Goodbye Nepal, Hello India

It's amazing to think we've been on the road for three months and that we are leaving Nepal tonight on what we expect to be a hellish 16 hour night bus to Silugiri, India. We are both excited to continue with our journey and have some new experiences but also sad to leave Nepal. At this moment, however, we are itching to get out of Kathmandu.

Since the Indian visa process is convoluted and a bureaucratic nightmare, and because we have both suffered two bouts of food poisoning (the fancy Thanksgiving dinner we splurged on put us out for three days, thanks Kilroys) we have spent too much time in the city. Kathmandu is one of the most polluted cities in the world and the sound of the congested vehicles clogging the roads and blaring their horns can give you a headache, take your toes off and turn your boogers black. The people in the city aren't particularly as friendly as in other places in the country and the sheer crush of humanity makes you go a little crazy. I find myself wanting to break out into a zombie trance or start convulsing and shouting nonsense just so people will give me some space as I walk down the crowded streets.

We walked from the main tourist ghetto of Thamel to stay near the Durbar Square of Kathmandu, the historic center of the old city, on Freak Street. This was where all of the hippies of the '60's that flocked to this part of the world in search of spiritual enlightenment and legal hashish would stay. It is also where the Snowman bakery is still operating, an institution from those days and where one can get the best cakes and pies this side of Mom's kitchen. We recuperated from a belly bug there for a few days and chilled out a little further from the madness that is most of Kathmandu.

We also took a trip south of the Bagmati river to Patan, which was a rival city to Kathmandu in the past, but has been all but swallowed up in the sprawl today. There were many old stupas and other religious buildings to see scattered throughout the congested streets. It was nice to get a peek at what life is like for more people in the city, a little bit away from the well developed tourist business, although they still leveraged large entrance fees for the major sights.

We have spent several days around the Kathmandu valley as well, to escape the city as we wait for our Indian visa to be processed. We found a great homestay on a permaculture farm just 40km from KTM called Hasera Farm. It was a great opportunity to meet some people and get to know some Nepali traditions as well as helping out around the farm. It's amazing how good it feels to do a little work after being idle for so long. The family was extremely friendly and made unlimited supplies of delicious healthy food, including fresh curd made from the milk of the cow that lived on the farm.

One of the days there was a wedding ceremony in the village so we went to watch. The Nepalis were extremely welcoming and we danced and ate with the rest of the village. The ceremony was very different from weddings in the West. There was so much going on at all times and people talking, laughing and dancing and not necessarily paying attention to the bride and groom. The ceremony took place around a fire that the couple walked around and gave offerings to. Most Nepali marriages are arranged and the couple didn't look particularly happy during the ceremony.

From the farm we hiked to Namobuddha, one of the holiest sites south of the Himalayas for Tibetan buddhists. The grounds were beautifully groomed thanks to the monks that lived in the several monasteries around the complex. The next day we continued our hike and stayed in Panauti, a well preserved Newari (the cultural group that lives in the valley) village with traditional pink brick and dark wood temples that surrounded the burning ghats where Hindus hold their cremation ceremonies at the confluence of two rivers.

Heading back towards Kathmandu we stayed two nights at Bouddha, 6km from the city center and a world away from the bustle. Bouddha is one of the iconic Nepali white stupas with golden eyes staring down at pilgrims circumambulating the grounds and prayer flags surrounding it. A large Tibetan community lives in the neighborhood and there are several monasteries and places to study Tibetan medicine, massage and culture. Amazingly enough we ran into a Ukranian girl we had met several times trekking who was studying massage. We gladly offered ourselves as volunteers for her to practice.

We have spent the last couple of days dealing with the Indian Embassy (have we mentioned that it's a hassle?) and having some fun bartering in the many shops around Thamel to pick up some souvenirs. Nepal has been an extremely interesting place to visit culturally and geographically. We have walked for hundreds of miles with our few belongings on our backs through fields of grain, all around the highest terrain that either of us have ever set foot on, and along mighty rivers to their sources, glaciers tucked into the folds of jagged mountains. We have also met many people here, tourists from all around the world, simple farmers and herders on small holdings in the hills and mountains, and modern young Nepali city dwellers blasting Adele from the tinny speakers of their cell phones. It is with a bit of sadness that we leave this small country so densely packed with wonders, but it is an exciting prospect to be about to embark on another leg of our journey in India, a huge country even more densely packed with experiences awaiting us.

Sprawling Kathmandu in the heart of Thamel (the tourist ghetto).

