Of Stairs, More Stairs and Water Buffalo

Breakfast of Tibetan Bread and Eggs

Day Two of the Annapurna Trek - Up Up and Away

This morning we are introduced to Tibetan bread for breakfast. Deep fried and puffy. The Himalayas answer to donuts. Combined with fried eggs and milk tea we are ready for the climb. The weather is cool and delicious after the rain, perfect for hiking.

Our Porters loading up our bags.

With the porters loading up it's time to climb further into the mountains. The directions are simple - out our front door, turn right and continue up the stone path along the steep cliffs above the river. It's nine in the morning but the valley is still deep in the shadows. The river rushes ever faster below us. On very regular intervals we come across little tea shops and guest houses. Many owned by retired English army men.

Wait, what? English army? The only faces that I've seen have been Nepali. A little bit of investigation is needed.

Indeed they are Nepali men who join a particular Brigade of the British Army - the Brigade of Gurkha's - and their alliance goes back to 1815! When the British couldn't subdue the tough fighting men of the Himalayas they instead started recruited them to fight for the British instead! Sensible.

The British usually select from one of four ethnic groups for the Gurkha Brigade, and we are trekking through Gurung country, one of those four people! Known for their bravery and toughness it is a real honor for one of these families to get a son selected, even if it means they will be living overseas for years, not only do they get enormous respect, but also the pay is astronomical compared to what they would make as farmers. And when they have served their time they can retire back to their homeland.

So that is why there are tea houses owned by English army men, who are also Nepali. Question answered. And another reminder that the world has been global for much longer than most of us realize.

The cool shadows soon start giving way to hot sunshine and pretty soon we cross a couple of swinging metal mesh bridges and the real ascent starts. Stairs, endless stairs! Stone stairs of all different sizes. Some with wild mint plants poking out of them. Some covered with mud. Some shiny with all the feet traveling over them. Some covered in donkey poo from the endless donkey teams that go up and down these trails delivering goods.

The kids have been briefed on the donkeys - when you hear donkey bells you immediately get to the inside of the trail to be sure you don't get knocked off the mountain. Unfortunately during our first donkey train Liam, acting with zeal, flings himself into the stinging nettles beside the road. Bummer. Luckily his clothes contain the rash to just his arms. Note to self, stay away from the plants. 

Lucky for Liam, Durga has some local leaves to rub onto to help with the sting. So onward we keep hiking. The kids race up ahead and leave me behind with Randall, who is suffering from a bout of Buddhas revenge. Note - if you ever come to Nepal, suck it up and eat vegetarian. It's just not worth the bad chicken experience!

"See the mountain peaks behind me?" !!

The stairs go on forever. But the view starts to reveal not just the breathtaking valley below, but little glimpses of the huge peaks behind. The top of Annapurna South peaks up and over the "hill" that we are ascending giving us the motivation to keep going.

We hike. We rest. We admire the view. We hike. The kids for the most part all scamper up ahead of us with the porters. At times each one falls back to spend some time with us then moves on. Juliet starts having difficulty after a few hours. And no wonder. Those little legs are taking twice as many steps as us big people!

After three hours we finally reach the top of the "steep" stairs. Congratulations we've just climbed 3,600 stairs! Oooooooo, let's go up some more. 

Go Juliet, Go!

Our first glimpse of Annapurna

And yes, there are more stairs, but they are not so steep and we can take the time to look around and enjoy the view now that we've done the hard bit. We are getting up into the higher country now and we meander through little hilltop towns, with the traditional wood and earth structures and neatly piled fire wood. It's a mixture of Hindu and Buddist in this region and many houses have prayer flags flapping merrily in the breeze. The cows are gone, and replaced by goats and many Water Buffaloes. Although they are very large, they are quite docile and watch us with their big brown eyes as we pass. Well, except for the one female that took a shine to my hubby and blocked his way on the path, giving him a little love tap when he eventually walked past.

