Trekking in Nepal

Firstly, sorry to those of you who told me you've just caught up with the blog, this one's a whopper!

During out trek we recorded our thoughts using the pre-digital age laptop equivalent – a 'notebook'. Noooo, computer nerds, an ACTUAL notebook with paper pages and everything.

Here they are, cherish them... (photos are a mess and too boring to arrange now, soz, g)

Day 1: The road to Dhunche

Well, we were conned into taking a Jeep rather than the bus as the trekking agency had to get our trekking permits in the morning and the bus leaves at 06:30. We were secretly quite pleased (our wallets less so) as we thought it would probably be a gentler way to travel.

The journey was long, and by no means gentle. The 'Jeep' was actually a clapped out old Landcruiser with somewhat buggered suspension and – by the end of our journey – a buggered clutch and two flat tyres. The roads out of Kathmandu are tarmacked for about the first 50km but full of potholes, not to mention the kamikaze farmyard animals who choose to take their whole families across the road in front of our wheels. It was hot and sweaty and pretty bumpy so the usual soporific effect of the travel pills wasn't really happening. Still, there was lots of fun stuff to look at, and our very friendly driver let me stop for as many wees as I liked (actually I think he needed a wee more often than I did). We had to stop at lots of police/army checkpoints on the way but the only information the driver seemed to need to give them was that we were English humans. We also stopped for a Daal Bhat lunch on the way – my first taste of the local staple – washed down with some germicidal Coca Cola of course (my new travelling staple). After lunch we continued up the valley but the roads disintegrated and the weather went downhill. By the time we reached the outskirts of the Langtang National Park it was pouring and even a little bit cold (I was cursing not packing my waterproof trousers – George told me it wouldn't rain!!). This was when the clutch broke and the driver took to turning the engine off and pumping the clutch and then starting it in 2^nd gear. Or something. Feel free to explain this someone clever... ;-) Then about 2 mins from Dhunche (we didn't know this at the time or we might have walked – he was clearly very committed to delivering us to the door!) he had to change the tyre. We parted ways at our guesthouse, offloading our stuff super quick to get out of the rain and so the driver could go and get the Jeep fixed. But, more haste less speed children, about 20 mins later, when we were safely tucked up inside our spartan guesthouse room, we realised we'd left our walking poles in the Jeep. Error. We thought the driver was staying in the village so we donned our waterproof jackets and started walking the street(s) looking for a 4x4 vehicle. To no avail. Eventually, drenched through, we returned to the guesthouse and tried to make contact by phone. It turned out that he'd driven to the next village to get the Jeep fixed but that he'd bring us the walking poles at 8am the next day. No problem. M
Day 2: A slow start

Despite waking up around 6am with the light and the general noise (people get up with the sun here), we didn't end up staring our first day's walk until around 9am by the time the driver arrived with the aforementioned walking poles (some of you may be wondering why we even need poles to walk, but then have you seen me walking on a pavement, let alone up a mountain?). The poor guy had to take the bus to bring them to us as the Jeep was still being fixed. We thanked him profusely, gave him the money for the bus fare and then said goodbye. We then saw him twice more – once when he passed us down the road on the back of a motorbike going back to pick up the newly fixed Jeep, and the second time when we passed him on the side of the road, with another flat tyre!

But, good news, the sun was shining! Waterproof trousers not needed. The start was a little dull, walking along the road for a couple of km, but there wasn't really much traffic (apart from the local bus that went past, complete with a dozen people on the roof and a couple of people vomiting out the windows). I had my first view of The Himalaya as our guidebook very earnestly calls it. It was very nice. We had our first few bits of uphill too – nothing major as yet, but sitting on our arses on a train with a Russian flu for a month isn't exactly the kind of preparation you need! We both felt decidedly less fit than usual and the residual phlegm (I still have a stupid husky voice) really hindered my breathing. Anyway, we got used to it (and it was amazing how quickly it started to feel easier) and soon enough we were off the road and headlining into the forest/jungle section. A word on our megahike rules BTW – they are always the same:

1. Mel always walks in front cos otherwise George might leave her behind (in reality it's more likely to be vice versa but I like the comfort)
   
2. Breaks occur at 2 hour intervals and not before
   

I had a large papaya in my rucksack, 1.5kg to be specific, and it was weighing me down quite a lot and making my pack quite wonky. We bought it before we left Kathmandu as a Jeep snack but it was impossible to even drink water on the bumpy roads let alone trying to slice up a papaya with a Leatherman. So anyway, at our first 2 hour break we ate the whole papaya. It was nice but disappointingly unripe. But it had to go, so it went in our bellies.

