Nepal Archives

February 23, 2011February 23, 2011

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The long hike down

After our initial jumps of joy and jubilation, followed by the throngs of fellow trekkers in line for the primo photo op, a tasteless mint tea, and hugs abound, we set off for the long, knee-aching hike down. Unfortunately I was so focused on making it to the top of the pass that I kind-of forgot we had a very long way left to go. Probably the worst part of the hike remained: Six more, grueling hours descending 6,000 feet until we would be done for the day. Even the mules were tired.

The trek down was surprisingly dangerous. It was very slippery, loaded with ice and plenty of loose rocks along the steep path. My knees killed with a sharp excruciating pain during each, careful step down. The craziest thing of all is that we were soon passed by a couple of Belgium guys on mountain bikes! It was extraordinarily dangerous and shocking that it was even permitted. There were points on the trail when the bikers had to get off and walk their bikes down because it was so steep. Perhaps what was even more surprising was the fact that they had to carry their heavy bikes all the way up to the pass on their backs, at such high altitude. At least the ride down was easy despite the danger involved to themselves and other trekkers (there were a few close calls).
The landscape turned barren, bleak and brown. There was no vegetation in sight. It was the closest point along the trek to Tibet and I felt like we were on another planet. Yet despite the starkness, the landscape was beautiful and serene. The foothills and slopes of the brown mountain landscape looked like freshly whipped butter. The folds went on and on into the vast emptiness of the land. The pass was now far behind us and in the distance, the snow-capped peaks of the mountains juxtaposed nicely against the dirty brown landscape.
We walked down, and down, and down, dragging our feet while conversation flowing steady but slow. There were no teahouses along the way for a tea break or snack. Nothing but the land. The familiar “Are we there yet” questions began to creep back out of my mouth, even though I didn’t want to be the wimp. My 68-year-old father pressed ahead, continually amazing me and Hari alike. I followed painfully as the third and Chrring with the two thirty-pound backpacks and as always a smile, was at the end of our group.
I felt bad even thinking about being tired and “struggling” with the hike. For this is a way of life for most Nepalese. They didn’t have the latest gear: The REI brand, heavy-duty hiking boots, the fleece jackets, sunscreen, trekking poles, and serious backpacks. No they didn’t have any of these “luxury” items which are a trekker’s standard. Instead, they hiked uncomplaining in worn-out sneakers, torn pants, old coats, no sunglasses, and sometimes even flip-flops. The guilt crept in my head and made me feel ashamed. Ashamed of my complaining and sad that our lives had so many material comforts that are unknown to most of the world. Life isn’t fair, that is for sure.
Finally, like an oasis in the dessert, the tiny, brown formation of a village appeared within the distance. It was still an hour away but at least we finally saw it and knew it was real. The village of Muktinath awaited us and it was only at 11,512 feet! We could barely walk when we arrived. Utterly exhausted. Thankfully, we FINALLY had a hotel with a hot shower, yet it was still outside our room. It was the first hot shower we’d had since leaving Kathmandu. Plus there was an unexpected surprise….the long-forgotten western toilet was in our room! No more walking to the communal holes at two am. I was overjoyed at these small plumbing luxuries that we always take for granted at home.
The day was spent relaxing in the bright, warm sun on the rooftop deck of our teahouse. Happy hour was more joyous than usual since we were at a lower altitude where it was a little safer to drink and we were celebrating. We only had one day left of hiking and then we would be off to Pokhara, the real reward of the trek.
There was nice local shopping in Muktinath. The next morning before setting out on our final walk, we did a little shopping and I negotiated a new hand-woven, wool scarf for the “morning price” of $2.00. Wow. I still wear it happily today.

Here are some pictures along the way.

Even the mules are exhausted:

After the pass: The long hike down:

Porters from large trekking group taking a break:

Off in the distance, the village awaits…at last!

The rooftop deck:

The $2 scarf:

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 21, 2011February 22, 2011

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Up, Up, and Away

I was awoken to the feeding of the mules, gearing up for their long day of transporting goods. Today was going to be a long, brutal day. The scheduled hike for the day was supposed to be to Yak Khara, only four hours away. But we wanted to get ahead of the hordes of trekkers in Manang and keep going. Thus we opted to continue on going up all the way to the last village (Thorung Phedi at 14,570 feet) before the highlight of the trek, the Thorung pass.

