How good it was to sleep in our own bed, in clean sheets and be as warm as toast all night. My first task in the morning was to visit the Dr and arrange a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon to investigate the ongoing pain in my left knee. Then we completed lots of loads of washing and had a night-in eating left overs from the freezer and an early night. You just can't imagine how good it is to sit in a chair that has a back support. How we longed for a deck chair last week (or as our Kiwi mate calls them 'dick chairs'). How domicile we've become in our Serangoon nest.
Happy not to leave the house again all the next day either day until we called in on the local hawker stalls across the road for dinner on the way to the airport to collect Adrian. We were there in plenty of time and watched in anticipation as all the passengers headed to the luggage carousel. But Adrian did not appear amongst them. We waited and waited and I approached the Information Counter thinking maybe he had missed the flight when at last he appeared. He had been detained by Immigration because he had been unable to fill in the card with our address. We hadn't bothered to tell it to him since we were meeting him. He didn't have it in his phone and wasn't able to phone anyone. He even went back and bought a local SIM card for the phone but was still unable to contact us. Eventually he convinced them that we were waiting for him and they let him through. Lessons for us all in that experience.
They have this amazingly mesmerizing 'Kinetic Rain' Christmas display at the departure level of Terminal 1. The photos really don't do it justice but we remember how the drops moved seemingly in time to the carols.
I had a swim on Monday morning, first exercise I have done in almost a week. Where does the time go? I've decided to buy a guitar, inspired by Judie who took one on our Nepal trek, so took Adrian, my resident guitar expert, with me to the heart of guitar retail under the Peninsula/Excelsior Hotel. He was mightily impressed with the options and it didn't take us long to choose one.
Meanwhile we let Eric sort out new hand phones as the ones we have been using since Aust are no longer functioning fully. How quickly technology changes. At home I started practising on the new guitar and it took no time at all before my fingers were hurting. Adrian has been fantastic showing me guitar chord websites and iPad apps.
Christmas Day is just not the same in Asia. Lots of businesses remain open and the place feels much the same as on any other day. We called the Darwin branch of the family on Skype about their lunchtime as they were hosting a group from church at Koolpinyah. In the late afternoon we talked to most of the rest of the Caddy family who were gathered at Judy's. We went to the Grand Pacific Hotel for an International Buffet Lunch but it didn't live up to our hopes. From there we took a trip on the Singapore Flier for wonderful views across the cityscape.
My fingers are still hurting, Adrian promises me it will soon get better and I think if I can remember this it will motivate me to keep playing and not get slack on practising. We went to Chinatown for a look around in the evening and had dinner there.
When Boxing Day dawned, we followed the family tradition of seeing a Tolkein movie. Where in the past it was the new release of one of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, today we saw the first of The Hobbit story. Eric booked us in on line and to our very pleasant surprise he had mistakenly selected the Premier seats so we had reclining chairs, food and drinks on demand and blankets. I could get used to this way of going to the movies.
In the evening we went to Lau Pa Sat for a feed of satays, Adrian's Asian favourite from when he was about 10 yrs old, then the Limpy one came home and the boys walked along the river front to the Crazy Elephant Blues Club.
Well, letting those lads out together was a mistake. Adrian spent most of the day with his head in one toilet and Eric was sitting on the other. It couldn't get much worse, but thank goodness we have 2 bowls. We had planned to spend the day at Sentosa Is but with these 2 in the shape they were in, I could remain on the couch with my legs up and just turn the music up each time they make unpleasant noises. In the evening I did take Adrian to see the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec City but believe it or not, it was closed for maintenance. The 1998 Guinness Book of Records listed this as the largest fountain in the world. Adrian thought he was recovered but to be honest he was still not flash and didn't enjoy the train trip so we caught a taxi home and got the driver to do a lap of Orchard Rd to see the Xmas lights.
I had to get myself to the National Skin Clinic on Fri morning just for a 6 monthly check-up. He found a mark that he wants removed, I tried to postpone it until I have dealt with this sore knee but he got me an appointment later this month so I am to return in about 3 weeks. Its just precautionary though, nothing to worry about I'm sure. Hopefully my knee will have settled down by then.
