Marni visits, Part 2
Written by Susan
Royal Chitwan National Park
We had bought a package through our guesthouse in Kathmandu for this portion of our trip. It apparently included all sorts of activities. Since it seemed like a better deal than trying to just piece it all together ourselves, we signed up. Unfortunately, Brian and I really hate these types of tours where you’re just herded around like cattle. But we were here and we had signed up for it so we played good sports. We should have known better…..
We had to switch buses and there was some confusion about where the hotel was picking us up. So we called the number on our little receipt and the guy told us to take a taxi to this marketplace. It wasn’t part of the deal, but you can only argue so much on the phone with a Nepalese who doesn’t speak English. So we argued with a taxi driver instead who of course wanted to triple the rate and finally got back on the road.
We met our supposed lodge at the marketplace and off we went with our lodge. We were happy now that we were where we were supposed to be. Riding through the beautiful countryside in the bed of a truck. Finally 20 minutes later we get to the lodge. We get welcome drinks and everything. We give the guy our receipt and he leaves for 10 minutes. He comes back and tells us we’re at the wrong lodge. Huh? We say. But we called you guys and you came to get us. Weren’t you expecting us? Of course no answer either because they didn’t understand us or just didn’t want to answer us. Well where are we supposed to go? we asked. To this other lodge they say unless you want to stay here. So now we are totally confused. We can stay here? But we had paid for the other lodge. It didn’t make sense. We decided to stay where we had already prepaid. Well where is this other lodge? We asked. Down the street we were told. We were also then told that they wanted us to reimburse them for picking us up. We held firm on this one. No way were we going to reimburse them. It was their fault that they had no clue who their guests were and were probably just hoping they would get us for guests. We weren’t about to play that game. We of course kept in friendly and funny but in the end held our ground. We bid them Namaste and headed to the lodge we were supposed to be staying at.
Perhaps we should have just stayed. The lodge and courtyard were actually much nicer so initially we were very pleased that we had kept with our original plan. Only later that night would we realize the error of our ways. The thing about these all inclusive packages is that you’re stuck eating every meal at the hotel. Whatever they serve you is what you get. Usually, it’s not that bad and Brian and I have been good about eating pretty much anything. That night though, we had to put our foot down. Me, being the foodie in our relationship, was eagerly anticipating dinner. What would it be? Some sort of traditional Nepalese dish? Maybe some Italian or Chinese? No. I’m not even quite sure what it was that we were served. It resembled fried noodles with red sauce on it. Ok so it looks bad but maybe it will taste ok. Marni, Brian and I are now looking at each other and IT in fear. First bite. Disgusting. But not wanting to bring down the group, we all cautiously nibbled on the second bite. Finally the third bite was the nail in the coffin. There was no way we could eat IT. IT was disgusting whatever IT was. We felt bad until we saw the Nepalese guide sitting next to us also pushing IT around on his plate. So we sat. We weren’t quite sure what to do. We didn’t want to be rude and not eat IT, but we also couldn’t put it down without making an appointment with Mr. Toilet for the rest of the night. So we just sat and pushed IT around. Finally one of the waiters came up and asked if we didn’t like our food? Sorry we said, we just can’t eat IT. He was gracious enough to take IT away and came back with some nice, hot, safe fried rice and we stuffed our faces.
Unfortunately, the food never quite improved but was never as bad as the first night. Luckily, we had a whole range of activities that would keep us busy. Our first morning, we went on a traditional canoe ride. I actually really enjoyed the early morning float down the river since the fog was skimming the river and gave the whole morning a really cool, ethereal vibe. After we got off the canoe, it was time for our jungle walk. I wasn’t quite sure what to think about this. On one hand, it would be kind of cool to see a rhino or tiger, but on the other hand, did I really want to see it with nothing to protect me except my tree climbing skills (which are pretty much non-existent)? I’m thinking that’s what our guide was thinking too because we walked through the jungle so fast any chance of seeing an animal completely vanished. I’m pretty sure the rhinos and tigers were probably more scared of these foreign creatures in all their gortex and flashy cameras then we were of them. So we walked for an 1½ hours and saw nothing…..except of course some birds.
