Trekking Makes Me Love Nepal (all over again)

So my family, and I’m sure all of you, think all I do is trek… but REALLY, if you look back, I’ve only been trekking twice (this last time included)! What can I say? Nepal is made for trekking (sorry, Peter, that's just what they call it here!). So when Sam said, “Hey, want to go trekking?” I had to say yes! I saw the trip as a way for me to clear my head before really digging in and writing up this thesis (I know, my REAL reason for being here). At least that was my rationalization for taking another week off from work to go have some fun. I AM in Nepal, people. ;)

Sam and I trekked in the Annapurnas before (the Poon Hill – Ghandruk loop), but this time we thought we’d check out the other side of the mountains – the Jomsom – Mukintinath – Tatopani trek. All in all about 103km (that’s like 64 miles, apparently). All of our friends had already been on the trek and from their pictures it looked amazing. Sam and I were both running out of time in Nepal (SAD! :( ), so we decided to venture back to the Annapurnas in the offseason… and oh yeah, it’s winter.

Much like last time, we took an early bus out to Pokhara. This time we had Isa and Camille with us as they were headed up on a short weekend trip to Bandipur. We saw a crazy jeep accident on the road that stopped traffic for a bit and drew a lot of attention from all the tourists and motorists. It freaks me out to ride on the roads here, but there's not much I can do for people driving crazy on the scary roads here. Once in PKH, Sam and I decided to forgo the carbo-loading at our favorite Italian coffee bar and restaurant Café Concerto (actually, Sam and I only know 2 restaurants in PKH) and went all in for Korean barbeque (Natsuil or something – the other restaurant we know). I still don’t get the whole “oooh… Pokhara!” thing. Sam and I both are just underwhelmed with the place (Can you ever just be “whelmed”? hahahha). So pretty much for us, Pokhara means barbeque pork… which isn’t a bad thing. :) After eating, we went to back to our hotel because we had an early flight to Jomsom the next morning.

Sam, Camille, Isabelle and me on the early morning bus. (Photo by Sam)

This is what we do in Pokhara - eat pork like we've never seen it before.

Day 1: Pokhara – Jomsom – Kagbeni

The flight to Jomsom from PKH is short – maybe 20 minutes, but it’s a beautiful flight since it goes right through the Annapurnas. That means you get to see all the mountains from above before hiking past them on the trek. It was my first time flying within Nepal and seeing that tiny, tiny plane was a little unnerving, but it was fine. I think I trust the pilots more than some of the drivers I've seen on the roads. It's cute though, because they give you cotton to put in your ears because its so loud and some little candies to get you through the flight.

The tiny plane that carried us.

Me in the tiny plane... I was a little worried. Tiny planes and big mountains would scare anyone, right?

The rest of the survivors.

Mountains from above... and still they are big. I THINK this is Dhaulagiri.

Once we landed, we realized that Jomsom was kind of like a ghost town… little did we know that’s how most of the towns would be like on this trek since it’s the off season. Everything was closed... and there were barely any people around. We were also freezing cold… I even put on gloves and my scarf while we were hiking to Kagbeni. I usually never get cold while hiking, but there we were, dressed out in winter wear, ready to get trekking.

Checking in at the permit and registration office. (Photo by Sam)

On the way... at least we know we're headed in the right direction. (Photo by Sam)

It's like walking through a desert... of rocks. (Photo by Sam)

The way to Kagbeni is pretty straightforward. You head out of Jomsom and you can see Kagbeni after some time. Kagbeni is my FAVORITE place in all of Nepal (seriously). The place is just so beautiful and the people are so interesting. Sam and I were walking through town and maybe about 10 people (mostly men) were playing some game by the river. I wanted to join, but boys never let me play here. :( It was also an interesting time for us to be there as it was Lhosar (or Tibetan New Year) and so the whole town had pretty much disappeared to the community meeting hall for drinking and gambling. Another ghost town, but this one's pretttttty.

The view of Kagbeni from a cliff behind the town.

Sam and I stayed in this amazing lodge – The Red House which is owned and operated by some close friends of my next door neighbor here Hari. The Red House is a converted 400-year-old monastery at the edge of town. It has some of the original structure… and it even has a massive golden Buddha tucked away in one of the family’s rooms. Like, seriously... massive. The place is just great… the food is really good… and the owners are SOOO nice! Sam and I had a good time just hanging out in Kagbeni and at the Red House, which is good since we decided to stay there 2 nights!

We also considered hiking into Upper Mustang (which is a restricted area - we heard permits go for like $700 or something) but we hiked up to this cliff behind Kagbeni that was past the restricted area checkpost and got a great view of Kagbeni from there. On our way back in, we found out the area's not restricted until past the next town. :( And we thought we were all cool like that.

The Red House in Kagbeni - the best lodge EVER.

The view of Kagbeni from the Red House roof-top.

Day 2: Kagbeni – Muktinath – Kagbeni (or running down the mountain)

Muktinath is at 3700m (the highest I’ve been) and this part of the trek is known for some altitude sickness problems. I was unsure if I wanted to go… but because it’s one of the major points on the trek, I felt like I should (even though both Sam and I were lethargic and headachey – early signs of altitude sickness). The hike there is along a road (no, we didn’t take the special underused trail that everyone told us about) through the desert-y like landscape. It’s uphill (which I don’t really like) but it wasn’t actually that bad… but you can definitely feel the altitude. Or at least, I could. Sam even made me take the altitude tablets because I was unable to concentrate on anything for more than a second and wasn’t feeling right.

Looking back towards Kagbeni on the way to Muktinath. Look at that sky!?

Sam and his fancy camera - I'm jealous.

