Namaste!

After an horrific 28 hour round journey from Varanasi we eventually arrived in Nepal, though given the hassle of the route you would think that they would never want anyone to arrive in their country!

We took a sleeper train from Varanasi to Gorakpuhr which was four hours late and meant we arrived in the heat of the mid-40s sun trying to haggle with touts for the cheapest (and safest!) way of getting to the border. This involved negotiating an astronomical price for a jeep ride only to sit in the jeep for 40 minutes and watch as they packed more and more people into it. We then got out and demanded our own ride as we had paid for and after much arguing they put us in a taxi for even more money. Sitting in the taxi ready to leave and the driver bundles three "friends" in with us! Cue a massive argument which resulted only in him finally getting rid of one of them and forcing the other two in the front seat so we had the back to ourselves. He then had the cheek to pull up at a petrol station and demand we pay for the petrol as we had no money...we refused and he then "found" some money in his pocket!

Got to Sounali early afternoon and went through the laborious visa process and then had the joys of crossing the border and trying to negotiate a bus to Pokhara. Probably shouldn't write too much about the 8 hour overnight bus route as mum will probably have kittens; suffice to say that it involved knife-edge thin "roads" winding up and around the mountains avoiding oncoming vehicles which we were lucky if they had their lights on! I had to close my window (only form of ac...) as I kept falling asleep and then waking up halfway out of the window looking down a several thousand metre crevice....

Finally arrived at 4am and fortunately got picked up and taken to our hotel, Hotel Dharma Inn, where we promptly collapsed, waking up only to enjoy the cold shower!

The journey was, however, well worth the trial. I have fallen in love with Pokhara, a beautiful lakeside town situated at the base of the Himalayan mountains with a gorgeous lake and a strip of shops running round one side with every possible type of food and furthermore every 5th shop is a secondhand book shop!! It was like I had died and gone to heaven:) We spent the remainder of the day pottering around and getting our bearings before ending up in Boomerang's cafe garden watching a glorious sun set into the mountains above the lake.

Unfortunately it was then Hiren's turn to be struck down by the good old food poisoning, this time the culprit was a dodgy enchilada...While he alternated between bed and bathroom I spent the next couple of days, in between nursing for him attentively of course, exploring Pokhara.

On my first solo day, wanting to hike up to the Peace Pagoda to gain a view of the surrounding area but being advised not to as tourists are frequently mugged on the way up the mountain by guerrilla Nepalese residing in the forest, I instead decided to take a 3 mile walk in the sun to the Devi Waterfalls. This is apparently named after a guy called David plunged to his death down the rockface managing to take his girlfriend with him and being in the hottest part of their season was sadly little more than a dribble. However, exploring the foot of the waterfalls via the Gupteshwor Mahadev caves was incredible. There's virtually no light and only a sheer rockface dripping with water to slide down to get to the foot where you see the water cascading into the pool through the slimmest chink of light.

After emerging from the darkness, taking an alternative tunnel which found me stuck in a small hollowed out cave with a man and a garishly decorated cow touting for money, I headed for the Tibetan Refugee camp where I was kindly invited into the village and allowed to sit in the temple as the hundreds of monks, some as young as 4-5, were in the middle of their chanting. The poverty of the village certainly brought home the plight of the Tibetans, something that seemed only a bit too distant and detached from news reports and TV bulletins.

The following day, having explored fully the damside of Fewa lake, I headed north, declining the bicycle for a pair of feet and set off alone armed only with the ever present water bottle and my camera. The walk was spectacular as once leaving the touristy lakeside strip you enter into the remote village communities. The local inhabitants were so friendly, inviting me in to see their houses and farms and teaching me the Nepalese words for all their possessions and allowing me just to sit with them and take in the view of their everyday life. The style of living is so different in Nepal where everything is much more relaxed than the chaos of India. Families live in small communities and villages funded by small self-sufficient farms of corn predominantly and selling snacks in little shacks next to their homes to passerbys. They believe only in having to provide enough money to ensure the security of the family and when the day is done will settle round for a communal meal of dal bhat. The Nepalese never seem to stop smiling and are unbelievably welcoming; they take each day as it comes and believe in a mutual respect that ensures everyone looks out for everyone, with a heavy emphasis on the importance of family. This emphasis is so important that there is a reputed endemic of suicides amongst marriageless and childless Nepalese....

Having enjoyed enough culture I took advantage of Hiren's recovery and long levers to hire a boat for the day and row around the lake. Oxford missed a trick or two by not getting us in for the boat race as after a wobbly start which involved us taking a good half hour to try and steer past the temple island just off the mooring point we soon got into a good rhythm and had hit the opposite side in no time. We lay on the little shore recovering and relishing the peace and solitude of the foot of the mountains before getting back in the boat and exploring more of the coves. Having worked up a sweat I dived into the lake and had a good old swim while Hiren, not a fan of the water - remember Swansea?! - stayed firmly in the boat. We ended the day sitting back in Boomerangs watching the "cultural show" where a troupe of all singing and dancing Nepalese performed a series of songs, dances and mimes (one involving a bizarre routine involving a guy in a motorcycle helmet and torn clothes running manically around the stage...!) while we had dinner.

