Nepal Trip (6-17 April 2016) - Poon Hill to Hile

Poon Hill to Hile (12 April 2016, Tues)

It is 10 to 1 pm and we are waiting for lunch. Momo for me and spaghetti for Bernard.  Ram the porter and Arjun the guide are waiting for their lunch as well outside the restaurant.  Food preparation takes forever here as everywhere else.  If only the sky is clear then we would have a nice view of the terraces across the valley on the other side of the ravine.

We just came from Ghorepani where this morning we got up at 4 am to make the 1 hour trek up the Poon Hill (actualy Pun Hill, named after the person who has developed the area) to have a panoramic view of Annapurna 1, Annapurna South, Fishtail and Dhaulagiri among other mountains which are over 7,000 meters and above.   This was supposed to be the highlight of the 5-day Annapurna Panorama Trek but there we arrived at Poon Hill with some views, though poorly, of the majestic mountains.  Still beautiful but they seem so far away!

We are now on our way to Hile which is about 1,400 meters above sea level.   Thousands and thousands of stairs, never ending, it is very tough on my knees which are now shaking but I feel relieve when I look at the faces of those who are going up,  thank God we took the other way around!

We soon found our teahouse called Sushma which is in a small village in the middle of the terraces.   Almost nothing is planted in the terraces and I wonder when is the planting and harvesting season in this place as they say June is rainy season so there should still be plants here!

As it is our last night together, Arjun and Ram joined us for dinner.  We all had  non-vege Dhal Bat which has portions of potato curry, green vege that look and taste like mustard leaves, pickels, papad (crispy like in India), some chicken curry and rice.

This night, I started to read a book in my Kindle titled Finch which has won awards.   Previous to these I have also finished Up the Organization, Idea Generation which were in my Kindle as well.   I got so engrossed in the book that I ended up sleeping very late.  It started off with a story of a boy whose mom has died in a museum bomb attack.

Nepal Trip (6-17 April 2016) - Tadapani to Ghorepani

Tadapani to Ghorepani (11 April 2016, Mon)

We left early this morning for a 5-6 hour trek to Ghorepani (literally horse water).  The town according to Arjun is right on the ancient Salt Trade Route and this is where the horses make a stop to drink hence the name.

This is a beautiful route under the Rhodondendron trees which are in full bloom.  This part has younger hence lower trees and so they have more flowers.   Bernard can't stop clicking.   We reached the highest point (pass) on the trek and we had beautiful views of the valley on either side of the ridge with many trees in full bloom.   If it was a clear day, we could have the Annapurna Panorama which was the point of this whole trip but thanks to the dusty sky no panorama in view.

Gladly the rhododendron flowers were there to cheer us up.   There was even a bird that was making a nice song that reminded me of the mockingjay song in the movie.   In this route there were not many people whom we met on the road - peaceful, calm and beautiful!

Bernard wasn't feeling very well at the end of the this route so we headed right to the teahouse and he went straight to bed.  I was, on the other hand, still with good energy so I visited the town a bit. Bernard felt better after he had slept a bit.

Ghorepani is a ramshackle of a village with ugly hotel buildings with many rusty corrugated roof houses not like the first 2 villages we stayed in where the houses are traditional and hence more charming.

Unlike trekking in India, we stayed at teahouses which dot the route.  These are pretty much like basic hotels but almost all have hot showers, warm beds with mattresses, pillows and blankets.   It is about 500 nepali rupees per night for a double occupancy room but you have to eat at the hotel.   While trekking, there is really no need to pee or poo on the side of the route like we did in all of our treks in India and in essence it is cleaner here.    Most teahouses also have clean western-style toilets obviously catering to the tourists.  There is electricity in all the villages and so there is even wifi in some teahouses.  

The teahouses are almost all full with foreigners who congregates at the restaurant during dinner time though Arjun said that the tourist level has not yet gone back to as it was before the April 2015 earthquake.

Nepal Trip (6-17 April 2016) - Gandruk to Tadapani

Gandruk to Tadapani (10 April 2016, Sun)

I woke up very early today.  Bernard  is sound asleep so I came out and thought of getting some coffee.  There were 2 Tibetan ladies who were just starting to spread their wares on the teahouse courtyard in front of the flowers.  I could not resist browsing a bit and took 2 necklaces for trying in front of the mirror.  She is giving the heavy dark ruby necklace for 3,500 nepali rupees and I thought it was expensive as I have not seen others anyway.   I took a dark ruby pendant for 700 nepali rupees (about US$7).    

