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Hello everyone!
Just came back from the mountains, and while everything is shut down today (one of Nepal’s frequent national strikes) thought it would be a good time to tell you all about my most recent adventures.
First the flight from Bangkok to Katmandu…..your typical flight, except everyone on the plane is wearing a face mask….oh, that’s right, there’s that little cold (SARS) going around. jeez, people are afraid of the smallest things!
Oh, first a little background…. I’ve now been joined on my journeys by my friend Elaine who many of you know (yea, I finally found someone brave enough to tag along…..and the rest of you…are you coming? don’t miss out!)
Nepal ….. as some of you know, this country has been rocked by violence from Maoist rebels fighting to end the Monarchy….hence tourism is down about 75% Luckily there’s now a cease-fire, and so I came….ready to escape to India at a moments notice though!
Katmandu….. The capitol of Nepal, a busy but provincial city….the cows still outnumber cars on the road. The mixture of people here is quite interesting….Hindu, Buddists, and all things in between….talk about a melting pot. Even some of the temples are both Hindu and Buddists.
So the second day, we’re in luck, its the big festival….animal sacrifice! Elaine is eager to see the poor creatures being beheaded (yea, she’s a bit odd) so we get up early and go off to find the nearest celebration of this great festival. Turns out the only one open to the public is in the military barracks. After some discussion among the army officers, we’re allowed in, ushered into the civilian stands. The chief of the Army and his trusty generals are carefully supervising the slaughter. With sharpshooters on the roof, this seems to be the safest place in the country right now. But after watching a few dozen goats and cows losing thier heads, I think its time to move on to other tourist attractions.
Now on to the the big attraction…the Himilayas. After a little pre-trek shopping in Pokera, up we go to the Annapurna mountains. Up, up, up, 6 to 8 hours a day. Not only are the mountains themselves amazing with the snow covered peaks and river filled valleys, but there’s also daily life out here. Our hiking takes us through mountain villages, where the children ask us for pens, the adults ask us to stop for tea, the mules grunt for us to move out of thier way as they lug up hundreds of pounds of grain, and my feet…they always ask for rest (although its a bit embarrassing to complain when seeing young porters running up the mountain carrying a hundred pound load, wearing at most 3rd hand flip-flop sandals!)
Each night we stop at one of the villages and stay for the night at a guesthouse….these family run places are well, what could generously be called “accomadations”….you better bring a warm sleeping bag! The food gets more and more expensive the higher you go, with no noticable change in quality.
Passover….the 4th day of the hike, its Passover, and what’s one to do when stuck on Passover in the Himilayas? Well of course, you seek out the nearest Israelis! We find 8 at our hotel, and so we gather for the evening Seder. They search through the family’s kitchen for the right ingrediants (no as you guessed, this won’t be the most traditional of meals) and the preperations begin. The long table is covered, and older Israeli leads the service with some prayer books he brought, another Israeli takes out his matza (special trail mix version?), the Nepalis look on with amusement (at least until the glass gets thrown out the window!)….the seder concludes, the sherpas help search for the hidden afrikomen, the night is complete….just your average passover seder in the Himilayas. 🙂
Oh, you’re probably wondering where the Israelis came from? Actually about half the tourist here are Israeli (the only ones unfazed by a few bombs going off here and there!) Unfortunetly, the loud, rude, nickel-and-diming Israelis clash violently with poor, quiet, and peaceful locals. The result is a deep hatred that’s developed among both locals and fellow travellers for the Israeli backpackers. Some of the less desperate hotels now even have “no Israelis allowed” signs.
ok, back to hiking….up, up, up we go (are you getting the idea?). Finally at 12,000 feet its time to stop and explore the big city and nearby villages (big city equals 300 people!) I find a local here to show me around, and we go off to the villages….dropping by a classroom at the nearby school, I get to see what the kids are learning (apparently its “the sky is falling” in english class, and “acute angles” in math class).
On to a family’s house for lunch at 14,000 feet. Seems like housing is a bit different out here…..everyone lives on the second floor (the first floor is for the cows, goats, etc…) upstairs I sit down on the rug with the rest of the family for some tea and food. As I eat, I can’t help but keep looking up at the amazing peaks of Annapurna all around me….what a view! but as I point out the view to them, they just shake thier head and say “we always have to watch the same mountains each day….its so boring!” ….yea, to have such boring views at home!
Well, two weeks, and I’ve had my share of hiking. For us lazy people, they actually have flights from the mountain to get back down. Easy right? well, not quite. turns out I’m stock here…..Royal Nepal has 9 planes for domestic use….but 8 of don’t work…so there’s really only one place, and it seems to be broken….now the city up here, Hombre, which has the airport doesn’t have any phone service (yea, I’m sure its a FAA approved site!) so the “regional manager” for the airline has to hike 3 hours each day to find out if a plane is coming. I come by the first day, and no plane….well at least I’m invited up to the control tower for some tea with the town elders to chat…. Luckily on my second day the plane does come….and the fight for tickets resembles that of the last days before the fall of Saigon! (some have been stranded for a week, desperate to get out!) Luckily I’ve made enough friends the day before, during the town’s archery competition, that I get a ticket for the plane (ok, a few stacks of local currency also quietly changed hands the night before, but we won’t go into that…)
Not the safest flight out (taking off from a rocky field can be interesting!), but wow, the views! and finally we make it…..off the mountain, back to the big city….only wait…there’s no taxis at the airport….oh its the general protest strike…no cars allowed on the road today….hmmmm….nothing like a pleasant 2 mile stroll with my heavy backpack to get to the hotel.
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