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.

Special Guest Star: Seth in Ghana

After many months hounding Julie for blog posts on her various Nepali adventures, it was suggested that perhaps I would submit an entry myself. While I cannot hope to compete with images of the Himalayas, I’ll recount a bit of my recent trip to Ghana.

I am conducting my internship in the land-locked country of Burkina Faso. Given the fact that all my time in Africa has been spent in the Sahel and my craving to see the ocean for the first time in 7 months, I decided to head south to Ghana for Christmas. Landing in Accra, I quickly escaped the big city (though not before seeing Baba!) for the relative calm of Cape Coast, a couple hours west of the capital. For several days I indulged in early morning basketball games with local kids, followed by late afternoon football matches on the stunning beach, all taking place in the shadow of the famed Cape Coast Castle.

Cape Coast Castle

Ocean!

I had always wanted to see the slave forts of the Gold Coast, as it was through these structures that the vast majority of slaves headed for the New World passed. Touring the dark dungeons envisioning one thousand people crammed into the small space with the stifling air reminded me of seeing concentration camps in Europe. It was a powerful experience to run my hands along the same stones that witnessed so much misery, and walking through the Door of No Return brought goosebumps despite the day’s heat and humidity.

Male Dungeon

After getting my fill of history, I could feel more justified in playing the role of dumb American tourist enjoying the beach and visiting nearby Kakum National Park. This park, 35km north of Cape Coast is famous for having constructed Africa’s first canopy walkway – a string of 7 bridges 85 meters off the jungle floor.

Kakum Ntl Park

This was a bit of a personal challenge, as I am not one that does well with heights and upon seeing the walkway, I could not help but think of the rope bridge scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom...The canopy walk went off without a hitch as there were so many things to distract me from the fact that I was so far above the ground – the early morning mist rising off the trees, the calls of monkeys echoing through the air, and the incredible diversity of greenery (lush vegetation is something my eyes craved as much as the ocean after so much time in the red-brown Sahel!). I enjoyed my time in the rainforest so much, I arranged for a ranger to take me on a hike a few hours deep into the forest, a bit off the beaten trail. During this time we were able to see some wildlife, including a sizeable green mamba on the trail!

Our intrepid explorer…

Leaving Cape Coast I headed northward by bush taxi (tro-tros), through Kumasi and Tamale, towards Mole National Park. The change in vegetation was striking, as the tropics steadily gave way to the more desiccated Sahel. Along the way I encountered several other travelers – one was a clingy American woman, the rest being largely from Holland and therefore quite a bit of fun – headed in the same direction. I spent Christmas day trekking through the park for hours on end, seeing all sorts of antelope, monkeys, baboons, crocodiles, birds, warthogs, and the tracks of leopards and hyenas.

Baboons

Mole is unique in that its one of the few parks where one can walk amongst the animals. My hope was to encounter the elephants for which Mole is famous, but none were willing to accommodate my wishes. Despite this, the experience was incredible.

Kob

Christmas dinner was one of the more genuinely enjoyable and memorable holiday meals. It began with a run-in with a brazen baboon intent on winning some easy calories from the table and ended at around 4:30am after a lot of beers (tends to happen when drinking with an Irishman and a number of Dutch people) and even more laughs. In between was a truly great dinner with a wide range of people, wide-ranging conversations, and a simple but satisfying meal. All in all, a great Christmas!

Heading back to Ouagadougou I was informed that the border was closed – for those both wishing to enter and exit Ghana – because of the elections. Luckily, I was able to stay with a very sweet English girl who was volunteering not 10km from the border and the aforementioned Irishman for a relaxing two days. This was a welcome pause, as overland travel in Africa is always an adventure; ‘schedules’ are often non-existent, and hugely unreliable if they are, buses and tro-tros break down constantly. I read a book recounting Stanley’s Congo exploration during my trip, and while nothing can compare to that, it is easy to feel like an explorer as you navigate the country by land.

After crossing into Burkina, my Christmas wish of spotting an elephant was suddenly fulfilled as a large grey mass was spotted crossing the road. I implored the tro-tro to stop, apologizing to the 25 or so people crammed inside, but the crazy white guy just needed to hop out and snap a few shots of the elephant.

My elephant, finally!

A wonderful cap to a tiring but very rewarding trip.

Hopefully this wasn’t too painful of a departure from Julie’s posts, but something is better than nothing…ahem, ahem! Julie’s turn now!

Excuses, excuses.

I *WILL* post about my trek... and my rafting trip. My computer crashed and my drafts got lost. Stay tuned. :)

Here's a couple of pictures to get you geared up...


And this one from Sam...

We Interrupt Our Regular Programming… Julie on the Radio!

I'm still working on my post about my trek in Nepal... but since I'm back at work a lot of cool things have been happening. I've been writing proposals for the past 2 weeks and going back and forth with UNICEF staff over the sports project. In the meantime, Equal Access, my organizaiton has thrown together an exciting charity event for this weekend - a football match to benefit children living with HIV and AIDS. This is also a great way to gear up our listeners for our new sports development project. To get the word out about the match, the SSMK team recorded a PSA/event announcement to be broadcast on FM radio here in Nepal. They recorded an English and Nepali version and asked ME (!!) to record a couple of lines for the English version!! :)

It was my first time in a recording studio (we have one here in-house) and to be honest, I was a bit nervous as I don't like my voice in real life and didn't want to hear it on playback. It took all of about 20 minutes to record... most of which was spent with me messing up and being asked to deliver "more energy". These guys are complete pros, though, and I'm happy they asked me to be a part of it. Thanks to Binayak (the ultimate and coolest radio techie), Kaustuv, Ayush, and Rabindra and the rest of the SSMK team for letting me play!! :) And thanks to Equal Access and the SSMK team for letting me post it... if you're in the KTM area this Saturday (29 Nov 2008), come to the match!