Yay - we made it! Do I look slightly out of it? It's totally the altitude sickness. (Photo by Sam)

So we get to Muktinath, thinking, cool, we’ll get a jeep back to Kagbeni – easy. We talk to the jeep guy and he says oh, the jeep will leave when we’ve got enough people… probably 2 or 3pm. Sam and I keep walking up to the actual temple. I’ll admit I was cranky… from the hunger (nothing was really open except for one restaurant/hotel which was full of women doing a special puja for something so the owners couldn't feed us too… again ghost town) and the altitude.

The town of Muktinath from the temple... mostly closed except the massive amount of women gathered for a special puja ceremony.

But the temple was really cool. There’s 108 water spouts which you’re supposed to run through and wash your face with each for good fortune or something. Keep in mind… it was winter and at 3700m, there was a bit of snow. The water spouts were freezing cold, but after the hike, we’ll just say it was refreshing and jarred me into a better mood (which I'm sure Sam was grateful for). After checking out the temple a little more, Sam and I headed back into town to search for food… and catch our jeep.

Part of the 108 water spouts - yes, that's snow there.

The food search was successful… but the jeep catching was not. It left half an hour before we got back to the jeep counter. So our plans were foiled and we had to run back down to Kagbeni before dark (as neither of us wanted to or were prepared for night hiking). I like the downhill, but Sam does not. We made it back to our lodge with plenty of time for the sun to set. We even stopped along the way to buy some handmade scarves from a nice old lady. I'm a sucker for talking to old Nepali ladies. I want a Nepali grandmother! Hiking up to Muktinath and back was tiring, for sure, so sleeping that night wasn’t a problem.

The jeep that wouldn't be ours. Jerks. (Photo by Sam)

Heading back down to Kagbeni before the sun goes down. (Photo by Sam)

Day 3: Kagbeni – Marpha (or dust storm and wind burn)

I’d heard about the gale force winds on the way to Marpha… it’s true. Walking from Kagbeni to Jomsom and then Jomsom to Marpha is like walking through a wind tunnel of stone-filled desert. Sam and I were completed rugged up… and still I end up with wind burn. Walking was difficult as I was being constantly pushed by the wind - we were walking directly into the wind. We made friends with a cute couple – an Australian and a Japanese with a cute girl guide from Three Sisters (we called them The Japanese Couple). Gotta say, I’m pretty jealous of the girl guide… I would LOVE to guide treks, but with as slow as I am, I could probably only guide the oldies. :) We made it to Marpha (the apple capital of Nepal!), which is a cute village with cobble stone streets and apple brandy by the gallon. I’ve had the apple brandy before… it’s good, but Sam and I didn’t partake while we were in town. Inspired by the town, I’ve named my sleeping bag (finally!) Marpha.

This is me... maybe you can't tell because I could barely see. Crazy wind. (Photo by Sam)

Sam's self portrait (also dressed up to protect himself from the wind and dust). (Photo by Sam)

Alas, we made it to the apple capital of Nepal. (Photo by Sam)

The pretty monastery in Marpha.

We got up early (well, Sam earlier… I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of bed on the trek) and walked around Marpha before heading out for our next stop - Ghasa. There was a really pretty monastery at the top of town. And Marpha is just a cute town. I love Kagbeni, but Marpha is also cool. Apparently there is a movie called ‘Kagbeni’ but instead of being filmed in Kagbeni was filmed in Marpha. Two completely different towns (there’s not much similar about them)… so the people of Kagbeni are supposedly pretty pissed that this movie with their name was never even filmed in their town.

Day 4: Marpha – Ghasa (or we’ll get there before puja)

Sam and I had originally planned to hike from Marpha to Tukuche (but that was only like a 2 hour walk), so we changed it up and pushed on to Ghasa (based on the map, supposedly a bigger town – but not really). During the hike, Sam and I were both pretty tired… and hungry. We didn’t stop for lunch because there was NO place to stop. Seriously. The hike that day felt incredibly long and we had no idea why! Both of us were struggling that day (probably from the not eating). Eventually we stopped in Kalopani for tea at this great lodge where the lodge owner’s son served us tea and talked with us the whole time. He didn’t even charge us for tea because he was so happy to meet us. He was a great kid! We wished we could stay, but we had to push on.

Early in the day's hike... the way to Ghasa.

Later on during the day, looking back on the way to Ghasa.

We still needed to reach Ghasa and it was starting to get late. Along the way, I asked a couple of old ladies how many hours to Ghasa (in Nepali) and they assumed I was Nepali and told me I’d make it in time for puja (blessing ceremony which is done at sunrise and sunset). They were super cute old ladies - again, a sucker for talking to oldies. We did make it to Ghasa (and in time for puja if I did that kind of thing). And we found out that Sam was reading the scale wrong on the map… and we were actually walking double the amount of kilometers as we originally thought. Totally explains why were exhausted… we thought we were hiking 12km but instead it was like 24km.

The lodge kid at our place in Ghasa was also super nice. Found out that he was from Chitwan and was living in Ghasa because there was work there and not in Chitwan. Kind of odd since Chitwan is another big tourist-y area and there should be plenty of work there. I really like talking to the kids that work at the lodges because they’re interesting – leaving their homes to find work somewhere else and trying to get into the tourism industry. It's a little sad. The lodge wasn't so nice. However, we did get a chance to do some sightseeing of the Taj Mahal from our room since there was a big poster of it on the wall!

Sam and the Taj Mahal... who knew it was Ghasa, Nepal! :)

Day 5: Ghasa – Tatopani (or Hot Springs, here we come…)

The second major point of our trip was the hot springs at Tatopani (literally, hot water). We decided the day before that we would stay in Tatopani for two nights because we hiked longer during the days and had some extra time. Sam and I were pretty stoked that we hiked so far and in a short time (for us). We had planned for the trek to be about 6 days or so… and we cut off a whole day and that's without realizing the map's scale. The way to Tatopani again was ghost town-y and so for the second day in a row, Sam and I hiked on without lunch.

