Nepal #4 - Trekking!

so yes, it has been a while since my last blog post, because I’ve been away TREKKING! I’ve heard from my huge fanbase of loyal readers (ok.. three or so people) how pumped you are for the next instalment, so here it is! Apologies it has taken a while to arrive; putting the trekking photos on Facebook was almost a whole day affair, mostly involving choosing around 200 from the 1000 or so which I took. My memory isn’t like it used to be, so I’ve copied most of this from my diary, which, upon reading back, is super boring.. (probably because after hours of walking every day, my brain couldn’t come up with anything witty to write!!) - I’ve warned you, so read on at your own risk.

All the best scenery photos are already on facebook and since the photos appear so small on my blog, I think I’ll just put all the non-scenery photos up on here. But check out facebook for the rest!

DAY 1

The group in Kathmandu, ready to go. Pilar from Spain, Renate from Austria, Caeli from Canada and ME!

We arrived in Bulbule (840m) after about 7 hours in a van along some pretty bumpy roads. We left Kathmandu at about 11am this morning and were definitely ready to go by that stage. Although I was a little nervous about the drive here, as Caeli had told me that last time she travelled on the road from Kathmandu to Pokhara, the bus in front of her veered off the road into the river! I also made the mistake of telling mum this before we left, a mistake I learnt from later (stay tuned for that story..).

definitely couldn't complain about the views from the van though

However, despite the fact that our driver was a little crazy and didn’t take his hand off the horn for longer than 3 seconds at a time, I actually felt pretty safe. The closest I felt to dying was when I needed to have a pee in the bushes on the side of the road and apparently found my way into a mosquito nest or something! In the 30 second process, I think I ended up with about 20 bites all over my legs… and other places.

The first Tourist Check Post

Our teahouse in Bulbule

Enthusiastically planning for the two weeks ahead!
Dil in the middle, then Pete (his English name.. which we gave him for the trek)
and Jack (also not his real name, but he loved it!)

DAY 2

We left Bulbule this morning at around 8am by the time we (OK… me) got ready and had some breakfast.

This is when I started to realise that I
might be one of the only people who
can say they have put weight on whilst
trekking in Nepal..

The group ready to leave on the first morning

I was quite enjoying living a little “rough” in the mountains, although later discovered from Caeli (who had spent 6 weeks in a tiny village in the mountains) that this was definitely luxury in comparison. Still, for me, cold showers, squat toilets, lots of tea and only drinking water which has been purified for half an hour was close enough to mountain life for me!

Our first bridge crossing right as we left Bulbule

First landslide spotting!

Making friends along the way

We stopped for morning tea at around 11am in Bahundara and I found my newest love.. Tibetan bread. I’m fairly sure it’s just flour and water, but there must be something else in there to make it so amazing!

We then stopped at Ghermu for a proper lunch after another couple of hours of walking and then did another hour or so before reaching our overnight destination, Shrichaur (1150m). We stayed in a teahouse called “Boomerang”, although the owners had no idea what a boomerang actually was!

No power, so writing my journal
in candlelight. How romantic!

Today we walked for a total of 6 hours, gaining 310m to Shrichaur. 

DAY 3

Constant traffic on the roads

Today was another 8 hour day, starting at 8am again from Shrichaur and arriving in Dharepani (1860m) at 4pm after around 6 hours of solid hiking. Some of the highlights:

He was carrying around 10 times as much as her.. and he
wasn't a porter, just her boyfriend. ha!

Lunch at Tal - the city of colourful buildings!

Lonely donkey :(

We are not going anywhere fast..

Lots of new friends

Always loved getting into my sleeping
bag at night! 

THE SPIDER TEAHOUSE! :/

I am amazed by the facilities so far; the menu choices are huge and the food is amazing. I had a hot shower today for about 60 cents - heaven, until a spider the size of my hand decided to skirt across the wall right in front of my face! I actually thought it may come back and just onto my face, so I ran out of the shower in jump my towel (probably inappropriate) and ran up to the room to tell Caeli, who went down to inspect it, joined eventually by about four Nepalis. They all tried to coax it out by spraying water onto the hot water meter, causing sparks to fly everywhere, until they decided that wasn’t a great idea. It was never seen again, although I’m sure it’s planning its next ambush of a poor tourist who just wants to enjoy a hot shower!!!

DAY 4

Today was a shorter day of walking, only around 4 and a half hours. However about an hour was pretty steady climbing/clambering up rocks which was good fun but pretty tiring (see sweat patch below)

Some had interesting trekking attire

The rest of the walking was pretty easy, but with AMAZING views of Annapurna II (9737m), Annapurna IV (7525m) and Manaslu, which is where some German climbers died in an avalanche a couple of weeks ago at second base camp, about 7000m.

