmly ate a loaf of bread and sipped some water. The happy family only left the bus some three hours later!

Towards the end of the journey, as night was falling, four or five elderly goatherdsmen mounted the bus, carrying bottles of liquified goat fat and, I'm afraid, smelling really rather strongly. Seeing the bus was full, one of the men, dressed in raw goatskin, calmly made towards me and tried to sit down on my lap. This, I'm afraid, was too much for my slightly frayed nerves and I told the man forcefully but relatively politely that this would not do. Unfazed, he pulled up some kind of goatskin cushion, and sat himslef down contentedly in the aisle. Fortunately, the journey finished less than an hour afterwards, and Charles and I found ourselves in the frankly unpleasant town of Gashema.

The town has but one hotel, so all the onward passengers ran to it. Charles and I managed to secure a room with one small bed, which we had to share not only with each other, but also countless fleas. Thank goodness for sleeping bags! We rounded off the day with a coffee and a Dashen beer (very good) and made the cliched but oh so true comment: 'Only in Africa!'. But of course, it had been another interesting and exciting day, and we wouldn't have missed it!

The next day (1st December) we hitched a lift and arrived in Lalibela. This ancient town has 11 rock-hewn churches of around 8th century, with more in the surrounding countryside. The most famous is Bet Gyorgis, carved underground out of solid volcanic rock, in the shape of a Greek cross.

On the Sunday (2nd) we rose early and climbed a mountain above the town to see mass st the monastery of Asheten Maryam. After a hearty lunch, we then visited the largest Lalibela church, 'The Saviour of the World'. The sheer effort required to hollow out this mighty structure, in such a regular and architecturally sound fashion, genuinely leaves one awestruck.

That night, we got up at 2am and walked through the dark streets to Bet Gyorgis - it was St George's Day (by the Ethiopian calendar), and the monks were chanting and praying in front of an ancient image of the saint. In the evening we had a particularly good Ethiopian meal of injera (fermented, spongy bread) and tibs (fried meat) along with vegetables and spicy sauces. We have long learned not to oredr 'kitfo' - the famous raw meat which we ordered a while ago without realising what it was - it is, in my view, awful!

On the Tuesday, we met a really nice Spaniard named Pedro whilst lunching in the hostel, and arranged with him to visit the outlying church (42 km distant) of Yemrehanne Kristos. This Axumite building, predating all of the Lailibala churches, is nesteld within a giant natural cave. Of stone, plaster and wood it somewhat resembles a Jacobean building. The site was interesting, but made for a weird afternoon, as the whole cave is filled with mummified bodies - you are literally forces to walk over skulls, bones and so on, and since one has to leave one's shoes outside, this is not at all pleasant. The ground upon which the church is built is also very marshy, and the whole structure, rather like Winchester Cathedral, sort of floats on planks of olivewood.

The poverty one we saw on the way was truly shocking - I'm not sure which disease causes it, but I have never in my life seen so many blind people as I've seen in Ethiopia. As word spread that three Europenas were at the church (apparently it has fewer than 15 visitors a week since it is so tough to get to) tens if not scores of people gathered outside to beg. Many were seriously malformed, presumably due to polio, but at least one was suffering from goitre, the large swelling of the neck, which is so easily treatable. I found this extremely depressing and frustrating, as the government here could deal with these cases simply by educating people to eat iodised salt.

On a more positive note, we were at least able to help one person in Lalbela. a 17-year old chap called Ashenafy, who had guided us on the path to Ashten Maryam. He asked if we couold buy him some books for school. Initially we were very sceptical, as it is a well-known scam, that the kid then sells the book back to the shop. However, Ashenafy was able to tell us the exact title he needed, and the content of the book (an all-purpose maths and science textbook). It cost just under 4GBP, and as a test we wrote our names in the front, making it harder to sell. Ashenafy didn't mind at all, and was hugging the book gleefully. Later we saw him reading it intently, so feel that we have in a small way helped out a person who genuinely needed it.

By Wednesday we had seen all the churches of Lalibela, and most of those around, and were deeply impressed by the experience. However, we didn't feel quite ready for another two-day bus journey, and treated ourselves to the extravagance of flying back to Addis in a Fokker 50 - a massive expense at about 50GBP, but well worth it to us, I must say. The plane landed at Gonder and Bahir Dar before arriving at Addis, retracing our journey of the last three weeks or so. We even flew over the outlet of the Blue Nile and saw the monasteries we'd visited with the Czechs.

Well, that brings you up to date, and as ever thanks for reading and waiting so patiently!

Our nest plans are to visit Lake Langano over the weekend with Zewdu, and finish off Addis' museums and churches, before hunting for souvenirs in the massive 'mercato' - the largest, it is said, in all Africa.

I am also indulging my appetite for Italian food and interest in the legacy the Italians have left here. there are lots of art deco houses in the street of the hotel, many with rather lovely tiles manufactured in Asmara (the Italians were in Eritrea for far longer). The building I'm in now, as I write this, was apparently the quarters and office of one of Graziani's generals.

The man who runs our hotel is a bit of a disappointment, however - I was hoping to see a true colonial sort, with a man-from-del-Monte suit and hat, but unfortunately he turned out to be a rather grumpy, overweight individual who seems to spend much of his time drinking scotch at the bar and barking orders in very poor Amharic to the long suffering staff! However, the food there is very good, and we plan to take Zewdu there for dinner when we meet him this evening.

Less than a week to go now before I get back to England, but I imagine I'll post a couple more blog entries, so do watch this space.

All the best,

Tom
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