The town of Tatopani from the Hotel Himalaya's roof-top.

The great staff at Hotel Himalaya. These guys were so nice to us! (Photo by Sam).

Tatopani itself was pretty nice – we stayed at a cool hotel (The Hotel Himalaya) where the lodge kids were super nice and loved talking to us (so I got to use my Nepali). We even sat and watched some soccer with them. How is it that I always end up watching sports with the guys?? The food was good. And it was close to the hot springs. We went to the hot springs soon after our arrival and met up with Team ABBA (our name for this annoying couple or brother/sister – difficult to tell – with a matching annoying guide/boyfriend - again, difficult to tell) who were annoyed we beat them to Tatopani after they caught up with us with an hour later start. Once we were all in the springs, though, Team ABBA definitely drew in the stares as the girl was in a bikini (hello, scandalous!) and getting massaged by both her brother/boyfriend and her guide/boyfriend. I was happy to have the local men’s attention diverted to Team ABBA instead of on me. The subsequent times Sam and I went to the hot springs, it was a little uncomfortable as I was the only girl and looking Nepali, I confuse everyone. We met some great Nepalis (one was a helicopter pilot!) and just had a good time hanging out. Our two days in Tatopani were great – soaking in the hot springs and just relaxing. Getting back to reality was going to be a challenge.

Enjoying the time off... relaxing in Tatopani. Look how brown I've become (and windburned)!

Day 6: Tatopani – Pokhara (or a day full of travel)

Sam and I decided to forgo the boring and dusty hike from Tatopani to Beni and opted for getting a jeep and then a bus. This day started Sam’s 3 full days of travel to get back to HTD. Our bus back to Pokhara was stopped for a bit because of a bandh but what can we do? We were back on the road after some time and we picked up some young Buddhist monks who decided to play like ninja fighters on the roof of the bus. Seeing their shadows as we were driving was so funny! We ended our trek as we began with a pork feast at Natsuil (again, highly recommend it).

The trek was great… seeing a different side of Nepal. It’s alien and not what you expect when you think of Nepal and it made it that much better. I love Nepal and trekking has made it more so. Amazing how the Annapurna region can look completely different on either side of the mountains. My next trek will be Mount Everest Base Camp (hopefully… if the weather is good), but I’ll be doing that one without Sam. He’s back in Australia now so I'm in seach of someone to continue my adventures with...

Another Break from KTM - Visiting Hetauda

So a few weekends ago, I went to Hetauda – and seriously, I really like the place. I’ve been before, but this time I did a lot more and hung out with great friends instead of attending focus group discussions. My housemate, Isabelle and I had been trying to make it to HTD for awhile (she’d never been) to visit with Sam and Nat (our Australian friends). It was a great chance for me to also meet up with my friend Jiwan (he does M&E for Equal Access out in the field). It was a great weekend… I definitely needed a break from KTM. Sometimes I forget how exhausting it is to live in KTM and then I go somewhere else and realize how nice it is outside of the valley.

our jeep before it broke. (photo by Isa)

Isa and I left on Saturday morning and had a pretty uneventful trip… except for our jeep breaking an hour and half outside of Hetauda. I had never actually seen a wheel break off of an axle until that day. I felt bad for the driver, because he was being SO careful the whole trip. Usually drivers around here are speeding around corners, honking way in advance to let everyone within range know to clear the way. Also they tend to look suspiciously young (like 12… but all Nepalis look really young, I guess). But our driver was nice to Isa and me, seemed a normal driving age and drove at an appropriate speed. And then there was a horrible noise and it was like one corner of the jeep just fell. So there we were, stopped in the middle of the road (keep in mind, it’s what we in the states would deem a one way road), with the driver jacking up the car under the running board. Makes no sense at all… but maybe he knows something I don’t. Like he’d listen to a girl tell him how to change a tire… or just how to jack a car. (I'm missing some photos... but there is one where you can totally see the bigriyo jeep!)

Luckily, jeeps were aplenty on Saturday heading towards HTD, so Isa and I had no trouble hopping into another one and finishing out our curvy, uphill/downhill, bumpy 4-5 hour journey to Hetauda. Once we finally made it into town, Nat and Jiwan came to meet us at the Motel Avocado, where Isa and I were staying – Lonely Planet says that the Motel Avocado is a quirky resort, but then again they also say there’s no reason to stop in Hetauda except to change buses. (Sam was out riding around on a 200 cc Pulsar motorbike for his friend’s birthday.) It was SOOO nice to see everyone. We walked a bit around HTD (there’s not a whole lot of town compared to KTM of course) and then went over to Nat’s house to make a Nepali dinner of daal bhat, tarkari, saag, etc. Nat and Sam are great cooks and together they would make a really good Nepali girl ;) Jiwan is also a great cook… and he surprised me by actually knowing how to cook! The food was great and it was just a lot of fun to hang out.

Cooking Nepali food at Nat and Sam's - Nat's manning the daal and Jiwan's got the saag covered... me, I'm not sure. (photo by Isa)

A typical Nepali meal (cooked with only 2 Nepalis present). (Photo by Isa)

Nat says (and like I said, Lonely Planet agrees) there’s not much to do in HTD, but there’s at least enough to get us through a weekend in town. Sunday morning, after a late(ish) breakfast at the Avocado (yum, banana porridge!), Nat, Sam, Isa, Jiwan and I went for a short hike up to Manakamana temple. All steps. Seriously, you all know how I feel about steps. It wasn’t that bad, though. And the view of Hetauda from the temple was nice… except for the foggy haze covering most of town. I’m not really much for temples (being a non-Hindu and pretty much just not being religious), but I do like a good hike. Jiwan never admits that he’s tired or needs water. The rest of us were happy to reach the top and sit for a bit. :) I like that I’ve been getting some chances to walk and hike the past few weekends. Gives me the chance to think and just not do work and enjoy Nepal more. And get ready for my upcoming trek with Sam!