Our afternoon calendar was filled with the elephant safari. One of the highlights of the trip. We were really excited about finally seeing rhinos to round out the Big 5 on our trip (Elephants, tigers, rhinos, leopards, buffalo). When we got to the safari spot, they wanted Marni to split up from us because they were trying to fill the elephants. So they wanted her to basically ride with a group of strange people on one of the most exciting things we were going to be doing in Nepal. Brian and I again put our foot down (I guess we’ve been getting good (or obsessive depending on how you look at it) on putting our foot down when people try to take advantage of situations. We basically told them that Marni hadn’t flown all the way from the states to ride on an elephant by herself. So they backed down and in the end we got our own elephant.
We saw rhinos right away and that was so exciting. Since we were on elephants we were able to get within 5 feet of a mama and baby rhino grazing. They never looked up and never seemed to have a care in the world. It was awesome. Our elephant driver was great since he didn’t follow everybody else and we went off into the jungle on our own. We ended up finding another 3 rhinos, which I guess is pretty special to see 5 rhinos in one safari. Some groups don’t even get to see one.
The next day we went to the elephant breeding center which was the highlight of the visit for me. Unfortunately, Marni had gotten really sick and opted out of that part of the morning tour. So Brian and I headed over with the rest of the group. When we arrived, we were “lucky” enough to see a baby elephant (the babies are not chained, but the mothers are) break through a fence looking for some food. It was so cute. I wish I could think of a better word, but that’s the only one that comes to my mind. It was really endearing to watch how inquisitive and curious the little guy was. Just like a little baby. So we had the opportunity to feed and interact with it. It was hard to pull me away to continue the rest of the tour of the facilities. That was by far though the best moment for me.
Later that afternoon when Marni was feeling better, we rented bicycles and headed back out to the breeding center so Marni could see the baby elephants. It was just too special to miss. Again, I could have stayed there forever but at least this time, we weren’t on somebody else’s time schedule. We cycled back through the villages into town where kids would wave hi, grab onto our bicycles and ask for sweets. It was a great way to end our Chitwan experience. Tomorrow we would be heading back to Kathmandu.
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A visitor from Seattle
Written by: Susan
My friend Marni from Seattle came to visit Brian and I for 3 weeks in Nepal. She would be the 4th visitor on our trip and we were excited to see her after 9 months. Our plan was to visit a disabled children’s orphange that is funded by the Bellevue Rotary club and then spend a couple of weeks sightseeing in Nepal.
Disabled Newlife Children’s Center (DNC)
The orphanage we went to was called the Disabled Newlife Center. It was an incredibly well run orphanage. It was really impressive to see how happy and well-behaved the children were. Of course, like many orphanages there are still many things in need, especially physical therapy equipment as well as computers and basic necessities. Compared though to other orphanages we had visited, these kids were very lucky.
We brought them clothes and school supplies, many of which had been donated by friends back in Seattle. A few days before Christmas we stopped back in to say hi and found all the children gathered around a fire. In Nepal there are rolling blackouts every week for all the different neighborhood. Tonight it just happened to be in the DNC neighborhood. Since there was not much to do without electricity, all the children were just huddled around a fire. We handed out Christmas cookies, let the children play with my camera and sat around the campfire with them singing songs. Of course, we wanted them to sing Nepalese songs to us but never thought that they would want us to sing English songs to them. When our turn came around, all of a sudden it became hard to remember the words to basic Christmas songs. We managed with a couple of songs including Jingle Bells, Row row row your boat and Old McDonald. Yes, the last couple aren’t Christmas songs but the kids liked them anyways. We all had a good laugh.
Lumbini – Birthplace of the first Buddha
We decided that after a few days in Kathmandu, it was time to take Marni out to the countryside. On the top of her list was Lumbini, the birthplace of the first Buddha whose given name was Siddartha Gautama. It would be a long 6 hour bus ride through the mountains to get to Lumbini which is located close to the Indian border. From there we would head to Royal Chitwan National Park.
Lumbini is more for Buddhists who are making their pilgrimage to the birthplace of Buddha than a massive tourist attraction (i.e. Vatican City). It was a very low key city with one road that housed a few scattered guest houses and shops. The actual birthplace of Buddha was located in this enormous compound where many nations had set up large monestaries in the different teachings of Buddhism. It looked like the United Nations of Buddhism. We started at the tree and lake where Siddartha’s mom actually went into labor and later gave birth. There were many Indians and Nepalese here who were paying homage to the tree. There were also monks that were sitting under the tree meditating and reading from old Tibetan scripts. The rest of the compound wasn’t very interesting as the main reason to come to Lumbini is to study at one of the monasteries.
