Hi everyone,
I am finding it very difficult to write this blog entry about Nepal because I want to gush at great length about its beautiful and varied environment; the sweet and gentle people; the ornate architecture; the rooftop gardens and restaurants; Yeka - our fascinating and tireless trekking guide; the tiered mountain farmlands; the delicious Nepali tea (a bit like a chai latte); the exotic wildlife; the magic of Kathmandu with its maze of colourful alleys and where pan-pipe music fills the air; and the wonder of gazing at the Annapurnas at 6am while the sun rises and a Buddhist chant echoes throughout the valley. Not to mention that many of the towns are open defecation free, according to the signs within...
We sadly dragged ourselves away after 15 glorious days, still half considering extending our visas. The customs official at the Indian border kindly cheered us up with an excellent vocal impression of the Darjeeling Toy Train.
I would need to write a novel to adequately cover all of the reasons why I loved Nepal, so all that I will say is that Nepal is Wonderful and I'll let Dan's photo's do the talking.
The streets of Kathmandu, heading up to the monkey temple. All these stairs turned out to be good practice for what was to come...
The locals would climb the epic stairs to do three laps of the shrine, turning these metal embossed spinny things. And yes, there were monkeys. Awesome.
On to Pokhara, the staging point for our trek through the Annapurna ranges. This lake reminded me a lot of Te Anau, or maybe Queenstown... very nice little town.
DAY 1: The trek begins from the town of Nayapul (1010m) with a few river crossings and generally flat terrain. 4 hours trekking, 600m climbed.
Our awesome guide Yeka, eternally cheerful & impressively fit (he didn't break a sweat the whole trip...). Favourite phrase "Dhal bhat power, 24 hour!". Dhal bhat being the favourite dinner among Nepalese as it has all the rice/veg goodness and is basically 'all you can eat'. Pretty soon Dhal bhat and tibetan bread became my staple trekking foods.
And finally, rest. Soph relaxes her taped up feet...
DAY 2: After a night in Hille (1600m) we continue upwards... many many steps... through the first section of jungle & on towards Ghorepani. 7 hours trekking, 1000m climbed
A very excited Sophie, this is over 5 hours in & we're pretty shattered!
This cute guy joined us about halfway through the day, leading the pack. Just after I took this photo he had a bit of a scratch and flicked off this fat leech... the first encounter of many.
A very excited Sophie, this is over 5 hours in & we're pretty shattered!
This cute guy joined us about halfway through the day, leading the pack. Just after I took this photo he had a bit of a scratch and flicked off this fat leech... the first encounter of many.
DAY 3: We woke early (4:30am) to climb Poon Hill, the best vantage point on the whole trip. But when we looked out the window it was all cloud so we bailed... an hour later I peered out the window and the situation had changed entirely... so we quickly got our butts out of bed and climbed the 600m to the top.
About halfway up we were greeted with this...
A very relieved Sophie reaching the top (and a strolling Yeka)
And the views, front and back
We then descended back into Ghorepani (2600m) and continued on into the jungles. First climbing another 600m before a series of steep ups and slippery downs... 7 hours trekking, climbed 1200m total and descended the same again
Our constant enemy, Soph managed to pick up 8 leeches (none of which actually dug in thanks to Sophie's extreme leech sense). Yeka and I remained leech free. Also pictured is the source of most of the mountain power, a hydro power station.
A well deserved lunch break. Probably the hardest but most rewarding day of the trek.
DAY 4: Sunrise in Tarapani (2600m). A beautiful town and yet another stunning start to the day. From about 9am it would cloud over for the rest of the day, we didn't mind. Kept the sun off & made the mornings that much better! Short trek today, 3 hours, descending 500m.
A couple of locals. These mountain folk are so impressive, this guy was carrying a 65kg load (mostly eggs and other foods) and he only weighed 80kg! They start small though, there were quite a few kids around carrying small loads of potatoes and supplies.
Coming into the largest town on the trek, Gandruk (2100m), super clean & beautiful with hydro power, sattelite dishes and Buddhist chants echoing through the mountains in the morning.
DAY 5: Our final day trekking, from here its all down-hill. We passed through a lot of agriculture on the way down. 6 hours trekking, descending 1100m.
Harvesting the rice crop, and preparing a terrace for planting. Every stretch of land that is not completely vertical has been terraced & made productive. Mostly corn, rice, potatoes and maize this time of year.
And our final rest before the last stretch out. By this stage we were pretty stoked the all the trekking was almost over... but at the same time sad to leave this beautiful place.
And that's it! I'm impressed you read this far... off to Chitwan next for wild animals galore. See ya!
About halfway up we were greeted with this...
A very relieved Sophie reaching the top (and a strolling Yeka)
And the views, front and back
We then descended back into Ghorepani (2600m) and continued on into the jungles. First climbing another 600m before a series of steep ups and slippery downs... 7 hours trekking, climbed 1200m total and descended the same again
Our constant enemy, Soph managed to pick up 8 leeches (none of which actually dug in thanks to Sophie's extreme leech sense). Yeka and I remained leech free. Also pictured is the source of most of the mountain power, a hydro power station.
A well deserved lunch break. Probably the hardest but most rewarding day of the trek.
DAY 4: Sunrise in Tarapani (2600m). A beautiful town and yet another stunning start to the day. From about 9am it would cloud over for the rest of the day, we didn't mind. Kept the sun off & made the mornings that much better! Short trek today, 3 hours, descending 500m.
A couple of locals. These mountain folk are so impressive, this guy was carrying a 65kg load (mostly eggs and other foods) and he only weighed 80kg! They start small though, there were quite a few kids around carrying small loads of potatoes and supplies.
Coming into the largest town on the trek, Gandruk (2100m), super clean & beautiful with hydro power, sattelite dishes and Buddhist chants echoing through the mountains in the morning.
DAY 5: Our final day trekking, from here its all down-hill. We passed through a lot of agriculture on the way down. 6 hours trekking, descending 1100m.
Harvesting the rice crop, and preparing a terrace for planting. Every stretch of land that is not completely vertical has been terraced & made productive. Mostly corn, rice, potatoes and maize this time of year.
And our final rest before the last stretch out. By this stage we were pretty stoked the all the trekking was almost over... but at the same time sad to leave this beautiful place.
And that's it! I'm impressed you read this far... off to Chitwan next for wild animals galore. See ya!
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