Looking way down to the hidden valley where we started this morning it is starting to feel like we are on top of the world. Just wait, says our guide.

Finally we reach tonight's tea house, just in time for a lunch of Dal Bhat. Time to rest our weary legs. Many people would continue on another four or five hours today if they were in a hurry, but we are going to call halt for the day and let the kids rest up, and not overdo it.

Again the Tea House is perched on the side of a cliff, looking across the valley. There is a large table outside that we camp out at. Our rooms are solid and even have a western toilet attached! The luxury!

What has the Easter Yeti brought?

Mars bars in the woodpile...

We are here!

Today is Easter Sunday - and I was organized enough to have brought some chocolate for the occasion, even if it was completely flattened in the suitcase! So while the kids wait in their rooms Fionna and I hide the chocolate around the rock walls and wood piles that are behind our tea house. What fun the kids have looking for what the Easter Yeti hid for them. 

The view from our Tea House patio... and yes, that is a very, very long drop behind them!

We spend the majority of the afternoon playing bananagrams and enjoying some ginger tea in this amazing location, but as soon as the sun dips behind the mountain the air temperature dips dramatically. Tonight is going to be a whole lot colder than before! In the room I layer up with about seven layers, only to find out that dinner is being served in the tiny little dining room where they have lit the wood burning fire. Off comes just about every layer as it is sweltering! Dinner is simple but good, instead of Dal Bhat I try the potatoes - and by seven thirty everyone is in bed!

As usual I seem to be the last awake, so I am sitting on our tiny little porch watching the night. The sky is so beautiful and starry, like you can reach up and touch each one of them. The presence of the mountains looms just ahead. What will tomorrows altitude bring us?

This Tea House is literally perched on the side of the cliff. Great for bird watching!

To the Mountains We Fly!

Nepal - Day Four - To the Start of the Annapurna Track!

Sorting bags at the Kathmandu Airport

Again we are awake with the birds. I like the rhythm of sleeping with the sun. But maybe not the barking of the dogs at all hours of the night. Oh well, breakfast in our colonial retreat is lovely with fried eggs and croissants. It is a good idea to fill ourselves up before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Pokhara, the second largest city in Nepal, and the starting point for our five day Annapurna Trekking Adventure.

In the end, we take two separate taxi's - plus Durga's truck - to get the ten of us and all our luggage to the airport. After honking and weaving our way through the morning traffic we find ourselves deposited at the front of the Kathmandu domestic terminal. And what an experience it is. Something one should experience at least once in your lifetime, at least if you are adventurous. The utter chaos. The lines. The dirt. The lack of any signage. But we do it. Ten people with all our baggage - and twice the baggage as what we would normally have because we have separated out our trekking gear to make matters simpler on the other end. Well, let's hope so, because getting it all through the crowds is a challenge. But somehow we get our bags checked in, go through the segregated male/female security lines (the girls and I were frisked by a small Nepali police women, Liana was not impressed)  and find ourselves in the waiting lounge for our Yeti Airlines flight to Pokhara.

The Yeti Girls

Waiting in the terminal turns swiftly into an entertaining experience when our little girls are spotted by the "Yeti Girls". Beautiful make up and dresses, they are glamorous ambassadors for the Yeti Airlines. At first it starts with them asking Clara for a photo, then another one with Juliet. Then they want a photo with both girls. Then a couple of Chinese tourists get in on the action and take photos of the Yeti Girls having photos taken with our girls. And then the whole scene complicates with irony more when a troop of Buddhist monks see the commotion and come over to get in on the action. The head monk jumps in to photo bomb a picture with our girls and the Yeti Girls while his monk friend busily uploads the whole scene to Facebook on his iPhone. It's a full-on paparazzi scrum, with our exotically fair girls in the middle. Then our flight is called and we tear ourselves away, but not before the girls get chocolate bars for their trouble.