The next day we would head out on a bus to Royal Chitwan National Park!
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Jomsom Trek – Tatopani to Muktinath
Written by: Susan
After resting our weary limbs in the hot springs of Tatopani, it was unfortunately time to move on. Thankfully, the rest of the hike would be less strenuous. Although there would still be significant elevation gain, there would be no more rock hewn marble steps!
The really magical part of trekking is the ability to see life as it was a hundred years ago. That day we stopped at a water mill that ground corn simply by utilizing the pressure of the water from the river. I remember on the first day of the trek when I saw cornbread on the menu and remember thinking what an odd item to have on their menu. Do they import it? Of course, looking back it was an ignorant thought because right before my eyes they were grinding their own cornmeal. We, in the western world, are the ones that have industrialized corn whereas here it is simply just a part of their daily life.
That day we followed the river and passed by farmers tilling the ground using oxen and an old wooden till. Amazing the amount of hard work they put into cultivating their land. We passed by the most gigantic waterfall we’d see on this whole trip. It was just there. Unassuming and fantastic. Pretty much like everything we’ve seen on this trip. It’s almost as if the mountains, waterfalls, and rushing rivers know that they are really that great and therefore have no need to brag.
We then had to cross over another scary suspension bridge (me being terrified of heights) and ended up on the east bank of the river. The west bank of the river (the old trail) was being constructed into a road that would lead out to the world!
Many trekkers have grumbled about this trail cum road. Talking about how it ruins the natural landscape and how it will never be the same. Which is, of course, all true but who are we to say that these people shouldn’t have roads that allow them access to health care, emergency situations, easier transport of goods, and perhaps even just to visit family? We leave the roads to enjoy the splendor and beauty of nature but when we go back home we like our roads. Shouldn’t the Nepalese be allowed the same freedoms?
So finally we arrived that night at the town of Ghasa, which was barely a town since it was the off-season. That’s the interesting thing about towns in the mountains. It’s not just one town but really a series of villages (basically a few buildings and homes) that together make a “town” big enough to appear on the map. So it took about a half hour for us to walk through this town before we got the to the end of the town where we found a guesthouse that had fresh apple cobbler straight from the oven. That was enough to sell us to stay the night and eat 2 servings of the apple cobbler.
The next day we headed on to the town of Tukuche where we again encountered some yummy apple pie. It was such a bizarre thing to find high up here in the Himalayas. We asked many people where they had learned to make apple cobbler and apple pie. They always just said from their sister and father so we never figured out which foreign country had brought apple pie all the way up to the Himalayas. What we did know was that the Nepalese do a fine job making it and we had some of the best apple pie and cobbler we had ever eaten. At our guesthouse in Tukuche, the owners of Sunil guesthouse made us our own mini fresh out of the oven apple pie. Absolutely delicious. Of course we were hoping for a scoop of ice cream but we knew that wouldn’t be happening.
Our final destination was Muktinath and at this point we were still 2 nights away and I got sick. I’m not sure exactly what I got sick from but whatever it was felt like the stomach flu. It did not make for an easy hike to the next town of Marpha but I also did not want to lie in a cold, hard bed freezing my butt off. At the very least, we had to make it to Jomsom where we had a flight scheduled.
Finally we made it to Jomsom and after having breakfast we headed to our second to last town, Kagbeni. By this time the terrain had gone from slightly tropical with orange groves and lush green trees to a very stark brown dessert-like feel. Kagbeni was probably one of our favorite towns. Of course, favorites become favorites because of the personal experience people have with the town. Ours was highlighted in Kagbeni because of the many wonderful people we met and the special treat we got when we went to visit the monastery in the town.
It all started with this Australian guy who we had met earlier in the day at our guesthouse. We had bumped into him later and he told us not to miss the 500-year-old monastery. It had incredibly old Tibetan Buddhist texts as well as a really old library. So off we went to the monastery. It was beautiful. The most exciting thing though was that the Aussie guy had come back with his wife and asked the monk to show us the old library and the Tibetan texts. When we asked if we could see one of the 500-year-old texts, the monk brought it down and carefully unwrapped it. We felt like we were in Indiana Jones on the verge of discovering an ancient secret. I even think I was holding my breath. Slowly, by candlelight, he begins to read the text in Tibetan which sounds like a low, slow chant. Absolutely amazing and beautiful. The 5 people present were speechless and I think we all felt so lucky to experience such a special moment.