Our fancy Thanksgiving dinner, the "Royal Dal Baht" supposedly the royal family would eat here when there was royalty-  too bad it gave us food poisoning.

Patan's Durbar Square

The monasteries at Namobuddha

One of the many temples at Pashputinath, the holy of holies for Nepali Hindus.

In front of Boudha, a place of pilgrimage for Tibetans and a repository for some relics of the Buddha.

The Cheese Trail: Langtang, Gosiankunda & Helambu

If the Annapurna region is the apple pie trek then the Langtang trek is definitely the cheese trek, with cheese factories dotting the trail and tempting Westerners with yak cheese either well aged or younger in an Italian mozzarella style. We of course indulged ourselves in all the varieties and carried cheese with us to have for scenic lunches along the trail.

The trek started with an incredibly windy and slow bus ride north from Kathmandu. Eight hours later we arrived in Syabru Besi. A lama from Kathmandu was arriving that evening and the locals were lining the main street into town in their finest clothes excited to receive their blessing.

The first day of the hike we opted for the less travelled route, taking a "short cut" that led us 1,000 meters straight up the ridge to Sherpa Guan, an idyllic village perched on the hill with just a handful of houses and terraced fields surrounding the settlement. We were the only ghoras in town and drank homemade chang (fermented rice that serves as local beer). Curiously enough the chang was also the recommended cure for rubbing on a tic bite that Amanda received earlier that day.

The following day led back to the main trail where we joined the organized tour groups and their hordes of support. We followed the Langtang river valley which gently climbed up into dense rhododendron forest draped by moss and covered with ferns. Soon we were into fir and larch country and reached the heavily grazed yak rangeland around Kanjin Gompa.

Kanjin Gompa is settled at the base of Langtang Lirung. It almost seems like you can reach out and touch the massive glacier that carves down the mountain into the valley. We found a nice, small lodge to stay in - surprisingly enough with a couple of Seattlites and Alaskans - and spent a few days exploring the valley. We climbed up Kanjin Ri, a 15,650 foot peak directly behind the village, for amazing windswept views of the glacial bowl carved by Langtang and the several snow capped peaks surrounding us. Prayer flags danced as we looked north to the mountains in Tibet. We spent another day hiking further up the valley past derelict yak huts and incredibly large boulders. The trail wound along the tranquil blue river unveiling more majestic peaks as we turned every corner.

We also visited our first cheese factory and bought a half kilo of aged yak cheese that a local cheesemonger cut off of a round for us. On our first night in town we forgot some laundry we had put out to dry and a yak ate quite a few of our socks. Sort of a drag, but at least they were eaten by a magnificent and unique animal, with expensive taste (eating silk socks and all).

Hiking back out of the valley towards Gosiankund we followed the same trail, missing our turn and taking another local trail straight up the ridge. A good 3,500 muddy feet higher we were pretty exhausted and came out of the bushes close to our destination of Thulo Syabru. The next day was another 3,500 foot climb to Sing Gompa, home to our third cheese factory visit and a large gompa decorated with tantric images. The trail climbed further up through fir trees along a ridge where we met our first bits of snow and frost, hidden in the shades of the thick forest. Parts of these forests are said to be "haunted" by the locals which may mean spirits or may be a ploy to keep the forests of the national park protected.

After three days of some serious climbing we reached a minor pass which dropped us into the Gosiankund lake basin. Fog hugged the craggy exposed rock of the sharp cliffs surrounding us, covered in bright red heather and lime green lichen. It reminded us of Washington State's Enchantment Lakes. We stayed at a small ramshackle lodge between Gosiankunda and Bhairav lakes, huddled up around the cast iron stove in the dining room. It was extremely cold which prevented us from doing much exploring, but whenever the sun peeked out we would rush forth to get better views of the stark high alpine scenery.

On our way out the following morning we passed by a Sadhu who had been sitting by the lake for three years, living off alms of food from trekkers and the lodges. The lakes are sacred and dedicated to Shiva and are a popular pilgrimage site for Hindus. The story goes that a poison was released that would destroy the world, so Shiva drank it to save everyone. It was so strong that it burned even the throat of the god and he had to strike the land where Gosiankund now sits to release a flood of water to cool his thirst. The landscape here was so majestic and striking that one can understand why it would be attached with religious significance.