Post paparazzi scrum

Up, up, up we go. Out of the stench and foul air of Kathmandu. It's a relief to get away from the city. And during the 25 minute flight to the West we are treated to fleeting glimpses of the highest peaks in the world. Each peak loftily looking down on the clouds below peaking out from beneath shawls of white snow. Juliet convinces herself that each one is Everest. I don't think Everest is to be seen on this route. But it doesn't matter which one is which. They are all equally majestic.

We arrive in Pokhara and start the process of weeding through the bags. Those going with us on the trek get thrown on top of the land rover type vehicle. The bags staying at the hotel in Pokhara get crunched in with us. It's a tight fit, but we only have about five minutes to drive. Besides, we are getting used to the sardine thing!

It's not really possible to give an accurate impression of Pokhara from the few minutes we spend sorting out the luggage and driving through on our way out. But it is a whole lot quieter! The streets are not as frantic, and the pace seems more relaxed. There is a lake, but it's quite dirty. The tarmac cows are still around, but they have the company of a few Water Buffalo's.

After a quick drop at the seemingly plush hotel, The Temple Tree, we say goodbye to western conveniences and start our journey to the trail head.

The "Annapurna Cicuit" is one of the most famous hiking trails in the world and circumnavigates the Annapurna range of the Himalaya Mountains - home to six of the world's top ten highest peaks. To do the full trek is about 200 kilometres and takes about three weeks of hiking, with altitude up to 5,400 meters. Obviously this would be far too strenuous and too high of altitude for the children at this point in time, so we are doing an abbreviated five day tea house trek to get a flavor of the region and get a taste for this alpine region. 

From Pokhara it's a two hour drive to where we start the hike. It's a good thing we were acclimatized for the driving in Kathmandu, because the farther we go up the (increasingly narrow) roads the driving gets more harrowing. The roads are just wide enough at some point for the oncoming traffic and there don't appear to be lanes. The buses overtake just as much as the cars. Each with their own special brand of horn. And to make matters worse our driver is on his mobile phone the ENTIRE drive. How many people does this guy know?? At one hairpin turn, while his right hand keeps the phone plastered to his ear, his left hand is changing gear and all I can see is the cliff ahead of us with no hands on the wheel. His knees manage the turn the car, I'm still alive to write this tonight, but what the heck! I do start wondering who he is talking to and start various scenarios in my head. (It's better than the fiery plunge to death alternative.) My favourite is that he is actually one of those tech support people you get on the phone to help you with your "IT" questions. Since all our calls get routed to India, maybe all of India's calls get routed to Nepal? Anyway, it's a theory. And we didn't die on the road.

And long story short we do make it to the end of the road. Literally. We go through a village, lodge the trekking permits and photos, cross a river and then another bridge and the car can go no more. So out we get, unpile the luggage and settle in at the local tea house restaurant called "The New River View Lodge and Restaurant" to have lunch and wait to meet up with our porters. Having seen the scooter carrying a couple dozen white, headless chickens through the muck and dust on the road behind us, I am solidly vegetarian on this trek! And the lentils and rice are really very tasty!

The end of the road....

And, just quietly, for anyone going this way, they are PORTERS not SHERPAS. You quickly get told off for the distinction, there is obviously some jealousy between the two. Sherpas are a local people who inhabit the Everest region of Nepal and who specialise in the very high altitude climbing. They, as a people, have gotten some fame and a little (relative) fortune since good old Hilary and Tenzing climbed Everest back in the 50's, so I get the jealousy. Our porters are from the local tribes, and we are lucky to have five of them meeting us today.

It's so picturesque sitting in the open aired patio. After the blaring horns of Kathmandu, it's a pleasure to be surrounded by the sounds of nature. With the rushing mountain river below us and the terraced valley all covered in humid pre monsoon air it feels like we are sitting in a huge hanging garden. Well, in truth, we are. Just on a very grand scale. Nepal sits right on the edge, a country that starts in the flat Indian sub-continent and ends at the top of the world tallest peaks - all in the approximately the same land size as the South Island of New Zealand!

