Nepal – Poon Hill Trek day 3 Sunrise

I woke at 04:00 hours so I could get my stuff together and mentally prepare myself for the Poon Hill
ascent at 05:00 hours. I met up with Yana and we headed off. Within 20 metres I slipped, and almost went on my arse, on ice. I knew it was cold and the snow had settled a little but not that cold! So steady as we go in the darkness.
We climbed the 20 odd metres from the Sunny hotel to the main path through the village. Surprisingly we descended the mountain, in the direction we came the previous afternoon, I questioned Yanas’ choice of route. A question which went unanswered. It was when we approached the village welcome sign Yana admitted she missed our turning. So we hiked back up the hill with me chuntering away. We got back to the top of our particular hill and I hinted she should ask someone. Cha-ching, it worked she asked someone and they pointed out the foot of the hill was behind us, not more than 50 metres from our hotel! Something that cheered me no end.
So we began our ascent and unsurprisingly got stuck in the throng of people I intended to miss with our early start! We climbed and climbed and got to the Poon Hill memorial gate and continued upwards and onwards. Even without my backpack I was blowing a little, mainly due to the cold and thin air, we got to the top before the sun rose and it was well worth the climb, see for yourselves and let me know.

More to follow soon.

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek day 2 Ghorepani

The next part of the trek was taking us to Ghorepani (2,874m) where we would stay overnight and hopefully get up early and see the sunrise over the Annapurna mountain range from Poon Hill (3,210m). Based on the previous days trek I anticipated we would take 6 hours. My legs were fine and I did not think I would have too many problems. After all Yana assured me the hardest part was over. There wasn’t much of view on this part of the route as we were in the jungle and the only colour, other than green, was the red Rhododendron that grow along the route. The route was not as harsh and there were not as many steps to negotiate. We reached Ghorepani in under 4 1/2 hours so planned to see the sunset on Poon Hill. That plan was short-lived as the clouds gathered and the heavens opened up. So with no electric and very little in way of central heating we huddled around the only source of heat in the hotel, a 50 gallon oil drum converted into wood burner that doubled as the heat source for the showers. Not only has it rained but there has been hail and snow. Whilst sat around the heat source I was introduced to the Nepalese version of “wine” a drink called Raksy (pronounced Rocksey) which has a similar smell as slijvovic and more than a passing similarity in taste.
Dinner was tandoori chicken with naan bread and a side salad followed by apple pie and custard. Both were delicious but I am not sure if that was more to do with the cold and tasting hot food than the expertise of the chef.
The electricity eventually came on and there was wifi available for 100 NPR which I gladly paid. All was going well until a Swiss couple decided to use Skype video and nick all the bandwidth! When they eventually logged out I got about 5 minutes before the electricity was cut again. So it was another early night in the cold and multiple duvets to keep me warm, no slumming it here…

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek. Day 1 Ulleri

So, I decided on the Poon Hill trek and it was to be “slowly, slowly” over 5 days and 4 nights. I thought this was the best option as I haven’t done any trekking since I don’t know when. It has been at least 20 years. I booked out of my hotel and headed to the travel agents shop with whom I booked my trek. It was here I would meet my guide and hopefully join a group as opposed to a Billy no mates trek with just me and a guide. I got to the shop at the prearranged time of 07:15 hours to find it all shut and no sign of anyone. At 07:30 hours I was about to spit the dummy when the travel agent tipped up, he apologised for being late but promised I could still go on my trek but I had to wait for the guide who was being picked up by his wife. He didn’t appear overly concerned that the “tourist” bus I was to catch had in all likelihood already departed.
I was then further disappointed when he informed me there was no group. As I was being informed of this his wife tipped up with my guide. I was then introduced to my guide a 32 year old lady named Yana Shrestha. We were then loaded into a taxi to take us to the bus station and I suspected a normal bus that would take us to our start point in Birethanti.
My suspicions, about the bus, were well founded as we boarded a local authority bus. As there was very little space available we were seated in the front compartment of the bus with the driver. If you haven’t been on one of these buses then I can tell you it isn’t a privilege, to be sat at the front, it’s cramped, noisy and less than comfortable but at least it’s a seat.
The journey took about 2 hours and I was not surprised to find it was just as hair raising as previous bus journeys, the fact I had ridden the route on the Royal Enfield didn’t help as I knew we would be going through a series of hair pin bends!
We eventually reached our start point but first things first, breakfast. I had mixed fried rice for breakfast and Yana had 2 boiled eggs. We then left Birethanti at 10:30 hours for the start of the 7 hour hike up to the hillside village of Ulleri.
The weather was good and the sun was shining, the visibility was also good thanks to a storm the night before. The order of the day was “slowly, slowly, and as I looked at the climb I was thankful I had opted for the slow approach. I was forewarned this part of the trek was the most difficult and most people get a jeep to the top. Now that was an option! Anyhow, I decided I was going to walk all the way.
There are the usual rules for trekking such as plenty of water and take your rubbish with you. This didn’t seem to apply as there were plenty of places on the route to stop to replenish water and dump any rubbish you may have, even so many had decided to dump their waste off the side of the mountain.
We past other trekkers who were going slower than us and quickly left them in our wake, there were also numerous Nepalese coming down the mountain on foot, horseback and in jeeps clearly heading into civilisation to get supplies. There was one old lady guiding a group of donkeys down the mountain but three of them were more intent in biting each other.