It was an easy hike up to Laurabina Pass and a long way down to Ghopte. The clouds enveloped the hillsides as we walked for hours through snow and ice, climbing up and down invisible ridges. After some hours of passing by scenery that looked nearly identical in fog that limited our sight to a 20 foot circle around us, we began to wonder if we would ever reach our destination or if we had inadvertently slipped into some strange land looped back again upon itself interminably. We finally made it and in the morning saw the continuous folding hills that make up the region of Helambu.

We began our day by crossing yet another pass in the frost and snow. As we crossed the summit we got a good taste of sun for the first time in days and spent some time stripping off dusty layers of clothes to soak it up with our white wrinkled skin. The rest of the day was a long descent down to a river valley and then back up to Melamchi Goan, the first true village complete with fields and delicious vegetables that we had not seen in days. We sampled the village's trademark dish, called Rildo, that consisted of a tasty broth with potato dumplings and a type of dried yak curd to thicken it up.

Helambu is made up of many small villages that are able to be seen from each other, but because of the steep hills separated by river valleys cascading from the glaciers above, take about a day to walk from one to the next. The people that live here call themselves Hyolmo, and as we walked through their tidy villages' fields of plump golden wheat ready to harvest and large healthy vegetables, we were stricken by how peacefully idyllic the region was. The guesthouses were also very interesting culturally. They were family owned and the didis (female owner/operators) would cook meals sitting down in front of a low wood fire and periodically get up to mix the yak butter, salt, and tea for Tibetan tea in large cylindrical churns.

We stayed in Tarkye Goan and then Shermatang, passing many old Buddhist stupas of stone covered by moss and some with trees growing out of them as well as well kept Gompas (Buddhist monasteries) surrounded by prayer flags and wheat fields. In Shermatobg we met an American who had been a Peace Corps volunteer there over 30 years ago and had returned to visit her old friends there. It was interesting to hear her stories of how things had stayed the same and what had changed.

On our final day we hiked alternatively along a road interrupted by many landslides and paths cutting across the switchbacks going steeply down the hillside to the main road back to Kathmandu. We overnighted in Melamchi Bazaar where we ate a massive amount of momos and caught an early morning bus back to the congestion, smog, and hot showers of Kathmandu. We've been spending our days eating ourselves back to a normal BMI and splurging on the delicious western fare that the big city has to offer.

Today is Thanksgiving and in the American spirit we have been having a typical relaxing American day, waking up to a small breakfast in bed followed by an American style brunch at a rooftop restaurant. We then window shopped our way through Thamel trying on some down jackets buy not really buying anything which is probably un-American. We are now sitting on the rooftop garden of our hotel having a beer and discussing our dinner options, which we know will be a let down compared to the heartfelt family feasts that we will miss at home (save us some pie!). After dinner we will venture out to the Nepali cinema to catch the new James Bond movie, and after we will hopefully find some delicious dessert on the way home. On this day of giving thanks we are proud and thankful that there is a majority of sane Americans that went to the polls this month and re-elected Obama. We are also greatly thankful to our friends and families that continue to send their love and support to the east. We miss you all and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.

Now where's the Turkey?

Buses piled high with passengers ply the one lane windy roads towards the Tibet border.

The Kathmandu Lama and his entourage visit Syabru Besi

The smallest lizard ever! We had to get a picture of this guy.

Hemlocks tower overhead as we make our way up along the Langtang river valley.

A very nontraditional style of cheese, made like mozzarella and hung to dry for 6 months. Langtang village cheese factory.

A very majestic white horse grazes the high country on the way to Kanjin Gompa.

A sunglass shot view of the mountains across the river valley, as seen from Kanjin Ri.

Bagged that peak - on the summit of Kanjin Ri at 15,650 feet!

More amazing views from Kanjin Ri.

A very beautiful day hike up the Langtang river valley.

Kanjin Gompa is a fairly large village, mostly consisting of lodges and handicraft shops directed towards tourists. It even has a helipad for those too lazy to walk up the valley.

Yak, Yak, Yak, Yak.

We passed some very impressive mani walls on the way up (and down) the valley.

Heading into the Gosiankund region. This type of chorten is seen all along the trail, especially in view points and entrances to villages.

Prayer flags flap towards the high mountains of Tibet (as seen in the background).

Colin stops for a photo on the ridge towards Laurabina.

Up and into the bowl of the sacred lakes, the scenery was rugged with strewn boulders and clouds hugging every corner.

A small Ganesh shrine by one of the high points in Gosiankunda.

Bhairav Lake

Gosiankunda Lake, you can almost see the small village in the top right corner where we spent the night.

Heading towards the pass!