Namaste - We are off on the trek.

It's hot, mum.

Soon the porters arrive. Sujendra, our head porter, has brought his thirteen year old son to start learning about his fathers trade. Up onto their heads go ropes to strap our bags to, and once tied in they take off in single file line through the stone pathway that leads up and out of the village. We will see them at some point tonight, once we ourselves have hiked up to Hille. Tonight's tea house stop.

So, after a last cup of "milk tea" - a kind of chai spiced tea boiled up with milk - we are off ourselves.

The afternoon heat is just awful. It's a shock to the system to be going up hill after so many days of inactivity. The road that we take out of the village is dirt and only wide enough for one vehicle. We don't see any and I think this is probably used only by rich tourists wanting to get a head start.

At the start of our Annapurna Trek

Water Buffalo checking us out.

I am fascinated by the walk. We are certainly in a tropical, or at least sub tropical climate here. The air is thick and heavy. We follow the course of the river up. Humans are an ever present part of the environment, like they have always been here. I guess they have been - for millennium at least. At one turn there is a boy herding his goats above us in the trees, and every few hundred meters is another farm house made from the slate of the surrounding mountains combined with dirt and wood. Most have their resident water buffalo wandering around either in the field or in it's own little barn. And the higher we go, the more fields we see. Mainly corn from what I can tell so far.

We reach a very small little village and all the locals seem to be engaged in fishing. They have part of the river partitioned off so that the fish have to swim into their nets. The fish are only about the size of Juliet's thumb - so it's a little bit like white bait! I wonder if they fry them up into fritters?

Taking a cue from the locals we call a halt to our upward march and spend an hour soaking our feet in the icy cold river. Liam discovers that they have "cleaner" fish here, who will swarm your feet and eat all the dead skin off. Not unlike the fish pedicure shops that we visited back in Santorini two years ago. Funny that. At least in Nepal it's free!

Cooling off in the river

With the clouds suddenly coming over and the sound of distant thunder we decide to move on. Straight up a hill. Goodbye river, we are headed up into the mountains. And I mean straight up. It's a long hour slog up, step after step, but the scenery is breathtaking, although I suspect that it will get more so with each day. There are no lofty peaks to see, yet, just sharp valley walls and green terraced fields. At a few corners we encounter women sitting on the road breaking up rocks.

This is why we are here, says Fiona, speaking about her mission with First Steps Himalaya, and their educational push in the rural villages. They want the people to have a fighting chance in this new modern world. And education is a powerful tool that can be used, not only to prosper, but also retain your culture, if done properly. I look forward to seeing their school projects later in the trip.

Finally, just as I think the girls are not going to make it, we hit a flight of rock stairs that seems to go on forever. But the good news is that when that final ascent is made we pop up into the tiny little town of Hille, perched precariously on the side of the cliff. There are a few tea houses to pass before we find ours. The porters are all sitting outside - enjoying having all of our bags off of their heads I'm sure! The view is immense.

Within minutes Liam has found the local boys, and while I am showing the girls how to navigate a Nepali toilet (squat) he's off down in the village playing football with the local kids. That's what I love about childhood. There are no barriers, no preconception, no analyzing. Things just are. A bunch of kids. A ball. OK then, we all play football! Well.... until he came back up later to report that the ball had been kicked over the edge of the cliff and half the kids were off to retrieve it - a half hour walk each way. Something tells me Nepal may be a little too steep for much Football!

Our Tea House in Hille

While we wait for our dinner we all eat popcorn and drink ginger and lemon water. Simple and very yum. It's a great way to hydrate after all the hiking. And all the kids jump in on it. Waiting for our dinner of Dal Bhat, pancakes and fries Clara and Randall sing and play guitar with the porters while the rest of us sort out the rooms.