The next break we stopped at one of the many 'teahouses' dotted along the route. For those of you who've not been to The Himalaya, these are just guesthouses/houses/shacks where the enterprising owners will serve you tea, varyingly chilled, varyingly carbonated soft drinks, daal baht, yak curd – all of which have either been made on the premises or carted up the mountain strapped to the back of some poor young boy, or girl, or old man, or lady... in a basket strapped onto their backs with most of the weight going through a strap across their foreheads. At this teahouse we played with a child who was fascinated by our compass, camera, rucksacks etc. We soon distracted him with a sweetie and were on our merry way again! We were at our day's destination by 3pm, checked out a few of the teahouses (they ranged in price from 100 rupees to about 300 rupees – about £1-3). We went for the 'luxury' option and chose a room with a squatty ensuite. Now, while it's nice to have a toilet nearby for night time wees it is not so nice having a smelly squatty toilet in your room, even if behind a bolted door. So we changed our Teahouse selection criteria after this – toilet inside the building (essential for night time wees) but not inside the room, and solar heated shower inside if possible but not such a biggie.

We felt rather dehydrated today – it was much hotter than we expected and we hadn't got into the habit of constant Camelpak suckling. Had a rehydration sachet each and ate some dinner. I was super hungry and ate a bit folded up so ended up with a mega tummy ache and couldn't even finish my dinner. M

Day 3: On it

Today saw us departing at our expected trek start time of 7am. This means breakfast at 6:30 and getting up at 6. Normally getting Mel up before 7 on any non school day is a non-starter however going to bed at 7:30pm seems to help the situation. Feeling fresh and fuelled (with pancakes and honey) for a day on the trail we set out full of good cheer. This day was described in our guide book as 'another easy day' so we were confident of making good time. The day started with a some steep descents through the jungle as we crossed a ridge into Langtang Valley. Just as the sun had got up and I had sweated pretty much all the fluid of my body the uphill trudge began. We probably gained about one and half kilometres over the day. Mel goes robotronic on uphills and seems to stomp her way up like some kind of automaton. I sweat and try to keep up so I still feel like a man but usually end up stopping to take a break in the guise of a photo. Eventually we reached our guest house at Changtang (Lama Hotel), a breezy jungle clearing, and collapsed in a slightly ruined heap. Fortunately it was 1pm so there was plenty of time to rest and recuperate before the next day. I quickly surveyed the guesthouses in town and settled on the one with the owner that sounded like he had had his larynx replaced with a kazoo. He still seemed to put 20 a day in though and it made Mel feel better about her gravelly voice. G

Day 4: Into the open

Another early start saw us seeing off the last of the jungle and at last getting some glimpses of the snowcapped goodness we were after. While there was a chunk of climbing done, as soon as we were out of the jungle it got much cooler and the going felt easier. This was good news for my armpits. After a couple of short breaks we reached our destination for the day Langtang village. This is apparently the largest village in the valley although it was pretty deserted. We'd seen a fancy looking pink guesthouse on our approach and had decided this was our best bet. Closer inspection found it to be called the Pilgrime Guesthouse which amused us. However the proprietors were not to be found so we went to only one that had any evidence of life: The Village View Lodge. Guest house naming isn't exactly an art form out here. There is inevitably one Lama/Buddha related lodge, one Sherpa lodge, one mountain/valley/Everest lodge etc. Why someone hasn't called one The Ritz, The Holiday Inn or even The Smelly Shack I don't know. I'm sure they'd get all the business. We whiled away the afternoon with washing stinking t-shirts, eating, reading and amusing the children of the village by not speaking Nepalese and being frightened of horses (they have very hard feet). G