The trek was grueling, yet the scenery and company were fantastic. The mule trains dwindled as did our fellow trekking groups and you really felt like you were out there in the middle of nowhere. The surrounding mountains were as majestic as ever and it was so peaceful that the only sounds you could hear were our labored breathing and exhalations as we climbed higher and higher into the thinning air.

One thing that continued to amaze me was the contrast between the two worlds: The old and the new. We were in the middle of nowhere with hardly enough electricity to eat through a meal at the teahouses yet porters who made nothing in our standards were walking by chatting away on their cell phones. It was unbelievable. As I mentioned before, there are few phones along the trail and internet access is not great either. Yet I was able to use Hari’s cell phone from at least 80% of the trek to call home and touch base with my family. One night, Hari even volunteered to escort me fifteen minutes up the mountain from our village in the moonlight in order to get reception to call home. It struck me as quite remarkable and reminded me just how small the world is getting.

Although the trek up was long and exhausting, we still pressed on, filled with interesting conversations and lots of laughs with Hari and Chrring. It was hard to believe that the trek for us was nearing an end (due to time constraints, my father and I were only doing half of the Annapurna trek. The full trek can take up to three weeks to finish). It was hard to imagine not being together and sharing these moments of laughter, joy, tranquility and spirituality together. We had become such good friends in such a short time. Yet we were very tired from all the physical work and quite frankly, dreaming of that western toilet and hot shower and warm bed which seemed forever away.

As we neared the end of our 9 hour hike up, dragging our feet and looking forward to a hot meal, I realized that I had made it to the highest altitude I’ve ever been to before (14,570 feet) and thankfully, I felt fine. Altitude sickness can be a serious problem starting even before Manang (at 10,000 feet) and unfortunately, if you get altitude sickness at this point you have only two options: (1) Get emergency evacuation via helicopter which costs a fortune, or (2) Walk ALL THE WAY BACK….at least 6-8 days walking depending on how bad you feel. Thus having no sign of altitude sickness at this point was a very good thing.

Finally, after hours of trekking we finally saw a brownish brick building in the clearing. We had made it to the last village before the pass, Thorung Phedi, a world of its own.

Here are some pictures along the way (Note the third picture: There is a man standing on top of the building which gives you a sense of the size of the mountains. The last two pictures who the remote village of Thorong Phedi which consists of two teahouses and nothing else but wind):

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 20, 2011October 4, 2017

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A unique friendship

As one would expect, a strong, caring friendship developed over the course of the trek with our fabulous guide Hari and our constantly smiling porter Chhring. For some odd reason, it felt like fate. Like it was meant to be that we were paired together with them. Besides the immense beauty and magic of the Annapurnas, our Nepalese companions were equally amazing and they made our entire experience in Nepal truly remarkable.