We eventually got to Ulleri in 6 hours which, if I am being truthful surprised me, I thought I was going at a snails pace and we seemed to stop an inordinate amount of times. As you can imagine the accommodation was basic with no home comforts such as wifi or central heating but it was fine. Dinner was dal baht with chicken washed down with ginger tea. As there wasn’t much by way of night life I was in my scratch pit by 21:30 hours. I then realised how thin the bedroom walls were. I could here the young couple next door so clearly that they could be in the same room. I remember thinking, please do not have sex, as I drifted off to sleep. Luckily I feel asleep very quickly. Scratch pit was an appropriate name for my bed as I woke at 05:00 hours with some awesome mosquito bites! I didn’t think mossies went this high! As it was too early for breakfast I took a look around the village and visited the local childrens library! The library visit wasn’t planned, as I was looking around the school area a Nepalese chap approached me and asked if I would like to see the library. This was at 05:30 hours so I was a tad surprised but agreed to have a look around the library. It consisted of one room with book for all ages and most appeared to be in English. There was a donation box in the middle of the room so I gave my donation, took some photos, thanked the Nepalese chap and left for the hotel and breakfast. Breakfast consisted of 2 fried eggs, some boiled potatoes coated with garam masala, 2 slices of toast and a black coffee. I demolished this in what seemed like seconds and then got my gear ready and headed off on the next part of the trek.

Nepal – Parahawking

Para-hawking, not really heard of it before and wasn’t overly convinced I would enjoy it. I was first made aware of it by Egle and I then visited the home of the Para-hawking organisation and was given a brief outline as to what they are about. This convinced me enough to book a flight and feed an Egyptian vulture in the air.
The reason for the Para-hawking is to raise the profile of the plight of the vulture population in Asia and in particular Nepal. In the last 10 years the vulture population in Nepal has decreased a massive 99.9% mainly due to farmers using Declofenac on their cows in order to get an extra few weeks work out of them. They used Declofenac because it was very cheap and easily available. When the cow died up to 30 vultures would feed on a single carcass. As Declofenac was still in the cows system it was ingested by the vultures and caused renal failure. Vultures only produce 1-2 eggs per season and and with high early mortality rates you can see the vulture is in grave danger of extinction.
The Para-hawking centre donates funds to a local vulture restaurant. These type of restaurants are dotted around Nepal and they collect cows that have reached the end of their useful working life and care for them until they die. They ensure that no trace of Declofenac remains in the cow after it has died and they feed the carcass to the vultures. This helps to address the problem but is a long way from solving a critical issue.
I decided I would use my GoPro for the flight and hoped it would not stop mid-flight. I did not trust myself to hold onto my camcorder throughout the flight. I met up with Scott, Danu and Kevin the vulture. Scott is the owner of the sanctuary, an experienced bird trainer and para-glider, Danu is a fully qualified paragliding pilot and was to be my pilot for the day.