In the Village of Hille - Freshly harvested Potatoes at our Hille Tea House

The "Tea House" that we are staying in is so quaint. It's a two story structure made of wood and plywood. (With many gaps between.) We are separated into several rooms and we each have a wooden bed with a very thin mattress to put our sleeping bags on. Nice and hard after all that hiking. And luxury of luxury there is a sort-of hot shower downstairs that is just heaven.

Just as dinner is finished we send our flagging kids straight to bed, and there is not one single complaint, despite the fact that it is only seven o'clock. As the night wraps itself around us the lights of the local houses twinkle on like a canyon of glow worms. Randall and I share a beer and just sit in silence as we take it all in. It doesn't take long before the lights go out - power cut, again - and then the lightning and thunder storm moves in.

Climbing into the sleeping bag that my mom bought me when I was ten I'm falling asleep with the thunder roaring in the halls of the mountain king.

How far will we be hiking tomorrow?

Krazy Kathmandu - Buddhist Temples, A "Break Down" and Dal Bhat

Nepal - Day Three - Kathmandu

Just as I fell asleep to the sounds of the night, so I awoke with the sound of the morning. Before dawn the little birds started rousing, then the larger birds, until finally the day was started. It was still before six, but we were all awake, so out we went to see if anyone else was stirring at the hotel.

Up nice and early as well are our new friends, and hosts for most of the trip - Fionna, Rhona, Jaimie and Durga. The family hail from Nelson and Rhona and Jamie are eleven year old twins - just the perfect age to mesh with our kids. Durga, their father, who grew up in a poor rural Nepali family, managed to pull himself up out of the poverty and now runs First Steps Himalaya, the grass roots charity organization that we've come to Nepal with. The aim of the organization is to bring a higher standard and awareness of education to the rural countryside and I am really excited to be a part of this kind of charity work. (More on this part of our adventure later, I promise!) Fiona and I hit it off right away. Both of us foodies and travelers, it's going to be fun to learn about Nepal through their eyes.

The kids take to each other as most kids do, seeing the sameness in one another. Liam is so immensely pleased to be doing this trip with another eleven year old boy. And it would be my guess that Jaimie is similarly pleased!

After breakfast we all pile into Durga's pick-up truck again. This time with no luggage he puts the four older children into the back (which the kids think is the most amazing thing that's happened so far) and the rest of us crush into the cab. I am a bag of nerves having my babies out there in the elements, but really, I just need to get over it. They are fine, apart from asphyxiation from smoke fumes! Out we go into the city. It's just as crazy as the day before, but with a full night of sleep it seems just a bit more manageable. The heat is starting to build, quite a bit hotter than when we first arrived.

lining up for petrol

I know I mentioned it in my last post, but the driving scene here is just absolutely chaotic. No one uses lanes. Monkeys scamper along the overloaded power lines. Pedestrians walk calmly through the cars. Smoke and smog and god knows what else is being kicked up into the air. Cows sit in the middle of the road dully chewing their cud, obviously on some kind of bovine power trip.

Our destination this morning is just a bit north of the city. We are going to Boudhanath, a holy pilgramage sight for Tibetan Buddhists. 

 

As we leave the safety of the car and walk down a narrow alleyway, I have to admit I'm wondering where the heck we are going. But then suddenly we emerge out into the square where the giant stupa of Boudha dominates the skyline, the eyes of Buddha stare down at me and the smell of incense overpowers. It's like we've stepped back in time and entered another world.

 




This stupa is on the ancient trade route that led from Tibet down into Kathmandu and has been visited for more than a thousand years. There are some conflicting dates but it seems it was first erected about 500 AD, with the stupa we see today dating from around 1500 AD. It's 36 meters and widely rimmed by buildings some six stories tall housing monasteries, restaurants, guest houses and the usual array of stores selling incense, prayer flags and the like. 