Hari is a bright, hilariously funny young man who is from the villages yet now lives in Kathmandu with his beautiful wife and young son. He is a wealth of information and every story is full of laughs and poignant remarks on Nepal (culture, politics, religion, education, business, etc). Over all my years of travel, I have never met someone quite as unique, personable and driven to satisfy his “customers” as Hari. He is unbelievably driven to help and ensure that every need be met. I was constantly surprised and even amazed by his non-stop attention to us. He was my link away from home (via his cell phone which oddly enough, worked in the middle of nowhere), our dealmaker (always calling ahead to the next village to reserve the best room at the best teahouse), our waiter (embarrassingly, he waited on us hand and foot, keeping everything running smoothly along the trek) and most importantly, our friend. We talked for hours on end about everything, sharing our lives, our history and our cultures. The highlight of the day was happy hour. Each night before dinner, we would meet in the teahouse and sit around the only heating element (a wood or yak dung-burning stove), and drink Belgium beer (Tubourg) and play cards (every time it was JACKS). We would howl with laughter as we played and get constant looks of curiosity from the other guests mostly because they did not interact like us with their guides. Most tourists join huge trekking companies of 10-20 trekkers, 10 porters and a couple guides. The guides help the guests order and usually sit at their table during meals, however, the porters all eat separately in an entirely different area. Thus in my opinion, you do not get the same kind of cultural immersion as you do with a small, personally guided trek and quite frankly, the cost was probably the same. Our evenings of cards, beers and meals were some of the highlights of the trip. It gave a whole different level of meaning to Nepal for me, and it is the way I like to travel: With the locals.
Hari’s story is facinating and at first sounded very unique to me, however, is probably relatively common among young and talented Nepalese who want to get ahead. He grew up in a small village in the mountains of Nepal. His father was a postal worker, making barely enough money to get by. He had heard that being a porter was a good job so decided to give it a whirl. During one of his treks, he befriended a European couple who instantly became very fond of him. Over the years, the couple returned to Nepal several times, visited Hari’s father and family in the village, and most of all, they gave back. They provided money for Hari’s father to help his children’s education, and helped build infrastructure in their village. Hari was able to gain a good education and get ahead in Nepal, which is relatively hard. The literacy rate is under 50% mostly due to lack of schools in the villages (over 80% of the people in Nepal live in rural areas). Hari feels very fortunate that he has been able to get a degree and even more so, have the opportunity to work a few years in Dubai to earn some savings to start his very own cybercafe. Leaving Nepal is one of the only ways to get ahead and make money. Many Nepalese apply for jobs in Dubai, South Korea and other countries but few are lucky enough to get the visas.

After Hari returned to Nepal, he followed in his father’s footsteps as a porter and worked his way up to being a guide. He currently splits his time spending half the year as a guide and the other half of the year helping his wife run their cybercafe in Kathmandu. His English is excellent as well as his business know-how, so I can see Hari going far in the world and truly hope he does. He is a charismatic, one-of-a-kind sort of guy. One that you cannot help but like and hope he fares well in life. The world could certainly use a few more people like Hari, that is for sure.

Our porter, Chhring, is also a wonderful person and a treasure to have on our trek. Like Hari, Chhring is also from the villages but he is a Buddhist and still spends most of his uncorking time in the village where his wife and child live. Being a Buddhist, Chhring gave us a different perspective on life, religion and culture in Nepal. His English was ok (he is learning) so we had to use Hari to help translate. But hid kindness and tranquility didn’t need words. We were happy just having his smiling, peaceful presence.

The work of a porter is much more difficult and labor-intensive than a guide. Most porters carry at least two backpacks of loads up to 100 pounds. The world-famous Sherpas, who are small in height but incredibly strong, carry up to 200 pounds and are basically paid per pound they can carry. As a Westerner, it was hard to see Chhring and the other porters carrying such big, heavy loads wearing rundown shoes and very basic outerwear. It wasn’t uncommon to see some Porters in ripped sneakers or even flip-flops! Yet for porters, the job was worth all the hassles of carrying heavy loads over mountainous terrain and being away from family for months on end. It offered a way out of poverty and a chance to earn some extra money for their village.

We treated both Hari and Chhring with our uttermost respect, and as the trek went on, it felt more like they were our friends than our help. As I mentioned above, we spent much of our free time together playing cards, laughing and having fun. Near the end of the trek, we did a few special things for them as well such as purchasing Chhring a real pair of hiking boots and giving Hari some of the things we didn’t need anymore (thick, warm Nepali sweater, headlamp, etc). We also gave them a very nice gratuity in hopes that they would use the money to help them get ahead. It is always a struggle for us to know what the right thing to do is in these situations. When $100 to us means so little yet $100 to them means so much. But we feel we did the right thing.

We spent our last night together in Pokhara, a beautiful lakeside town with a postcard perfect view of the Annapurna and tons of modern ammenities which felt like Heaven after so many days roughing it. It was the famous Festival of Lights where the entire country is on holiday, celebrating in the streets with music and dancing. The sidewalks are lined with candelight and it is truly magnificent. When asked what Hari and Chhring wanted to do to celebrate the successful finish of the hike, they chose to attend a cultural dinner and show. We spent the next two hours together, laughing, watching and finally dancing on stage to the diverse collection of Nepali songs and dance. It was a perfect way to end a perfect time together. I’ll never forget them!

