Nepal

I arrived in Nepal on October 27th flying Biman Bangladesh --- the "Flip a Coin" Airline. I say this because it seems to be a toss up as to the type of flight you get. My trip into Dhaka, the first leg, was on a modern airbus with meals, seatbelts, and pressurized cabins. However the plane we few into Kathmandu was, I think, one of the original TWA planes commissioned in the early 1950's. O.K., I exaggerate a bit, but the attendants were the originals, I'm sure. Also the way we literally fell out of the sky and onto the runway in about 30 seconds gave me a head rush which lasted for the next two days, and left my stomach floating somewhere around 10,000 feet. It was explained to me later that the pilots have to do this, because they don't want to hit a mountain.

Once on the ground, Kathmandu was great. After three months of eastern culture and food, Kathmandu was a appetizing taste of western life. Actually its more than that. The atmosphere and color of the city is difficult to describe. You've got to see it to believe it. Its kind of an eclectic mix of eastern traditions, western modernization, and 1960's hippie cultures.

The streets are narrow, and jammed with bicycles, rickshaws, taxis and people rushing in all different directions. You've got to watch were you're going. It would be very easy to get trampled under the traffic. Everywhere there are trekking companies, and shops selling books, clothes, souvenirs, and supplies. Some of the better buys I found in Kathmandu --- I was starting my Christmas shopping at the time --- included: hand-made sweaters, jackets, trekking supplies, bedcovers, wall hangings, and other local crafts and arts. There's lots of selection, and no shortage of aggressive street sellers pushing everything from violins and chess sets to wacky weed.

The architecture in the old parts of the city is spectacular, with elaborately-carved wooden balconies, and carved stone temples. Durbar Square, at the centre of the city's daily life, is the site of old palaces. "Durbar" actually means "palace" in Nepali. Its a great place to spend an afternoon and watch the commerce and social activities of Nepali daily life.

Located at the south west corner of Durbar is Freak Street. Freak Street was the hippie hangout of the 60's and 70's. Its not as busy as the Thamel, the traveller's hotspot today, but it retains much of its flavour with lots of tie-dyes, long hair, and sweet aromas wafting through the air. Though some of the crowd is a bit older, most of the real barebones travellers still stay here. Everything is a little cheaper -- food, rooms, and supplies (if you're planning on a trek).

I ended up staying in Thamel with a couple from Vancouver I had met at the airport. There are some popular places to stay in Thamel. One warning: the touts are very persistent in searching for their commissions. There are some great restaurants in the city, ethnic and western. The first night we dined on steak at the Everest steak house. Probably the first barbecued steak I'd eaten in the past year, and the first real hunk of red meat I'd had in months. I savoured every bite.

The next day Hiro, Suzi, and I checked out the city. We spent the morning hanging out in Durbar Square, and in the afternoon we hiked up to Swayambhunath. One of the more famous temples in Kathmandu, Swayambhunath is also known as the monkey temple because of all the monkeys which roam its hillside. It took about 45 minutes to reach the top, where we were greeted by a towering stupa with the huge eyes of buddha staring down on us. Just then it started to pour rain. I'm not sure, but this may have been an omen.

One of the few problems with our guest house, actually it was a general problem in the area, was the lack of electricity throughout the day and night. This was in large part due to the antiquated power system in the country and the high demand, but it also reflected a desire amongst the locals to conserve as much power as possible. Candles solved the problem most nights. Its amazing how much fun playing canasta by candlelight can be.

The following morning after breakfast, I took the opportunity to check out my e-mail at one of the many Internet cafes. After that I took off on a bike to Baktaphur and Patan, the two other towns that make up the Kathmandu valley. Cycling in Kathmandu is a handy way to get around, and there are plenty of mountain bikes to rent for only $1.00 - 2.00 a day. One warning though, the smog is bad. Take something to cover your face.

Patan and Bhaktaphur also have their Durbar squares with their palaces and temples devoted to various Buddhist and Hindu gods. Two things in particular are striking about these areas. The first is their beauty and the way in which the structures have been so well preserved. The second is the way in which these squares tend to be the the centre of activity for daily life. Patan in particular is not only jammed with temples, but people as well. There are easily five times as many locals wandering through the open market areas here than there are tourists. Its almost humorous the way each group sits and watches the other with curiosity.

I also took the time in Kathmandu, to look into booking a ticket home in late December. I had tried booking a ticket in Bangkok, but it would have meant doubling back. I wanted to depart from some place in India. After checking out dozens of agencies, I found one which could provide me with a flight out of Mumbai(Bombay) on December 18th. It sounded great: $850.00US for a one year open-ended return ticket on El Al, the Isreali Airline. The only catch was they could not confirm one leg of the flight, the portion from Mumbai to Tel Aviv. The agent said he would work on confirmation over the next few weeks.