Manakaman Temple - it was closed, but its not like we could go in anyway (well, I guess Jiwan could)

After the hike up, Sam and Jiwan resting for some minutes.

Enjoying snacks at the temple. (Photo by Sam)

Back in town... Isa and Nat taking a rickshaw to the hotel.

Me and a bangle cart... seriously, it's like a sickness for me. (Photo by Isa)

After getting back into town, we went around HTD again to see the market and get some snacks for lunch. Then I headed over to Jiwan’s house for tea and to meet his family. I really like meeting Nepali people and the families of my Nepali friends. I just wish I could do more talking with them. I should really practice my Nepali more, I know… It’s just so hard for me to formulate what I want to say quickly. Besides, my Nepali is bad and I hate to disappoint people that think I’m Nepali anyway. Jiwan’s family was super nice and I got see all of his photos. He’s been ALL over Nepal, so seeing his photos only made me want to stay in Nepal longer to explore all the districts. We talked a lot about Nepal and about Equal Access and SSMK. So I actually got some work done while hanging out which looks like the trip was actually thesis-related. Yay!

After a couple of cups of tea (Jiwan drinks a lot of tea… he is Nepali after all ;) ), he took me for a motorbike tour of Hetauda. He’d been telling me about all the cool things to see in Hetauda and Makawanpur district, so it was nice to get the Jiwan tour. Even though it was getting dark, he drove me up to the Martyr Memorial Park just outside of town. I just read about the park in the English social studies textbooks I’m freelance editing here, so it was cool to get to see the park. The funny thing about parks here, and also in Uzbekistan, is that they tend to be THE place to go for boys and girls to hang out alone. The park was pretty clean, though (as Martyr’s Day was coming up) and cute. At the park there’s a big rock inscribed with the faces of 12 martyrs from the conflict time. The park also a has a zoo, where Jiwan and I went back and forth on one animal that looked very much like a guinea pig to me, but which they just call a bigger rodent. I think they were guinea pigs which I LOVE, but even now, people in my office don’t know what they are called in Nepali.

It was nice to ride around with Jiwan on his fancy new bike – a 150 cc Pulsar. Nat has named it Prerana which means inspire. She’s named her bike, too – Sriste which means universe in Nepali. Gotta say, I wasn’t into motorcycles before (since Jen’s friend Carl had his accident in the states awhile ago), but seeing as it’s the fastest mode of transport around here… I’ve grown to like them. I feel a hell of a lot safer on a motorbike than I do in any car, taxi or bus I’ve ridden in here. And it is WAY safer than riding on top of a bus or microbus, for sure. Besides, I check with anyone that offers me a lift to see if they’ve had any accidents. If I was staying around Nepal longer than my 7 months, I’d probably take up learning how to drive a motorbike. For now, though, it’s just fun to ride on the back of them and see cool things.

The bikes - Sriste in front and Prerana in the back. (Photo by Isa)

And Jiwan is a great tour guide in Hetauda. Having grown up there, he knows everything about the place and he’s seen a lot of change happen. I asked him about the conflict time and what it was like. He opened up a little bit about it. I don’t really expect many people to just start talking about that part of Nepali history, but I am incredibly curious about it. I just can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to grow up in such a crazy time – bomb blasts, abductions, and curfews. As an American, we have no idea what it’s like to constantly worry about what’s going to happen next. From what I’ve heard from Jiwan and from others it sounds terribly scary. Coming out of those dark times, it’s no wonder that Nepalis have such great hope resting on this new government (even though it’s the Maoists in control).

While I was excited to spend some time with Jiwan and to get his thoughts about life in Nepal, it was also super awesome to hang out with Nat and Sam. They spent the holidays with me in KTM and I’ve missed them a lot since they went back to HTD. Nat and Sam are so much fun to hang out with. Monday was Australia Day (think July 4th for the US, but with Australian football and less of the sparklers), so we spent the morning before Isa and I had to leave eating vegemite on toast (it makes you as bright as bright can be!) and playing Australian football. It was fun to just play… made me miss playing catch at home or throwing the football (the American one). The vegemite I could do without… but I’m not Australian, so it’s not like I’ll ever really have it. :), It’s sad to think that Sam and Nat will be leaving Nepal soon. Nat’s been here living here for the past year for research for her PhD in anthropology and Sam came for the last 5 months to provide moral support. I’ll be sad to see them leave as they are SO my favorite Australians. Both are them are super sweet and just so fun to be around. I don’t think I would have gone on as many adventures as I have here if it hadn’t been for Sam.

Vegemite... yum. I think they use the stuff to brainwash Australians. ;) (Photo by Isa)

All of us after some Australian football. (Photo by Sam)

Nat and Isa on Sriste. (Photo by Sam)

Our trip to Hetauda was just a nice time to get out of the city and relax for a bit. I’ve been feeling a bit stressed lately about the thesis. I just can’t seem to concentrate enough to sit down and write the damn thing. And things at Equal Access have been hectic as well. It’s been months full of proposal writing for me, which isn’t really what I was hoping to get out of my time here, but I’ll take it. It’s definitely a good skill to have and one that all NGOs and development orgs need, so maybe someone will give me a job.