The kids join in the prayer wheel spinning

Inside one of the monasteries

Tibetan women at Bouhda

 

Boudha stupa is a massive whitewashed structure with a large dome and topped with the eyes of Buddha looking out in four directions. Prayer flags gently flap in the wind leading the eyes up to heaven. While at the base are many shrines burning incense and prayer wheels set into the lowest walls of the stupa, ready and waiting for the faithful who spin them as they walk around in a clockwise fashion saying prayers.

Clara, Liam, Jaimie, Rhona and Juliet on the first tier of the stupa

When the Chinese took over Tibet in 1959 thousands of Tibetans fled the country to escape the religious persecution of the Maoist regime. Many followed the Dalai Lama to India, but even more settled here, around this most amazing temple. Now there are something like 50 Buddhist monasteries surrounding Boudha and as we walk out into the crowd over half seem to be local Tibetans, noticeably different in dress, and intent in their prayers. The sounds of bells being rung and the sound of chanting coming from the monasteries fills the air. I'm not Buddhist, but I can feel the peace that the cloud of intense meditation around me brings. 

While Buddhism is not the main religion of Nepal (the majority are Hindu) it is interesting to know that Saddhartha Gotama - later known as Buddha - was actually born here. I've always been intrigued by Buddhism as it is more of a philosophy than a religion. No "holy wars" have ever been waged in the name of Buddha, and he never claimed to be a god, or to take his word for granted. Please question all my teachings is his commandment. More like a philosopher or a scientist than a holy man. For over 2,500 years his teachings have been a strong part of this world, and it seems that even in this day and age of ultimate greed and gluttony, his teaching ring true. 

I find it interesting to watch the faces of the Tibetan devotes as they go about their morning prayers and we spend quite a bit of time circling the stupa. We are allowed to walk up to the first level and end up walking around the entire dome with our mid line view. The dome above, and the devotees and prayer wheels below. There aren't too many crowds and no westerners (besides us!) to be seen. 

Bouhdhanath

Lemon Soda on the rooftop restaurant on the square is our next order of business. At nearly eye level to the giant eyes of the stupa, you get a bit of a birds eye view up here, and have a quiet break before descending down. After the obligatory stop in a Thanka studio, the Tibetan religious artwork, and a demonstration of a Tibetan singing bowl, (ohhh soooo, coool) we leave the peaceful Bhoudhanath and re-enter the Kathmandu crazy traffic.

Very Fancy Dal Bhat - Lentals, Rice and Veggies

Luckily we were headed back to our hotel for lunch. I decide on the traditional Nepali meal of Dal Bhat - lentils and rice - even though I know I will probably be sick of it by the end of the third week. I'm keen to give it a go, and, spoken as a true foodie - YUM. It's not spicy the way that Indian food tends to be, but with enough kick to feel that you are getting a digestive kick. 

With jet lag hitting everyone we decide to spend our afternoon enjoying the tranquil poolside environment that our hotel, The Summit Kathmandu, provides. With the buildings creating a shelter from the honking traffic and the trees and flowers providing a pleasing view, the coolness of the pool refreshing all of us, we spend a languorous afternoon. It makes me feel as if I'm floating in some colonial British dream - India circa 1880. But then I realize, oh no, I'm in the 21st century. Dream time has to pass.

It's good Friday and we are meant to be shopping for goods to take with us to the "project" later in the trip. The "project" being the region where First Steps Himalayas have set up their operation, introducing proper teaching and classrooms into the disadvantaged local schools. I have some money generously donated by friends back in New Zealand to provide classroom materials and with things being so much more affordable here, I am happy to spend the afternoon choosing books and games for the centers.

And amazed I am with how far the money goes. 1 New Zealand dollar is worth approximately 85 Nepali Rupees. But many of these games and books are just a couple hundred Rupees. We leave the bookstore with boxes of books and early childhood games. It will be interesting to see how they get distributed later on in the trip. 

Car trouble?