After two days, and hounding around various trekking outfits, I dropped into the Himalayan Rescue Association were I ran into a few Brits, Stuart and Jude, who were interested in doing the same trek as me --- the Annapurna Base Camp (A.B.C.). We decided to hook up.

There are several areas to go trekking in Nepal, and several ways to do it. Many people have asked me why I didn't head for Everest. I had considered it. However the Everest trek was at least 16 to 20 days. Although beautiful, I had heard that it wasn't a spectacular hike until the last few days. Most of the time Everest is hidden. Annapurna, on the other hand, was a shorter trek, eight to ten days. It is a popular trek into a sanctuary surrounded by mountains. It can also be done as an organized or individual trek.

This was appealing. Most trekking companies charge from $15.00 to $30.00 a day. They provide all your food, guides and porters to carry your supplies. Usually, as a group, you stay in tents along the way. However the Annapurna trek is what is called a "tea-house trek". There are villages along the route, every three to four kilometres, which have small inns (teahouses). If you can handle the load and desire the challenge, the trek is quite doable on your own. It cost us about $10.00 to $12.00 a day. The price naturally increases the further you go up the mountain.

It took us one day to arrange for our trekking permits and to get a bus to Pokhara, our starting point. We arrived the afternoon of October 31st. Pokhara is one of those mountain towns that once you're there, you could easily spend a week without leaving. It is nestled on the banks of Phewa Tal. To the west and northwest lie the immense Himalayas. You can spend the day wandering through the shops, or reading a book while quietly floating in a boat on the lake. Its very lazy and relaxed.

The three of us had decided to start our trek the next day and save Pokhara until we returned. We spent the better part of the afternoon picking up last minute supplies and repacking. We'd wanted to travel as light, so we dumped anything that wasn't essential to the trip at our guesthouse. We crashed at around 10.00 PM with the plan of getting an early morning start.

At about 7.00 AM the next day, after a delicious meal of oatmeal, yogurt and coffee, we caught a taxi for the one hour ride up to Phedi, our launching point. Probably the hardest part of the day was the initial climb up a very steep set of stairs. It only took 40 minutes, but it had us all wheezing and burning by the time we reached the top. We hiked for about eight hours, ascending and descending, dodging cow droppings, crossing suspension bridges, and ended up the day in Tolka at an elevation of 1700 metres. The three of us were exhausted, but felt great.

The small teahouses are family-run and pretty basic. Usually they are five or six rooms, each furnished with a cot and blankets, a table and a candle. Tolka was the last time we had showers with hot running water for the next eight days. It was also where I started the the ritual of dal baht. Dal baht is a basic meal of rice, bean lentil soup, and vegetables. It may not sound like much, but it really hits the spot after a day of walking. It is also an all-you-can-eat type thing, so you can really fill up on it. Every restaurant and guesthouse has their own variation. Sometimes its spicy, sometimes bland, but always nutritious. It was my diet for the duration of the trip. After dinner we spent a few minutes planning our next day, but by about 8.00 PM we had called it a night.

The next day things got interesting. We had planned to trek from Tolka to Chhomrong. There were two ways of getting there. We opted for the old route which winds through Ghandruk and on up into Chhomrong, instead of a shorter route which dips into the valley, over a new bridge, and up the other side. We reasoned that at the short route would only take about five and a half hours. Since we were starting at 7.00 AM we decided we wanted more of a challenge. Well we got it.

We started with a descent down to a suspension bridge at 1350 metres. I should mention that trekking this route can sometimes be deceptively simple as most of the paths have been set with stone steps. However after this day I developed a profound respect for stairclimbers. On the other side of the suspension bridge we discovered another steep climb, supposedly one of the longest staircases we would encounter. On the way up we stopped several times for water and shots of the fantastic scenery. We finally reached Ghandruk in the early afternoon and broke for a leisurely lunch. From Ghandruk we climbed to over 2200 metres and then descended another stairway to 1700 metres. By the time we reached the bottom it was closing in on 5.00 PM. With another ascent ahead of us to get to Chhomrong. We decided to stop at Kimrong Khola. After dinner and some herbal tea we were asleep by about 7.30 PM.

The following day we got off at 6.30 AM. By 9.30 we had reached Chhomrong where we stopped for breakfast. We set our sites on getting to Bamboo Lodge. By our third day the view was getting pretty impressive. All day we hiked with the sight of Machhapuchare (fish tail mountain) ahead of us. Around 2.00 PM we began climbing into a forest. Within ten minutes Machhapuchare had disappeared and we were walking along a ridge totally blanketed by clouds. We arrived at 4.30 PM to find the place packed. Most of the trekkers were coming down from the base camp. We spent the early evening exchanging news and stories, before collapsing into a comatic sleep once again.