Kevin the vulture

Kevin was going along for the ride and a big feed.
We were joined by a Russian lady called Maria who also hadn’t previously done any paragliding or Para-hawking. We met at the Blue Sky Paragliding shop on Lakeside in Pokhara at 09:00 hours and squeezed into a Suzuki Swift (I think) and headed towards the launch pad in the hills. The road up was typical of all roads in Nepal with one exception, a landslide overnight had closed the road near the top of the mountain. The storms the previous night having done the damage to cause the landslip. Danu, Maria and I headed up the mountain on foot which, gave us some unexpected photo opportunities as the storm had helped clear the haze.
We reached the top of the mountain and the view was nothing short of spectacular, so some further photo opportunities were explored. When Scott and Kevin arrived we received a very quick briefing on what we should and shouldn’t do during the flight and how we went about feeding Kevin. We were then good to go, Scott decided to wait until the launch pad cleared a little before we make our maiden flight. “No worries” said I, not that I was worried…
Danu asked me to look downhill and on his command I was to take 3 steps and then begin to run downhill. He hinted we would need to wait for a bigger gust of wind before launching. Can’t think what he was suggesting?
Well as you are reading this you can be assured it was a successful launch and flight. A bigger gust of wind wasn’t required either.
We were in the air within seconds of the launch and Danu put us into a turn in order to see Scott and Maria who had launched within seconds of us. The air space around the area was extremely busy with 10s of paragliders vying for the best thermals to keep them in flight. Well we had Kevin, I am not sure when I first noticed him but watching him glide up close was an amazing experience. Scott assures me the vulture can reach air speeds of approximately 70-100 kilometres per hour without too much effort.
You can see my footage when I post it, vultures have a bad press because they are scavengers but they are pretty awesome birds and help the environment around them. If they do not eat a carcass what animals are left to feed on the carcass? Wild dogs, lions, tigers and other such like predators looking for an easy meal, this will soon escalate to these animal praying on unsuspecting humans in the area, this will in turn have the humans then hunting the wild dogs, lions and tigers! Vultures are part of the food chain across the globe and are needed. You can also take a look at the sanctuary web site

The Peace Pagoda and Royal Enfield Bullet

The Peace Pagoda and Royal Enfield Bullet. Not the best partnership in the world but in Pokhara, north west Nepal you can find both. Nepal boasts 2 of the 80 Peace Pagoda which are spread all over the world. There is one in Buddhas birthplace of Lumbini and the other is here in Pokhara. The Shanti Stupa is located on top of a hill to the south of the Phewa lake and on a clear day will give you an amazing view of the Annapurna mountain range, lake Phewa and Pokhara. I hope to get a day where the view is clear and get a panoramic shot but thus far no luck. I think it will need to rain quite a bit to get rid of the haze and dust so I’m not holding my breath.

The Royal Enfield Bullet. I saw a few in Kathmandu but wasn’t expecting to see too many in Pokhara. However, I was speaking to a couple at the hotel Encounter the night before I left. They mentioned a company Hearts and Tearswhich was owned by a friend of theirs. The idea of riding such a classic British bike in the Himalayas just appealed to me so much. Maybe I am an old romantic at heart! So as soon as I got to Pokhara I searched for Hearts and Tears. Matt was away in Australia and everything was done by email, all very quick in this day and age but… a combination of Matt flying back to Nepal, power cuts and flat batteries protracted the booking process somewhat. Anyway all got sorted and I booked a one day Royal Enfield Bullet experience.

What an awesome experience, the bike I had (Che) is a 20 year old bike which followed the original Royal Enfield design when it was sold to the Indian manufacturers in the 1950s. It is the 500cc Royal Enfield Bullet. I was joined on the ride by a lovely lady from Singapore named Damai but asked us to call her Dee. We were given a brief history on the Royal Enfield by Matt and then shown the various parts to the bike and how best to start the beast. We then sat and had a cup of tea, how very British.