In contrast to the flash stores and sparkling lights of Orchard Rd, today Eric and Adrian went to Mustafa's Store in Little India to check out the other side of Singapore. Between them they found some bargains and Adrian then had to stuff them all in his bag ready to fly home.
We had a chicken murtabah for dinner, one of my favourites, and it now rates highly with Adrian. He'll have trouble finding one of them in Darwin though. We took him out to the airport and saw him quickly processed through Immigration this time.
This time last year we had just arrived in Singapore. In the days that followed we met our new NZ and Aussie work colleagues, had some MAE orientation, signed up for work permits, opened new bank accounts and signed a lease for an apartment in Serangoon. Thank goodness we can just relax this year.
We watched 'The Sapphires' and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Its full of great soul music and the mighty voice of Jessica Mauboy. It also had a positive message, and a wonderfully different take from the usual patronising view, of Aboriginal life.
The beginning of the new work year looms. Eric spent most of Monday meeting the new staff at his Punggol Branch today while I stayed home editing pictures from the trip, practising on the guitar and sewing. it's NYE and tonight we are having dinner with Judie (from the Nepal trip) and Carolyn (colleague from Kovan) then heading back to The Crazy Elephant. From there we should get a good view of the firewiorks if I can stay awake that long. Mum turns 89 tomorrow and is on her way to visit family in Brisbane, later in the year she is planning on a visit to Singapore. I hope my knees are still serving me well at that age.
Sat Dec 15 - trek to Phedi/Tendo (1680m)
To Phedi on Crutches
No cloud cover, the night was cold and I had to go to the toilet tent twice, can't manage pain in my knee and full bladder at the same time apparently. Today was tough. We descended 1400m with very little let up. We enjoyed walking through the old rhododendron forest. Trekking through here is like being at sea, only with more dust. There's an endless spaciousness, quietness and peace punctuated by shafts of light and shadows. This place must be amazing when the rhododendrons are in flower. Then we walked on in open forest and agricultural land. These are tough people living tough lives! Many live well away from neighbours and have to be very self sufficient. Their farms cling to the sides of steep mountains, only possible after enormous efforts to create narrow terraces often only wide enough for the beasts of burden to do one lap before moving up or down.
I would have loved some uphill or 'Nepali Flat' but it was just downhill, downhill, downhill. Relentless and very hard as my left knee just can't cope with it. Never mind, I might have been slow but I got to Phedi (which means bottom) eventually, doing a sort of grapevine step (a la 'Zorba the Greek' and singing 'big Girls Don't Cry') . It was encouraging to be able to see the tents set up from high up on the mountain but it was also a long way down and it took a long time to get there. Meanwhile, at lunchtime Jim figured he could find a beer in town tonight so for the afternoon the trekkers separated into the slow and fast groups. I was the only member in the slow group but Peter hung back with me and Narendra assigned himself as my personal guide. I was so slow today that once the first group arrived at our camp Dan walked back to meet me and offer to carry me the rest of the way. Wouldn't have been any trouble for him but I chose to get there under my own steam.
We met the rest of the trekkers in the grounds of a shop on the way down where they sell Gorka (Gurkha) beer. The shops we pass along the way are very basic, usually just a window in the side of the house but they sell an amazing assortment of goods including toothpaste, beer, 2 min noodles, hats, soap and batteries. We also passed a donkey team from Gudel. the owner does a 6 day turnaround trip to Tumlingtar carrying herbs to sell to India for medicine and bringing back salt, rice and other basics. Everyone was happy to be there and the porters were playing snooker on a small tabletop. Wacker is getting sillier and sillier, things are now being 'stolen' from one another. Anne left her hat behind at one spot which was found by Jim, so to avoid winning the 'silly person award' she then stole his scarf at the drink stop and returned it to him in front of everyone. As it turned out, luckily for them both, Ratana had a fall today and was the Wacker winner. He came down just behind me with an alarming crash and bang as his load was full of our kitchen pots and pans. Fortunately he didn't hurt himself and was a very happy winner. Ratana was on the original walk that Peter and Jim did in 2002. Jim had bought over copies of pictures from that trip and Ratana was delighted to find himself in them. I went to bed early but the rest of the trekkers stayed up to enjoy a few more Gorkas they had bought as take-aways. Our campsite is in a paddi right by the river where a small diversion stream has been set up using just the river stones to send water passed a mill where they can grind millet into flour. A suspension bridge spans the river to our left and on the steps the women are just packing away the equipment and grains they have been threshing for the day. There is also a paper making cottage industry set up on the bend. Once again, a delightful camp site.