The next morning we headed out on the final leg of our trip. This is where I wanted to rent a horse. The hike would be VERY steep and it just did not sound like fun. But in the end, I decided I could get up enough energy (still being a little bit sick from the stomach flu) to hike up the rest of the way. Although it was incredibly steep, we had learned a valuable lesson while hiking Kilimanjaro. Slowly, slowly. It’s always better to go slow and not take breaks than to hike fast and take breaks. So that’s exactly what we did and we actually made it up the steep part in record time.
Our bad move was stopping for lunch. Since all food is cooked fresh and on the spot for you, it always means that lunch takes an hour. So after chowing on our chowmein and fried rice, we started up the last 2 hours. Unfortunately, sitting for an hour and eating starch but no sugar means lethargy. The first half hour nearly killed us and I had to stop and buy a Snickers bar in the mountains. These Tibetan women definitely know what hikers need! The Snickers bar helped and we continued along. Finally we made it to Muktinath. Our final destination and one of the main pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Buddhists around the world. We were at 3800 meters (approx. 12,000 feet). The air was thin and cold when the sun went down but we were so happy to be at our ending point. That evening we went up to visit the temple. It was a bit anti-climatic as the site was a bit worn down and haphazard but it was still set in one of the most beautiful places on earth. After our visit we headed down for a good nights sleep in freezing cold temperature. Tomorrow we would be making the descent down to the town of Jomsom for our plane ride back to civilization.
I had been anticipating the plane ride for quite some time. Back when I was a young buck, taking a small plane through the Himalayas sounded dangerous and thrilling. Sign me up! At the ripe old age of 31, my fears begin to set it. After having gone through the Buddhist meditation refuge and learning more about their outlook on death (pretty much that we can’t control it – duh!- and that we should really just embrace it). So I did. I mean if I have to die, at least it was flying through the Himalayas right?
So we anxiously awaited the plane early in the morning, along with the whole town of Jomsom and saw it come flying through the mountains to land on the tiny runway that was wedged in the valley. The 16-seater Gorkha Air plane can only fly in the early mornings due to the Himalayan winds. When I first saw the plane my heart jumped. I thought it was going to be bigger, more sturdy, perhaps not look like one of those wooden toy models that your dad puts together for you for Christmas? They obviously board the plane pretty quickly since it’s only got 16 seats and off we went. The entire plane was silent, I’m not sure if it’s because people were praying or because they engines were just so loud. The front part of the plane where Brian, some of our new trekking friends and I sat were the only ones talking. We were giddy from excitement and maybe just a tinge of fear that our plane was literally flying through the valley. At points, it was just skimming the villages down below. I must admit though that it was an awesome flight and the mountains were breathtaking. 16 minutes later it was all over and we landed in Pokhara. Right back were we had started 12 days ago.
It’s ironic how it took us 10 days to hike to remote villages in the mountains and modern machinery takes us back to civilization in 16 minutes. It’s pretty awesome and depressing at the same time. All in all though, we loved our trek, the people we met, and of course the scenery. We can’t wait to go back for another trek.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Written by: Brian
Current Location: Bangkok, Thailand
The Start of Our Trek: Excerpts from my journal:
Tuesday, November 27,
Our first day of trekking felt like a long day although it only took us 3½ hours of hiking to gain 1000 ft. The scenery was beautiful though with suspension bridges, donkey trains, rivers and rice paddy fields. Tomorrow is going to be worse, as we have to climb over 3000 ft in one day. It probably doesn't help that we are out of shape and that our packs are heavy. I guess we will see if we feel the same way on day 10, I hope not.
Wednesday, November 28,
We trekked up over 3000 ft today and it took over 6 hours. It was a long and difficult day but we persevered and arrived safely. I listened to my ipod most of the day which gave me the inspiration I needed to make it to the top. Not a lot of thoughts about today as I was mainly focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Probably a good thing to concentrate on.
The views were beautiful once again, more waterfalls, bridges and streams. Hopefully tomorrow does not get harder.