Pokhara

I have been trying to find time when I have power, WiFi and the inclination. It is difficult here as I am almost overwhelmed at the things I want to do. I decided before I came here I would play it by ear and do stuff “off the cuff”. This is proving easier said than done. It seems you have to book everything in advance. I have now booked a day riding the Royal Enfield Bullet for Monday. I am really looking forward to that. I have decided on a Yoga Trek so will look at booking that today. It will, at the very least, get me onto the mountains and when I am feeling the strain it will relax me. There is also something oddly romantic about doing both the Yoga trek and the bike ride. Well I think there is, others may have a different view.
The journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara took approximately 7 hours on an ancient Bus that was advertised as having air-con and comfortable seats. Well the air-con consisted of a combination of open windows and wall mounted swivel fans that were turned on sporadically and did not swivel. Thankfully it only got hotter near the end of the journey.
Megan and I left the hotel Encounter at 06:30 hours and headed through Thamel which was like a ghost town compared to the usual hive of activity seen during daylight hours. We were able to move a lot quicker without having to dodge around the street hawkers and the rickshaw drivers who constantly badger you. Given I had been kept awake all night, by a chorus of barking dogs, I was happy to be out this early. I can be a bit grumpy in the mornings, even more so when I have had no sleep. So the empty alleyways were a very welcome bonus. We found the bus relatively easily and I was assured I would get a seat, as I had not ticket, and was told to board the bus. We then had to wait until 07:00 hours for the bus to start the journey.
The journey west to Pokhara was fairly uneventful although there were some sights along the way you would not see in most of the western world. This is a country that frowns upon public signs of affection, such as hugging or a peck on the cheek, or people not wearing sufficient clothing. Therefore, I was mystified to see women going to the toilet on the side of the road in full view of all passing motorist, bizarre to say the least. No flesh was visible but to most people in the western world this is usually a very private matter, unless you’re from Swansea…
The road to Pokhara was generally fairly good if you compare it to some of the inner city roads of Kathmandu. Some passengers were seemingly sleeping soundly and others, like myself, couldn’t sleep for love nor money. Considering I had been awake all night it annoyed me I couldn’t sleep. For me it was the road of hell, although I have travelled and driven on worse in Kenya, Mexico and Belize. There were a few stops at various points in the journey, all very non-descript, where we either peed, pooed or ate. We arrived at the bus station in Pokhara at approximately 14:30 hours and were met by a baying pack of placard wielding Nepalese and Indians claiming to be taxi drivers for certain hotels. As you can imagine, this cheered me up no end. I could have my pick of hotel and a personal taxi if I played the game and haggled. Well that wasn’t for me, so I tagged along with Megan and tipped up at the Orchid Hotel in Pokhara, easy stuff. My negotiating skills then let me down as I was worn out and wanted to do nothing but sleep.
So I got into my over-priced room and flopped on the bed to fall into a well earned sleep. NO! I couldn’t sleep, no matter how long I lay prostrate on the scratch pit I could not sleep. At 18:30 hours I met up with Megan in the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat. As I waited for my egg sandwich I began to feel to feel extremely tired and suddenly I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I made my apologies to Megan and headed straight upstairs to my bed and the sweet release of dreamland. As I was fast entering a sleep like state there was a knock on my door. The waiter with my egg sandwich. Reluctantly, I got up and accepted the plate with good grace, closed the door, got into bed and fell asleep still clutching the plate holding the egg sandwich. I woke a few times during the night, once to recover the egg sandwich and place it and the plate on the side table, others times to either answer the call of nature or thinking it was morning and needed to get up. I eventually woke at 09:00 hours not quite refreshed and feeling somewhat jaded.
I met up with Megan and we went walkabout in Pokhara.

Kathmandu

I was woken at 04:00 hours to the sound of bells which sounded as if they were right under my bedroom window. That was impossible but wherever they are they successfully woke me. They continued to do so for the next 3 hours until I had to give in and get my arse out of bed. I believe in everyones right to pray and all that but can’t you think of something a bit quieter and perhaps later in the day!
Last night was the first time I have worn a fleece in a long time. This morning is the first time in an equally long time I have woken to a fresh, cold but bright sunny day. I must say it felt good.

I met up with Megan and we headed to the Student Hotel to meet up with Egle. She was taking us to the village of Khokana which has the enviable honour of having the first house to have an electric light in Nepal. We were also going to Bungamati.
To get there we walked through Thamel with the hustle and bustle of the market and street hawkers jockeying for position amongst the rickshaws, taxis and motorcycles driving through the narrow streets of Thamel. The sweet smell from the spices mixed occasionally with that of the sewers and other unidentified smells added to this scene but thankfully it was too soon for the dust to build and fill the air. We eventually got to the bus stop and found our transport waiting to get us to our starting point. We were going most of the way by bus but would have to walk approximately 2 kilometres to the village.

The walk took us alongside rice paddies and we could see along the valley up to the village in the distance. From my limited time in Nepal I have noticed the men folk seem to enjoy the more sedentary lifestyle than the women which, conflicted with international women’s day whilst I was here.

