Rain Rain Go Away...

We read that Pokhara gets more rain than Kathmandu, but it's feeling just like being back at home in good old Seattle, if you ignore all of the tropical trees and buffalo walking through the streets.  We've been holed up in Pokhara, which is about 200km West of Kathmandu, for the last few days while Colin recovers from his head cold and we wait for the rainy season to truly end.  Today is the actual beginning of Tij, that women's festival that we mentioned in the last post, and locals say that this usually marks the true end on the rainy season.  We've been meeting a lot of very friendly local people and a few shop keeps from Kashmir who we drank tea and talked Indian politics with.  Here are a few photos from our days here:

Major traffic jam on the two lane highway coming out of Kathmandu.  We were stuck for an hour in this traffic jam with buses, trucks and cars making three lanes on narrow passes.

Young girls carry heavy burdens, this time yarn.

Phewa Lake with many boats to rent.  Pokhara is settled along the lake.  Apparently when the skies are clear you can see the Annapurna range in the background.  So far all we have seen is clouds.

Banana flower....delicious!

Dahl batt, the Nepali national dish.  It varies but generally comes with rice and lentils, curried vegetables, pickle and curd.  From left to right (curd, bean curry, curried okra, dahl, curried potato, spicy sauce, RICE)

Having something to drink at a lakeside restaurant.

Devi's Fall, a roaring waterfall outside of Pokhara.  Legend has it that a Swiss woman died here while skinny dipping with her boyfriend.  Sultry lovers beware!

Colin in front of Devi's Fall

Water buffalo marching in front of our guesthouse.  The one in front was huge with curly Q horns.

Sweet treats from our favorite Indian food stall in Pokhara.

Vancouver BC to Kathmandu

We've been jetlagged.  We've been culture shocked.  We've filled our bellies with dhal batt and walked miles around Kathmandu.  We've been slowly adjusting to life on the road, and are preparing for our journey west to start our first trek in the Annapurna Conservation Area.

We arrived in Kathmandu on the eve of Tij, a three day women's festival where women dress in red and either fast or feast depending on the day.  As we are writing, loud music blares from the temple just below our hotel balcony and almost drowns out the sound of the traffic from the congested streets.  But nothing can compete with that.

The muddy streets of Kathmandu

We left Seattle on a bolt bus and after getting hassled by the Mounties crossing into Canada (apparently jobless 20 somethings without a return flight are at risk of becoming street urchins) found ourselves in Vancouver. It is a beautiful city that we just scraped the surface of.  We wandered around downtown, eating poutine, sampling maple syrup infused beer, and stuffing out faces with almost fifty pieces of sushi.  We also grabbed a sight of the first of many sunsets to be watched during our trip, but the last we will see over the pacific for quite some time.

Walking over the Granville bridge to some toursity hoopla

 Leaving the McFeron nest and on to the Bolt Bus

 Watching the sunset on the outskirts of Stanley Park

We found the hidden lagoon in Stanley Park (okay, it's not hidden, but it was magical)

The next day was a long one; the sun didn't set until we let it catch us in Guangzhou, China.  By the time we reached Kathmandu, we were glad to have a driver waiting with Amanda's name held high to speed us through the deeply rutted, chaotic, and serpentine streets of the darkened city.

Just a little tired in Gaungzhou where there was only boiling hot drinking water available in the airport!

On our first day we didn't get up to much, except for getting used to a very different city and the fact that we will be on the road again for another year.  We are staying in Thamel, Nepal's tourist pit, and decided we had better get acquainted with it.  We got lost in winding alleys that dead ended at huge trees incased in brick platforms holding shrines, ate our first of many platters of momos (Tibetan dumplings usually stuffed with buffalo), and did some warm up haggling.

The next day we were in better sorts although we woke up quite early having gone to sleep around 6pm the following night.  We enjoyed the rooftop garden of our hotel before packing up and moving further out of the tourist pit to a nice guesthouse on a somewhat quiet alley.  We then ventured to Durbar Square, the old palace with temples dedicated to some of the valley's Hindu gods.  Since it was a festival day we got free entry, which all of the touts used to their advantage to justify paying it to them instead.  We then wandered down to "freak street", the area where hippies like my dad hung out in Kathmandu in the 60's and 70's.  We had tea at one of the last standing freak street pie shops, Snowman, which was dark with psychedelic art and music.

Durbar Square, Kathmandu

 "Freak Street" - look familiar pops? :)

Walking further south we visited the ghats on the once impressive Bagmati River.  Much of it's flow has been repurposed for irrigation, so the ghats no longer reach the water and a shanty town has sprung up along the new shore.  Funeral pyres were once burnt along the length of the stone steps and many burial markers (chedis) flanked the water.  These days they have been left to the elements where they have become obscured by plants growing up out of them and are slowly tumbling down.  In one enclosure we caught sight of holy cows.

                                                                     The Bagmati Ghats

Day three we were feeling even more adjusted to the time.  We set out to visit the National Museum which had a pretty impressive collection of religious art, historical artifacts, tons of weapons and the smallest coin ever made.