Here are some pictures of our friends, Hari and Chhring:

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 18, 2011

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The sweet life in Manang

Manang is a magical place, six days hiking from the end of the road, and at the heart of the amazing Annapurna range. Upon entering Manang, there is a joyful, magical feeling, almost like a child in a candy shop. There is plenty of eye candy as it offers probably some of the best, most beautiful views of the entire trek. There is also tons of food candy. Manang is known for their bakeries, and after six days of dal bhat and chicken curry, a good ole piece of hot apple pie tasted fantastically good. The main trekking route leads each guest right past the usual yaks, mule trains, village commerce and then the eye-catching glass windows displaying the bakery goods (pies, chocolate cakes, homemade cookies, fudge brownies, and the list goes on). Of course you have to stop to satisfy that long-forgotten love of sweets!

Another nice find in Manang is the array of local shops selling traditional goods like hand-woven wool scarves, hats and sweaters. I bought a warm, colorful wool hat for a mere $2 and of course had to bargain because that is how every business transaction is conducted in Nepal. I also bought a heavy wool sweater for $22. It was much colder at night than I expected because there is no heat and no insulation in the teahouse rooms, plus you are well over 10,000 feet. Thus nights were freezing and by this point in the trek, I normally slept in my clothes along with that thick wool sweater and hat!

Manang also has a few very nice day hikes. There is the one to the Manang monastery (as mentioned earlier in my blog dated 2/16: Blessed by a 95-year-old Monk) and there is also a wonderful short hike to a magnificently aquamarine glacial lake. Manang is a perfect stopping ground for a day or two rest and to just enjoy the beauty and serenity of the Himalayas.

Here is a cool video I found on Lonely Planet TV with awesome footage of Manang. Hope you enjoy!

To view clip, copy and paste this link into your Internet Browser:

http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=90C68727D8D636AE

Some photos of lovely Manang:

Our teahouse….what a setting!

Hiking up to the monastery:

Views from on top (our guide Hari, porter Chrring, my dad and I, a close-knit team!):

WOW!

Hike to the glacial lake:

Up close:

The beloved bakeries of Manang:

The main drag in town:

View of Manang from the lake:

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 17, 2011

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That Deadly Road

One of the main reasons why we opted to go to Nepal before going anywhere else on our long, travel wish list was due to the recent article in the New York Times regarding the building of the road.

Almost like a sign of fate, my dad happened to see an article in the New York Times on March 10, 2010 called “Hiking the Annapurna Trek Before the Road Takes Over”.

Link to article and video footage (copy and paste into browser): http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/travel/21nepal.html?scp=2&sq=hiking%20the%20annapurna&st=cse

Basically what the article said was that this world-renowned hike was going to be ruined within a matter of years by the building of a dirty, dusty road that would tear through idyllic villages and pristine nature and open this once hidden, mystical land to jeep, car, and bus traffic. The road will start in Bhulbule and end in Manang (which currently takes 6 days hiking to reach). After hiking the Annapurna trail, I can see exactly what the author means by the dangers of building a road, not only to tourism but to the people who build it.

Unfortunately building a road in Nepal is quite a feat given it’s mountainous terrain and lack of infrastructure. There are incredible dangers involved in building a road. Although the job pays well the worker’s conditions are deplorable. There are absolutely no rights for the workers (they are out there without hard hats, without any protection from sun or falling rocks and wearing flip-flops!). Per our guide Hari, 15 workers have already fallen to their death yet they keep coming back to work since it is one of the only good-paying jobs available. Furthermore, the road construction is a very manual, labor-intensive process without the modern technology we use in western cultures.

There is a lot of concern that the road will destroy the village life as well as the Annapurna trek, taking away its beauty and more importantly, the rural villager’s dependable tourists which the community relies on. Who would want to trek along a dirty, dusty road smelling of jeep and car exhaust? It is a tragedy.

The good news is that the road is nowhere near completion. Locals estimate it will be at least another 10-15 years until it is completed and I’m not sure many tourists will want to risk their lives to take it. Roads in Nepal do not have the same safety as western ones….no guardrails, terrible conditions (pot-holes, landslides, etc) and probably not paved. Nepal desperately needs infrastructure but good infrastructure.

So the bottom line is if you want to go to the Annapurna, go soon!