After the book store we need to make a quick stop at the French Embassy so that Durga can pick up his passport, but alas there is no parking. So, what do we do? In good Nepali style we "fake" a breakdown outside the embassy and while Durga is inside getting his paperwork sorted Randall and Fionna peer under the hood of the car as if something is wrong. No one questions us. It seems to be normal procedure here. Ah well, sometimes you just roll with the local customs. 

We end up back in Thamel for an amazing Maharaja style Indian dinner. I must say that I was a bit skeptical of going back to Thamel after the craziness of yesterday, but today it seems calmer and more manageable. I guess after 24 hours we are getting into the rhythm of this new country.

The last drive home does feel like forever though, partly because we are tired, and partly from the manic driving. As we weave through the narrow alleyways and congested streets of Thamel, one of the kids leans over to me and says in a quiet voice "I miss New Zealand driving".

Amen. 

Tomorrow we are leaving Kathmandu and heading off by airplane to start the trekking part of our journey. So for tonight, it's goodnight and sweet dreams.

 

Kathmandu, Nepal - exploring Thamel

The alarm was set for 6:30 am. 

At 4:50 am my eyes pop open. 

In the bed next to me both Clara and Juliet are wide awake. I try to make us all go back to sleep, but that only ends up in fits of giggles! I guess it is 11 am back in New Zealand and our bodies just refuse to accept that we should be sleeping. So we make an early morning of it. The breakfast at the hotel is basic but fast and filling. We catch the 7 am shuttle to the airport and are the only ones in line for our flight. With two hours to spare we wander the relatively empty shopping mall, oh, I mean airport, finally settling on another food stop. Mangos and sticky rice to fill us up. The girls eyes pop open when they discover this Southeast Asian delight. Mmmm, mmmm.

Suvarnabhumi Intl. Airport, Bangkok

After practicing yoga, drawing pictures, wandering around aimlessly, and people watching we finally board a bus that takes us to the outer reaches of the airport where we climb aboard our plane. I'm tired and we haven't even taken off yet.

In front of us are two Buddhist monks. It's quite the picture to see the humble robed figures climbing the stairs next to a huge jet engine which is being prepared to propel us through the atmosphere to Nepal. I don't know. Maybe it is a statement that the old and the new can live in harmony, we just have to take the good and practical from each.

After three hours we descend into Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, keeping vigil for the snowy peaks of the Himalaya mountains which surround the Kathmandu Valley. From the air the city is blanketed in haze and mist, just like the Himalaya mountains that peek out at us from behind their own sheets of clouds. It's a smooth landing and we walk down the moving stairway onto the tarmac just behind the monks. Even though the air looked hot and humid from the plane, when we get off we are surprised by a cool temperature, sadly a testament to the air pollution of Kathmandu.

So much paperwork!!!

After clearing the visa office, then the immigration office, then customs office (where they didn't even look at the six forms that were required of me to fill out before we landed!) we reached the other side and are out into Nepal for the first time. Durga, our ride to our hotel, host for most of the trip, and co founder of the charity "First Steps Himalaya" is right there to meet us. (More on FSH later in the trip.) 

Smiling and waving to us from the middle of the road he seems oblivious to the honking horns and traffic moving all around him. We are soon to learn this is normal pedestrian behavior here in Kathmandu, something a little daunting to watch until you get used to it! We load into his five seat-er pick up truck (you do the math, we were squashed) and off we went into Kathmandu craziness. 

Kathmandu can be quite a shock to the system if not properly prepared. It's a city with huge growing pains, having gone from 1 million souls ten years ago to nearly 3 million today, mostly Nepali people who have moved to the city to make their fortune, only to live in squalor. Sigh, the story of so many a city and country. 

The kids are a bit horrified at the first impressions. The smog, the traffic, the rubbish everywhere. It is complete mayhem on the roads with no one using the lanes. No traffic lights, cows, dogs, people, motor bikes, monkeys, cars, buses all competing for space on the road. And then there is the smell of the Bagmati river which runs rife with human sewage (not to mention hospital sewage!). Frankly I am a bit horrified myself! But I believe it is good for us to experience life on the other side. It is so easy to be spoiled by soft living in a country such as ours. 

