Sept. 16/12 Hong Kong
We flew Cathay Pacific from YVR to HK. The 13 hours went well, Rachel and I both slept quite a bit, the food was good. Liked the prawn congee, so tasty! We took an herbal jet lag medicine every 2 hours, as directed and I think it worked! We are feeling pretty good! I watched Brave on board and enjoyed it too. Rachel and I coordinated our screens and watched Parks and Rec together.
HK seems quite familiar since Richmond is so Asian and near the water. The biggest difference I am noticing is the humidity. English is spoken qute a bit, at least at the airport and on the trains.
Also, I am noticing that the hills / mountains have no subdivisions crawling up them! Lots of big apartment / business high rises but not encroaching up the hillsides.
Sept. 18/12 Kathmandu
Arriving in Kathmandu last night was easier than I had anticipated! There seemed to be just our flight being processed, so there was not the crowds that I had read about. Having our visa saved us some time, our luggage came uneventfully and there was our ride waiting outside with my name and the name of our hotel, as promised. Very grateful for that! Not that the taxi drivers were aggressive or at all obnoxious but. . .during the few minutes we waited in the van for one other passenger, we observed the line of taxis. When one taxi was hired and drove away, the other drivers helped one another PUSH THEIR TAXIS to fill the gap! And,we warched the van next to ours fill up and continue to fill until we saw one last fellow push himself into gthe front and quickly slam the door, sealing them all inside! We enjoyed a very comfortable rride, just the driver and we rhree guests.
I did, however find the drive quite shocking. Through the lightless, narrow, winding streets, the beams from our vehicle illuminated rubble,the odd unfortunate curled asleep in a doorway, the odd stray dog. So like a war zone, I found it such a shocking contrast to the lush, beautiful airport environs we had recently left in HK! When we entered the Thamel district, the majority of store fronts were locked down, only the bars open for their late night business, the cliental meandering the dark streets. The other passenger was dropped off in the midst of this. Happily, our hotel was a bit removed from the main party area.
For me, a shocking introduction to Nepal!
I do like the Shree Tibetan Guest. Milky white, marble staircase with a beautiful polished handrail curls up to our top floor, corner room. Halls are prettily patterned stone, even the bathroom has a deep green marble step. Being a corner room and on the top floor (room 405) we have lots of light, and each window has screens so we have air. The night sounds float in but I Sleep well with my ear plugs.
Our hosts were pleased to let us know about the festival, Teej, happening today, giving us directions to the Durbar square,where the main partying would be!! Rachel and I set out, passing many shrines of varying sizes, people lighting candles, praying or just respectfully touching the sculptures. Brightly attired women, most in red, joined us on foot, on motorcycles or in tuk tuks, all of us streaming to the historic square. As we neared, we could feel the excitement, the anticipation, the air vibrating with the energy! Durbar square is a World Heritage site, so very special that we could experience it so Alive!
After purchasing a photo pass, we headed back to our hotel and had lunch at a restaurant just across the street. Several tables sported hookas indicating a casual passtime! I enjoyed a tasty eggplant salad while Rachel was pleased with her momo soup. We took our order of momos back to our hotel room to snack on later.
Thursday, Sept. 20/12 Pokhara / Sarangkot
Yesterday was a travel day. We caught the 7:00 AM bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara. At 6:30 we joined the stream of backpackers wending our way through the early morning streets of Thamel.
During the day, this maze of streets is wall to wall venders. The eye has an uninterrupted sea of products and surprisingly little pressure to buy. Instead, I felt a good natured acceptance for the shake of the head, or 'no thank you.' (denyabot-thank you in Nepali)
The night time Thamel streets, more like a maze of dark tunnels, broken by the occasional brightly lit bar and small clumps of people.
These early Thamel streets seemed different yet again. Amid the tunnel of closed stores, some of the walled off stores were beginning to open and display their wares, sari dressed ladies were sweeping the streets with straw brooms, bicyclists laden with astonishing loads casually make their way. Another day begins.
We find our bus, Baba's Adventure, our packs are loaded, we are seats 17 and 18, we are ready to get this show on the road. This business section of Kathmandu gives another view. Wider streets, businesses, banks. A platoon (?) of police went by on horseback, two by two, neatly dressed in blue camoflage! I haven't talked about smells because I haven't noticed anything except incense sometimes. But, the smell of exhaust during the first hour of the bus ride was unpleasant enough to prompt me to put my scarf around my mouth. As we got further into the mountains it was less or I got used to it.
It was a bumpy 7 hour ride marked by cascades of rice paddies in terraces along the mountainsides and shanty towns colored with the ever present laundry hung on any available surface. We made a few bathroom breaks, that is, squat toilets, no toilet paper. Our last stop was for a buffet style lunch which was included in the cost of the bus ride ($15 cdn each), very good and much appreciated since we had not eaten yet, aside from some energy bars we brought with us for just such an emergency.
At last we roll into Pokhara. An added obstacle for our bus to avoid; a frightened bull galloping down the street!
There, waiting to take us to our hotel in Sarangkot is Mr. Bolle, just as our host, Posteraj
emailed us, letting us know the car, color and number. So thoughtful and reassuring!
Now begins the most exciting leg of the journey!
I will interject with a comment about driving in Nepal. The drivers appear to have an intimate knowledge of the dimensions of their vehicles, be they the 2, 3 or 4 wheeled variety. The ease with which they manouver through the varied users of the roads is startling, reassuring and more than a little admirable. The horns, and the buses also have 'aoogah horns,' are as essential as gas and brakes and they do not appear to be used in anger but as a cooperative tool for getting around.
