27 avril 2007
Om Mani Padme Hum
The last day of this short trip. So many things to do… As I was expecting, we don’t even go to Katmandu's Durbar Square. Instead we walk around and notice that as soon as we get out of the centre, we are back to see naked children, people looking for ticks in each other’s hair, horrible smells of not-so-fresh meat and unimaginable things at 10 in the morning. We go to Freak Street which was famous in the 70s for the hippy style life. Prices are considerably cheaper and roads quieter. We take a cycle shaw back to Utse. After packing our stuff and relaxing a bit, we go and eat to Pilgrims restaurant, that has a relatively big and varied bookshop. We have to collect Jeremie’s jacket and it’s time to take our taxi for the airport, and depart to Doha. We are taken to a good hotel so that we can wait and sleep. In the plane, the only thing that come to my mind is the continuous “Om Mani Padme Hum”…..
Interminably.
Meaning “Peace, good luck, long life” in Tibetan. The one and only song in Nepal.
I can almost hear Jeremie getting his gun ready to shoot me…
25 avril 2007
Bhaktapur
We wake up relatively late and decide to have a big breakfast at Brezel. We then depart to Bhaktapur, 25 kms outside Kathmandu. The entrance to the city costs 10$ per person. As a result the main place and Durbar Square are very quiet. We have the city to ourselves. We hire a guide who shows us the 55 windows palace, the temple with 24 erotic positions to protect from thunder, and other weird things. After lunch we shop around and then have a nice walk in this 17th century city.
We come back to Kathmandu and stop on the way to the Swaynadabth Stupa, the greatest temple in the area, also known as the monkey temple. It is huge. We see a very small part of it, yet it is rewarding as we get the chance to attend a praying session with the Tibetan monk in the monastery. It is another out-of-this-world experience. We go back to the city. Jeremie gets the chance to buy two nice old items for house decoration, and to have a good (tourist attractive yak) leather jacket tailored to his taste by a funny Indian man. Needless to say we come back to Utse Hotel with lots of stuff and can barely climb the fourth floor. We have dinner at the hotel, as we are too tired to go out.
23 avril 2007
Patan
Still on the improvisation mode; we wander what’s next. Jeremie makes up his mind and proposes to visit Patan. It takes us an hour to get there. I am a bit exhausted and Jeremie is feeling pain with his little toe. We take the service of a young guide who is quite effective. He explains to us the different stories behind Patan Durbar Square and its different temples and figures. It is quite interesting as the culture seems the same now as it was centuries ago; it is not like an Egyptian explaining the tails of the Pharaohs. It is all real as the people’s belief still honours the same gods, temples, statues of kings, etc.
The religious culture fascinates me as it gets quite complex with Buddhism and Hinduism appearing as very interrelated. We got the chance to attend a festival that happens once every 12 years. It’s the Red Machapahendra deity festival on which the faithful kill bulls and offer all kinds of donations and burn candles to the god who is a reincarnation of one of the main gods. It is a great experience to be in the middle of this fervent crowd. We put the red signs on our foreheads in sign of prayer. Then we check out the Patan Museum. Great place to visit, the explanations neat the works are very useful in understanding the relations and the meaning of each gestures and god. Some very good insight is also provided about the history of Hindouism, Buddhism, and their different versions and applications. We spend two hours there before heading back to Kathmandu. We have dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Tashi De-Lek, a Tibetan place with excellent food.
21 avril 2007
The last elephant ride
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Last day of the safari. We are waken up at 5:15 am as usual. We go for our third and last elephant ride. It is quiet and nice, the elephant’s name is Hiracules “hira” meaning diamond. We get the chance to see superb birds including a toucan, and then come back for breakfast and eventually depart. We take a tourist bus to Kathmandu. The journey is a tough and never ending one though the bus is more comfortable than the last one. We arrive in Thamel at 4:00 pm, take a taxi to Utse Hotel and start relaxing. We then go for a cycleshaw ride across Thamel and Durbar Square. We have dinner at Yin Yang Thai restaurant and go for a well deserved rest.
19 avril 2007
A scary jungle walk
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Second day of the safari. The staff wakes us up at 5:15 am!!! We have some coffee 45 and finish in time for the elephant ride at 06:00 am. We go to another site of the jungle this time and cross the river. It is quiet, but thanks to the very agitated elephant we ride, no animals can be found. We still have the chance to see deers and peacocks and how an Asian elephant can run fast trying to break anything in his way. We go back to the camp and have some breakfast. We then leave for a scary experience for me: the jungle walk. I am so excited to go, but my excitement changes into fear as the guide briefs us on precautions to take if attacked by wild animals. Precautions includes: hide behind a big tree or run in zigzag if charged by a rhino, shout loudly if attacked by an aggressive bear, look at the Bengal Tiger in the eyes… and pray you come out alive! As our steps lead us deeper and deeper into the jungle, my heart achieves a high score in terms of beats per minute. We can hear animal sounds around us like wild boar and all kinds of birds. The tension comes to its highest level when we pass nearby the rhino’s territory. Luckily it wasn’t there… until a few minutes later when we see it eating quietly in the hoods. I immediately hide behind a tree and try observing it from there. The observation lasts around 5 mns, but for me…a lifetime. When we finish the trek, I can take a “deeeeep inhalation”. We come back and have a rest. Soon after, someone starts yelling “Tiger, tiger”. We get to know that a big tiger crossed the river and came to drink at the sight from the lodge and unfortunately nobody answered the call.
In the afternoon, we can’t resist another elephant bathing. Later, we decide to go for a boat ride to the village nearby along with a French couple with their Nepali children. We go there with some kind of a farming char, pushed by 2 cows. As soon we reach the village, it starts raining heavily. We stay with some people, mostly villagers’ children, where Jeremie enjoys teaching new games and taking pictures. We take our small boat afterwards, it is still raining but we got the chance to see big deer in group, and a rhino “gently” taking his bath in the river, very close to us. We come back to the resort exhausted and really dirty. Quick shower and dinner and straight to bed!
