Nepal

After being in India for over three weeks, Nepal was like being in a Japanese Zen garden. Its not of course, anything but with Kathmandu having a population of close to 2m people crammed into the valley between the towering mountains that surround and also apparently having the worste air pollution in the world. I didnt notice that to be honest. Getting here was a bit of a pain though. A two day bus ride from Varanasi, both days on the bus for more than 12 hours. The second day was particular fun as there was a protest and strike being conducted by one of the main political parties in Nepal and everybody appeared to be out in their cars for one last time until the strike began and no vehicles would be allowed on the streets. Our driver thought it a good idea to complete some off road driving to pass the traffic and very very nearly resulted in tipping the bus down the verge and onto its side. The Japanese at the back did not enjoy this which added some amusement to the scenario. I travelled up with a Welsh couple, Kerry and Angharad who were good company and certainly helped to make the bus journey a little bit less uncomfortable.

We all stayed where every single white person who ever visits Nepal seems to stay, the Thamel district of Kathmandu. Its an area of tight narrow streets lined with hotels, hostels, restaurants and more clothing, camera equipment and other hiking gear shops than I thought was possible. This results in some very good positives though. The vast number of restaurants means that there is some very good food in the neighbourhood and as Kerry and I hadnt had a steak in a long time, the decision to eat at K-Too was an easy and a good one. The Moo Moo in Themal as well is very good, would recommend trying some when you are there. The parties in Thamel are also very good. There is live music with Nepali's signing the rock classics and then there are also nightclubs both with a good mix of young Nepali's and backpackers, as well as your older trekkers who all looked very lost and out of place.

Seeing as I only had a week in Nepal total, due to the lateness of the decision to go, it meant that one of the longer treks was obviously out of the question. The Annapurna circuit which is the most common lasts two weeks and the trek to Everest base camp takes 14 to 17 days. I therefore settled on a three day trek through the Kathmandu Valley and along the foot of the Himalayan Mountain range. The trek started in the small village of Sundarijal which translates into beautiful water. I was informed of this by my 23 year old guide Raj and his friend Santu who came along too. They looked more like they were in high school than uni but after a slow start we ended up having some good banter together playing cards and drinking some of the local brew which is toxic. The climb up from the village was steep and the steps, well they certainly leave you with a burn in your calf. The views back down the Kathmandu Valley are nice but it is the views in front of you that make the ascent totally worthwhile. They are breathtaking. The hill I was climbing topped out at around 2500m but the Himalaya's keep going up and up until they touch the sky. We were lucky in that there was hardly a cloud in the sky so we were able to see clearly the snow topped peaks of the worlds highest mountain range in front of us. The more you walk as you head towards Chisapani, your base for the night, the more sightings of the mountains you get and the better the views become. At this point I was unsure if I had seen Everest as I had been told different things from my guide and another guide on the hill. Frustrating but not to worry. Its there somewhere.

Wake up with the sunshine beginning to enter into my room and I head onto the roof of the guesthouse to watch the golden orb make its way from behind the range and shower the valley below with its light. Sunrises in both India and Nepal take no time at all but I guess that this one might have lasted a little bit longer as there are somewhat large obstacles for the sun to get over before its rays can reach the ground below. That was really nice to watch as the valley had been covered in low lying cloud before making it look more like a really large, grey lake. The sun soon burnt the cloud away though. That morning we had Tibetan bread for breakfast. I note this because it tasted really good with honey drizzled over the top of it. I should also take this opportunity to explain that I had said to Raj that I would eat whatever he was eating on this trip. That therefore meant Dal Bhat for lunch and dinner the first day. Dal Bhat for lunch and dinner the second day. And Dal Bhat for lunch the third day. Its certainly a filling dish but taste wise, na, nothing startling lets just say. "Dal Bhat power, 24 hour" though.

The walk on the second day was more through the jungle so there was not as many views of the Himalaya's as the other day but the walk was still a fun one. We took numerous "short cuts" which involved climbing, mountain goat style, up the side of the mountain we were on. This was cool and I enjoyed doing it actually. The hotel we stayed in had a viewing tower at the top which meant unrestricted, panoramic views of the range. We had arrived in time for sunset which gives a totally different light to the peaks with the sun shining onto them as opposed to behind them. It was really nice but nothing compared to what awaited me in the morning.

I was up before the sun had even thought about getting out of his pit and headed to the viewing tower to get a spot. There was already a few people up there including an elderly German man who was the spit of Doc Brown. Luckily though, Doc had procured a map with the outlines of all the mountains visible from where we now were. The sunrise would give us the perfect opportunity to identify Everest as the rising sun cast the mountains in silhouette form for us. The sun gradually made its way skywards from behind the towers of rock, ice and snow and there it was...Everest. Situated between two peaks which sat higher in the sky (I know Everest is the biggest but its to do with distance ok) it was there. I had to laugh. What was the likelihood of me ever seeing the worlds tallest mountain and now here I was, gazing at it with Doc Brown and his map next to me. An unbelievable experience. It only got better too. As the sun crept up it turned the snowy peaks from black through red to a wonderful pink colour then to orange then finally in the glorious white they are during the daytime. Wow.. Wow...Sunrise over Everest...Wow. Not in the original intinerary of the trip but so, so glad that I made the decision to come to Nepal.

After trekking I moved to the ancient Newar town of Bhaktapur, a short bus journey away. Once the capital of Nepal, it is a listed UNESCO site and is just as famous for its King Curd as it is for its temples, towers and three main squares. The Durbar Square in Bhaktapur is really nice, a lot nicer than its equivalent in Khatmandu whilst Dattataraya Square is the oldest in the city and is probably more famous for its temple decorated with Nepal's version of the Kama Sutra. Everything is located really close to each other so a day trip to Bhaktapur is well worth it in my opinion.

So Thamel, actually Kathmandu in general, Bhaktapur and of course any of the hikes or treks through the Valley or up into the Himalaya's themselves makes Nepal a fantastic place to visit. Not to mention the white water rafting, skydiving, Asia's largest bungy jump, rock climbing, absailing and a whole host of other activities which make NZ look like a playground for under 12s in comparison. I can certainly see myself coming back here.