Now, our very competent driver, takes us out of Pokhara and we begin our half hour ascent to Sarangkot. It felt like straight up but I will try not to exaggerate. We believe that we climbed at no less than a 35 degree angle on what felt like a one lane pot holed road, but somehow allowed a second vehicle when necessary, since we encountered vehicles heading the opposite direction and neither of us fell off the road! There were frequent switch backs, our friend, the horn was an almost constant companion. The potholed road soon deteriated into an extremely rutted, monsoon eroded, boulder road, more like a river bed! The valley has been dropping away spectacularly so that when we encounter a small settlement, I think we have arrived. But no, the view keeps expanding and we keep climbing, my eyes widening in wonder! The highlight of this bouncing literally off the seat journey was absolutely when we reached a 40 degree angle (see, I'm trying not to exaggerate) where our driver had to take a 'run' at it. But wait, there is a motorcycle in our path not responding to our warning honks.
So our intrepid driver secures the emergency brake and. . . gets out of the car. We sit very stll, shallow breaths when we musr breathe. Could this loose rock give way. would the emergency brake matter if we began to slide? The driver returned to my immediate relief. The motorcyclist got out of our way, the driver backed up then roared forward and we continued. We arrived, our host out to greet us. We made very good time, apparently the day before the bus didn't arrive in Pokhara until closer to 4:00,we arrived at 2:20. Often there are road blocks, police checks, delays we did not have. The later bus means driving that road in the approaching twilight, something I would not like to be doing. They have also been having a lot of rain, monsoon season, but we had good weather. I sure would not want to be on that road in any rain conditions!!
The valley in the distance, a short but steep half hour drive away!
The Road . . .
The Car . . .
The valley in the distance, a short but steep half hour drive away!
Lovely weather, not very humid, warm sun, occasional breeze and a thunder storm! A wall of cloud moved in from the valley. Pokhara was still in sunshine while rain crossed in front of us, blanketing the valley view so we could see nothing. We only saw a couple forks of lightening but the thunder! It was most like jets thundering overhead from one end of the valley to the other end, exactly like the sound of the Abbotsford airshow! The rain poured. Maybe half an hour later it had moved through and now Pokhara was hidden from view and we had a sparkling clean evening.
View from our deck, Seti river after a monsoon . . .
Birds and the Bees
Seeing a huge variety of butterflies, some the size of small birds. The bees seem to be super sized too.
I have had the experience of a leech on my ankle! I was unaware until an hour or two later when I noticed blood on my ankle. When I cleaned it up there was no scratch but a small hole. I investigated my hiking boots and socks and there was blood on both. I don't now how or when it departed, maybe it had its fill and fell off. eeeww!
The next morning I met my new friend Natalieska and asked if she had ever had any leech experiences. She then showed me her ankle with 3 leech bites, same as mine, her first ever, also.
Energy Conservation
The power is off from 4:00 or 5:00 til 7:00 or 8:00 every evening on our side of the valley. At 7:00, when we again have power, I see all the dots of light on the opposite mountain go dark, all at once. They then experience their power saving two or three hours.
Days begin around 6:00. Photographers like to be at the peak lookout by 5:45 to view the sun kissing the famous Himalayan peaks.
The sun slides behind these tall mountains by 6:00 pm making for shorter daylight and longer evenings.
Excellent Food
We are enjoying the Nepali tea very much. It is Masala tea but today I learned that they use fresh buffalo milk which may make that big difference!
The honey, Rachel found particularly tasty and I have been enjoying the muesli very much. Such fresh coconut chunks and subtle spices served with aple and, likely, fresh buffalo milk too!
We have had no digestive problems, hurrah!
Surmilla and daughter Goompah?
The steep steps to the top of Sarangkot are a mere 20 steps from our hotel. I am breathless by the time I reach the top and I have even stopped a couple times to rest. Already there are about a dozen people watching the sun greet the mountain giants, Annapurna, Fish Tail, so close, so breath taking.
As I write, a crescent moon hangs in the night sky resplendent with more stars than I have ever seen before. Crickets compete with voices that are raised in song, young voices shreik in delight, shouting with the joy of communion, community. The celebration, Teej, means several days of fasting, prayers, dancing, singing and then feasting. Children are home from school, families are together. Not all is carefree, however.
Around 1:00 I set off to explore a bit. I met Frankie who invited me to see the unique hotel nearby consisting of beehive shaped pairs of rooms. He proudly showed me around the empty place. He is the cook but when there is nothing to do he watches for passersby who might be interested in enjoying their hosptality.. There is very little tourist traffic here.
Frankie showed me a different route to the top of Sarangkot so, after saying goodbye and thanking him I made my third trip to the famous view point.
(That morning Ihad forgotten my proof of purchase tourist paper) On my way back to the hotel I passed a vender showing me the beautiful voices of her singing bowls. As I turned to continue back to the stairs down I offered my Canadian maple syrup candy to her and her daughter and we chatted about Canada. She shared how difficult life in Nepal is for women. She asked how old I was and said that she was 37. Her daughter said how young I look, Surmilla said that women age and die very quickly here. Hard work, stress. She said that she has 4 daughters but it is sons that matter here so her husband took another wife, had 2 more daughters and left her to cope on her own. She gets nothing from him to help raise their girls.
I asked her daughter what her plans will be. She is only in grade 9. She wants to work, as a singer, no husband.
I went back today. We had tea together, her daughter was on her way to school. She was in her school uniform, Fridays are half days. Surmilla's brother lives in Canada now, for two years. She brought out a Canada guide book and an atlas. We looked at them together.
