Trekking in Nepal

It is not often that you would see word 'easy' and 'Himalaya' in the same sentence. This being Mike's third time to Nepal and my second we had decided to do a reasonably lengthy and bit more remote trek than the usual Everest Base camp or Annapurna Curcuit.

Being keen adventurers or suckers for punishment depending on which way you look at it we chose an 8 day trek in the Langtang Valley region north of Kathmandu. The trek climbs to a 4600m pass and is rated as medium to hard in the Lonley Planet. And let me tell you it was hard!

We did not make it any easier on ourselves however! After travelling on a local Nepali bus (more like a tin shed on square wheels!) for 7 hours we realised that we had forgotten we would need to pay the National Park fee and had not included this hefty cost in the money we had budgeted for the 8 days. Also we thought we would get the bus to the end of the line thinking it would be the best place to start the trek and were sat mouths agahst as we then dropped a winding 1000m further down the trail. So now we were not only short on money but also a 1000m downhill from our first day start point!

So, our first day consisted of a climb from an altitude of 1000m to 2900m and was a long 9 hour day through forests of pine, oak and hemlock. It was great to be out in the fresh air again although the calf muscles were not so appreciative! Being the end of the trekking season and just prior to the monsoon here the trails are quiet and the locals extremely welcoming.

Mountain views are what trekking in the Himalayas is all about. During this season the views are best at sunrise and early morning through until about 8am when the cloud roles in. So this means early starts and big days. On the the morning of the third day we were greeted with the most spectacularl views through the the west of Nepal and to Tibet where the afternoon before there had been nothing but cloud!

Ever uphill we climbed to one of the highlights of the trek and toward the pass of 4600m at Gosainkund. The Holy Lake at Gosainkund if one of 6 at this high altitude but is one that attracts many Hindu pilgrims who believe the head of Shiva is within the lake. Particularly picturesque at dawn!

Onward and upward to the pass where the snow blocked our path and the lakes were iced over. Glimpsing the grandure of the tallest mountain range in the world in the background.

What goes up must come down! A long way down! Day 4, another 9 hour day, as we condensed 2 days into one. Short on money, but also enjoying being outdoors rather than couped up in lodges (there's only so many games of cards you can play!) we pushed on. Our path was haphazzard. At times crawling on all fours up near vertical climbs of loose rubble and rock, traversing icy streams and encountering huge landslides we gained the respect of local villagers when they learned how far we had come.

Another 2 days of downward climb and on our last night we had another interesting experience. We stayed in a lodge checking in before the regular afternoon downpour. All that night and the next morning we could hear a funny 'meowing' sound. I thought it was a strange sounding cat and curious, in the morning, Mike asked about it. The girl said ' not cat, tiger!' Mike nearly fell off his chair, as you can well imagine! We of course asked if we could have a look and low and behold not a tiger but a leopard cub!!! Barley weeks old it was tiny. In halting english the girl explained that there were three (the others were in the village somewhere) and no mother. They were keeping it under a basket in the kitchen!

We are not sure how they came across them, if the mother was poached?, what they plan to do with the cubs? But even giving benefit of the doubt the cub was obviously distressed and would struggle to survive. What would they do with it when it got big?! They are also worth quite a bit of money on the black market and this is not uncommon in these parts in terms of poaching. On returning to Kathmandu we have been to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to report it and show them the pictures. They said it is probably a common leopard and not a snow leopard (protected species) and so therefore probably deemed as less important! They said they would contact the National Park in the region and see if they would take action.... so we will see. We have done what we can and I am hassling WWF International for follow up action. After all if they don't look after a species in the first place then this is how they become endangered in the first place isn't it!?

So...... action, adventure and wildlife presevation all in 6 days! No rest for the wicked!

Tibet

After wussing out on a 24+ hour bus journey across the border to Nepal from Varanassi in India we took a flight into Kathmandu. It did take us a full two days though, even flying, as our first scheduled flight could not land due to bad weather and we had to be flown back to Varanassi, India where we were put up in a 5 star hotel for the night! A slightly better standard of accomodation than we had been used to! Once in Kathmandu we then set about the mission to orgainse our road trip into Tibet.


The Chinese have such strict regulations on independant travel to Tibet that that make things down right difficult! We were incredibly lucky to meet up with a couple who were keen to do the exact itinerary we were hoping to organise. Meet Suz and Dave! Suz is a New Zealander who has been living in Melbourne and Dave is Aussie born and bred.






Our next mission was to find ourselves a guide and a land cruiser to take us across the Tibetian Plateau over 7 days. Meet Drongdup, our guide and our driver whose name sounded very much the same as our guide but I am not sure of the spelling!

And so we set off crossing the Nepali border into Tibet, climbing all the way. The scenery as we passed through the mountainous plateau was spectacular. We came across Tibetian farmers tending their fields with yaks! Prayer flags strewn across mountain tops. Earth colours reverberating against brilliantly blue skies and snowy capped Himalayas.

The Tibetian people really do live up to their reputation as being some of the most friendly on earth. The Dalai Lama has recently been quoted as saying that only 20% of the population in Tibet are Tibetians. Since the Chinese invasion in 1959 the Han Chinese have been moving there in droves. The new sky railway from Bejing to Lhasa which opened only recently brought in approximately 30,000 Chinese in the first 2 weeks of operation. The people of Tibet are becoming a minority in their own country. Communist China restrict what media they have access to, what music they listen to, how many people practice religion and the ultimate free thinking of the country. After nearly 50 years there will be no going back but the Chinese are making it incredibly difficult for Tibet to move forward.

The Tibetians do however boast access to the highest mountain in the world, something which the Chinese are desperately trying to reinforce to the world is now theirs. In our land cruiser in 3 days travel we climbed to over 5000m to stay at Everest Base Camp. There we were blessed with 2 amazingly clear days and gorgeous sights of this beast of a mountain.







After a sleepless night for all of us at such a high altitude we began to wind our way down to Lhasa. Passing through Shigatse and Gyanste we found the Tibetian old towns much more charming that the stark new Chinese developments. Again the people were welcoming and charming in the inquisitive way.

Heading into Lhasa, we had enjoyed our road trip immensly. Within Lhasa we found the juxtaposition of a city being built rapidly with western shops and facilities for an ever growing Chinese population and the never ending trail of Tibetians on their pilgrimage to some of the most famous Buddhist sites in the world. As ever I was facinated by the people and tried to capture their absolute devotion to their religion.

We found destinct similarities in people's appearance to that of the Bolivians and Peruvians in South America. The high altitude living which wears the face and skin, cracking and reddening the cheeks is the same from continent to continent.

The Potala Palace in Lhasa where the Dalia Lama ruled until he was forced into exile was amazing but deserted. Tibet has suffered a huge injustice to it's people and traditions by the Chinese. Tibet will sadly it seems never have the opportunity to return to it's free state. Let's hope there is hope for it to be allowed to retain it's customs, religions and traditions without fear of repression. .. Next we head back to Nepal for some trekking before heading to Bhutan! Stay tuned. K