Apparently Khokana is an excellent place to get shots of the sunrise over the mountains. As it was nearly 11:00 am this wasn’t going to impact us but I may return for a sunrise photo, or not, who knows? Here are some photos I took, nothing in particular just random shots in the village.

Once we had seen all there was to see in Khokana we headed out of the village towards the Bungamati bridge and the village sat on top of the hill. Not sure of the village name (I will find out and post it asap) where we visited a very strange temple. It had the usual courtyard type of arrangements but there were mirrors around the sides and there were eating utensils, plates, pots and pans nailed to the wall. We couldn’t find anyone to ask why so I leave that to the imagination and the wonders of google.

Nepal – Kathmandu and other areas

Heading to Kathmandu in a few days, can hardly wait it, is one of those places that is closely linked to the United Kingdom and the British Army. Many Nepalese men have joined the British Army over the years and they have a long and illustrious history serving the country in times of war and peace. The Ghurka regiments have been awarded more Victoria crosses than any other regiment in the British Army. So it will be fantastic to visit their home and the only concern I have is the traffic, because they are not very good drivers, well not from my experience. 7th March and I am now sat in Suvaranabhumi (Bangkok) waiting to board flight to Kathmandu Tribhuvan drinking a coffee. More to follow on this as and when I get the time and inclination. Arrived at Kathmandu Tribhuvan on time and got to passport control the quickest I have done in years, great I thought… Then entry visa time, it wasn’t this bad in Turkey! Ninety minutes to get to the desk to pay the fee, then another 45 minutes to get to the  desk issuing the visa. Then to be told I was at the wrong desk, well not too happy, neither were the other 2 people who were directed the same way. I was just about to vent when the guy behind the counter took all the paperwork and passports to the corrrect desk and got the guy there to deal with us next. Wouldn’t get that in many places, customs guys being helpful, so well done matey, faith restored. Another first was getting to baggage reclaim and it was there waiting to be collected and guarded by two airport staff. I made my way out toward customs control and had no problems and proceeded to the arrivals area and look for my transport that the hotel said would be waiting. I wasn’t too       surprised to find nobody waiting for me given the amount of time everyone was stuck in visa control. The hordes of baying taxi drivers then descended and I fought them off valiantly but even I knew it was only a matter of time before I would succumb to the horde. Then this chap appeared saying he knew the hotel and I should use a certain cab, which he kindly directed me to, and the hotel would take care of the bill. So I decided to use his taxi, after all I wasn’t going anywhere fast, literally, have you been to Kathmandu? What an awesome taxi ride! cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, mopeds, rickshaws and bicycles all jockeying for position on the narrow dusty potholed Kathmandu “roads”. Thankfully all at a fraction of the speeds seen in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Hats off to the traffic police who control this mayhem.  I am not sure how long it took but I eventually arrived at my hotel and it reminded me of the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The staff welcomed me as if I was royalty and fell over themselves to get me settled. I was in urgent need of rupees and was guided to the hotel travel desk where I handed over 50 euro without question and was slightly concerned when the travel agent said “no problem sir, the boy will be back in 10 minutes with some rupee”. I was not phased in the least but sure as eggs are eggs I wouldn’t have done this in Bangkok. I then managed to contact Egle, a fellow student on the TEFL course, and arranged to meet up. We went for a walk around Thamel where I purchased a local sim card for which I had to produce a passport, one passport photo and a print of both my thumbs! I was given my iphone back and told the sim would be active in 10 minutes.  We then went for a coffee and tea in one of the local coffee shops, after this we went for some food at a Tibetan restaurant. On the advice of Egle I opted for the local delicacy Mo Mo with pork and chilli with Egle having the veggie version with some pink coloured dip. I also tried the Tibetan tea which is made with milk and salt. It was not to my liking. I checked to see if my phone had become active, it hadn’t. We went for a wander around the streets of Thamel and I sourced a Nepali phrase book, why not heh? I took some photos, not many, and checked my phone again, still no service? As I was feeling a little tired I decided I would hit the sack, Egle kindly walked me back part of the way, and headed back to the hotel. The shop I purchased the sim card was on the way, so as I was passing I decided to stop and mention I still had no service. I was then politely informed I had walked off without paying. Two hundred rupee and two minutes later I had a fully functioning connection. It’s amazing what money buys isn’t it. With that I was off and back in my hotel room by 20:00 hours and thought I’d put today events in the blog.