Yet another high alpine lake close to Laurabina Pass.

Helambu region and one of it's many beautiful villages.

In Shermatang they dried radish in the sun. Helambu

Stupas and gompas dotted the trail in the Helambu region.

Back in Kathmandu we visit Snowman, one of the last standing cafes from the 60's that serves up delicious cakes and caramel creme!

The Western Hills: Begnas Tal, Bandipur & Gorkha

Fresh from the trail and ready to relax for a spell in the low hills, we spent a few days in Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city. Unlike Kathmandu, it is laid out along a placid lake and has markedly similar feel to it. We were also there for Dasain, Nepal's biggest festival of the year. Everyone goes back to their home villages to spend time with their families, get tikka (a mark on your forehead of red dye mixed with grains of rice and some green leaves placed behind your ears) from elder family members, and to sacrifice and eat all of those cute goats we saw everywhere. The festival is also called Durga Puja, so the wrathful and bloodthirsty goddess Durga must be appeased with sacrifice in order for the family to prosper in the year ahead. Also goat is delicious.

We didn't get invited to any goat feeds, but the family that ran the guesthouse where we stayed invited us to take tikka from the eldest woman and gave us a small meal as well. It was fun to be there and included like a member of the family. We spent much of the afternoon watching all of the other family members come up dressed in their finest to also receive tikka.

Other than that we ate tons of good food, went for strolls in the surrounding countryside, washed our clothes and ourselves, and rested our weary bones. We also met up with our friend from the trail Anye and went to a really cool expat bar, a little too cool for us really. There was a crowd of bikers who seemed like Australian Hell's Angels, a crowd of hipsters, world weary professional travelers, and even fire dancers plying their dangerous fiery trade out front.

Taking the long road back from Pokhara to Kathmandu we spent some time exploring smaller villages along the way. Our first stop, only 14km outside of Pokhara, but a 45 minute bus ride and over an hour walk, was to Begnas Tal, a quiet lake set among rice paddies with stunning mountain views. After being in Pokhara it felt like we were back in the country, the sound of motors and hordes of tourists were left behind. We sat at our lakeside lodge watching fisherman let out their nets as they slowly paddled their wooden boats across the lake. We rented a boat of our own for the day and paddled into the many inlets, stopping for a "fish and chips" lunch at a lakeside restaurant - the fish literally a whole fried fish - it was tasty. Colin did most of the paddling as Amanda relaxed in the boat. It was like Victorian England sans the parasol.

We left the lake heading towards Bandipur, a quaint ridge top town that was once the last stop of the trade route between Tibet and India that was malaria free. The first leg of the journey we walked along the ridge above Begnas Tal soaking up the views of the Annapurnas, and then down to the bazaar where we caught a bus down to the highway. A local man helped us to get a decent price and also hung around to help flag a bus for the next leg. It is really difficult to get a reasonable fair on transport, but it made us feel better to see that transport workers rip off locals as much as they can as well as goras. We got to another main town and after a quick momo (Tibetan dumplings and spicy sauce, mmm) snack caught another bus up to Bandipur. Quite an undertaking to travel a very short distance.

Bandipur village is laid out along a central bazaar paved in stone with townhouse-like buildings on either side. The feel was almost European and there was even a central square with temples and a library. We did some more day hikes, up to a nearby ridge to get an unobstructed view of the peaks all around us, down to the largest cave in Nepal, and also out to the mulberry groves of one of nine silk farms in Nepal, where a worker gave us a detailed overview of their operations and chatted with us about politics in the shade for a spell. We happened to be in town for Halloween as well, so we found a pumpkin (the homestay proprietor's brother who lived down the street turned out to have one when we were asking how to say "pumpkin" in Nepali), bought loads of candy for all of the neighborhood kids, and even ran into another American, with whom we bobbed for doughnuts in the middle of the street. It was a whole lot of fun, and it was nice to get to celebrate with the neighborhood, even if they thought we were a little goofy.

Next stop was Gorkha, whence Prithvi Narayan Shah launched his campaign to successfully unify Nepal. The town itself was nothing more than a bustling Nepali roadside bazaar, but the hike to the historic palace on the ridge was worth the detour. The palace is surrounded by temples where people perform sacrifices and the steps to the entrance were stained with splatters of fresh blood. Many families were leading unsuspecting goats and chickens up to the top, dressed in their finest. We thankfully didn't see any bloodshed. We hiked around the palace and up to many viewpoints where we could see the Manaslu, Ganesh, and Annapurna ranges in the distance.