Sun Dec 16 trek to Gothe Bazaar (550m)
Funny thing happened in our tent last night. Eric returned after a toilet stop and struggled back into his sleeping bag, he yanked on the string that tightens the hood around your head to keep out the cold but it had no effect so he yanked again. Problem was he was pulling on my cord so by now my hood was just about closed down and I had no breathing hole left at all. I made the mistake of sharing the story with everyone at breakfast and it looks like Eric will win wacker.
Its a beautiful morning and the children have come to see what's going on beside their river. Tourists don't normally pass this way and we are a novelty.
With the promise of shopping ahead (well the name of the village includes the word bazaar) we were out on the track early. It was a beautiful walk along the river valley, glad to say mostly flat with just a little variation to break the monotony. We followed the Phedi River all day enjoying passing the children on their way to school, the ones who were finishing off chores before school and then later the families working together in the fields threshing rice and millet, ploughing fields using cows to drag hand ploughs or selling oranges beside the path. Of all the places we have been so far this is the least remote and the conditions seem least difficult. You are only a day's walk from Goethe Bazaar where you can buy household or farming needs and there is a fabulous fresh water supply right beside you. You would be able to meet with lots of other people walking to and from the trading centre too.
Unfortunately no bazaar happening in town (that's a very generous word to use to describe Gothe Bazaar) when we got there, but there was a shop that sold beer so we were able to share a quick one with Jim to celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary. He and Joan were in Nepal celebrating their 30th anniversary with Peter too. That time they had a marble cake to celebrate and on the top, using jam squeezed through a plastic bag,was written 'Happy 30 yrs Couple Life'. Tonight after dinner we were able to share the same, just the number had been changed. Parbat and the kitchen hands are amazing at turning out fabulous food with very limited cooking utensils and kerosene burners. While we finished the cake the boys also treated us to a few Nepali songs accompanied by drum, mouth organ and guitar. Judie has taught Uttar to play over the last 10 days and he is amazingly good already. Ann won Wacker, I think something was lost in translation passing the funny stories to Ratana but Eric was happy about that. He had also managed to make up some silly stories about Ann that had no truth to them, but you never let the truth spoil a good wacker nomination.
Mon Dec 17 - trek to Katike Ghat (510m)
Today was a beautiful walk along the Phedi River then over the point and down to the Arun River, the largest in Nepal. The Arun River originates in Tibet then flows by the east side of the Everest region and through Nepal becoming a tributary of the Ganges in India. Today has been the first time we have seen and heard monkeys, squirrel and even found porcupine tracks. We have also seen a lot of birds and for the first time in days I have mostly been able to keep up. What has been particularly lovely about the whole trek is the fact that each time we walk through someone's property or by their home we often walk right by the front door; we see how they get their water, what vegetables they are growing, how they wash and dry their clothes, how the older children care for the younger ones, what they are eating. we feel very privileged to get such an intimate view of the culture of the region.
At lunchtime, despite not being able to see any houses from where we propped in a terrace, we discovered we had network coverage for the first time since we left Kathmandu airport. We were able to give Luke a quick call for his belated birthday, send Mum an email to say we were safe and sound and then Jim was able to Skype Joan to wish her a belated anniversary to which we all added our congratulations.