17 avril 2007
The bath of the Elephants
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At 7 am we‘re already up and waiting for a taxi to take us to the tourist bus station. The taxi doesn’t show up; we take a normal bus and we eventually got on time. The bus leaves at 7:15 sharp. We “embark” to Chitwan National Park in a very uncomfortable bus in a really poor condition that gets us broken for the rest of the day. Fortunately I sleep for most of the time but poor Jeremie tries to read no matter what. A jeep then gets us to Chitwan where we have a good lunch at the Jungle Island Resort. We relax and get up in time for the elephant bathing in the Narayani river. It is so much fun, especially when the elephant starts showering us with his trunk, obeying orders from his trainer shouting loud “Harrrrdelepurrr”. Later in the afternoon, we are scheduled for the elephant ride safari in the nearby jungle. The sounds and the atmosphere are really astonishing and I have difficulties thinking we’re in Nepal. It is so different from where we come from few days ago. We first see a rhinoceros, a big grey thing. It is also amazing to see all this wildlife, from insects, birds, to small deers. We go back a bit exhausted after 2 hours. We have dinner which was good and varied. Then time to sleep, amidst insects and jungle cuties.
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16 avril 2007
Back to Pokhara
Sunday! The rest day. Truly! We go straight to the small airport to take the small noisy plane to Pokhara. But I am happy to take it this time. We arrive at 9:30 am to the Sacred Valley Inn, say goodbye to our guide and then breakfast!! (After a well deserved shower of course). We go to the Tea Garden restaurant which has a superb view on the lake and fill our hungry stomachs. We decide to rent a motorbike, but before doing so, we pass to the travel agent to confirm that we are going to Chitwan tomorrow. Half an hour later we are on our motorcycle, heading to the Tashilik Tibetan village. We visit the monastery; and the numerous souvenir stalls where Jeremie can practice his negotiation skills. We buy some small items. Then we go towards Begnas Tal, another small lake of Pokhara. It is 25 kms from the lakeside area, where we are staying. We arrive, with no other tourists in sight. It was quite a fearsome journey, considering the state of the roads and the way Nepalese drive. We go to eat in a place that has magnificent view over the lake. The food is fine, and we did not have to wait for hours. Soon after lunch, it starts raining heavily with lots of wind. We take shelter into a room and start playing cards for one and half hour. Rain calms down a bit and we decide to have a go. It is at that moment we realize we did not have our raincoats!! We leave anyway. The helmets are soaing in water, and the motorcycle too. It takes us around 35 mns to get to the hotel, as the rain goes on again. We are all wet and dirty from head to toes, but still our smile on. We deserve a good shower and relax a bit before going to check our emails. Jeremie just learn he got a new job he applied for. We have to celebrate that. We go and eat in Moondance restaurant where we order some Thai food. It was good and the atmosphere was nice.
14 avril 2007
Reaching Jomsom
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When we start walking, Bachan informs us that we can get to Jomsom on the same day which makes us ahead of schedule (better known as “The Programme”). I am happy to hear that even though I am truly enjoying the trek. The scenery is very different from the earlier days. We are descending into a desert like valley floor, with some water currents here and there.
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No villages or signs of life are in the surroundings except perhaps the cattle excrements along the way. We continue for 4 hours before arriving to Tukuche, an ancient Tibetan trading place where we eat. As soon as we leave the village, we go back into the desert, but this time with a fast wind blowing, pushing us to continue our itinerary. We arrive at Jomson at around 3 pm and the first thing that crosses our mind this time is to confirm our return ticket rather than having a hot shower. We are scheduled to fly the next day on the second flight, at 9:00 am.
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13 avril 2007
A long day
The fourth day of the trek is a bit hard. We start walking at 7:30. The path is a flat road-like along the Kali Gandaki river. We cross many bridges and small pathways before getting to Ghasa. The scenery become different as we climb through a pine tree forest from the top of which the river is hardly distinguishable. We get to Lete afterwards but this small village seem never ending as we want to get to Kalopani as soon as possible. We are all tired when we arrive at 4 pm to the “See you Lodge” (pronounced Chiyou by Bachan). The room is great with a private bathroom and a great view of the mountains. After a good dinner we go to sleep amidst the songs of a noisy group of Nepali and Israeli teenagers.
12 avril 2007
Sunrise on Annapurna
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The third day of the trek. Hard “reveil” indeed. We start moving and climbing the steps between busy tourists, all half asleep of course. We arrive there just on time, at 5:15 am. The sun starts rising at 5:30 am. It’s freezing cold. Many people are there, adjusting their lenses and getting ready to catch “the picture” where the sun shows its face on top of the majestic mountains. Of course, on this very moment, we take at least 50 photos with every ray of sun. It is a wonderful moment. We come down slowly and take attention to our knees. Then a shower, the traditional apple pie and hop here we go for another hard day. We decide to reach Tatopani, the name meaning “Hot Water” in Nepali, named after a natural hot water source. It is a hard day with a steep descent that lasted 7 hours.
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We are caught by a heavy rain and have to stop for an hour and half at a small tea place. The scenery is completely different and we walk beside cultivated lands and villages with different kinds of castes. We continue very slowly avoiding to fall on the sliding rocks and arrive to Tatopani around 4 pm. The lodge is very nice with good rooms and gardens all around. We put our swimming suits straight away and go for a relaxation session in the very hot water pool where trekkers relieve the pain of the day. All kinds of people are there: from tourists to porters to Saddus to hash smokers, etc. We take a good shower, order dinner, and sleep very early.