This was our last dayof relaxing before heading up the hills and starting our trek, which neither of us had a clue about what we were letting ourselves in for...

It involved a 7am start and meeting our guide, a Pokhara based chap called Bhurat, and then taking another infamous bus route to the small town of Nayapul where having our permits verified we set off after Bhurat into the mountains...The first day was completely uphill and a shock to the system after several days of languid lounging about by the lakeside devouring slabs of apple crumble and banana chocolate cake and took us five hours to reach Hille where we were to spend the first night. We arrived at 3pm and sopping wet from sweat I dived into the shower, a small outhouse several metres away from the main teahouse (as the accomodation is affectionately known!) The light wasn't working and above the din of the shower I didn't hear the sudden storm erupt so opening the door of the shower I was shocked by what were literally sheets of rain crashing down. I had to wait in the showerroom for half an hour, in the dark, before the rain let up even the tiniest bit to allow me to run back into the teahouse! This was much to the amusement of the three Germans also staying at the teahouse and who I stayed up with chatting, and swapping scare stories about the trek, before heading to a well deserved sleep.

Slightly worried about the mountain rain we got up early the following morning to get a good headstart - plus a determination to ensure some male pride in beating the two female Germans to the next village. Should have known things were going to go wrong when having been assured the muesli had no nuts I promptly had a reaction after two mouthfuls and had to hastily wolf down an omelette to stave off the vomiting. But I was the lucky one. About 100m into our walk Hiren complained of feeling ill and when we stopped for a break he promptly began vomiting, through his nose!! We're not quite sure what it was but it meant the whole morning was spent in 20 second bursts of walking up an incredibly steep incline before he had to sit down to wretch - and included the awful scenario of being overtaken by the girls....! Our guide was so worried that he didn't think we would make the next base and began planning an alternative route but after taking over 5 hours to complete a 2 hour trek we had a proper lunch and that seemed to right Hiren. Buoyed by not vomiting and spurred on by the fear of rain boulders we made extremely good time and reached Gorepani 10 hours after having set off (overtaking, and consequently, eating the Germans in the process:))

Staying in the teahouse at Gorepani we met many more trekkers and got to know people from all walks of life with different motivations for doing the walk. There were 4 older Aussie men, best friends, who had decided to do something different for a holiday and made a pact to go to Base Camp and who were panicking as they were struggling to cope with the early stages, plus one of them had discovered he had vertigo! There was a solo Korean girl who had the most hilarious guide who sang, joked and laughed the whole route. He would have us all in stitches as he mimicked the poor Korean girl's accent and started singing his songs and getting her to join in. These two were doing the same route as us for a couple of days and more than kept us amused as we shared some friendly banter about who was going to overtake who. There was another group of pensioner Koreans who were wound up like Duracell bunnies and never stopped, shaming us with their fitness. Fortunatley we had the German girls and a young Japanese couple trailing after us the whole route to make us feel better.

Having survived the night Hiren decided against the 4am start to trek up to Poon Hill (3200m) to watch the sunrise, so I went alone with Bhurat, picking our way up the mountain with our torches! It was a hefty 40 minute ascent climbing 500m but well worth the asthmatic lung workout. We reached the top and having been warned that there was no visibility the previous day were disappointed to see the surrounding peaks shrouded in clouds. We huddled around the watchtower with the 50 or so other trekkers and then miraculously the sun burst through the clouds and a huge cheer went up in what was a truly Wordsworthian Prelude moment of awe as the peaks one by one peeked through the gloom.

I virtually skipped back down the hill and don't think Hiren shared my enthusiasm as I woke him up eager to start the next part of our trip. Ironically, having thought he had opted out of the ascent Hiren was confronted with the news that we had to scale 3500m to get to the next village before we could get down. Having left at 8 we didn't arrive until 3, 7 hours of almost solid trekking. This was the hardest and most demanding part of the trek as knackered from having done Poon Hill earlier in the day when at 2.30pm the heavens opened again we had to make our way up a steep incline to reach our teahouse. The rain landing on me felt like being stoned and pummelled into the ground; the water washed down the hill obscuring the track and reaching ankle-deep levels and carrying boulders that smashed into our shoes. We had raincoats on and desperately tried to protect the contents of our bags being drenched but the only escape was to keep climbing. I sprinted ahead so quickly that the guide couldn't catch me and ended up reaching the wrong hotel. When he eventually found me, having nicely dried off, and beckoned me back out into the rain I felt like crying at the thought of further hiking...fortunately our teahouse was only across the road and I was saved the nightmare!