Jiwan and me waiting for the jeep to KTM to leave. (Photo by Isa)

Sushil Villa girls before Isa and I leave HTD! All that's missing is Sam (our Sushil Villa guy!). (Photo by Jiwan)

Living in the Dark

I’d heard about load shedding before coming to Nepal, but I didn’t think it’d become such a big deal since I dealt with no power situations in Uzbekistan. I thought, hey, that’s cool… at least Nepal gives out a schedule of when the power cuts will happen. Now, with Nepal facing 16 hours a day without power in KTM (and up to 20 in Hetauda, I hear), looking at the load shedding schedule is actually a little depressing. Seeing how many hours without light (and internet) is nothing to look forward to. We’d be better off if they just showed us the hours when there will be electricity.

Load shedding, or constant blackouts due to insufficient electricity supply, has been changing lives here in Nepal. In my house Sushil Villa, we’re considering a mini generator to power our once fancy and now pointless wireless internet. We’re also considering solar panels, inverters, and UPS back up systems. My work, which is running over 40 computers including the recording studio, is also considering a generator… however, it’s a little late in the game, isn’t it? Considering we knew 16 hours of power cuts a day were staring us in the face a couple months ago.

So what do people do during load shedding?

If you’re at my house, we plan on watching A LOT of DVDs. I will probably watch all of my movies at least 3 times over (on top of the numerous times I’ve already watched them). My roommate Isa and I have been watching Men in Trees, a recently cancelled ABC tv series which will at least take us through the next week or so before we have to find a new series to entertain us during the dark times at Sushil Villa. We just bought these rechargeable LED emergency lanterns and are excited like little kids on Christmas when we stare into the bright, bright lights. The lanterns shine SO bright and are able to light up a whole room (not like regular electricity, mind you, but we’ll take it)… plus it’ll take us off candles – which we seem to go through at least 10 a week. And since Kirill came to visit us last week all the way from Darjeeling, we've now started to use our fireplace. Spasibo, Kirill!

making the best of load shedding with wine, real swiss cheese, and good company. Isabelle, Kirill, Camille, and me. (photo by Kirill)

If you’re at my work, it’s a little more ridiculous. As I’ve mentioned before, I work at an NGO that designs and produces social development radio programming for underserved minority and disadvantaged groups. All of our work is done on computers as we use Adobe Cool Edit software to mix and edit our radio shows. Our recording studio needs electricity for our voice talents to read the dramas our staff writes (on computers) and for our recorded interviews to take place. All the proposals we write are all written on desktop computers (except for me and the Country Director) that need power. So what happens during load shedding hours? A whole lot of nothing. People go to the roof to enjoy the sunshine, have some content meetings, and then just hang out and chat for a good long while. We've had to change our production schedules to coordinate with when there will be power at the office. Some production teams are working on Sundays and are off on Tuesday, while others are coming after lunch and working until dark. I think the most ridiculous thing for me was staying at the office until 7:30pm and sitting in a completely dark room with only 2 faces illuminated by dying laptops and others using their cell phones to read or write notes for the meeting.

But load shedding is affecting all of Nepal... so take my personal examples and multiply it by 29 million (the estimated population of Nepal in July 2008). For having the 2nd highest potential in hydropower, Nepal doesn't seem to be producing as much as it can. In fact, Nepal seems to be forgetting about its hydro potential and turning to burning fossil fuels as a quick fix for the power crisis.

I thought for sure that there would be nationwide strikes when we got put up to 16 hours of load shedding a day... but was surprised that for once, people didn't stage super huge protests. Why not? Instead, Kathmandu has a trash problem (like seriously, trash overflowing and taking up more than half of the road) because a Maoist cut off the leg of someone, so trash wasn't being collected for awhile.

I read in the paper today that the NEA (the state electricity agency) has cut back the load shedding hours to 14. That means TWO extra hours of light! Of course one of those hours is probably in the wee hours of the morning when no one is awake, but I guess we'll take what we can get.

I'm ending this post now, because the electricity is about to go off. Enjoy your electricity, wherever you may be! ;)

The Adventures of Julie and Sam Continue…

So I love kayaking. I hate swimming, but love being on the river. With all the whitewater rafting there is to do in the US (and even in my home state of NC), I’ve never been rafting. So I’ve traveled all the way around the world to go rafting in Nepal. :)

Sam (my trekking buddy) and I went rafting in November, a couple of weeks after we got back from trekking. My Nepali friend Raj said, hey, do you want to go rafting and I gave an immediate yes and thought Sam would like to join as well because he’d never gone rafting before either. So a few days later, we were on the bus to go rafting on the Trisuli river. A couple hours outside of Kathmandu, we got off the bus a few hundred meters from our put in spot. We were going rafting with Adrift Adventures (the owner is of course a friend of Raj’s – the guy knows everyone). While Milan, our rafting guide was getting our rafts and paddles and PFDs (personal flotation devices or… lifejackets) together, Sam, Raj and I were packing up our stuff as our bags were going to be shuttled to our take out.

Sam and I – pre-raft.

Raj getting ready for the trip.

Sharing our raft were two Swiss ladies (neither of which had been paddling before), me, Sam, Raj, Milan, and his guide assistant whose name I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure he was either high or drunk. Milan gave us the basic spiel about how to paddle and how important it is to listen to him and what to do if we flip or fall out of the boat. While still on the shore, I test the waters and Sam pushes me into the river. Keep in mind that it was November, folks. So the water was quite chilly. So of course I pull Sam into the river as well (you get what you deserve). Meanwhile the Swiss ladies are looking at us like we’re going to be heaps of trouble on the raft. (Aren’t Swiss people supposed to be fun? All the Swiss I’ve met here have been…)

Sam, me and Raj at the put in.

After getting settled in the boat, Sam and I go for a quick swim. Again, the Swiss ladies were silently appalled that we would even venture into the chilly waters, but it is the river after all and you don’t expect to stay dry, right? Did they realize they signed up for a whitewater rafting trip??? They weren’t very strong paddlers and Milan had to ask the one in the front of the boat to move back because we didn’t have enough power at the front of the raft. And she was complaining for the most part about getting wet. Yeah.

me on the raft... you can only take pictures when not in the rapids (obviously). :)

Me and Sam on the raft after some good rapids.