Day 5: Last resort

There were no apples this morning so I had to have a plain pancake rather than an apple pancake. So it was a tough start to the day. We finished the up-valley part of the trek today, well, to the last point in the valley where there are Teahouses anyway – Kyangjin Gompa. The scenery started to feel really big with snow-capped mountains and plenty of boulders everywhere deposited in the valley by a monster glacier. The walking was much easier going than the first couple of days, and a nice temperature too. Still beautiful sunshine but not as sweaty as in the jungle. Jungle may be massive, but it is also hot. When we arrived at the village there were Teahouses aplenty but like yesterday, it was all pretty much deserted, apart from one Teahouse – Hotel Super View – so we stayed there. We then felt a bit lost as it was about 9:30am and we'd arrived at our destination. We'd been warned by a few people not to get too cocky and run up the nearest mountain when we arrived, even if we were feeling ok with the altitude... We were feeling quite normal really so we had to strap ourselves to the valley floor to stop us going up any of the surrounding peaks. However, the approaching lunch hour (about 11am...) soon distracted us, as did the multiple photo opportunities – yows (yaks crossed with cows – they have a proper name but we can't remember it and anyway it's not as good as yow), more hard-footed horses, huge birds of prey, a high-tech helipad made out of a ring of stones, flowers, mountains, more mountains etc etc. M

Day 6: Day hike

After lounging around the previous day we were ready for a big walk. However our skin had taken a bit of a beating the day before after a whole afternoon in the sun without protection. Error. My hairless bonce went a particularly amusing tomato colour again to the delight of the local guides who didn't miss an opportunity to humiliate a tourist. With long sleeves, caps, lots of suncream and a hearty picnic we set off for a nice stroll down the valley. This was the highlight of the hike I'd say as all the other tourists blasted up the nearest peak and didn't go further up the valley. We saw one strange Frenchman who had camped at the end of the valley on his own the whole day. The perambulation itself was excellent; predominantly level with more and more peaks opening up to us as we went up the valley. The enjoyment was only improved by only have one lightly filled pack between us. We reached Langshisha kharka (a yak pasture with a stone hut or two) after about 4 hours and stopped for our luncheon of fried momos (Nepalese pasties). While we ate we were treated to a display of a grey and black yak having a good rut. I sneaked closer for some better photos but then got frightened of being gored and hid behind Mel. After all this excitement it was time to cruise back to Kyangjin for a hearty dinner. G

Days 7&8: Descent

We basically did 5 days of hiking in reverse in 2 days. Going down is easier than going up! The main highlights were:

1. Having a naughty beer at dinner on the first night (so far we'd been pure health and mountain air), served in the filthiest glasses I've seen since living in a student house. The dude made a small show of rinsing them in a bit of water but he clearly didn't ever wash them between uses as there was mould and sticky stuff welded to the bottom. We discreetly got out an antibacterial wipe and gave them a once-over. And the beer was goooood. And of course the dude just put the glasses back on the shelf after we'd finished, ready for the next pair of mugs!!

2. Seeing monkeys in the jungle on the morning of our second day. All the Teahouses were full of information about red pandas, monkeys, birds etc but these was the first wild mammals we'd seen. Apart from George of course, mwa ha haaa...

3. Noticing how powerful we must have been during the walk up the valley. When we had to do it all in reverse, the steep downhill was never-ending. We must be some kind of super-humans. Yes.

4. Winning (we were the first people of the day to reach to the village at the bottom of the valley). M

Day 9: Bus

There was trepidation about the 10 hour bus journey back to Kathmandu. Contributing factors:

1. The bus looked older than me and in worse condition.
   
2. The driver looked younger than me and even more stupid.
   
3. The 'road' was basically a very narrow dirt track cut into the side of the mountain with precipitous drops on every corner.
   
4. The bus picked up every available human and their luggage en route. At one point there was a Nepalese lady basically sitting on my lap while another used her handbag as cushion while she leaned against my head.
   
5. Nepalese people aren't that used to motorised transport so travel sickness is an issue. The number of available bags to puke in was dangerously low at the end of the journey.
   
6. Mel has the bladder of a ten year old and so was very afraid of weeing herself. She solved the problem by not drinking anything all day. Seemed to do the trick FYI.
   
7. I had some stomach grumblings which were solved with one Imodium (still waiting for a movement 3 days later, that stuff is real).
   

Bearing all that in mind it was the most entertaining journey so far.G