Nepal is just so romantic

Tea break at Timang

Ensuring the map was up to date at all times

Lunch at Thanchok - amazing! 

We arrived in Chame at about 2:30pm, at an altitude of 2670m. Hot lemon tea is my new favourite thing and its much appreciated at 7 degrees Celsius in my down jacket and thermals, looking a little too attractive I think.

DAY 5

Today definitely offered the best photo opportunities (if in doubt, check out the photos on Facebook from October 21^st). It was a shorter day, with just under 5 hours of walking time and a few tough patches in the middle, although it felt much longer! We headed off from Chame at around 8am and stopped in Bhratang for morning tea, then up to Dhikur Pokhari for lunch. From there, it was a pretty hard walk up to Upper Pisang and we almost thought it was for nothing because Dil’s favourite teahouse was full! Luckily he found one that had opened in the last year and decided to give it a go.

"If you feel nausea or headache, it could be the altitude sickness,
so immediately speed to the downward" !!

I know I said no scenery photos.. but wow!

Popular apple stop in Bhratang

Nice and cozy at the teahouse in Upper Pisang

Hot lemon tea at the monastery in Upper Pisang. yum!

DAY 6

View of Lower Pisang from Upper Pisang

We arrived in Manang at about 3pm after an interesting day! We planned on taking the road from Upper Pisang to Manang but somehow ended up on the upper route and couldn’t find our way back down, so decided to challenge ourselves and stick with it. This meant we were climbing to an altitude higher than where we would end up (Manang) which is supposedly good for acclimatisation, but my legs were not loving it! Today was another great day for scenery shots, so check out facebook!

Still smiling!

Day 7 

Our cabin with all the washing hanging out nearby

REST DAY! As we had arrived at over 3000m (which is when most people start developing mild symptoms of altitude sickness), we needed a day to let our bodies acclimatise before climbing any further. However, we certainly did not rest. After a late brekky (8am), we did a bit of much needed laundry by hand (I’m sure I saw some locals laughing at my technique) and didn’t think my hands would ever be warm again! 

At around 9am, we hiked up to the lama temple and paid 100 rupees to get blessed by the Buddhist lama for our journey to the pass (oh, and we got a string necklace, woo!) 

Thanks Miriam and George for my bag - everyone
was super jealous!

being "blessed" by an old guy
who lives in a cave (hmm)

The group at the top of the lama temple

On the way back down, I managed to snap one of my
favourite photos of the trip!

By the time we made it back to Manang, it was almost lunchtime, so we had some momos and Tibetan bread, before exploring Manang and its many bakeries and coffee shops. At around 1pm, we walked about 20 minutes to the nearby glacier lake. It was STUNNING. I don't think my pictures really do it justice but I definitely could have stayed for hours just admiring it. 

The "projector hall"

We decided to would be a good idea to attend the afternoon lecture held by the local medical post regarding AMS (acute mountain sickness). Although informative, every time the hot British doctor mentioned a headache, I could feel one coming on. At 5pm, we wandered down to the local “cinema” (i.e. wooden pews in front of a projector screen) to watch Into Thin Air, a story about a group of Everest summiters who didn’t make it back.. maybe not the best thing to have watched before heading up to high altitudes.. but a fun night nonetheless.

DAY 8

Today was probably the most frustrating day so far.. because the hot British doctor had convinced us to drink at least 4L of water per day, Caeli and I were literally needing to pee every 20 minutes or so (apparently the attitude didn’t help the situation either). and in countryside like this, there really were little options..

 So the walk itself, although beautiful, was a little difficult to enjoy because I either needed to pee or was worried about needing to pee soon! The actual walk itself was not too strenuous but we took it pretty slow, with lots of stops along the way (mainly for us to find a toilet). We got to Yak Khurka (4050m) by 11:30am , so Dil decided a quick 20 minute acclimatisation walk would be good. Two hours later, we’d almost reached the peak of a mountain above the clouds and decided it would probably be a good idea to head back!

It was definitely getting more chilly 

The view of Yak Khurka (the tiny village near the
river) from where we'd hiked to.

DAY 9

Man waving the red flag waiting for
the helicopter

“After a terrible sleep last night, today didn’t turn out too bad” says my diary haha. We left Yak Khurka early in the morning but only got around 100 metres in half an hour because a helicopter rescue was happening right in front of us! Apparently a lady who had been staying in our hotel had such back problems that she needed to be airlifted out.