Picture of the building of the road (the workers look like ants and are building on a dangerous edge where you could hear the rocks crashing down the mountain):

Closer view of the workers:

One of many gorgeous valleys that will be destroyed by the road:

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 16, 2011February 16, 2011

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Blessed by a 95-year-old Monk

We left Pisang early in the morning after a breakfast of hot oatmeal and mint tea, and headed to Manang. There are two routes to Manang: The short (4 hours tops) and the long (7-8 hours). We chose the long one (after much pressure on my dad who would rather have done the easy one) which took us up above the valleys climbing into the clouds. It was our first and only “bad” weather day and to our chagrin, it snowed. Being from Minnesota, I of course am accustomed to snow and cold weather, however, we were mainly disappointed about the lack of view. The gorgeous mountain views were blocked behind the snow clouds and occasionally we would see the white tip of the mountain poking out of the clouds. It was a disappointment since the main reason we took the extended hike was for the marvelous views but we felt blessed to have had so many amazingly, spectacular days.

Our hike was remote and lonely stopping briefly in a small village where we had hot apple pie and mint tea. We finished our long day in Manang, a special place that is one of the largest, most wealthy villages in rural Nepal and is known for the bakeries. Although we were eight days walking from the end of the road, we still at last were able to feel somewhat connected to civilization by the appearance of internet cafes. The service was spotty, but still!

Probably one of the coolest cultural experiences of the entire trip was our visit to the Manang monastery. Due to Manang’s high altitude (11,483 feet), most trekking groups stop there for a day or two of acclimatization. An excellent acclimatization hike is to the famous Manang monastery, about another hour and a half straight up the mountain above Manang. There, lives the magical, 95-year-old Monk and his daughter (who is 65) in a cave monastery. The highlight of the chest-pounding, barely-able-to-breathe hike up is to be blessed by the monk. Upon entering the cave, you wait in line and when it is your turn, you receive a personal blessing from the Monk. He places a string necklace around your neck (or else for $7 you can upgrade to a beaded necklace), says some Buddhist prayers and well wishes (which of course you don’t understand) and then you leave to see the most magnificent, spiritual view of the entire trek to date: The incredible, mighty Himalayas in all their glory.

It is truly an amazing experience and I did not take those beads off until I landed safely at home in the States a week or so later.

Being Blessed by a 95-year-old Monk:

View of Manang cave monastery:

The splendid views of Manang and the Himalayas:

View the previous day, on approaching Manang (the only cloudy day we had the entire trip!). Check out the village, hanging on the side of the cliff:

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 15, 2011

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Inside a monastery: A splendid array of colors

That afternoon in Pisang, we hiked up to a monastery which afforded gorgeous views of the mountains and was loaded with colorful, mystic prayer flags and incredible Buddhist artwork inside. We saw devoted monks chanting their prayers and dressed in maroon-colored robes. What a place to devote yourself to religion! Needless to say, there were many photo ops here.

The spectacular colors!

Climb up to the monastery:

Inside the monastery. Gorgeous pictures of the interior of the monastery. Apparently monks are specially trained in painting the interiors and it has all been created and maintained by local artists.

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 15, 2011

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Entering Yak Country

We continued our trek from Chame to Pisang (10,466 feet), climbing higher and higher into more mountainous and serene terrain. The presence of Buddhism surrounded you, just like the snow-capped peaks of the mighty Himalayas. The views were magical and you immediately felt at peace. As we climbed above 10,000 feet, we were finally introduced to our new friends, the yaks. Yaks are funny creatures that look like a cross between a cow and a buffalo and have very long, course fur. They commonly live in herds and are found in high-altitude climates above 10,000 feet. Yaks are an important livestock for rural villagers as they provide milk, meat, power (they are commonly used by farmers for transporting goods across the high mountain passes) and fuel (their dung is used to heat fires and provides one of the only fuels available in some remote, arid regions of Nepal and Tibet). For some odd reason, I was fascinated by the yaks and loved their morning wake-up calls from outside my teahouse window.

Here is my pal, the Yak and his sweetheart who loved to wake me up at 5 am:

Man bridge and yak bridge:

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 14, 2011October 4, 2017

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The villages change as we climb higher and higher

As we climb higher and higher, leaving the jungle terrain behind and entering the pine trees, the villages start to change and urban Nepal seems far away. The trek will take us up to almost 18,000 feet, the highest point, where the landscape changes dramatically along the way.