After lunch we tackled the final long downhill. Compared with what we have done in the last couple of days it wasn't so bad, perhaps knowing it was the last helped me but my knees are also not too bad today. When Narendra told me it was over I felt like throwing away my trekking poles away! Like the cripple that was cured by a miracle! But then we walked for about a kilometre on loose sand along the river and that was just about as difficult.
There is just one small problem in the camp; we are almost out of toilet paper. There is none left in the kitchen supplies and any individual who has a few sheets left is guarding them carefully. Serviettes are disappearing from the table settings at an alarming rate every mealtime. Our good friend Bev, who trekked in Nepal last Dec and knew how precious good quality toilet paper was, had given each of us a roll as a farewell present. I gave one of ours away early to Ann who has been sniffling since about Day 2 on the trek (she finished it and she's still sniffling!) I'm not giving up what's left of the second one. In the township we searched high and low for toilet paper or tissues, as many in the group now have had a lingering cold for days, but there was none to be found. We met for a beer and ended up entertaining the children who followed us to our camp. Our camp site tonight is in the grounds of the local school and by now there are about 30 children singing 'Hokey Pokey' with Peter in the lead.
As we assembled at dinner time a tractor and trailer went by, the first mechanised vehicle we have seen since we left Kathmandu. It was loaded to the hilt with about 14 people, equipment and produce from the fields. After dinner Eric won wacker for searching for a new bird while listening to unique bird calls that was really water hissing through a split poly pipe. We sat up making silly rhyming verses to 'Quarter Master's Store' after dinner so that tomorrow night when we farewell our wonderful support crew we can sing to them and present them with their bonuses. I feel really happy to have shared this experience with everyone else on the trek and a feeling of sadness is descending, I don't want it to end too soon. To lighten the mood June accidentally locked herself in the toilet and had to patiently wait until someone else arrived to help. This didn't take long but in the meantime she had managed to drop her glasses in the bucket of flush water and then stepped in the bowl itself. Agh! Fortunately with the aid of a knife slipped under the door she was able to free herself. An early Wacker nomination for Eric to record already.
Tue Dec 18 - trek to Tumlingtar (510m)
Our last morning. A week ago we were in Gudel, in a week's time it will be Christmas. What a contrast! Most of us were up and about early with mixed feelings about getting the last 4 hrs of walking over before lunch, but not wanting a wonderful experience to be over. The children returned in the morning, keen to observe our every move, from the first unzipping of the tents little bodies were crouched in the doorways watching and waiting. They love the binoculars which we are trying to take turns of so we can spot the early arrivals by the river's edge.
When we hit the track we quickly splintered into 2 groups, not by design, that's just how it happened. Most of us headed up the road which leads all the way into Tumlingtar, the first road for mechanised traffic rather than foot traffic since leaving Phaplu. Judie and Ann struck out along the beach with dan and by coincidence we all met up again at a stall for morning refreshments about 2 hours later. The girls actually beat us there which was a surprise to us, as we thought we had the shorter track. Turns out this stall is operated by Dan's niece so a quick drink ended up leading to more and then little by little we ventured on and made it into town.
Arriving in town we found Noboraj who had left us after dinner last night to walk to Tumlingtar and book rooms at the Hotel Kanchanjunga, conveniently located just across from the airport, and confirm our flight tickets to Kathmandu the next morning.
Within no time it seemed lunch was on the way and then we all managed a cold shower to freshen up for the final night together with our wonderful support crew. A quick venture around town soon revealed that today is the day of the week when most shops are shut for the day. Some spent the afternoon on the side walk in front of the hotel just watching the people traffic go by and reflecting on all that has happened in the last 2 weeks (you can guess where Eric and Jim were). Others slept, sorted their belongings and washed some clothes to wear to Kathmandu tomorrow. Before joining the boys for a beer I spent quite a bit of the time transferring all the recorded bird sightings from the book we bought in Kathmandu into the book we had purchased for the Sri Lanka holiday as it also covers Nepal, India, Bhutan and the Maldives.