Sam, Raj and I had a great time on the river, though. The rapids weren’t big (probably Class II and III) but they were still fun. Sam was at the front of the raft as well and so he got a lot of the water. On one of the big rapids, Sam almost lost his paddle and just held on to the dry barrel in our raft. I wish I had one photo of Sam clutching the dry barrel and yelling for his mum. :)
We stopped at a small beach for lunch which Milan and his assistant prepared for us. We all soaked up the warm sun and played around on the beach. Raj and I thought it’d be fun to play shotput with the small boulders on the beach. Needless to say, Raj being as fit as he is can throw rocks farther than me. It was a lot of fun just being on a river again. And a clean river at that (hard to find in the Kathmandu valley)! Running around the beach playing was also a good time that the Swiss ladies didn’t take part in. They didn’t seem to enjoy the rafting trip as much as us, but what can you do?

Lunch on the beach.

Hanging out with Raj on the beach at lunch.

Sam and I on the beach.
The river.
The way to our campsite.

We got back on the river for the last couple of hours of rafting. Our rafting trip coincided with the whitewater river festival, so we passed through a kayaking tournament which made me miss kayaking even more (not that I could EVER compete). Our take out spot was a huge beach where all the kayaking and rafting competitors were camped out. We staked out a tent and unloaded our stuff.

That night there was a rave on the beach. Very unexpected for me, but I guess you take a huge open area and throw in a massive amount of westerners who just happen to be hardcore kayakers and you’re bound to have a rave. I skipped out on the rave (sorry, it would’ve made for an interesting post) because I wasn’t feeling well, but Sam and Raj went and said it was a little crazy. I guess some foreigners were caught having sex behind the DJ area. Thanks, guys. All the Nepalis will think that what all foreigners do. Sam came back to our tent a couple of hours later because he was worried about me being alone in a tent while a rave was going on with crazy foreigners not more than 100m away. Despite the craziness and the not feeling well, it was great to be back in a tent and camping out on a beach. It’s definitely made me want to start kayaking again.

The next day we were supposed to go rafting some more, but like I said, I wasn’t feeling well and we heard the upcoming rapids weren’t that great, so we decided to catch a bus back to KTM. The river festival was still going on, so all the now hungover and embarrassed kayakers were trying to get to the competition site with their boats and gear. I’m sure we were a site to see – all these foreigners with bright colored kayaks and dressed out in their paddling gear on the side of the road? If I were Nepali, I’d stop and stare too.

The kayakers were an embarrassment, though. The van Sam, Raj and I caught a ride on, a bunch of the kayakers threw their boats and gear on and climbed up on top. That’s not a problem, I mean you can hitchhike away in Nepal. But when we got to the competition site, they got off and took their stuff and didn’t even pay the driver! Their excuse? “We’re KAYAKING, we don’t have ANY money!” Seriously. WTF. Did they just expect the locals to happily cart them wherever they needed to go? Is it the locals fault that those kayakers missed the official shuttle to the comp site? And again, thanks. The driver kept trying to make the three of us pay upfront because he thought we were going to try to bail without paying as well.
Because I was feeling sick and the van was already crowded (even after the kayakers got off), the three of us decided to ride on top of the van. I thought riding on top of a bus was scary… but the little microbus is scarier. It’s smaller and goes faster, and the roof is not made to be ridden. The three of us laid down on top of the van, though and just slept. It was fun. Scary… but fun. I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.

The rafting trip was awesome, though. Sam and I are trying to figure out what’s next for the adventures of Julie and Sam. He’s already rejected my idea of bungie jumping. Something about “It’s Nepal and I don’t need to jump off something high on gear I don’t trust.” Maybe I’ll go on my own, we’ll see.

I’m so glad that Raj called me up and said let’s go rafting. I would love to go again, but I’m thinking my next trip on a river in Nepal will be kayaking. I like it being just me in a boat and in complete control. I totally love Nepal, though, if I can keep having adventures like this!

More of Sam and Raj and me.

More Travels with Seth: Mali

Well, Julie is either very kind or very lazy, but she has offered me some space to write about the other interesting trip I took here in West Africa. I interned in Bamako over the summer, which was simply pretext for exploring the country. I began with what was supposed to be a weekend trip to Djenne, a short distance from the capital. I figured, I am so close to the world’s largest mud structure, I’ve gotta go see it, right? Well, the bus, after arriving in the middle of nowhere, promptly broke down. The driver set off for parts. The parts never arrived. Nor did the driver. Until the following morning.

The thirty some-odd people stuck on the bus along with me hunkered down for the night. I was prepared to sleep outside until I was warned about snakes…so I made myself as comfortable as I could on the bus. Then it rained. And the bus leaked. Ahhh, travel in Africa.

Arriving in Djenne the next evening made it all worth it. Crossing the Niger River at sunset and then entering the tiny island city was magical. I slept on a rooftop and so I got to see the mosque at sunrise. The mosque itself was impressive, but other than that, there was not much to see.

Crossing the Niger River at sunset to Djenne.

The world’s largest mud structure – the mosque at Djenne.

Mali’s true beauty lies further north. I took a public pinasse, a term for grossly overladen boat, from Mopti to Timbuktu. The journey took 3 nights and two days on a cramped deck of corrugated iron. Before boarding I grabbed a bag of little candies and that was the best decision I could have made. I used these treats to befriend my neighbors and their children. Its nice to be popular – for whatever reason, when in such tight conditions for so long!

Large blocks of salt at the port of Mopti. These are the blocks of salt that formed the foundation of trade with Timbuktu via long-distance camel caravans.