Here are more pictures of the villages we passed through and the way of life in rural Nepal.

Picture of our porter, always with a huge smile, leading the way. Porters work hard for the short trekking season, often leaving their family and village behind in order to make a living. For many villagers, this is one of the only jobs available that isn’t farming.

Soccer at 10,000 feet (yes it happens, even in the villages):

Cooking the traditional way for teahouse guests:

The rickety bridges:

The magnificent stuppas:

Traditional farming (each village is self-sufficient in food production):

The heart-warming smile of a child (and constant requests for candy or a school pen):

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 14, 2011

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Cultural immersion

One of the main reasons why the Annapurna Circuit Trek is so world-renown is the close intimacy the hikers have with the local people. The trekking route circles around the magnificent Annapurna Conservation Area and passes directly through picturesque villages representing an immense variety of cultures. The trek starts off in the jungle and climbs higher and higher elevation, and the landscape and communities began to change. The jungle disappears and the pine trees emerge. Then at the highest point of the trek, Thorong-Phedi (almost 18,000 feet), it is stark and barren. There are remnants of Tibet (which isn’t far) and the landscape is dreamy, brown and wild. The trail continually changes along the way and it is utterly fascinating.

Throughout the trek, the Buddhist influence surrounds you and you feel Buddhism’s mystical powers every time you enter into a village. There is always a giant prayer wheel strategically placed in the middle of the trail and trekkers are reminded kindly to walk on the left side for good luck. Colorful Buddhist prayer flags soar gracefully in the sky assuring you that you are in truly in Nepal. You can also find the common scent of burning juniper, the low rumble of the Buddhist drum, and the beautiful, decorated stupas (bell-shaped Buddhist shrines) at the entrance of each village.

What makes this trek so unbelievably unique is the fact that you are completely immersed in the culture, not just a witness. Trekkers use the exact same routes as the villagers thus can experience firsthand how rural Nepali people live. It is not uncommon to spend an entire day hiking with the locals, as they go about their business herding sheep and goats, transporting supplies village to village using mule trains, and carrying a cage full of chickens on their back village to village until the cage is empty. Each village welcomes you with a friendly namaste and a varying difference of cuisine. The food was surprisingly good, especially given the modest cooking methods (there are no ovens…only fire-burning stoves). Villages have their own variations of the “national food” Dal Bhat (which is a curried lentil soup poured over rice) as well as Tibetan entrees such as momos (chicken dumplings) and sometimes teahouses offered more western food such as pasta and pizza (yet is didn’t taste anything like what we are used to).

Village life is very traditional and basic. There are no luxuries. Electricity arrived only a few years ago and is spotty in its use. It is common for the electricity to go out every day for a few hours because there simply is not enough electricity to go around in Nepal. There are no roads, only the rocky, mountainous trails and villagers live a very hard, simple life. Over 80% of the population of Nepal is rural and of course the hard life and lack of jobs is not for all. Like most developing countries, there is a mass exodus to the cities in hopes for jobs and education, which is devastating to the preservation of traditional Nepali cultures and languages (there are over 100 different languages in Nepal!).

After a few days of trekking, I felt far away from the world I knew at home and completely immersed in the beauty, magic and culture of Nepal. So what if there were no western toilets or hot water to take a shower? I was in Nepal and loving it!

Here are some photos along the way:

Along the Annapurna trek:

Village life:

A common site: The mule trains

Look out for the sheep:

A village woman, chanting and watching the mule trains go by:

The sharp contrast between the past and present: A rooster atop one of the only satelite dishes around.