Just before dinner we shared our combined spare odds and ends like headlamps, water bottles, trekking poles and clothes with the support crew which Peter arranged. Eric presented wacker to Dan. First he had to solve the mystery of who stole the wacker scarf which took some time. The wacker was awarded to Dan for all his particular attention to the girls in our trekking party, of course this was over exaggerated by Eric but I for one certainly benefited from his attention on many occasions when I was struggling to find a good foothold and even carrying my daypack. There was a final round of the other daily competition; everyone had to guess how many new species of birds Eric and I had found and identified on the trip. The total was 70, many completely new sightings others the same we are familiar with from Asia, Australia and Europe. One we were disappointed not to see was the Himalayan Monal, their national bird.
We had a lot of fun sharing out the tips to all the staff while singing those song verses and Narendra was very pleased when we gave him our copy of the local bird book we had taken with us. Jim gave his leather kangol cap to Ratana and it suited him so well. You couldn't wipe the smile from his face for the rest of the evening. Judie gave Uttar her guitar to keep, as he has shown such interest in it all along the way and obviously has an innate sense for music. Giving tips to the staff can be quite tricky. You know you couldn't do the trip without them and that without the job they have little opportunity to make money, but you have to be extremely careful not to embarrass any individual by giving too much to one and not enough to another. Every role in the team has a status attached to it. Thankfully Peter has a lot of experience dealing with the situation and he was able to combine our tips and divvy the total up accordingly. More silly songs and dancing saw out our final night together.
Wed Dec 19 - Fly back to Kathmandu
A cup of steaming kola chia, accompanied by the smiling faces of Dan and Noboraj, was brought to our room for the last time this morning. How will we ever manage without this cheerful start to the day next week? On the other hand I cant wait to sit on a pedestal toilet, travel down an escalator and sleep between sheets.
We packed up and headed downstairs for breakfast. Many of the porters have already been busy shopping for supplies to fill the dochos for the return trip to Gudel. They have bought rolls of black poly pipe, large plastic sheets for drying grains and beans on, rolls of netting, plastic containers and buckets, roofing nails, cooking utensils and pans. All essentials you can't live without but cannot purchase in Gudel.
We wandered up the street and managed to find some precious toilet rolls, bought the shop out in fact. It is quite foggy this morning, and we hope it clears in time for our flight to get away on time.
Arriving at the airport we had to go through a manual bag check at the gate and then farewell for the last time many of our wonderful support crew, only a few are continuing on to Kathmandu with us. I couldn't hold back the tears. Unfortunately even though we now have clear blue skies here it is foggy in Kathmandu and all flights are grounded. We sit and wait. An hour after our scheduled take off we were able to depart, so that wasn't too bad. We had a magnificent blue sky and clear view of the peaks where we can now easily identify Everest from the rest. We were met at Kathmandu by Kule who had a driver on hand with a much better looking bus this time. We returned to Potala Guest House and it felt like old friends coming home. After checking in we returned the hired sleeping bags and enjoyed a wonderful Indian Curry at the Curry House for a late lunch. Everyone then went their own way for the next few hours to rest, get laundry or shopping done. I had my first real shower since we were last here. Eric and Peter went to the Beautiful Hairdresser for a haircut and shave. It is a tiny stall, just wide enough for the chair at the mirror. If a tall man like either of these two turns up, the hairdresser has to go out the front door and walk back in through the back door as there is no room to walk behind the client's chair. The massage looked so good I think I will go back tomorrow just for that treatment.
We bought a new copy of the bird book for Narendra to take back to Gudel School for their library. In the evening we all met at the Yak Restaurant for dinner.
We finished off a bottle or Australian red wine (an unexpected find in a shop around the corner) with Peter and Jim before climbing into our lovely clean sheets.