After three days of eight hour hiking with a pack, fatigue was beginning to set in. However, the adrenaline of pushing for the goal compensated for the weight of the packs and the sore legs. The closer we got these people with big smiling faces kept telling us it was worth the effort. Everyday I awoke with renewed vigor. It was also becoming more apparent that the the higher we climbed the better the food was. I know I was certainly drinking more water. I was up to four litres a day. Day four was a short day. We started early again, around 7.00 AM. and made Dovan around 9.00 AM for breakfast. It was a day of waterfalls and monkeys in the mist. We stopped at Himalayan just before 11.00 AM. for a quick break. The weather was starting to close in, so we pushed on hoping to get a little further. We passed Hinko Cave and by 12.00 PM had reached Deureli and were forced to stop. It was drizzling pretty good, visibility was low, and the trails were slick. We spent the afternoon huddled in the teahouse's restaurant reading books and sipping tea.. It was a good day for lingering. At an elevation of just over 3000 metres, it was a good chance to acclimatize, before the last climb.

The trek from Deureli to Annapurna Base Camp was only four hours long, broken up with a stop at Machhapuchare Base Camp (M.B.C.) half way. It was also a gradual incline, nothing tricky. However, the elevation went from about 3000 to just over 4000 metres. At this point we were also hiking in snow. We started at about 7.00 AM and reached M.B.C. shortly after 9.00 AM. and lapped up some hot soup. The next to hours were akin to walking on the moon. Every step I took was slow, and took great effort. My lungs felt starved for oxygen as I gasped for every breath. About half way up, I walked into a group of students from Hong Kong coming down. They seemed to be experiencing the reverse of what I was. With every step their lungs were soaking up more oxygen and they were becoming more euphoric. When I was about 10 metres from them I got pelted with a snowball. I looked up and saw two girls bent over in giggles. Somewhere in my exhaustion I found some reserve. I through of my pack and retaliated. I managed to get off of few good shots in the chaos that followed. The whole fight lasted about three minutes before everyone collapsed in the snow.

About one hour later, around 11.30 AM, Stuart, Jude, and I arrived at A.B.C. The sun was shining brightly and the mountains totally surrounded us. We sat and gazed at them amazingly for God knows how long, before we moved again. We spent the day up there, basking in the sun, reading books, and watching sherpas train on the slopes above us. It took tremendous energy just to walk around, but after about four or five hours I started to catch my breath. A group of Aussies had engaged some of the guides in a game of volleyball. I guess that's what they call high-altitude training. I know that after years of hiking in and around the Canadian Rockies, this had been one of the most challenging trips I had every taken. I was satisfied just being an observer of the game. Next time I'll join in.

We spent the next five days hiking back. The return trip became a bit brutal on the feet and knees with all the descending. We did give ourselves a good half day to enjoy the sun, and some great chocolate cake at Moonlight, a great little teahouse in Chhomrong. We also hooked up with several of the other trekkers we had met along the way. The ten of us stayed up well into the evening --- 9.00 PM --- joking around and solving the world's problems. We ran into rain the last few days, but also some great vistas, as we came down through Darapani, Ghorapani and Poon Hill. Finally after ten days we emerged at Chandrakot and caught a taxi back down to Pokhara.

I spent the next few days nursing my sore feet, recovering, and enjoying the beauty of Pokhara. There were some great day trips out of Pokhara by bike. On the 14th I parted with my "trekking team" and headed back to Kathmandu to pick up my visa into India. Kathmandu is a good jumping off point if you are heading into India, but visit the Indian Embassy as soon as you arrive. It takes anywhere from six to ten days to process an application. There are also several lines to stand in in order to get your everything done, and a minimum of three visits. I had arranged for my visa before leaving for Annapurna. So when I arrived back it was waiting. Unfortunately my airline ticket had not yet been confirmed. The agent said I should go ahead and pay, the ticket would come through. Leary, I said no, but requested the reservation number so I could confirm it when I reached India.

Nepal is a great country to travel in if you are into adventure sports. Aside from trekking, there's rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, hot-air ballooning, and safaris into some of Nepal's national parks. If I had known all this in advance, I may have planned on a longer stay. Several of the groups I had trekked with were headed to Chitiwan National Park for some whitewater rafting. However India was looming and I only had six and 1/2 weeks left in my trip. Everyone I had met over the past four months had told me I needed at least three months to see India, however I decided a sample was better than nothing. On November 15th I headed by bus down through Sunali, and into India.