English.mp3

Yes that's me saying "Teaming up to fight AIDS!" and "Tickets available at all..."

One month of Catch Up… sort of.

I’m sure all 3 of you that check my blog have been on the edge of your seat waiting to see what I post next. Apologies for neglecting the blog… how Joy posts EVERY day, I have NO idea. The end of October/beginning of November proved to be super busy, which is great, but left me no time to blog. So here’s my post to catch you up on my life in Nepal so far… but I’m posting about my trek separately because you should have a choice on if you want to read more about how much I love this place.

Where did we leave off? Ah yes… Tihar. October’s second holiday/festival. Tihar was the last week of October and gave me 3 days off from the office (Tuesday – Thursday… yeah, you read right – Monday and Friday I had to go to work. Nothing like mid-week holidays to throw you way off track!). I spent the days off seeing little puppies and street dogs get garlands of bright flowers and tika, gawking at cows with receiving tika and having hundreds of strings tied onto their tails, watching the sky light up with fireworks and hearing screams and laughter on Laxmi Puja and experiencing Bhai Tika (more on this in a bit) with my office friend Rashmi at her family’s home.

Tihar is all about worshipping. One day they worship dogs by giving them tika and throwing garlands of flowers (malla) around their necks… even the mangy street dogs! It’s the one day a year people actually do something nice for the dogs. Even the little puppy that survived the horrible mom dog and all of his other siblings dying out in front of my house got some love. He disappeared soon after that… but maybe someone took him in (that’s what I’m going to continue to think anyway).

My little puppy (I wish!) which I named Chijbij (things in Nepali).

On Laxmi puja, Hindus worship cows by giving them tika and malla as well, so riding around town you see the random cows being attended to by passersby. Tradition goes that string that Hindus wear on their wrists are supposed to be tied to a cow on Laxmi Puja to expedite their journey to nirvana. My friends Natalie and Sam were in Darjeeling during Laxmi Puja and Nat was determined to tie her string bracelet onto a cow… so they had their taxi stop on the side of the road when they saw a cow! Laxmi Puja is also to worship the goddess of wealth – Laxmi. Businesses, offices, shops and homes decorate with malla and lights to bring Laxmi to their place. This is also the day the firecrackers, fireworks and sparklers reach their height. EVERYONE is out celebrating, it’s almost like new year’s.

Bhai Tika is the day that Hindus worship their brothers by giving them blessings with tika (which I mentioned before) and gifts. Oh yeah, the sisters get money. Gotta love these holidays with gift and money giving! Luckily, I got to experience the holiday with my friend Rashmi’s family in Kirtipur (just outside of KTM) which means I got to see how Nepalis celebrate the day and I get adopted by a Nepali family for the day. :) Rashmi, her nieces and nephews, and I were given the task to prepare the ceremony location… which meant using flour and colored powders to create an area with religious symbols. I drew an elephant (to represent Ganesh), the sun and lots of flowers (not sure what the flowers mean, but I draw a pretty mean flower sometimes). Rashmi’s mom started getting the tika ready which for Bhai Tika includes different colored powders. As the ceremony began, boys sat facing the girls and the blessings were given. After gifts and money were exchanged and all of our foreheads were given pretty, pretty multicolored tika, we ate a LOT of food. Then Rashmi and I headed to a community talent show to see young people sing and dance to hindi music and perform skits.

Drawings we made for the tika ceremony.

Me giving tika to my adopted for the day brother.

Rashmi and I during the ceremony.

My adopted for the day mom and I (thanks Rashmi for letting me borrow her for the festivities!).

After that holiday… everything at work started to get hectic. I love it, though… I’m finally doing stuff that seems important and my team is starting to really think of me as on their team. I went with the SSMK team to Nagarkot (remember… known for its beautiful sunrises) to participate in a planning workshop with UNICEF and my org. We’re developing a new project for SSMK that deals with increasing youth participation in sports and using sports as a vehicle to teach life skills. You know what I’m talking about… leadership, team-building, fair play, etc.? Those are all life skills that are important for youth in Nepal to learn to build character and become successful. And… sports kids are healthy kids who perform better academically. Interesting how my parents didn’t let me play sports… but I guess I still turned out okay! :)

Remember that Nike campaign back in middle school (well, for me anyway) that showed little girls staring directly into the camera and saying “if you let me play sports…” Yeah, that’s kind of what we’re going for in phase one of our project. Convince the parents that sports during development is a good thing. Parents and teachers around here have pretty negative perceptions and attitudes about sports, so we’re going to have really try to change their minds for this sports project to take off.

But… anyway, so the planning workshop was REALLY productive and very cool. It’s like fitting everything my P&I (planning & implementation) group did over a whole semester into 3 days. I much prefer it this way. And I got to make some contacts at UNICEF here in Nepal and from the UK. Not to mention… I got to meet Deepak Bista (a 2008 Olympian for Nepal) and Paras Khadka (winner of the Emerging Young Cricketer of South Asia award… and very cute!). I also got to finally see a beautiful sunrise in Nagarkot after seeing a foggy one with Raj earlier in the week. Yay!

My team leader Binita and I at one of the best hotels I've had a conference at (the views definitely put it up at the top).

That weekend was the EA International Directors’ Meeting in KTM, so I attended that as well and got to meet with all the country directors from my org. It was a great time for me to meet them and find out more about what types of projects they are doing in their own countries. It looks like video might be our next big step so that will be very interesting.

So that was my crazy October/November. After the Directors’ Meeting, I went on a week long trek with Sam (an Australian that’s come to live here for the next 5 months). This post is *already* way too long, so I’ll post separately about the trek. And congrats if you read all the way down to here!