NOTES FROM NEPAL

What a contrast coming over the border from India, one minute the hustle, bustle, noise and sheer volume of people and then nothing its quiet no car horns no pushing its amazing and the border well the most informal so far. We arrived to a queue of trucks at six in the evening, trucks that continually cross the border empty from India to bring back aggregates from the Nepal river beds, queues of these trucks stretch away on each side of the crossing point, which itself is located in what only can be described as the town high street and consists of a raise up pole barrier across the road with a small brick wall dividing the rest of the street off, not that this is any deterrent to crossing, before we had our passports back from immigration with our Nepalese visas some of us had already walked across to the money changers on the Nepal side to change money and then wandered back again with nobody challenging us. The immigration office was located between two shops on the Indian side and once Jacko had parked the truck outside under the direction of one of the officials this then made it very difficult for the other trucks to pass, which meant that Jan could feed the drivers in the queue biscuits as they passed they where that close, there goes my snacks for the next day then. By nine o’clock we were through, due to the lateness of the hour we stopped at one of the first Hotels instead of making the planned bush camp which would of been another hour up the road, we then took over the driveway and proceeded to cook our evening meal, although we did have rooms to sleep in. The peace and quiet was bliss and after a little walk back to the border to buy some beers we settled down to our first peaceful night in Nepal. Narayan met us at the border he’s EOE’s agent in Nepal for organising travel and visa’s and would give us the rundown on what was available in the way of trekking and things to do while in Nepal. We headed off to Chitwan National Park the next morning the drive was refreshing after India, very bumpy yes but no rubbish laying around, less people about and some stunning scenery as we entered the foothills of the Himalayas for me this was where the trip really begins, arriving at Shiva’s Dream Hotel (much nicer than most of our hotels to date but where do they get these names from) EVENING DINNER CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK

after spending the last 10km of road having to lift power cables so that we could get through, we are getting quite dab hands at these now and yes Roy we have taken your points onboard about Health & Safety and have decided to call a meeting the day after we arrive in Sydney to discuss any outstanding issues such as steak handling on the barbeque and drowning at the bar under the local Toohey’s beer.
Chitwan National Park is famous for its tigers, and Rhino’s and you can do treks through the park both on foot or by elephant we opted for the half day trek on foot the first day followed by a two hour elephant ride on the second day, now for those of you who know Jan, will well appreciate her love of animals !! but after a little persuasion she was up for the walk which also involved a one hour canoe ride at the start, now this canoe started life as a tree which has had it’s branches removed and the trunk hollowed out so it was perhaps not quite as stable in the water as a luxury liner but Jan soon settled down to a tense nervous ride down the river, we soon saw some freshwater crocodiles basking on the river bank which helped to relax her even more (not),

we stopped off at one of the local watering holes and discovered a couple of Rhino bathing a short distance away and to give Jan her due she left the canoe and came and watched the Rhino with us something about the crocs getting her if she stayed with the canoe comes to mind. Once we land our two guides give us the safety briefing about what to do if we come across some of the wildlife, basically Rhinos you quickly climb a tree unless your in the long grass and then you struggling, Sloth bears can climb trees so lets hope we don’t come across them and as for tigers well stand tall and stare them down if all else fails then the guide will hit them with their two foot long stick it was at this point that Jan was hoping we wouldn’t see any animals and she was right apart from some fresh dung from the sloth bear there were none to be seen. The walk took us nicely back up river coming out opposite the village and after a wade through the mud up to your knees at times to get in the canoe for the short trip back across the river we make for the bar and a well earned beer and buffalo steak, delicious. This bar as it turns out is where we spend all of our early evenings watching the sunsets over the river with a bottle of the local brew Everest or Gorhka to keep us company. Next day brings both the elephant ride one of the most uncomfortable rides I have ever had, perhaps it’s because I’m losing weight and haven’t got all that padding anymore? (wishful thinking), this is followed by the elephant washing where we can all get in the water with the elephants, great fun is had by all even Jan joined in and climbed aboard Kat even gave us a step by step guide on mounting the elephant please see photos. Pokhara is our next stop, it’s set beside Lake Phewa you can see the Annapurna mountain range from our hotel’s windows but as this is monsoon season we are lucky just to get a couple of clear hours in which to see them. Our first couple of days spent here is mainly drinking, eating and shopping everything’s so cheap, steak dinners for three pounds and these are beef not buffalo, trekking gear is available North Face without the inner label, but at a fiver for a pair off zip off trousers we’re not complaining.