The buddhist prayer wheels:

The division of food (once a month each village has meat and divides up a water buffalo into equal servings for each family):

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 13, 2011

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What you get for $2/night: Lodging in a Third-World Country

The first major dose of severe culture shock hit me when we arrived, after nine long hours of miserable travel, at our destination, Bhulbule. It was already getting dark so our guide Hari had to find the first teahouse available. Teahouses are pretty much the only accommodations available in most of the remote villages throughout Nepal. They are extremely basic, usually having a traditional kitchen on the first floor (where the family lives) that has a wood-burning stove, and very basic, small rooms one or two stories above the common area. Each room typically has a wooden bed with a thin mat and no blankets (hence need to pack your own sleeping bag). If you are lucky you will have a small table or an extra chair to put your belongings on, and sometimes electricity but it is sparse. The communal bathroom was the biggest shock of all. I knew they would be bad but was not prepared or expecting to discover how bad the bathroom situation really was. At the teahouse all toilets were located down the hall, in a dark, smelly room with two foot pads and a hole. A bucket of water and a trash can were located adjacent to the toilet. After such a long, terrible day, my first sight of the toilet made me gasp in horror. I’d been to places in Europe with the squat toilets but it wasn’t that frequent. I began to worry how on earth I would survive twelve long days trekking and staying in the teahouses without my beloved, clean western toilet. To make matters worse, there was no running water to wash your hands, no toilet paper, and the communal shower was ice cold and just as basic as the toilet. Ironically enough, our teahouse was called “The Heaven Guest House” but there definitely wasn’t anything the least bit heavenly about it. I found the name to be so ironic that it made me laugh despite myself. As I would later discover, almost all the teahouses along the trek had such hilariously, similar names such as The Paradise Inn, Hotel Dreamhouse, and The Shangri-La.

The owners of the guesthouse were nice and friendly and the food was edible but the culture shock that first night was unbearable. Of course I’ve experienced it many times before. Usually the first day or two in a new country, culture shock is a common, normal experience. It takes a few days to get used to the new culture and either accept it or reject it. But this time, the culture shock was severe and it was a terrible feeling. I wanted desperately to go home but was ashamed to admit it, especially to my dad. I wondered why on earth I’d ever decided to go to Nepal and wish I could click my magic shoes together and instantly arrive at home, just like Dorothy. As I climbed into my hot, sticky sleeping bag that night, I closed my eyes and prayed tomorrow would be a better day.

Our first teahouse (view from the outdoor “dining room”):

We didn’t stay here but I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it!

Nepal TRAVEL BY REGION

February 10, 2011March 30, 2018

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India and Nepal: Culture Shock upon Arrival

Our hotel was found using Trip Advisor and was a four-star. It was a lovely place with lots of gorgeous, authentic Hindu artwork and a fabulous rooftop restaurant deck where guests were served an enormous breakfast and delicious hot chicken tikka at night. For a moment, you forgot that just outside your hotel window was how the “older half” live (or quite frankly, most of the world). Directly outside the lovely confines of our hotel, the contrast of luxury and poverty in India was shocking. A tent (plastic tarp) community lived right out on the side of the road, within the heaps of dirt and garbage and surrounded by the continual loud, polluting traffic that whizzed by 24/7. Of course there was no running water and no electricity. The people could be seen cooking up their meals over an open fire of burning trash. Sadly, this is reality in India, along with the continual garbage thrown EVERYWHERE alongside the roads, dirt sidewalks and “highways”. I found it also quite sad to see all the livestock, mainly cows who are sacred in India, living right in the middle of the roads eating off the endless piles of garbage.

Reality awaits right out our hotel window…….

India:

Worth a Read……

“White Tiger” by Aravind Adiga

“Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie

“Untouchable” by Mulk Raj Anand

IS IT SAFE?

Although Nepal is on the US Government Travel Warning list, that did not stop me from going. There have been some Maoist uprising in the past that have literally shut down Kathmandu, however, things have settled down recently (especially since the end of Nepal’s 10-year People’s War in 2008) and the Nepali government is hugely promoting foreign visitors (2011 is the being advertised as The Year of Nepal). I was a little nervous about the safety situation so I did my homework and talked to a lot of other people who have visited Nepal. I heard over and over again that it was fine and remembered that I have probably been to less safe places before (such as interior Mexico, Peru and South Africa). While there, we heard over and over again the common acronym for Nepal = Never Ending Peace and Love. I never felt threatened and in fact felt very comfortable with the kind, docile Nepali people.