Having climbed two peaks and suffered being caught in a tropical storm I thought I had successfully escaped any disaster for the day only to be felled in yet another outdoor shower, slipping on the tiles and going feet over bum and cracking my head on the step to the great amusement of all the guides! There has definitely been a mutual dislike in the hills between myself and the outdoor showers....

We woke up on the fourth day to breakfast on the terrace sat right in front of the glacier mountains - the best way to start the day:) A snippet of a two hour trek later and we had arrived at Tadapani where after sleeping for a few hours were then given a tour of the village by our guide who was intent on collecting peas to take home and setting us up with some nice village girls! The walk was beautiful, carving through the forests of rhododendrons whose fallen trumpet heads lined the path, trodden underfoot and attracting a plethora of ladybirds that added a bizarre polkadot effect.

The trek ended on the fifth day with a 5 hour slog down the hill which I found far worse than climbing. The old war wound of my rickety ankle started playing up and it was a relief to hit Nayapal before the rain started again and snooze on the bus back home, though perversely with a great sadness to think that it had come to an end.

It was one of the most gruelling, but yet because of that rewarding, experiences of my life. The view was stunning, we were blessed with a guide who provided us with incredible insights into the nature of the mountains and its people and who looked after us throughout (stealing extra blankets for us in Gorepani and carrying Hiren's bag as well as his own when Hiren was too ill) and met so many trekkers along the way with different experiences and stories to share. Special mention has to go to the porters who carry trekkers luggage up the moutain strapped to a single band that is wrapped around their head - how they manage it I have no idea! Hiren and I carried our own stuff but still got embarrassed every time we sat down panting and gasping for water and were overtaken by a group of porters carrying nearly half their body weight on their backs and not even pausing for breath! Definitely think there's a tv show in Celebrity Sherpas - just imagine Jordan et co hiking up the Himalayas with their tents o their back being forced to sleep on the mountainside amongst the leopards with squat style toilets ! Genius!

Since coming back we have been sleeping and lounging about by the lake as we recover, usually occupying our favourite haunt in Boomerang's cafe garden in order to try out the full range of their patisserie! We have also been sampling the many restaurants, enjoying Sha Bakley (meat pies) at Lhasa Tibetan restaurant and Grilled Buffalo at Laxman's! We took our guide out to Caffe Concerto on the day we got back by way of thanking him and having downed one Everest beer each (our first of the trip!) combined with 5 days of accumulated exhaustion had to stumble home together!

Tomorrow we're catching an early bus to Narayangard and am going to see Mike and find out how he's been getting on in his school. Really looking forward to catching up with him and spending the week chilling, or being dragged in as part of his show and tell project!

Sam

x

PS The photos are now up on facebook for you to check!

FAVOURITE PLACE: Hotel Dharma Inn - run by a guy we have adopted as Namaste through his clockwork like greetings of us every time he sees us. Shame about the 2065 New Year festival next door and the screaming cleaners at 6 in the morning but has a lovely ramshackle homely feel and have had everything taken care of for us which is a relief after the hassle of India.
FAVOURITE EATERIE: Toughie - Boomerangs for its garden and apple crumble, Lhasa for their meat pies. Also the abundance of fresh fruit places has been a Godsend after the greasy foods we've had so far. The roast chicken on the last night of the trek was also a high point after 4 days of being a vegetarian!
WHAT I'M GOING TO MISS: Smiling Nepalese people, lounging around in the cafe gardens, the patisseries and cheap restaurants ($3 for a meal and drink!) and the ubiquitous bookshops (my bag is now twice as heavy as when I arrived...!)
WHAT I'M NOT GOING TO MISS: lacings of cinnamon and other spices in the warm milk they add to ruin your tea, after an eight hour trek summing up enough strength in your screaming legs to squat over the hole in the floor to relieve yourself
MOST BIZARRE: The man who dresses up as an eagle (in genuine eagle feathers) and cycles down the road
BOOKS I'VE READ: Area of Darkness by V.S. Naipul (glad to see my opinions of India are shared with him even over the gap of 40 years!); The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond (one of Hiren's biological books on evolution of man which I read on the trek, fascinating stuff though some of it dubious and never thought I'd say I enjoyed reading a science book - some weird reversal seems to have happened as Hiren is now reading Crime and Punishment!); Freefall by William Golding (great until about halfway in when the outsider coming of age story enters bizarre Gestapo torture territory); Wilt on High by Tom Sharpe (a great Catch 22 satire that had me laughing out loud at the hapless hero and wishing to read more of the tales of Henry Wilt)

FAVOURITE QUOTE : "Please do not put hands on the shinning (sic) stones. Necessary action will be taken on the offenders" (Sign in the caves , ie Nepalese conservation with a twist!)