From Gorkha we made our way back to Kathamandu, where we write from today. We are only here for two days to prepare for our next trek into the Langtang, Gosiankund, and Helambu regions, which are north of Kathamndu and close to the border with Tibet. We are excited to be back in the mountains and are looking forward to some good cultural exchange with the people in the region. We will head out tomorrow and likely be trekking for another 20 days, give or take.

Dasain Festival, receiving the tikka from the eldest person at our guesthouse.

Paragliders coming in for a landing, Pokhara.  These guys really smashed into the ground.

Begnas Tal.

Walking around Begnas Tal and enjoying the rice paddy views.

The view from our boating adventure on Begnas Tal.

The view from Thani Mai in Bandipur.  The valleys were covered in clouds in the early morning.

A bunch of straw heads, and one human head....on our walk to the largest cave in Nepal.

Colin posing for a photo in the fields of Bandipur.

Amanda on one of the many bamboo swings set up for the Dasian Festival.

Bandipur Bazaar and it's upscale hotels.

Colin, Amanda, and Jack on Halloween!

A very serious doughnut eating contest in the streets of Bandipur.  Big mouth Colin won hands down.

Another beautiful view of cloud covered valleys from Gorkha.

The palace on top of the ridge above Gorkha.

Ganesh Himal seen from Gorkha.

Annapurna Base Camp: Once More into the Breach

After our short rest in Tatopani we headed back into the hills towards Ghorepani, stopping to spend one night along the way.  Instead of following the river valley like we had done on most of the Annapurna Circuit we went straight into the hills, climbing 1,700 meters in the first two days.  There were thousands of stone steps leading up through lush forests dotted with villages, some stretching over 2km.  We hiked with many herds of goats, some 300 strong that were also heading to higher pastures.

Ghorepani meaning "horse water" is the jumping off point for the famous Poon Hill trek.  We rose before dawn and got in line with the other 300 tourists for the hour walk to the top.  Headlamps twinkled along the way as we climbed to the top in the dark.  Sunrise was spectacular as we got our first real panorama view of the Annapurna region. 

Out of Ghorepani we had our first hike through rhodedendoren forests, the shrubs we're used to in the NW more like mammoth trees.  We climbed up and down, crossing river valleys and again ascending over ridges.  This continued for days as we got closer to the valley that would lead us into the sanctuary. 

The sanctuary is a religious place for Nepali people and you are not allowed to bring meat products past the last permanent settlement of Sinuwa.  Once in the valley we experienced some cold weather with rain and hail as we got closer to the top.  The day we ascended to the base camp there was still snow covering the ground.  We sang "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" as we steadily climbed into thin air.  Maybe the altitude was getting to us :)

Luckily when we headed into the Annapurna Base Camp the sun was shining, although it was still cold.  The views were stunning as we found ourselves in a large glacial bowl surrounded by peaks.  This was the closest we would be to so many giant peaks, and if we were so inclined we could have even struck up to Annapurna I.  We passed the time in our cold lodge playing cards and chatting with the other mountain junkies we met along the way.  The next morning we got up to see sunrise as the peaks changed color in the growing light.  It was hard to pry ourselves away from the views, but after 3 hours we decided to make our way down.

We backtracked along the same undulating route, the first day descending over 2,000 meters.  We climbed back up to Chommrong where we had delicious apple pie and then descended back down to Jhinu where we found another hot spring full of tired trekkers and Russians spraying eachother with champagne.

We took the next couple days to hike out, taking our time and enjoying the scenery of the Annapurna region before leaving for the bustling city.  We spent the last couple days trekking with a nice Isreali couple we had met on the trail, ending with some local raksi and a delicious meal.

Arriving in Pokhara after 34 days of trekking to the honking of horns, shouting hawkers and goats on the local bus was a little difficult (especially when the goat was pooping all over the aisle and shoving his butt into Amanda), but it has been nice to not carry all our posessions on our backs for hours over steep terrain everyday.  We do miss the mountains though...

Off the circuit and heading to Ghorepani

Amanda with her favorite mountain range, the Dhalagiris.

Machhapuchhre peak on the way to Annapurna Base Camp

Machhapuchhre peak at sunset.

"We're doing it!"

Annapurna Sanctuary

Stopping for a rest on our way out of base camp.

Hot springs in Jhinu.  You could even jump into the freezing river and jump back into the springs (Colin did it, Amanda watched).

One of our final views as we descend towards Phedi.

Finish.