Village Trekking
Trip Start
Apr 03, 2007
1
11
17
Trip End
Jul 31, 2007
Dhulikel,
Nepal
Friday, May 25, 2007
The scenery was absolutly out of the world. Stunning views and we did not see any other hikers the entire time which was neat and made us feel like we were so intrepid and going places no other white people had ever been. Of course this isn't true but the way that people stared at us you could almost believe it was. And than the little children would burst out with "Give me one chocolate!" and we realized there really is no such thing as "off the beaten path." Though I would say that this is as off as it gets
A night on the farm
.It's amazing to see how these people live. It's like a time warp to three hundred years ago. We really and truly roughed it like I never have before. The houses were made of mud and usually the goats and cows sleep in the bottom floor of the house. There was flies everywhere. I named the first village we stayed in "Land of a Thousand Flies" but then I realized that every village could be called that. Food was cooked over a fire inside the house and I have no idea why but they really aren't into chimneys here. But the should really try it out because it makes breathing so much easier! And most villages had no running water or electricity. Can you imagine hiking seven hours in the blistering heat and NOT taking a shower when you got home? That is what the british call manky. In fact it's so manky it's absolutly skanky (which, incidentally does not mean slutty, like in Canada, but more like disgustingly gross; as in "There is a bit of skank stuck to your leg...") Some places did not even have toilets. But in some ways that was almost nicer. We have developed a rating system for toilets in this country. A ten has a western style toilet, toilet paper, running water, soap, is clean and does not stink. There are certainly no western toilets in the villages, nor any toilet paper. Those of us that had the forsight to bring our own (yes! I did actually plan ahead!) hoarded each and every square. We called it White Gold. Usually there was no water and the little shack itself was situated in such a place that to reach it one has to tramp across the shit infested animal pen
Front Yard
. The buildings were so small you practically had to get on your knees to get inside and the doors never locked. And the smells.... oh the smells. These toilets don't actually flush so I guess describing them as toilets is kind of misleading. Anyways, the first person that had to go would come back with a rating. It was always a little disconcerting to hear two or one. It got to the point where I was happier to hear zero because that meant no toilet at all.I find it strange too that they find shoes so disgusting. You have to take your shoes off before going inside the homes, but the floor is made out of dirt. How is the shoe dirt any different from the floor dirt? Never found the answer to that one!
That being said there was some deifinite highlights. First of all, I was very proud of myself because I am fitter than I thought. And I did not get one blister the entire time (I love my hiking shoes soooo much!) It was so great to get out of the city, breathe clean air and not see heaps of garbage anywhere. One particularly hot day we passed this beautiful river and went swimming which was not only really refreshing but also practical! I brought in my soap and shaved my armpits. It was sweet.
The toughest day was probably day five, when we crossed "Death Valley". Yeah we really liked naming things on this trip. Anyways it was hot that day. So freaking hot. After coming down a mountain and into the valley, we expected to be going up the other side. Which would have sucked, but what actually happened sucked worse. Instead of getting back on a shady trail, we had to walk straight up the totally dried up river bed. It was like walking through the desert with the sun boring a hole into my rain. We even came across some bleached animal bones. Serioulsy. Even the wind that was blowing was burning hot
Goats having lunch
. We finally came to one lone building sitting all by itself in the middle of nowhere. It felt like some out post in some futuristic post-nuclear world where everything has been wiped out and only a few people have survived. We ate some instant noodles and slept on hay mats for half an hour. After we headed out again it was back into the blistering desert and when we finally got to the end of it, we had to walk straight up the side of a mountain. It was one of those days where I was like trying to remind myself why the hell I thought this would be a good idea. It flt so good to see our village for the night, even if it was five little shacks and our bed was a blanket on the floor. I tell you, giving up almost every comfort in the world sure makes you appreciate the little things!Everyday we stopped in different villages for lunch and dinner. It was mostly good old dhal bhat but there was the occasional variety. At one spot I ate a plate of the spiciest chowmein I have ever had in my life. And lots of nepali tea. Like six times a day. And noodle soup. Lots and lots of noodle soup. At our first house we were sitting around waiting for dinner and our guide just walks out, grabs a chicken and slits its throat. Nothing like getting to know your dinner before you eat it. He did taste good though.