POKHARA THE VISITING BUDAH'S

A group of us opt to do a two day trek and then a two day white water rafting trip, meeting up with the rest of the group in Katmandu a few days later it’s there we have a two week break from the truck to do our own thing. The trekking went well although I don’t think I’ve climbed as many steps in one go in all my life, as the first day consisted of two hours climbing vertically through small hamlets and paddy fields to get up to the tea house where we stayed,

ENSUITE COWS TO OUR BEDROOM IN THE TEAHOUSE

once there we had some lunch and then went for a walk to the view point above the village during which we were introduced to the Leeches, a rather fast moving tiny little creature that once it’s latched on to you and sucked your blood turns into something the size of a small python (mild exaggeration), now we knew they were a problem at this time of year they only come out during monsoon but we didn’t realize just how much of a problem they were, if you stopped walking they were on you like a flash and quickly made their way up your trousers until they found flesh into which they could start to dineJan being the natural animal lover amongst us handled the situation very well by racing back down the hill with one of the guides in hot pursuit with only occasional stops on top of large rocks to check that none had managed to locate their selves on her person, the rest of us took a more leisurely pace down which might explain why on reaching the bottom I had a couple on my ankles, two on my stomach ( I know it’s big enough it can take it) and one on my neck, I didn’t feel a thing until you have to pull them off, salt is the way to do it but we didn’t have any and they weren’t spending the night camped out on my body!

BEFORE AND THEN AFTER THE LEECHE'S & YES THAT USED TO BE MY BLOOD

SETTING OFF IN THE MORNING TO RETURN

THE END OUR GUIDES doug, lynda, jan, me,

that Jan got away with it completely scot free unbeknown to me I left one in the shower so when she followed me in it ended up on her foot (I never like her to feel left out). At least at this time of year the place is empty of trekkers and we have it all to ourselves well apart from the leeches, October and November are apparently the best months for trekking with clear skies and cooler temperatures I wouldn’t mind returning in a couple of years time to walk the Annapurna circuit it takes about 18 days to do with some fantastic mountain views (how about it Colin up for it after your success on the three peaks).

SNOW COVERED ANNAPURNA RANGE

Next was the white water rafting again this is difficult at this time of year because the rivers are in flood with all the rain but we managed to spend a couple of days on the Seti river and survived to tell the tale with some very basic overnight camping consisting of a hose for a shower, local food and a fire on the beach THE DINNING FACILITIES WHITE WATER RAFTING definitely want to do some more when we get to New Zealand, we were then ready for some five star comfort at the Malla hotel in Katmandu. The Thamel district of Katmandu is Nepal’s tourist capital but with some good internet access and hundreds of restaurants and bars to choose from with good cheap food its serves us well for our four day stopover although pollution from the traffic and lack of pavements means a hazardous lifestyle while we are there. CALLUMS BIRTHDAY MEAL IN THAMEL KATMANDU LYNDA, ROB, JO, DOUG, KAT, JOHN, MO, CALLUM , ME

Packing up all our cold weather gear and sending it home is one of our first jobs as we now definitely know that both China and Tibet are off the itinerary now as visa’s are still not be issued. We spend four relaxing days at the Malla Hotel using the pool and gym (only Jan in the gym I hasten to add my lifestyle hasn’t changed that much) and then it’s off up into the mountains to a place called Nagarkot where its very quiet with brilliant views out over the Himalayas, Everest can be seen in the far distance on clear days but we have to forego that experience as there is far too much cloud about at this time of year, views from our balcony.Due to the enforced change of route we now only have a few days left before the truck leaves Katmandu on the 23rd of July and heads off through the west of Nepal to Bardia National Park, here we spend a couple of days for Jan to make some more friends in the animal kingdom and then its back into India for five days driving down to Mumbai where the truck is being shipped back to England (Felixstowe of all places), we then take the overnight train across India to Calcutta and from there fly to Bangkok arriving on August the 6th. South East Asia we will do in or on local transport your never quite sure when you see the amount of people on some of these buses, route yet to be decided, but ending up in Darwin to traverse Australia as per the original plan. Must dash for now we need to internet and book the flights to Bangkok or it will be a slow boat to Thailand.

ADVANCED GOAT HANDLERS COURSE NEPAL

INTERNATIONAL FELIXSTOWE ROADRUNNERS AT IT AGAIN IN NEPAL