IT CAME!

The walk was tough in parts, but this was more likely due to altitude than actual physical exertion, because we had definitely done much steeper during the first few days, which seemed a lot easier than now!

Such a friendly dog!

Hard to see, but when the dog got sick of us, it decided to start annoying this massive yak by barking at it
and running in circles around it - hilarious!

The group (in order of height, apparently!)

It was a bit concerning that the "landslide area" sign looked
like it had been hit by a landslide itself..

We arrived in Thorung Phedi (4450m) at around 11am, with the plan to walk up to High Camp (4833m) to acclimatise if we felt up to it. Needless to say, we were happy to hang around in Thorung Phedi and tackle High Camp bright and early the next morning.

Well, the time had finally come - the whole last week had been about building up to and acclimatising for Pass Day the very next day…

This was much more fun than going for an
acclimatisation walk!

DAY 10 

“WE MADE IT! what a day..”

After very little sleep, we woke up at 3am to a ridiculously chilly morning (maybe not for Caeli the Canadian, but definitely for me!).

It begins!

After some early morning porridge, we headed off at 4am to High Camp which took an hour of steady climbing. 

From High Camp, it was another couple of hours (and 700m elevation gain) up to the Thorung La Pass (5416m). It was FREEZING. I really don’t think I’ve ever been so cold in my entire life; couldn’t really feel my face or legs and every time I wanted a rest, I kept sitting on an icy rock which made my bum even more numb. Supposedly the walk from High Camp to the Pass is “easier” than the walk from Thorung Phedi to High Camp, but it definitely didn’t feel like that. Looking back on the photos now, it seems like such a gradual incline and doesn’t look cold at all, but I can still remember how every step felt like it was bringing me into colder and windier conditions and how difficult it was to breathe (especially with a residual cough I had thanks to Kathmandu pollution). But eventually, we got there!! 

Celebratory hot chocolate

and Snickers.. or two!

Caeli and I stayed at the pass for around an hour, drinking tea, eating chocolate and waiting for the others to come. It really did feel like a great achievement for me, having never been over 2000m above sea level before (good old Mt Hotham!) and knowing that we had spent the last 7 days hiking from 840m and acclimatising our bodies etc.

Once we went over the pass and started heading downhill, it was like the coldness disappeared and everything was going to be OK again!! Although my knees were not loving it, I think my entire body was thankful for some warmth. I was really looking forward to heading back to more normal altitudes, not having to worry about every little sign of altitude sickness, making sure my appetite stayed normal (hard to believe that I still ate more than a normal person, even at 5000m!! most people say their appetites halve.. ha) and trying to drink 4 litres of water per day in negative temperatures. 

time for a shower?

We made it into Muktinath by 12:30pm, having started trekking at 4am, so it felt like it was late afternoon. We explored the town a little, had a “hot” (lukewarm) shower and hung out in our sleeping bags to avoid the cold (I think we all imagined it would miraculously warm again once we got to Muktinath, but we forgot that we were still over 3500m and it was definitely still cold!)

The whole trek was filled with Bob Marley signs and posters.. so funny!

Bible verse on the front of a menu.. interesting!

A fake 7 eleven shop (the
yak cheese gave it away!)

Two lovebirds in Muktinath

DAY 11

View from balcony in Muktinath

My diary is a little vague about today.. maybe because I was still recovering from the day before.. but from the photos, I am reminded that it was a lot of downhill first up, then a two hour walk across a ridiculously windy desert bit AND being back on the roads (rather than the hiking trail), so again trying to avoid being run over and beeped at by motorbikes and jeeps. 

An awkward photo with Jack and Pete

Back on the road, but going downhill at least!

The never ending flat stretch of desert

We arrived in Jomsom (2720m) at around 3:30pm after a 6 and a half hour day. Free wifi, free battery charging and free hot shower… what more could one want!?

Here are some photos:

The bridge in Jomsom where an Isreali man had fallen to his death just the day before. He was standing up on the railing having a photo taken, and a horse walked past and knocked him into the river.

This sign is about 2km from a mountain warfare army barracks.. interesting, Nepal, very interesting!

The remains of the plane crash from earlier this year.. some people survived - miracle. 

DAY 12

Today Jack took over as guide (because Dil was busy organising a flight for Pilar all morning) and I’m pretty sure he loved it!