I did actually enjoy hanging with the barynard animals. It was another one of those things that made me feel ten years old
Ladies at work
. Lots of things to pet. And little babies. I became obssessed with catching baby chicks. I would chase them around the yard untill I caught them. And we saw some seriously adorable baby goats. Grown up goats are really stupid looking. They have the most vacant looking expressions. They don't show any sort of emotions like say, for instance, dogs. But the babies are freaking adorable. Their ears are gigantic and their legs are so long and skinny. And one of them was in love with us. It followed us everywhere and when we sat down, so did he. He tried to crawl on our laps and at night he tried to sleep under our bed. I think he thought he was a dog. We named him Gilbert the Goat. It was nice to know as well that he would live a long happy life as goats there were used for making local cheese and not mutton stew. [PHOTO_ID_R=img_0636.jpgThan there was the raksi. They say it's Nepali beer, but believe me this stuff did not even remotely resemble beer. Didn't look like it or smell like it and certainly did not taste like it. It tasted more like it was made in a still in the farmyard or maybe a dirty bathtub (that is if they had bath tubs in this country). My nickname for it is bog water. On our last night we stayed in our guide's village. After dinner we all gathered in yard, and the Neplais broke out the raksi and a drum. They sang folk songs and danced and they made us dance too which was sort of embarassing at first but really, really hilarious, especially after enough raksi
Me and Radha
. I was a little worried about the morning's four hour hike to the bus, but amazingly, no hangover. My guide checked on me by asking "Do you have raksi problem today?" Not entirely sure what that problem might be but I was glad I did not have to find out.So we made it to our bus. And the bus ride was something else alright. It seemed a little strange right off because there really wasn't an actual road where it was parked. It was just sitting in the river bed. So we climb aboard and head off. It was so crazy the bus just drove down the river bed for like two hours. It was so unbelievably bumpy and the bus was rocking from side to side. I really thought we were going to tip over a few times. You should have heard the goats that were being transported beneath the bus. You could hear them sliding around and they were bleating like crazy. I had my hand resting out the winow but I removed it after it was almost cut off by the cliff side. And at some points the river was starting to flow down and we were literally driving through like two and three feet of rushing water. I was certainly relieved when we made it to the actual road. But my releif evaporated as the driver sped off like a crazy man down the winding and dangerously narrow road. On the right side the cliff side was so steeep and dropped hundreds of feet. The road was so twisty that at every corner the driver would honk in case there was someone on the other side because there was barely room for two vehicles
Me on the trail
. Despite this ingenious method we still almost had a head on collision. The people standing in the aisles went flying. I had a vision of my own death. I kept thinking about the "Dangers and Annoyances" section in my Lonely Planet guide and how it said there that more foreign tourists die in bus accidents than any other accidents in Nepal. I lived to tell the tale though haha, but it was nice to get back into Kathmandu in one piece.So at the moment Amelia and I are holed up in Thamel, a haven for white people loaded with western goodies. We rewarded ourselves with pizza, chocolate mousse, beer and red wine. And our hotel has scorching hot water, a bath tub and laundry service. All which were necessities at this point. So we have had two days here and tomorrow we are leaving for trek number two. We are going up to Lantang to hike the Himalayan mountain ranges. So after two months in Nepal I am finally going to see snow peaked mountains. Exciting! We will be gone for ten days but this time we are staying in lodges so although it will be rustic, it will be a little more luxurious for us and we have been assured of running water. And it won't be so bloody hot as we will be quite a bit more north.
It looks like we picked a good time to go trekking as the teachers strike is still going on with no end in sight. Yesterday I was walking back to the hotel when like, a hundred people started running like crazy down the street. Everyone started ducking into shops; I was thinking "Shit, should I be running too?" All of a sudden the military shows up in full riot gear, machine guns in hand and barracades the road. I asked this guy beside me "what the hell is going on?" And he said "Well there is a teacher's strike right now" and I'm thinking "So?" but apparently they were protesting at parliament and the military threw tear gas at them and so they all ran into Thamel with the military hot on their heals. I don't think it's very safe so protest here, the military doesn't seem to put with much BS. The Lonely Planet says it's very important for tourists to avoid protests of any kind. I tried to look nonchalant and as un-teacherly as possible as I strolled by. I was a little nervous though. They had some very big guns.
So I'm headin' to the hills......
