Nepal-Kathmandu & Trekking

I’m sat writing this instalment of my blog in the Funky Buddha restaurant, drinking 241 cocktails and eating chocolate cake and ice cream. Bliss.

19th Oct

8am

An early rise again, we’re up and met by our trekking guide Shiva. He seems friendly, but we were running late which probably didn’t please him. We hopped on a small bus to the start point, then we see the steps. These are the steepest steps I’ve ever seen, but locals are basically running up them loaded with items like huge bags of rice and weekly shopping.

9am

I think I’m going to die. I’ve never worked so hard in my life. We’re only half way up the steep part of today's trek and I already hate trekking. So far, the views are okay, but not worth the steps. Shiva says we will walk up over 10,000 steps today (that’s just steps as in staircase not movements of the feet).

11am

After the worst bit it’s not that bad, it’s still uphill and we stop frequently for water, biscuits and breath. The views are getting better and better as we go up, seeing the villages and towns in the valleys open up below us.

3pm

We arrive in Chisapani and it looks war torn due to the earthquake, but I’ve never seen such a beautiful sight as our hotel room. With a smelly bathroom and rock hard beds it’s not luxury but more than we expected as they haven’t yet rebuilt from the earthquake; we’re lucky we have a roof! There used to be loads of hotels in this town, but most of them are gone, or little remains of them. Opposite our hotel (which used to be 4 storeys and is now only 1) there’s the remains of a building which says ‘pool house’ on it. Not sure if it was a swimming pool or a snooker-pool house. As soon as we stop walking, we realise it’s freezing, our own sweat making the temperature change more intense. I have a quick freezing cold shower, put some trousers, socks and three layers of top half on and head to the restaurant/reception for a hot tea and some food.

8pm

Knackered, we wrap ourselves up in the blankets, sprinkled with Olbas Oil to mask the scent of the bathroom and sleep.

20th Oct

6:30am

We wake up, get a healthy porridge for breakfast and warm up with tea, and head off for the next day of walking. 7 hours in front of us, we’re feeling daunted, but ready.

7:30am

Walking behind friendly faces from the previous day, we feel better about our pace. It’s much flatter and manageable, although I keep getting chest pains which don’t help. Views on this part are as incredible as the last but we’ve stopped taking pictures because they don’t do anything justice. Breath-taking.

4pm

After stopping for lunch we finally arrive at our hotel, and collapse into the chairs into reception. Lucy heads straight off to bed, but my legs wont allow me to get up for some time. Eventually I hobble down 3 flights of steps to get to our room (down is actually worse at this point). I collapse into the bed and gain back warmth under three layers of blankets.

7pm

I have a chinese buffet with 100 chinese tourists that have just got off a tour bus. They’re very loud and gross eaters. I read my book in the common area and upload a few pictures, then slink back to bed.

21st Oct

We get up and decide we aren’t going to carry on to Nala, and will walk the shorter route to get the bus back (30 mins instead of 6 hours).

11am

2 buses later, we arrive back at the hotel, greeted with a coke and a new room… WITH A BATH! It’s the best thing for my my legs that don’t work properly. In so much pain I seem to be walking like I’ve shit myself. Relaxing afternoon not too far from the hotel.

22nd Oct

10:30am

We’re ready to move again, this time to Hemraj’s house, our host for the homestay for the next 5 days.

12pm

We check out then get into a dodgey looking taxi with a tires with no tread, one of which is flat. It’s called Pearl which we have a good giggle at! He ended up having no idea where he was going so we get angry and get out. Deflated, we stop for lunch and use a local’s phone to call Hemraj who walked to pick us up.

7pm

There’s another guy staying here too, Jake from Michigan. We head out for dinner with him, then go to Purple Haze (my new favourite bar) We meet new friends, and Happy, one of the other guides on the trekking route we took.

12am

We come back to find the gate of the house locked. They didn’t seem to mind coming to let us in though! Oops.

23rd Oct

5:30am

Lucy is up and about getting ready for her flight to Pokhara. Back to sleep for me

10am

I finally work up the courage to face the children (Babu who is 3, and Himani who is 7) and entertain them for a bit before going out to grab lunch.

12pm

I meet Happy for lunch, and he takes me to the monkey temple (official name Swayambhunath Temple). What he doesn’t tell me is it’s up on the top of the hill so involves an excessive amount of steps to climb. It was worth it though. The monkeys are a bit unruly, keep your food away from them, but the sights were incredible. You can see all of Kathmandu, and the mountains that surround them. The temple itself was also beautiful, mostly Buddhist, but with a small Hindu temple too. Its main features are the prayer walls which seem to be everywhere. They consist of metal cylinders with script on them, which spin when pushed, not dissimilar to noughts and crosses games you see at children’s parks.

4pm

We walk back around the outer perimeter of the temple, and all the walls here are prayer walls. The monks, I’m told, walk around the perimeter 3 times every day, spinning all the cylinders. There are also prayer rooms here, which are around 4ft square with one huge cylinder in the middle that people walk around, turning as they go. A bell rings every time it spins once.

5pm

Happy invites me to his sister’s house for dinner which isn’t far from the temple, and we head there to socialise. His niece and nephew are similar ages to Babu and Himani so I mess around with them for a bit. They especially like my party trick with crossing my eyes and moving them around.

8pm

After Dhal Bhat and fresh apples for dinner, Happy and I walked back to Thamel. Shattered from the day (probably just the children) I climb into bed and sleep.

24th Oct

6:30pm

Lucy arrives back from Pokhara and we head out for pizza to discuss our adventures. I’ve done nothing all day.