We also visited the iconic Swayambhu temple complex, set on top of a hill to the west.  300 stairs takes you to the giant white stupa with its painted eyes and spire representing the 13 steps to enlightenment.  Prayer flags flap in the wind and pilgrims circle the temple ringing bells and spinning prayer wheels.  There are several other temples dedicated to various deities and of course shops and hawkers selling everything from ice cream to film.

Swayambhu Temple 

Today was our first "business day" which took us to the tourist office to arrange our permits for our Annapurna trek.  We were able to get both the TIMS card ($20 each) and the ACAP permit (2,000 rupees each) at the same office, which was relatively easy.  We also stocked up on some trail food including coffee, tea, peanut butter and honey.  We are getting very excited about the trek and will get our first taste of the mountains when we arrive in Pokhara tomorrow.  We probably won't have another post till we return, which could be quite a while.  We are planning on taking our time and doing many side trips off the main trail.

PS we arrived on Pokhara yesterday, the mountains are hiding behind clouds, but the trip up was beautiful (and bumpy and was stopped in the middle of a crazy traffic jam on a narrow mountain road for over an hour).

Terraced rice fields on the way to Pokhara

Nepal Trip Packing List

A lot of people have asked us, what are you bringing?  Well, with our first stop being Nepal and our plans to trek about 85% of the time, we have really embraced our inner nerd.  I think we may be breaking every fashion travel "don't" there is - but we hope to be comfortable...and warm.

Here's a list of the items we are bringing, broken out by what Amanda has, and what Colin has.  Yes, Colin is carrying more, but it's all about 60/40 as my Dad would say.

Amanda
Gregory 55 litre Sage Pack - main pack aka turtle shell
Marmot Kompresser Pack - for day hiking/trips
Bright Red Fanny Pack - (and I just broke travel fashion don't #1, but they are coming back, I promise!  The ones we got were from the Fremont market, so they are pretty sweet)
2 hiking tees (one a warmer ice-breaker, the other more light weight from REI)
2 regular tees,1 tank top
2 long sleeved thermal shirts (one heavier, one lighter weight)
1 long sleeved button up shirt (another one I'm glad I'll only be wearing in the remote mountains)
2 skirts (1 hiking skirt, one casual skirt)
1 long sleeved cardiagan
2 pair hiking pants (1 convertible - one non-convertible)
2 pairs thermal long johns - one light weight, one fleece weight
1 light weight fleece half zip
1 down jacket
1 rain jacket (light weight shell)
5 pair undies
1 sports bra, 1 regular bra
1 swimsuit
3 sock liners (combinations of merino wool and light weight)
4 pairs hiking socks
1 pair down booties
1 pair chacos
1 pair flip flops
1 pair light weight hiking boots
1 set trekking poles
1 down sleeping bag with compression sack
1 camelback
1 Nalgene
1 microfiber towel
2 person Emergency Blanket (just in case!)
1 kindle
1 point and shoot camera (Canon PowerShot ELPH300HS)
Extra 16GB Camera Memory Card
2 extra camera batteries
1 iPod Touch
Power Converter
1 Pedometer
1 Letherman Style
1 moleskine journal
1 pair sunglasses
1 pair glasses
1 bandana, 1 headband
1 headlamp
Sunscreen
Shampoo, Conditioner
Bug Repellent
Deodorant
Chapstick
Razor and extras
Toothbrush and paste
Sea to Summit Pocket Laundry Wash
1 money belt with all them important documents
1 passport


Colin
REI Flash 65 main pack and pack cover
REI Flash 18 day pack
1 Feathered Friends Swallow sleeping bag
5 pair undies
3 pair liner socks (one pair silk and two merino wool)
4 pair wool socks
1 pair hiking boots
1 pair chacos
2 pair long johns (one silk weight and the other capilene 2)
2 pair synthetic trekking pants
1 pair synthetic shorts
5 short sleeved shirts (two pair synthetic crew neck, two pair cotton crew neck, and one synthetic polo)
3 pair long sleeved shirts (one synthetic, one merino wool, and one synthetic button down cowboy style)
1 light weight fleece
1 down jacket
1 waterproof shell jacket
1 cycling cap (light weight and small, but will still keep the sun off of your dome)
1 bandana
1 microfiber towel
1 set trekking poles (nerdy, but probably awesome on the nasty descents without a porter)
toiletries
1 sewing kit
1 first aid kit
50' parachute cord (drying line and a million other uses)
2 bic lighters
1 headlamp and extra batteries
1 compass
1 Leatherman Juice C2 knife
1 Kershaw folding knife
1 Steripen and 10 extra lithium batteries
1 very small set of speakers
1 international cell phone (beat up old Nokia)
1 pack of playing cards
1 heating element for heating water
Canon G12
1 4 gig and 1 16 gig card for camera
1 1 gig flash drive
1 guide book (Nepal Trekking and the Great Himalaya Trail)
1 moleskin and pens
1 ziploc full of important documents (copies of passport, birth certificate, drivers license, and immunization records, international driver's license, and travel health insurance info)
1 money belt
1 wad of US dollars
1 passport

 All ready to be packed!

Colin's ready to go