Public pinasse, much like the one taken to TB2. Three nights sleeping on corrugated iron…

Upon arrival at TB2’s port (the city is 18km north of the river), a fierce sandstorm hit. It was quite an introduction to the mystical city and I couldn’t have been happier with it. The storm ended up knocking out the city’s power for the duration of my stay, thereby making it a much better experience, if only for the brighter night sky! I hate to admit it, but I did in fact do the touristy camel-ride thing, but the desert was too beautiful to pass up. TB2 itself has nothing to offer outside of the desert, Tauregs hounding you to buy their leather and silver goods, and people wanting to drink tea and 'exchange ideas' [read: shake you down for cash.]

The Sahara desert outside of TB2.

Streets of TB2. Don’t take the fact that there is only one Tuareg in this picture to mean that they aren’t EVERYWHERE – all with things to sell.

One night I found myself at a bar run by an eccentric, music-loving French couple. Plugged into the surprisingly vibrant music scene, their bar/hotel is the locus for local musicians to come, hang out, and ‘jam.’ This night was no different, so I spent hours listening to some incredible music under the stars with some lukewarm beers…not too shabby in my opinion.

My favorite picture taken thusfar in Africa. The 4x4 took a brief stop during our 8 hour journey from TB2 to fix a flat tire. This stone marker was innocuous, thereby making it that much more beautiful.

After returning to Mopti by 4x4, I set off for the famed Dogon Country that runs along the country’s eastern escarpment. I took another traveler’s recommendation for a guide, and set off for 4 days of trekking. The Dogon people have been studied intensely by anthropologists because of their interesting history and even more fascinating dwellings built into the cliff face. Even higher than these homes are those of the Tellem, a pygmy people that some say have their origins in the Congo but no longer live in Mali. Today, the Dogon live at the base of the cliffs and have generated additional income by promoting the area to hikers.

Traditional meeting house. The low ceiling serves a dual purpose – it both keeps the structure cool and prevents any heated arguments from getting out of hand, as one cannot stand up inside.

One of several waterfalls.

Dogon and Tellem villages in the cliff-face.

Tellem village, close up.

Red Sox Nation takes hold in Mali.

Aside from the vast amount of history and fascinating anthropological information that I will not include here, the scenery was simply stunning. I spent my days clambering up steep inclines, exploring isolated villages, and soaking in my surroundings. After two months in the busy city of Bamako, this escape was much needed and much appreciated! Definitely the best thing I've done here in West Africa!

More from Seth...

Glad everyone enjoyed Seth's post! Thanks again to Seth for some great guest blogging!!

For those of you wanting to see the suspension bridge Seth mentioned in his last post, he sent in this picture from the Kakum National Park Canopy Walk.

Seth has also happily agreed to blog some more about his travels in Mali, so stay tuned... :)

Trying to Remember Trekking...

*unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken by me before my camera battery ran out on day 3. enjoy Sam's photos, though, as he is also a great photographer!* :)


Okay, so FINALLY I will post about trekking in the Annapurnas with my friend Sam. Hopefully everyone’s heard my PSA/commercial and I hope everyone REALLY enjoyed Seth’s guest blogging about Ghana. I’ve gotten some requests from other people that want to guest blog. Totally let me know if you want to post! :) Nepal’s not always fun and adventure… though this trek definitely was!

So back in November, my friend Sam (from Adelaide, Australia) and I went for a week long trek near the Annapurnas. We went without a guide or porter, but looking like a Nepali, everyone on the trail thought that I was Sam’s guide/porter. I spoke SO much Nepali that week and was even told that I speak better Nepali than some chick we met on the trail that was Nepali but grew up in the states. Ha! :)

Sam and I took the tourist bus to Pokhara from Kathmandu, leaving at 7am and getting into PKH by the afternoon. Raj set us up with a new hotel close to Fewa Lake. PKH seems like a cool city… I didn’t do any research about the place, so I have no idea what there is do there. Which also means I have to go back, just to cover the things I had no idea about. All I know about Pokhara is that it has great views everywhere you go… even at the bus park!

Views of the Annapurnas from the bus park!
Kids in playing on Fewa Lake.

After a local bus ride to Nayapul, Sam and I started on our trek.

Day 1: Nayapul to Ulleri – or 3,280 steps from hell.
That’s right. 3,280 wide stone steps the map said. As we started our hike and came across steps along the way, we thought, oh, the steps aren’t so bad. The way was good - nice and easy. Nayapul is at pretty low elevation (1010m). What we didn’t realize is that those 3,280 steps only covered the elevation gained from Tikhedunga (1570m) to Ulleri (2070 m). So by the time we reached Tikhedunga, I was unmotivated to climb steps up to our first stop on our trek, Ulleri. Let’s just say that Ulleri was not my favorite place just because of those damn stairs. Why steps on the trail? Good question, since I would take a million switchbacks over taking 3,280 steps. Turns out steps were put in because the area is at high risk of landslides (the remains of a huge one we saw on our next to last day of hiking). We also got to cross some high steel suspension bridges which I really like to jump on and Sam doesn’t. The climbing of the stairs also meant we got great views of the valley with its terraced farming, seeing the river run its course through the valley, and waterfalls along the trail.

Suspension bridge on the way to Tikhedunga and Ulleri.
Terraced farming on the way up to Ulleri.

