Thailand and Nepal: October 2001

I had enjoyed the Bolivia and Peru, adventure with Eldertreks, therefore, I decided to go to Nepal with them.  They had a tour starting October 12^th,.  The timing would work well for us since we would be in Seattle for our annual Jane Austen Society conference, October 5^th – 8^th and then would fly from there to Bangkok and onto Nepal..  

We booked this trip, and shortly afterwards, the Prince in Nepal killed his entire family and the political situation seemed a bit shaky.  However, we decided to hope for the best.  Then came September 11^th,  a day, we remember with a shudder.  We had flights from NY to Seattle just 2 weeks later and some 10 days after that to the other side of the world.  Would planes be flying?  Would it be safe?  We decided that if planes were flying, we would go as scheduled.  Life isn’t safe; therefore, we would just take our chances.  The members of the Jane Austen Society are a hearty group.  Out of some 500 registrants for the conference, only about a dozen cancelled. 

Our next problem was how to pack for this trip.  We always bring a suitcase of period (Regency) clothes to the Jane Austen conferences.  Jerry had a Red Coat and a gentleman’s suit including boots, hats and wig.  I usually brought 2 or 3 dresses.  In addition, we would need to pack our hiking boots, hiking sticks, sleep sheets, cold weather clothes for camping in the mountains and warm weather clothes for Thailand and southern Nepal. Our solution was to pack up all the Regency clothes and anything else we wouldn’t need in the far east in one bag and mail it back home from Seattle.  This would allow us to travel with one small bag and one backpack each the rest of the way.  We had been paring down each trip and now we were really getting good at it.

I will skip the visit to Seattle, and go right into my one day in Bangkok, Thailand.

To get the feel of this very noisy, busy wonderful foreign city.  We rode the pedicabs, and the river boats, as well as indulged in a $10 foot massage: and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Nepal:

Just the name Kathmandu evokes adventures.  Bangkok was Western in comparison to Kathmandu.  The trip’s highlights would consist of visiting Buddhist temples, learning about the Buddhist religion and customs, hiking part of the Anapurna Range then going south to the Chitwan National Park.

Since we were on the Eldertrek tour, the guide and driver met us for a smooth transition to the hotel.   Coming to a totally foreign environment would have been too stressful for me if we weren’t being met. 

Bolivia and Peru were foreign, but they were definitely less foreign than Nepal.  This was my first time spending extensive time in a Buddhist country and trying to understand a totally different religion and strange (to me) customs.  I will limit the write up to the experiences in Kathmandu, the Annapurna Trek, Sirubari Village and Chitwan National Park.

Kathmandu Buddhist Temples: 

The three main temples in the Kathmandu area are: the BoudaNath,  Swyambhunath or Monkey temple and Pashupatinath. BoudaNath is the second biggest stupa in the world and the biggest in Nepal. 

These temples are surrounded by 108 prayer wheels each with 10,000 prayers in them.  Both of these temples also have many smaller stupas, which hold the ashes of the person who commissioned them. 

The third temple, Pashupatinath is on holy ground and we could only see it from across the river.  On the banks of this river, the Nepalese cremate their dead in the open, on pedestals within a couple of hours of death.  The ashes are then put into the river.  We saw a body getting ready for cremation.  It was on a stretcher – feet in water, head toward the temple.  We are so private about death and they are so open about it.  

The Anapurna Trek required a two days drive to Pokara, where we would start the trek.  The roads were so bad, we often drove only 10-15 mph.  On the way, we spent one night at the Gorka Hill Resort in Gorka.  The resort was plain, but clean, and the food was delicious.  During dinner, the lights went out, candles were lit, and we learned that this would be the first of many blackouts.  Candles were always available.  The views from the Gorka mountains were magnificent, especially the sunset and sunrise.  

Our 4-day/3-night trek is called the “Coka Cola Trek” because all along the way, there are food stands that sell soft drinks and snacks.  This trek is through farms – so different from the isolated Inca Trail in Peru.  But let me be clear, this did not make the hike any easier.  We only covered a portion (and the easiest portion) of the Anapurna Trek.  

 

That night we stayed at a bare bones lodge in Landruk.  We had a bed, but no sheets (I was prepared with my silk sleep sheets).  We did have our own toilet, which most rooms did not.  I was grateful.  On the 3^rdday we hiked 2,000 feet down to the Modi Kola River and then 2,500 feet back up to the lovely town of Ghandruk.  We walked quickly and were at the lodge in Ghandruk for lunch – which meant well deserved relaxation in the afternoon. 

On the last day of the trek, we hiked for 6 hours of fairly difficult terrain that ended with a steep climb up, to the taxis.  After much confusion, we piled into two taxis and took a scary ride – for an hour to our hotel in Pokara.  Our regular driver was not permitted in the pick-up area – it is reserved for taxis; therefore, we had no choice.  This taxi driver, drove worse than any New York cab driver.  He passed with cars coming right at us on a curved mountain road.  He stopped twice to fill his radiator, which kept boiling over.  We had to drive through some goats that were being transported.  He hit one of the goats lightly.  But we made it!

Our next adventure was a home stay in Sirubari Village. Even getting there was an adventure since it is accessed via jeep and then 3 hours of hiking.  I was so tired by the end of the day that I fell once during the last ½ mile of walking.  

The house had electricity – which went off periodically but running water was only outside.  The bathroom – a squat toilet was also outside down 12 steps and the shower had cold water only.  Dinner with the hosts consisted of rice and lentils.

The Adventure: That night, our hosts bolted the front door before they went to sleep.  They do not use the toilet at night (presumably because there are wild animals such as foxes roaming).  I had not expected the bathroom to be off limits at night and spent a couple of uncomfortable hours before the doors were unlocked.  That is when I learned, from other travelers about the “pee potty”.  I never again went to a developing country without a cottage cheese or yogurt container.

We spent the next day visiting other houses in the village, including a round 400-year-old house.  

We had, of-course to hike out of the village the following day. It was fascinating to actually stay at an out of the way village. This was our last adventure in the mountains. We next headed to the low lands and to our last adventure in the Chitwan National Park.

On our way to Chitwan, we passed busy towns, water buffalo plowing the fields and rickshaws moving people and goods around. It felt like we had entered a new country.

The park is in the jungle and the primary means of transportation to see animals was on the back of elephants.  Four of us, on each elephant, sat on a platform, while the elephants waded through the river and went right into the jungle.  On our first afternoon we went for a magical sunset ride, and then, the next morning we went as the sun rose. I don’t know which was more impressive, but I do remember that in the morning, the sky was clear, dew was on the elephant grass and I thought to myself that “This is as good as it gets.”  We spotted a number of rhinos, both on the grass and in the water, crocodiles, deer and lots of birds.  

Nepal was an incredible experience and I was now becoming a seasoned traveler with two Eldertrek adventures in my memory bank.  I was so glad that 9/11 had not scared me from traveling.  

Final comments: 

1. Never go to exotic trips with out the pee-potty
2. Eastern religions are fascinating but confusing for westerners
3. Each hiking adventure is different and worth it.
4. Nepalese roads are awful. Unfortunately,  I met other awful roads in future trips.

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I will skip the Venice/Israel trip in February, 2002 and the next and last trip that I took with Eldertrek to Finland and Lapland in June 2002.  They were memorable, but not as exciting as some of the other trips that I will detail in future posts.