White knuckling it all the way to Pokhara!

Nepal Adventure - Day Eight - Annapurna Trail - Ghandruk to Pokhara

It's almost dawn - get up!

This time it was my hubby waking me up. I scratch my eyes and roll out onto the sandy floor. Too groggy even to look for spiders!

Dawn from our tea house in Ghandruk

Last morning with our friend, Annapurna South (7,219 mtrs)

As on the other mornings the mountains have emerged from their cloudy blankets to give another breathtaking sunrise. Annapurna South and Fish Tail Mountains are silently getting their morning sun ablutions...

As it gets lighter we sit on the lawn and drink milk tea. Watching the sun rise through the mist is the perfect way to finish this trek. I'm beginning to understand why people get up early, it's a silent time filled with promise before the world awakes fully.

Last Sunrise on the Annapurna Trek

But soon the fried eggs and Tibetan Bread are out and the kids start bouncing around. There are sleeping bags to stuff and water bottles to sanitise. Time to get moving...

The rescue helicopter is flying back and forth up the valley that leads to the Annapurna Base Camp. Not a good sign, as some people must be in big trouble, and after the killer avalanche that hit Mt Everest the week before we can only hope that the mountains have not claimed too many more lives.

Walking through Ghandruk

It's a very short hike for us today, just an hour downhill, through the village of Ghandruk. Past many a family house with fields and Water Buffalo's. There is much more business and human activity going on here, with people carrying everything up and down the trail. For those houses being built in Ghandruk all their materials have to be brought up either by the donkey trains or on peoples backs. One donkey train has a western toilet on it, while another man is carrying huge piping up the steepest part of the trail. It's a different life here!

Over a few wooden bridges and one last steep set of stairs and we can spy a real road, still dirt, but a road none the less. And a waiting jeep and driver to save us a six hour downhill trek to Pokhara in the building heat. 

Leaving Ghandruk

The picture says it all...

Not hiking the dusty, hot trail seemed like a good idea at the time, but I must confess the drive was one of the most harrowing two hours of my life. The road was only built a year ago, and is very narrow. Deep valleys  drop away from the side of the road.  For someone as afraid of heights as me, it was seriously disturbing. The road was only wide enough for one car, and the cliff was straight down. The road was full of pot holes and beeping buses that wanted to pass. It was white knuckles all the way.

But I guess everything in life has lessons to learn. While I did not enjoy the ride, I did learn to let go of the fear and turn some of the worrying over to a higher authority.

The end of the trail for us....

My view of the road. The valley floor is 1,000 feet below us.... White knuckling it all the way....

Liam collecting our trekking passes from the local authorities.

And as we get closer to Pokhara, the traffic increases and so do the horns and pollution and the other things that we got so completely away from on the trek.

It was some very happy kids who piled out of the Jeep at the Temple Tree Resort in Pokhara. It's a beautiful Westernised hotel, complete with swimming pool! It doesn't take them long to all jump in and resume the western life we are used to. It seems a bit surreal to have started the day with earthen floored rooms and ending it by the pool with waiters asking to take your drink orders.

Back to Western Life...

For dinner all ten of us walk into the quirky little hippy resort town of Pokhara to have a leisurely dinner at one of it's fine restaurants. Durga tells us that this particular restaurant has a generator that goes 24/7 so it is safe to eat a wider selection of things, as it doesn't have the refrigeration issues that goes along with Nepal's frequent power outages. After a week of lentils and fried eggs, the fresh steamed veggies and fish from the lake were so yummy!

During dinner there was energy from the mountains coming our way in the form of a building lighting storm. The kids danced around the outside patio celebrating the feel of the storm. Liam went into film making mode with my phone and captured some of the huge tendrils of light that were swirling down from the black clouds.

Just as we were about to walk home the heavens unleashed. We waited for the worst of it to pass and then struggled along the flooded streets. Rain was washing away the filth of the town. Wading knee deep through streets that are now rivers we finally make it back to our hotel. Juliet is not impressed washing the water buffalo dung from between her toes but, funny enough, I insist on it before she climbs into bed!

Earlier that day I had picked up a bottle of wine for Randall and I to share on the balcony while the kids sleep.... unfortunately when we open it up it tastes and smells like slightly off apple juice. Guess I've been had. Oh well, time for bed anyway.... Tomorrow we will have a beer!

This part of our trip - the Annapurna Trek - has been a fantastic experience all the way around. It far surpassed all of my expectations, not just the stunning scenery, but also the tea houses, the porters, the rural lifestyle, the dal bhat and the people we met along the way. I will miss my morning milk tea with the mountains!

It will forever be locked into the memory banks. But looking forward it will be fun to have a few quiet days in Pokhara before adventuring out again to work in the First Steps Himalaya's school projects with our hosts Fiona and Durga.

For now, it's a white sheeted Western Bed with lots of pillows and a long sleep!

Namaste ~

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?

A New Adventure Begins....

And the Travelin' Family are off again. 

We have had an opportunity to do something extraordinary. 

It's something that we've been talking about for years, but up until now we would get to the point of going - and then hesitate, until it was too late. This year we started up the pattern again, excitement, hesitation, excitement, hesitation.... And then one morning, with three weeks until the the trip, we both woke up and said, let's just do it. 

Nepal. The Himalaya Mountains. Tea House Trekking and working in remote Nepali villages improving schools. It's an absolute dream trip for us. I mean top ten bucket list!

But I have to say it's not my normal style to be this last minute. Remember, I'm the over the top planner. "Drill Sergeant Douglas" who has an excel spread sheet to keep everything organized and planned ahead of time. Am I able to let go of my controlling ways and attempt a trip like this?  I must say that I am finding it quite hard to let go of the planning of this trip, even though the people we are going with do this for a living and are super experienced. Heck, we will be traveling with a Kiwi/Nepali family (she's Pakeha and he is Nepali and their two children). So why do I find myself googling, and double checking each part of the itinerary? I guess it is a lesson to learn about myself. It's part of my journey to learn to let go. Maybe the rarefied air in Nepali will help me with this. 

So, we leave soon, all I have to do it pack and sort the visa photos. 

Stay tuned for adventure updates!

When you look like your visa pictures it's time to come home!