Day 2: Ulleri to Ghorepani – the day of the donkeys.
After going to sleep early (Sam and I kept pushing us to top our early night records… I think the earliest we went to bed was something like 6:55pm) and having breakfast with Raj (who was guiding 2 Irishman up to Annapurna Base Camp and sharing the trail with us for a couple of days), Sam and I set off for Ghorepani (2810m). The hike was great… we met a few herds of donkeys along the way and Sam almost got run over as they came through the trail. Hiking into lower Ghorepani, the place was like a ghost town with a herd of donkeys running through it. Where we stayed in Ghorepani (thanks to Raj for running ahead and getting us a room and then meeting us down in lower Ghorepani to greet us with key in hand!), it was like a ski town with tons of trekkers/tourists roaming the small town, cute lodges, warm desserts at every lodge, and amazing views to give us a sense of what sunrise on nearby Poon Hill would look like the next day. There was even a pool table which was trekked up to town in pieces by porters, taking three days! Ghorepani was also freezing cold. Luckily I had enough layers and Sam had his down jacket. I was glad to hang out in the room and surround myself with my sleeping bag.

Incoming! Donkeys about to run over Sam. (Photo by Sam)

More donkeys in lower Ghorepani. (photo by Sam)

Cloud cover over the Annapurnas.

I heart my sleeping bag. (Photo by Sam)

Day 3: Poon Hill for sunrise and down to Tadapani – or hiking with 150 of our closest friends.
Again after a good night’s sleep (hey… we NEEDED to go to sleep early this time!), we got an early start at 4:30am to hike up to Poon Hill for what we heard is an amazing sunrise. 4:30am is a lot early, but Sam and I are slow hikers (we LIKE to take our time and see things) and hiking in the dark with a headlamp is never an easy thing. It was definitely worth it, though. Poon Hill is 3210m and you have amazing views of the Annapurnas – you can see the whole range! If you’re looking for a quiet sunrise to yourself… good luck. Poon Hill was CROWDED with everyone else who reached Ghorepani the day before. It’s THE thing to do for anyone coming through. That also means those same 150 people you didn’t know were staying in Ghorepani? Yup, they’re coming with you on the trail to wherever your next stop is. Ours was Tadapani (not the famous Tatopani, but the one on the way to Ghandruk). So after a quick breakfast back in Ghorepani, we left with everyone else to Tadapani. One of the best days of the trek for scenery alone. Hiking through the forest and getting glimpses of Machhapuchhre (or Fishtail Mountain). The scenery changed so much from when we were climbing out of the valley.

Mountain views from Poon Hill during sunrise.

Me and the mountains. (Photo by Sam)

Sunrise from Poon Hill. (Photo by Sam)

Hiking down from Poon Hill, cloud cover over the valley. (Photo by Sam)

Day 4: Tadapani to Sayauli Bazaar – or of course this is the day I fall.
It was super cold in Tadapani (1190m) as the fog came in and we were happy to jump into our warm sleeping bags after a realllly good dinner at the Hotel Panaroma Point (which had great views – if you could see through the fog). Running out of time (grrr, I only had 1 week off from work and that included our travel to and from PKH), Sam and I took advantage of the downhill bits of the trek and decided to skip Ghandruk (a beautiful town with great views, I would recommend staying there instead of running out of time) and hike all the way down to Sayauli Bazaar. On the way to Sayauli Bazaar, we saw this HUGE landslide area, cute kids having the time of their lives with homemade paper windmills, and a funeral. We were tired (hiking from Tadapani took us about 6-7 hours) and I was distracted by the funeral. This is when I fell. Was it on wide stone steps from hell or a particularly tricky part of the trail? NO. It was while we were stopped (yes, standing still!) and on a flat part in town. I turned and my ankle didn’t come with me. And there I was on the ground with Sam and me both freaking out that the fall was worse than it was. I was fine, no worries. Just another clumsy Julie moment. More embarrassed than anything (the lodge owner saw our overreaction), Sam and I decided to stop at the Honest Lodge (not more than 25m from where I fell). The lodge owner was GREAT – so happy with my Nepali and probably being nice because he saw me fall and gave us a great deal on a room with a private hot shower and toilet. Word. The room wasn’t the best… it was almost like a jail cell with its horrible bare lightbulb and Sam scared the crap out of me with his talk about Blair Witch Project (I HATE the image of the guy standing in the corner) and Hostel. Thanks, Sam. Not to mention that the funeral that distracted me before, made its procession right by our lodge on the way down to the river to burn the body.

Trekking buddies… even after 5 days together! (Photo by Sam)

Hiking through the forest and seeing the mountains still. (Photo by Sam)

Landslide area… yeah, that’s the trail going right through it. (Photo by Sam)

Day 5: Sayauli Bazaar to Nayapull – or yay for flat bits!
Sam and I, along with a stray dog that decided to guide us back to Nayapull, hiked alongside the river. We were joined by a couple of Aussies (they seem to just FIND each other wherever they are). :) The hike was short (maybe 2 hours) and completely flat. A great way to end the trek! And what better way to get back to PKH? Riding on top of a local bus as it careens around corners to reach Pokhara. It was Sam’s idea, Mom, but don’t worry. I was holding on the ENTIRE time! And I was probably loads safer than if I were riding inside the bus where the diesel fumes just fill the whole bus and people are throwing up all the time.

Signing us out of the Annapurna Conservation Area – we made it! (Photo by Sam)

View from the top of the bus… luckily nothing coming our way.

We got back to PKH safely and were so tired that we couldn’t be bothered to really explore the city. Instead we went out for Korean barbecue – the BEST pork I’ve eaten in a long time (can you believe it!? Pork! Haha) and then went back to the hotel to watch crap movies on TV. The ride back to KTM the next day was pretty uneventful, but Sam and I were pretty restless and annoyed to be coming back. It’s hard to be trekking in amazing places with fresh clean air and then coming back to KTM where there’s nothing but smog, noise, and a ton of people.
Sam and I have already decided we need to go trekking again… we just need to figure out where. The adventures of Sam and Julie continued a couple weeks later (again, my next post will be a flashback) as we went rafting on the Trisuli river.