At 9 am we are set to go and Arjun said that this is going to be an easy day, only 3 hours of walk since we walked a lot the previous day.   We were also supposed to see some Rhododendrons on the way.  He said that the views of Annapurna in Tadapani would be superb.

We reached Tadapani in no time and on the way to our teahouse we passed by several beautiful terraces where you could enjoy Annapurna only if it was a clear day.   We see a glimpse but that was it for the day!  Bernard was hoping to at least see Rhododendrons in bloom but the ones we passed were old and huge.  They looked they have been there for a very very long time.  Even if they have flowers, they would be very high up there for us to appreciate.   Arjun said that these are old ones and so they flower very little.

Arjun said that if we get up early the following day usually we can see a beautiful view even if the weather is not so great!  Dinner, shower, a a bit of a walk in the village before going to bed and the following morning, I got up early just to check the view but no Annapurna mountain in sight!

Nepal Trip (6-17 April 2016) - Annapurna Panorama Trek Instead of Everest Base Camp

Annapurna Panorama Trek In Lieu of Everest Base Camp (9 April 2016, Sat)

Ready for the five-day Annapurna Panorama Trek in lieu of the Everest Base Camp which was supposed to be for 18 days (12 days trek) but we were not sure health-wise whether it would be good for Bernard who was diagnosed with mild sciatica 6 weeks ago.   The doctor said it should be fine but for me it is better to be safe than sorry!

From Pokhara the start off point is about 1.5 hours by car and off we went with Arjun our guide and Ram (another Ram) our porter.  Ram is a very young guy who from looking at him might not be able to carry our duffel bags though we already put the minimum clothing/other stuff in the bag.   We were loaned other items by the company such as down jacket and sleeping bag.  We are staying in tea houses where Bernard and I will have our room and there is common toilet and hot shower!   

Arjun took care of the registration at the start point and at about 11 am we started the trek. This is supposed to be a five-hour day trek to a small village called Gandruk. Mostly stairs all the way up and passing by teahouses along the way. It is quite picturesque with the teahouses with slates as roofing and small gardens at the back and some animals (goat, chicken, dog). We had a bit of a nice view on the way up and Bernard gladly took pics of it! Arjun says that is Fishtail, that is Annapurna 1 and that one is Annapurna IV or V!

After 5 hours of slogging up the stairs we finally reach a cute 2-floor teahouse with the name Sakura with pictures of sakura flowers (cherry blossoms) on its signboard.  The teahouse has plenty of beautiful flowers in bloom on its front yard and since our room is on the ground floor, all you have to do is come out of the room and sit on the porch and look at the flowers! Lovely!

There is also a sign that says German Bakery. I did not know that the Germans were known for excellent patisserie but if you are in the mountains I guess you could very well make use of German efficiency!

Tea, hot shower for me and Bernard, dinner, sit a bit at the porch and then off to bed early to be ready for the next day!

Nepal Trip (6-17 April 2016) - Kathmandu to Pokhara

Kathmandu to Pokhara (8 April 2016, Fri)

We have to ready by 8 am today for the land trip to Pokhara which is a lakeside town 6 hours away from Kathmandu.   It is the 2nd most populous city in Nepal.  Kathmandu is said to have 5 million of the total 30 million Nepalis, 10% of whom are abroad.   The ride is long since we pass by mountain side though the Pokhara is just about 200 km from Kathmandu.

We arrived finally at 2 pm.  Pokhara is a very pretty town very similar in ambience to Nuwara Eliyah in Sri Lanka. After we dropped our luggage in our hotel which is just a bit off the main road, we ventured out to see the town.  Many shops lining the lake and the road that goes parallel to the lake.   There are restaurants and coffee shops with terraces overlooking lake Phewa and with a view of the white Peace Stupa up the hill on the other side of the lake.   Bernard wants to climb the hill and go to Stupa but I was not in the mood for climbing uphill considering that we will be doing a trek for the following five days!

We met Arjun for dinner at a Tibetan Momo Restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet guide.   The service took forever, something that we have noticed in Nepal.  It wasn’t like the restaurant is full though there is a group of another 12 or so foreigners in the other table being entertained by a little girl, the child of the parents who are now busily and noisily arguing (talking loudly) while preparing our food.   The momos were in the end better than the ones we had in Durbar Square in Kathmandu but I still liked the ones we had in Darjeeling (West Bengal, India) because it is closer in taste to the Japanese gyoza that I have been craving for a long time.