Namaste
Thursday, November 29,
I had a flood of thoughts today but I am not sure how many I will get down due to sheer exhaustion. Somewhere I read that trekking was supposed to be enjoyable, actually the Lonely Planet guide states “ a trek in Nepal is a special and rewarding mountain holiday.”
I do not know how this has been special or rewarding. Special maybe, as I may now be able to qualify for the Special Olympics after 8 hours of hiking I can barley walk. I am not sure that waking up at 4:30 am in the morning to climb a 1000 ft to see the Annapurna range, that never fully came out, can be qualified as rewarding, so we have Strike Two for the day.
So let's tell you about our day, we started trekking again at 9:00 am after we returned from our morning hike up to Poon Hill (1000 ft). We are thinking that today should be a moderate type hiking day as we are going down hill, how hard can that be???
After 3½ hours we finally decide it was time to take a break for lunch. We had descended less then half way and we were already tired. We kept going down more and more stairs with no end in sight. By the time we finished lunch it was 1:30 and we had another 2000 ft to go down. It was starting to get depressing. We thought about calling it quits and staying in the town we had lunch in but for someone unknown reason we decided to continue. Must have been something in the water. At this point we were kicking ourselves for not hiring a porter or two to carry our packs, maybe we would be happier.
We make it down another 1500 ft dodging the cow patties and donkey doo along the way. So we get to thinking where does the enjoyable part come in? I am in pain, my feet are killing me from walking down the stone marble stairs all day, my pack feels like I have bricks in it, and we still have another 2 hours of hiking left.
I figure this is the time to put some music on from my ipod and take my mind of the miserable day we are having. I turn on Dave Matthew's, of course, and my step picks up a little bit. I am listening to my favorite album “Live at Fenway Park”, the song Satellite just finishes and Crash Into Me starts up, a true DMB classic. Susan lets me pass as my pace picks up with the music. I am about 15 ft in-front of her, deep into the music of DMB, enjoying the sunshine that has just burst through the clouds, and singing Crash into me, Crash into me. I am starting to think that the day has not been a total failure, the worst was over .... then my foot slips on a rock in the stream I was so carelessly crossing and I fall of a cliff, yes a cliff.
It was a 6-7 foot drop off onto to rocks, nothing else just rocks. I guess I did crash into something. It happened in slow motion and I pretty much fell head first onto the boulders below. I brought my arms up to protect my head as it crashed into the first boulder. As I fell and hit the first boulder, I rolled over to absorb the shock of the fall and then continued to roll down a couple more boulders and landed in the muddy water.
Now Susan was 15 ft behind me and all she can see is me falling off the cliff and disappearing. She has no idea how far down I may have fallen. As I fell I hear Susan and another lady scream as I tumble over the cliff.
As I am laying on my back at the bottom of the ravine trying to assess my injuries, which strangely enough seem non-existent. I have a scratched knee and elbow but other then that I am fine??? I know....a miracle. I can't even think how Susan would be able to explain that one to my family, well he was walking and he just fell of the cliff. No one pushed him, he just fell...
I stand up in the ravine and a Nepalese man comes running over to the edge, I yell up to him that I am fine and nothing is broke. He to is amazed that I am fine. I climb back up to the trail and Susan runs over to me and says, “What are doing !!! How could you fall like that!!” Now the last thing I expected when I climbed back up was to get yelled at for slipping and falling of the cliff...
Enough of the excitement, we know we still have another 300 meters to descend which will take us another 2 hours of the worst hiking imaginable. Marble rock steps all the way down. We finally limp into the town of Tatopani after 8 hours of hiking. Needless to say it has been a long day not even including the 4:30 am wake up call to see a bunch of clouds.
For all the pain and anguish we experienced today we were duly rewarded upon arrival in Tatopani. We checked in to our teahouse and headed down to the natural hot springs for our reward. The 104 degree water did wonders for our aching body and mind. Maybe we will stay here an extra day... Now I am going to sleep.
Friday, November 30,
TGIF: well I guess that does not mean much when you do not even know what day of the week it is. We had a great day of doing NOTHING. We decided to stay another day at the hot springs to alleviate our tired muscles. We ate breakfast then headed down for a dip. Then back to our hotel for lunch. We bummed around the town which was pretty boring, almost all the places are closing for winter. Then we headed down to the hot springs before dinner. Tomorrow we are back on the road again, or I should say I hope I stay on the road this time. We will miss the hot springs.
Namaste,
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Nepal 