In my opinion, probably the scariest thing about Nepal was the transportation by road and by air. The roads are poorly maintained and the driving is insane, just like India. Given Nepal’s mountainous geography, only small (and very old) planes can be flown into many of the airports such as Lukla in Everest region and Jomson near the Annapurna. Most of the flying is down through the valleys and weather can change quickly. Lukla has experienced the highest share of crashes and is considered one of the most dangerous airports in Nepal, however, it is the easiest, fastest way of getting to Everest. So you have to often balance safety versus the odds. Driving to some of these remote places is probably much more dangerous than flying, that is for sure.

I have flown a lot in my life, however, I still am fearful of small planes and had worried a lot about the internal flights. The flight at the end of our trek from Jomson to Pokhara was NUTS but I survived. We flew at low altitudes (@ 10,000 feet) on an ancient looking plane, through the valley of the mountains which rose over 15,000 feet above our plane. The entire time I held on tight to my Buddhist prayer beads that I got along the trek in Manang from a 95-year-old monk, and somehow tried to feel safe. Twenty-five minutes later, after feeling like I was in some kind of Indiana Jones movie, we landed safely in Pokhara and it felt nice to have my feet on the ground again, safe and sound.

Here are some pictures of the crazy flight:

Inside our 14 person plane. It didn’t feel safe yet the flight was surprisingly smooth. We flew along the riverbed between the 25,000 foot mountains at an altitude of only 10,000 feet (barely over the trees!). We even had our own flight attendant.

Not the best picture, but you get the point! View directly outside plane window….the mountains are a little too close for comfort!

The Trials and Tribulations of Transportation in a Third-World Country

Rajan, the owner of Earthbound Expeditions (who organized our trek) met us at the hotel in Kathmandu upon arrival and laid down the details of our trek. He was amazingly thorough and very personable, giving us a customized trip and top-notch service. The drive from Kathmandu to the Besi Sahar, the start of the Annapurna trek is “supposed” to take 4-5 hours. We were scheduled to take the $5 per person tourist bus the next day. However, Rajan mentioned, kind-of as an afterthought, the other more expensive option. For $125, we could hire a private driver to bring us, our guide and our porter to the start of the trek in a Land Rover. For Americans, this was a no-brainer yet for most Nepali people $125 was not an option given that the average salary is less than $2 a day. For them $125 is a lot of money.

We opted for the driver and this ended up being a very good idea and worth every penny. Having never been to Nepal, we had no idea the dire, dangerous situation of the roads or the incredible amount of traffic. Leaving Kathmandu, there is only one highway out and it has only two lines, one per direction. Thus the drive is notorious for huge traffic jams, which we instantly experienced. We moved out of Kathmandu at a snail’s pace, being surrounded by three-wheeled carts, motorbikes carrying entire families, buses (with people riding on the top, out the sides and holding on the back), bicycles and rickshaws. Plus there was the usual amount of cows living in the streets and other livestock.

Apparently it was a holiday week in Nepal and everyone was returning home on the one and only route to their villages. As we drove out of the congested, polluted city, the traffic somehow managed to go, but in no order whatsoever. We arrived outside of the city and into the immense, lovely green Kathmandu Valley and finally got a visual of our situation. One look at the rows and rows of traffic dwindling down the curvy, windy roads of the valley made me realize that this was going to be yet another long day (it was only our third day out of the States and the first two were spent flying). Instead of 4-5 hours, it ended up being 9 long hours of hell. The traffic was jammed up all the way the mountain on each side and the drivers had to do their best to move around all the old, broken down cars and trucks on the narrow, mountainous road. Feeling quite restless, at one point, my father, our guide and I all got out of the car and actually walked a few hours. It was faster than driving however the pollution was intense and the road conditions were dangerous. I actually twisted my ankle an hour into the walk (what bad luck at the start of a 100-mile hike) and it swelled madly. I kept walking since there was nowhere else to go. (Thankfully the swelling stopped and I was fully recovered in two days! I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to come all this way and have to go back!).

When we finally arrived in Besi Sari, we were utterly exhausted, dehydrated and famished. We were also behind a day in trekking that would have to be made up. Here are some great photos of that daunting drive from hell:

Leaving Kathmandu:

One of my favorite site: The eye-catching,crazily decorated trucks. Not only were they colorful and decorated to the max, their horns were hilarious sounding and used often.