Thurs Dec 20 - Kathmandu sightseeing and foot massages
Final full day in Kathmandu
After breakfast in the lobby we farewelled Jim who was heading to the airport then met Narendra, Kule and Noboraj who took us to the Pashupatinath Temple. It is one of the oldest (400 A.D.) and most significant Hindu temples of Lord Shiva (Pashupati) in the world, located on the banks of the Bagmati River and is listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. We were escorted around the site by a guide as our guides are not Hindu but Kirant(?). The River has highly sacred properties and the banks are lined with many ghats (bathing spots) for use by pilgrims. The long stretch along of river is devoted to cremations. A bridge divides the royal site upriver, from the commoner cremation sites downriver. The Baghmati feeds into the Ganges, which spills out into the Indian Ocean, the ultimate point of dissolution and regeneration for king and commoner alike. It reminds me very much of the sacred sites near Indigenous remote communities in the NT. You know the site is terribly significant, yet to our eyes it is desecrated with rubbish. As we looked on a body draped first in white for purity and then ochre was lying in readiness yet at this time no one seemed to be attending to it or mourning. The chief mourner, usually the oldest son, is the one to torch the body and this must be done within the day of the death. I once thought this whole procedure was pretty grotesque but now I see their way of handling death as an act of family love and powerful religious ritual. The soul is released to new life, and the heat by which the gods brought the universe into being is rekindled.
A number of Sadhu Priests, those who have renounced comforts of society and choose instead to live in caves, or temples in order to focus on their own spiritual practice are present here.
We walked on to the Boudhanath Stupa, another UNESCO heritage listed site and an important Buddhist pilgrimage monument. In the days when trade to Tibet was open, traders, pilgrims and travellers sought blessings here for safe passage over the mountains and gave thanks to it upon return to the Kathmandu Valley. It towers above the surrounding monasteries and businesses which are doing a thriving business with tourists as we watch on from a terrace cafe in the sunshine.
We walked on to Hastaman's place for lunch. Hastaman is Narendra's brother
and Kule's step brother. He is an important link person for Peter's school project. Parbat cooked us another wonderful meal and then Peter met with the men to consolidate plans for the future of the school while we spent time learning more about the relationships between members of the family and Gudel community, sharing photos of our trek and hearing about others from Kule. We waited and waited then eventually got the ok to return to the guest house about 3 hours later. Time was short to get the last of the shopping done before dark. We met up at 7pm and enjoyed a last supper together at the Yak Restaurant. It was a relatively early night as we are all a bit weary and pondering the fact that this Nepali experience is about to be over. I spent some time in the evening wondering about the likely creation of a trans-Himalayan highway that will put this tiny nation in the path of the two fastest-growing economies in the world: China and India. What will this mean for the people of Gudel? Time will tell.
Fri Dec 21 - Thai Airways depart Kathmandu 13:50 arrive Singapore arriving 22:45
We met Narendra at about 10.30 in the morning and he and Parbat escorted us to the airport. We are now just a party of 5 as Ann leaves for a cycling tour in India tomorrow and June is on a different flight a little later today. It was strange to farewell Ann, we have only known her a short time, yet because of the experiences we have shared and her open, warm personality we feel we have known her a lot longer. We look forward to her stop over in Singapore for a few days in early Jan. It was a long wait at the airport to be processed through Immigration and multiple security checks but we eventually took off at 2.30pm, 40 mins late. The good thing about that timing was that as we transited through Bangkok airport we heard last call for our flight to Singapore. Perfect timing to walk off one plane and on to the next. Landed without incident at Changi and our bags were amongst the first off so in no time we were in a taxi and on our way home.
Porters
Oshan Kulung - one of Narendra's sons, we met another at Hastaman's home.
Anil Kulung
Tatan
Tek Bikram
Himal Kukung
Parzan
Ashdan
Younger Bir Bhadur
Older Bir Bhadur
Dhankubir
Sahurajdan's
Jali
Narayan
Kharkamaila
Singga
Kitchen Staff
Khokendra
Khasi
Ratana Raj
Biba Chandra
Assistant Guide
Dan Bhadur
Uttar - brother of Kule's wife
Nawa Noboraj - cousin of Kule
Cook
Parbat
Guide
Narendra - brother of Hastaman
.jpg)
.jpg)