I remember today being a bit of a struggle.. although the hiking was quite easy (mainly flat/downhill) and it was a relatively short day of walking (5 and a half hours), everyone was still pretty exhausted from pass day and not very chatty, which made the time go much slower. I think it was the first and (almost) only day I pulled out my ipod to keep me occupied whilst walking. Having said that, the scenery was pretty stunning and looking back on the photos, I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I should have whilst we were actually walking. Here are a few pictures:

I asked Jack what this plant was and rather than go over and have a look and let me know, he decided to rip it out of the ground and give it to me.. not really what I had in mind!

We arrived in Kalapani at around 3:30pm and Dil had once again outdone himself in choosing a teahouse to stay. The bathroom was amazing and had such a big bucket, that we realised we couldn’t really put off doing the very overdue laundry any longer!

.. and were rewarded with this
beautiful sunset!

 DAY 13

Another day of pretty steady downhill trekking with some beautiful scenery along the way.

We also saw these ridiculously cute baby goats which must have only been a few days old, considering some still had their umbilical cord attached! 

We arrived in Tatopani (back to 1190m - amazing!) after a 7 hour day and ventured down to the hot springs (which the area is famous for). It was pretty nice to be in hot water again and we stayed there for a good couple of hours before getting out, washing down in the (freezing) cold shower and heading back to the teahouse for dinner and BED (early morning the next day, because it was long day of uphill climbing, back up to Ghorepani which is 2860m).

DAY 14

They tried really hard, but just never quite got there

Last day of uphill complete! An 1800m elevation gain in one day. I was a little worried at first, because my body had become so used to the ease of walking downhill that the first hour was a little difficult. However I soon got used to burning thighs and sweat running down my back again (very attractive, I know).

Everyone needed a rest by lunchtime!

I got a bit nostalgic in my diary today: “I can’t believe we will be in Pokhara this time tomorrow - I remember writing at the start that I can’t believe we will be trekking for so long.. and now it’s over. It’s been the BEST trip - exercise, amazing scenery, great food and company - can’t really ask for anything more!” 

Very true. 

DAY 15

We got up at 5am this morning to hike an hour up to Poon Hill for the sunrise. 

It was very beautiful. 

... although we definitely weren't alone!!

We then headed back down to Ghorepani and hiked another 4 or so hours of steep downhill to our end point (Nayapul), where we celebrated with a sprite and snickers (of course!)

so that was the trek! Not much else to say; the photos on Facebook are a real representation of how amazing the trek was and although I think I annoyed everyone by taking my camera out every few minutes, I’m definitely glad I did!

Caeli and I spent an extra few days in Pokhara - relaxing, eating, getting massages, wandering the city and PARAGLIDING! (decided not to tell mum about that until afterwards.. definitely a good idea). 

The group having a fairwell dinner in Pokhara

Lakeside Pokhara

chillin'

Eating nutritious foods!

Sunset in Pokhara

PARAGLIDING!

We have been back in Kathmandu for a week today and have fallen straight back into routine (which I love, of course!). It’s been great meeting the new volunteers and going out to dinner with various people and to different places. The learning camp at Nepal Orphans Home (which was my original plan when I arrived back in Kathmandu) apparently has enough volunteers helping out for the moment, so I have decided to start again at the Baby Orphanage in Tinkune (which I visited when I first started). I was a bit nervous about this at first (read my other blog posts to find out why!) but it’s actually much better when there are more volunteers there. I have been going with Sarah, a fellow Australian who is currently studying infant massage, as well as Pat and Marian, the New Zealanders. Pat works in a kinder, so is all kinds of knowledgeable about toddlers! It’s been much less stressful with more of us there and we have been bringing along things for them to do, which gives them a little structure.

Here are some pictures from the last week back in Kathmandu:

First night back in Kathmandu - dinner at a Newari restaurant - YUM!

Having a REAL coffee in Thamel

Back to our favourite place - Tandoori! 

I found Jobi, our old dog!

Taking Caeli out clubbing
for the first time.

BEST carbonara in Nepal for sure!

More real coffee and gelato - ohhh yehhh!

Being a bus at the Baby Orphanage 

Celebrating Obama's victory at the Volunteer House!

We found a gym to go to!

Often wondered how so many signs were spelt wrong in Nepal.. maybe
they just don't care?

Gorgeous kids at the
Baby Orphanage

Lunch time!

Welcome to the Baby
Orphanage hairdressing
salon

Love making them laugh!!

So you are now all updated with the last 3 weeks of my Nepal adventure. It has been truly incredible and a little hard to describe in words, but I’m sure you can see why that is from the pictures. I am missing everyone at home but there is never a lonely or dull moment here, with so many amazing people around me.

‘Till next blog,

Alex J