Nepal Trip (6-17 April 2016) - Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal (7 April 2016, Thurs)

2nd day we are going to have tour of Boddnath and Pashupathinath which are both inscribed in the World Heritage Site.   We left the hotel at about 9 am and the tour master is Mr. Ram who told me that I look very much like a Nepali woman and he said that it iis as if Nepali and Filipino people just came from the same father.

Pashupathinath is a holy site for the Hindu and this is where the dying come for cleansing in the river that runs through it and this is where cremations happen pretty much like the ones in Varanasi.   We are watching from across the river what is happening on the other side.  It is like front seat as the river is anyway not to wide and we were on a certain high point that you look down on the other side.  There was a family who ram said came to cremate a dead person who came from abroad.  They opened the box coffin which was sealed tightly for travel and his body was extracted from the box and put on a metal gurney to be lowered close to the water where the family members one by one came to pour milky water on his head.   The wife struggled to come and just broke down when he saw his husband and wanted to touch him and his family has to drag her away.  It is heart wrenching to see this as I was thinking that probably the husband has been gone for years and this is the first time that the wife will see him and he is there lifeless on a metal gurney.

We then left and took some pics with the sadhu, itinerant Hindus and went to Boddnath Stupa which was said to be to be the biggest in the world.  It is surrounded by shops.  After going around the stupa and visiting a Buddhist temple, Ram brought us to a shop where they make Thankas.   There were quite expensive.  I liked a Mandala Thanka in the traditional cloth which costs US$ 450 (can get 20% discount) but Bernard is in no mood for shopping on the first day as always!

We were then returned to the hotel at about 1 pm.   This tour is part of the package.   While we still have plenty of time, we visited Kathmandu’s Durbar Square which is just a few minutes away from Shakti Hotel (Thamel) where we are staying.   While there are plenty of beautiful buildings that collapsed and some which are precariously propped up by wooden planks, the place still has the old world charm.  Still very impressive and there are still plenty of old buildings to see.   The woodwork on the buildings are particularly impressive.

The British colleague of Bernard, Stuart said that this is the dirtiest place he has ever seen.   It was indeed dirty but there is nothing shocking when you come from India.  It is definitely not dirtier than most parts of India including Delhi though of course it is way poorer so no cleaner areas such as the wealthier areas in India.  Stuart obviously has not yet visited Varanasi where the cars, tuktuks, people with their vegetable carts, tourist walking along with the holy cows pooping while scavenging on garbage strewn all over just a few inches away from where people walk, eat, sell stuff!  Well, the air though in Kathmandu is dusty and so no blue sky :)

We met Arjun again in the evening and we bought a daypack for Bernard to replace his old heavy yellow backpack.  We found a nice one at a shop called Lowe Alpine for US $ 130.  Arjun then left us in a popular pizza restaurant called Fire and Ice (in Thamel). This restaurant is recommended in the lonely planet and it offers quite a good variety of pizza.  There is a queue but it was worth the wait as the food was good.   I ordered San Miguel Beer (Philippine beer) which turned out to be widely available in Nepal.

Nepal Trip (6-17 April 2016) - Hyderabad to Kathmandu

Hyderabad, India to Kathmandu, Nepal (6 April 2016, Wed)

We left Hyderabad at about 11 pm for an early morning flight to Kathmandu via Delhi with Jet Airways. We have 5 hours layover in Delhi so we have decided to go out of the airport and do 2 things : go to the Philippine Embassy for me to be registered (which is a requirement by the Belgian Embassy for the adoption of Madhavi) and to go to CARA and request them to provide us some documents that are required by the Belgian Embassy again for the recognition of the adoption of Madhavi.

It was a funny coincidence that Jane Bacay and some of my previous colleagues at the Foreign Ministry are now posted at the Philippine Embassy in Delhi.   This will be helpful for me to have somebody to call for the certificate I need from the Embassy.   I have invited them to come and visit us in Hyderabad.

We went to see Mr. Prashanta Kanungo in CARA and we have explained to him our request.  He said that what CARA can do is to write a letter to the Belgian Embassy confirming the points that the Belgian Embassy wants clarified for the recognition of adoption of Madhavi.

We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal at about 5 pm and we were picked up by Arjun from Mountain Monarch.  He will be our guide for the trip.  For the first night, Arjun gave us a welcome dinner at a traditional Nepali restaurant just a few steps from Shakti Hotel (in Thamel area) which will be our base in Kathmandu.  We ordered the non-veg Dhal Bat which is very much like the thali in India.  The thali also comes with a traditional drink very much like sake.   There were some traditional dance presentation during the dinner.  That is the end of our first day.