Return to Kathmandu

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

To one of the best views you can imagine

Wed Dec 12 - trek to Sanam(2850m)
What a great place to celebrate 12-12-12


It was up, up, up all day today but the good thing was we arrived at our destination in record time at 3.30pm. 

It is already very cold, we've had to put all our layers on even though it is early afternoon. I wish I could type in gloves to complete this. Today was a lovely walk despite it being all uphill. 
We have mostly walked through forest with trees that remind me of an enchanted forest; that they could suddenly open their eyes, talk to me and move off. I guess it has something to do with all the moss and ferns growing on the trunks and boughs. 

We have crossed a number of rivers rushing downhill and walked by a small school despite not really passing many houses. Those houses we do see are not as substantial as those in Gudel but instead its common to see some walls of woven matting instead of stone. We had lunch at a little monastery where we were able to watch as a kestral repeatedly hovered and swooped several times within close proximity of us.

 Monastery provided a windbreak for lunch

Amazing that these boys can produce a cooked meal every lunchtime with such rudimentary kitchen facilities and utensils. 

back on the track we passed by a Sherpa hotel. We are now in Sherpa country, the name refers more to an area around Everest than to the job of being a porter, so porters from here are known as Sherpas and porters from Gudel are known as porters.

In the later part of the walk snow was falling for the first time and we have seen some patches of ice. Have seen a number of new birds today but very soon after we arrived at Sanam the clouds rolled in so that was the end of bird watching. There is nothing of a village here, just another small monastery being completed nearby to our camping spot. 

Judie was presented with wacker for managing to lock herself in the toilet at the Gudel Guest House. 

 After dinner we enjoyed a singalong thanks to copies of a songbook she had prepared for the trip and then she presented Peter with a certificate signed by all of us, congratulating him on achieving 12 treks to Nepal in 12 years and all the contributions he has made to Gudel in the meantime. Who else do you know that has trekked in Nepal that many times in that short time? What's more, today is the 12 th of the 12th of the 12 th so very serendipitous.

Thurs Dec 13 - trek to Salpa Lake through Salpa Pass  (3350m)

Today we woke after the coldest night so far. It was bleak and our sleeping bags just don't cut it. Our tents were on a gentle slope which meant all night we struggled not to slide off the sleeping mats and touch the cold ground beneath us. Jim and Peter seem to have suffered more than most needing to get up too often to relieve the bladders. They are both very tall men into the bargain, and its not easy for them to even sleep straight in the tent, let alone keep all the body parts in the bag and on the mat. 

Today's walk was through more of the enchanted forest and then up Salpa Pass. We came across a recently positioned memorial stone in a rock shelter beside the track. It turns out this is the one Narendra's family placed here in honour of his father who passed away earlier in the year. They chose this spot because as a porter he used to clear the pass and had fashioned this shelter into a resting place for porters to use when it was dark, wet or snowing.
Eric took the photo of Narendra sitting beside it and gave him prints when we reached Kathmandu which he was thrilled with. 

 Fortunately as we reached the saddle the sun was out so we could bask in it for a few minutes. 

Walking in the shadows is very cold, we are seeing regular patches of snow and ice. Our camp turns out to be just a short walk on and we arrived about 2.15 in the afternoon. We are at 3400 m, the closest I've ever been to the sun but unfortunately I am shrouded in thick cloud. Our tents are set up beside stone shelters that would look a bit like stables anywhere else and the frames of  market stalls remain after the religious festival held here during the new moon every November (same as Deepavali).  

The lake is a holy lake and pilgrims visit for that festival but all year round as well. We went for a walk around the lake in the late afternoon and did manage to spot a few new birds. The lake is about 1/3 covered in ice so it is very chilly. Silucho Peak looms beyond, it looks daunting but I so want to do it!

Looking a little chilly

Warm washing up water delivered to the door.

After dinner Jim was presented with wacker for a number of misdemeanours. the funniest was avoiding drinking anything all afternoon but still having to get up to relieve himself 3 times through the night.  

Then we enjoyed a campfire with lots of singing in one of the shelters. The stars are out, brilliant! But that means no cloud cover so not good for sleeping on the ground.  I finally made up my mind that since my knees are giving me no trouble I will tackle Silucho Peak tomorrow even if it does mean I'll pay a high price recovering the next day. We ventured to bed but spent another very cold and uncomfortable night, it was a relief when the 5am call came for those who are going to climb.


Fri Dec 14 - trek to Silucho Peak (4000m) and on to Bilbate (2800m)



Luke's birthday. We would love to get in touch to send our love and best wishes but have had no network since the airport at Kathmandu. Hoping no one is worrying about us. We had a cooked breakfast of porridge and boiled eggs to give us all some energy for the task. We headed out at 5.50 am while it was still dark so we began with headlamps. 2 stayed back, chunjiou not interested in going up into the higher altitude and June not feeling well with a head cold. It was so cold that my breath, trapped by my scarf, was fogging my glasses. We began with some Nepali Flat which means gentle up and down and then got seriously into the climbing. It took us 4 hrs to get to the top, stopping regularly in the second half as altitude was making us breathe short and fast. There was one point where the drop on either side of the narrow path was sheer for hundreds of feet but our support crew had sent 2 lads ahead to rig up a climbing rope as a line for us to hold onto as we slowly proceeded across. It was very hard going but my knees held up well. 

The view from the top was astonishing, made all that huffing and puffing worth it. From this position and at 4100m you can see 6 of the tallest peaks on Earth including Everest . We were so lucky as there was no viscous wind blowing while we were at the top and the clouds were kind to us, even around Everest which is often shrouded in drifts of snow being blown off its steep slopes. We truly feel blessed to have had the opportunity to do this, fancy it being Luke's birthday too.

How do you decide which images to include and which ones to leave out?
Our support team paid homage at the temple on the peak.  

Everest

 It took us 3 hrs to get back down, this was much more difficult for my knees as I expected it would be. The assistant guides were amazing taking the greatest care with us all, particularly on the way down. I didn't even have to carry my daypack and they watched my every step, 2 people assigned to each of us and they were within arms reach the whole way.  In fact they wanted to hold my hands but I felt more comfortable being independent. It was funny to see Jim being assisted ahead: being such a tall man it looked more like he was assisting 2 little kids.  Both Anne and Judie ended up having ropes tied around their waists with a guide attached to either end which looked so funny. 

After a cooked lunch that was waiting for us on our return to camp we packed and walked on to Bilbate, or there abouts. The water supply at Bilbate is not good apparently so we are camping nearby. The good news is we have descended another 500 m  so it might be a little warmer tonight. The bad news is that while my body is willing my left knee is very sore going down. Once again Narendra has chosen a great campsite with fabulous views and flat ground.
Jim presented Chinjiou with Wacker for staying in bed instead of walking and trying to fix the time of hot washing water delivery before she even went to bed. 

We are pretty chuffed with ourselves. Oh for some cloud cover tonight.