Nepali power lines

Durga successfully navigates us to our hotel, The Summit, which is an absolute oasis in the chaos of the city. With a long driveway and large inner courtyard of grass it is quiet and peaceful. It's nice to know we will have such a place to come back to when we can't take the filth anymore. But for this afternoon, it is much too early to just hang out.

We only have a finite time here in Kathmandu before heading off into the countryside, so after dropping our bags and changing clothes we are back out into the chaotic Kathmandu. Durga offers to drop us in Thamel, Kathmandu's touristy shopping area, before heading off to pick up his wife and kids from the airport. So after another crazy car ride, a few directions, and advice that haggling is important, we are standing on an alleyway corner between a textile shop and a knock-off North Face stall dodging screaming motor bikes, honking vans, chiming bike taxis and a myriad of other vehicles who all seem to driving in an exhausting confusion. 

But we get our rhythm. The kids just naturally fall into our "formation" that we drilled them on when in the Middle East, our last big adventure. And we learned that while the traffic has absolutely no rhyme or reason to it, no one seems to get hurt and truth be told they don't drive so fast that you can't side step whatever is coming at you, or behind you, as the case may be!

Thamel

Thamel is Kathmandu's touristy shopping district filled with all manner of stores. This part of the city became popular forty some years ago as part of the "hippie trail" where it was almost obligatory for sensitive souls to come and practice their art while journeying through th area. The hippie trail was a journey that many alternate people took between the 1950 and 70s that lead from Europe through India, ultimately culminating in Nepal. As the name implies they were the "counter culture" bringing with them a longing to escape the times with a new way of living, oh, and a lot of pot smoking. The so called Hippie trail stopped in it's popularity in the late 70s when the political climate changed leaving the hash houses out of fashion, and/or illegal in some countries. But Thamel lives on in the modern tourist, here now more for the mountains and the cheap shopping.

Navigating the alleyways of Thamel

So here we are in Thamel, once a hash heaven of the hippie trail, now a tourist bargaining epicenter, negotiating over some little items that we wanted to buy for our trek. Nothing is of very good quality, but boy is it cheap. Many a tourist to Nepal comes here to buy cheap gear before heading out into the mountains. Not to be left behind Randall gets a walking stick, Liana a dress as well as a few gift items. The best bargainer of the day was Cara who got  Juliet a pair of cotton pants for 200 rupees - that's just over $2 NZ!

Exhausted by the days of travel and the six and a quarter hour time change (still haven't figured the reason behind the quarter!!) we found our eyelids drooping and interest waning for the goods on display. We managed to delay the kids till five before heading off to another of Durga's suggestions, a hidden away pizza place that hit the spot perfectly. 

With the kids falling asleep on the table we head out and Randall valiantly finds us a cab. After finally throwing in the towel for finding a bigger taxi we have to settle for the ubiquitous Indian made taxi which is only half the size of the last car we piled into. Certainly not meant for seven people, but hey, we are in Asia, this is what they do. So we pile in and honk our way back to the hotel. Pedestrians calmly walking into the thick of the traffic, one hand out and head bobbing back and forth make it across the streets ahead of us. Cows, dogs, cats, monkeys and crazy motor bike all made it safely past and no one was hurt! I'm beginning to get a feel for this place. 

Cheers!

Now it's eight at night and the kids are fast asleep. Our little apartment at the Summit is on the outside of the hotel and I can hear the life of Kathmandu going on around me in the gardens and apartments that are our neighbors. Some neighborhood dogs barking, earlier the clucking of a big bird (a chicken I hope) going to sleep somewhere in the garden below my window, the couple in the apartment to our right chatting away, and the clanking of dishes from the one directly in back. Life goes on. It's all part of it. And we are part of it. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about what makes this city and country tick. But for now my eyelids are drooping... must sleep.....