Monday 30 September 2013

Patan

Patans Durbar Square
While we were trekking our guide Bolle had invited us to have dinner with his family in Patan. Of course we accepted the invitation since we were planning on visiting Patan anyway. Patan is a small city on the outskirts of Kathmandu, in fact it's so close that we walked there from Kathmandu. It was an interesting walk, it took about 1 hour and it allowed us to see the real Kathmandu outside of the Thamel area.

While walking we noticed that many roads were closed due to protests that were happening, we weren't sure what the protests were about but it was interesting to see. We also had to cross a bridge over the most polluted river I have ever come across. The smell was awful and there were poor cows down inside it trying to scavange some food. Once we got to the city walls of Patan we had to pay a fee to enter the city. We then got a tag that we had to wear while inside.

Patan is a beautiful city and famous for it's rich cultural heritage. The Durbar square of Patan is probably the most beautiful square I've ever seen. it is full of old temples and surrounded by old buildings, no cars are allowed either which makes it even better. After walking around for a while we found our guest house, unloaded our bags and decided to explore Patan. Patan is a popular day trip destination for many travellers but few stay the night here. We are so glad that we stayed the night and got to see the Patan without the tourists. We were supposed to meet Bolle in a couple of hours so we found a rooftop and enjoyed a nice lunch while looking over the beautiful rooftops of Patan.

The beautiful rooftops of Patan.

Wonderful buildings.

Durbar Square.

Meeting Bolle again was so nice and we were both very excited to meet his family, he walked us down the small alleyways away from the square and eventually we made it to his house. Well, when I say house, I really should be saying room. I would be lying if I was to say that I wasn't a little saddened when seeing his house. Him, his two young sons and his wife all live in one room that is smaller than any of the apartments I've stayed in in Korea, they had no running water and had to use a shared outdoor toilet. But they were honestly happier than any family that I know in the western world.

Bolles son posing for the camera. (he was very shy before
this shot was taken)
While his wife cooked us dinner, we took his two young boys out and they showed us some local temples and sights. At first they were so shy and didn't want to be anywhere near us, but once I started taking photos of them and allowed them to use my camera we were the best of friends.
Bolle and his two sons showing us the local sights.

Spinning the prayer wheels.


Believe it or not this is actually a temple!
We both loved Patan, especially the area where Bolle lives. It is so vibrant and full of life. There were ducks, hens and dogs running around as well as little kids.
Some ducks in the street.
Once we got back to Bolles house his wife had dinner ready for us. It was the Nepali staple that is Daal Bhat but she had bought a chicken and cooked it for us. We felt so honoured as we know that chickens are very expensive for them and aren't eaten very often. Dinner was absolutely amazing and the chai that came with it was equally wonderful. We had a great evening and when it was time to bid farewell we arranged to meet up again the next day as Bolle needed to go back to Kathmandu with us.

Bolle and his wonderful family.

Me playing with the two boys on Bolle and his wifes bed.


To get back to our guesthouse we had to walk past the square again. It looked even more magnificient at night with all of the beautiful temples lit up and the travellers gone home.


Patans Durbar Square at night.

It looks beautiful no matter what time of the day it is.


The next morning I woke before 6am. I didn't want to sit around waiting for Jason at the guesthouse so I got up to go for coffee somewhere. I walked towards the square and realised that nowhere opened until 9 so I sat at the square and watched as Nepali life went on around me. It was interesting to see just how busy the square was with locals coming and going even though it was so early.
The square during the daytime.
One of the many beautiful buildings in the square.

After a while Jason joined me and we ate breakfast. Afterwards we decided to try and find presents for Bolle and his family as a thank you for dinner the night before. We really wanted to buy them a chicken but after searching everywhere we couldn't find one so we settled on getting some toys for the children.

We found a little shop and bought a soccer ball (which was randomly a Dublin Gaelic football!), an alphabet puzzle and a magic board for drawing on. When we arrived at Bolles house he wasn't there but his wife was with her friend and her friends child. It was a little awkward as they couldn't speak English and we couldn't speak Nepali but we gave the youngest son the alphabet puzzle and watched as him and the sweet little girl played with it. They were so happy. Then when it was time to leave they tried to give the toy back to us. We had to try to explain that it was for him to keep, when he realised this he had the biggest smile on his face.

Playing with their ABC puzzle.

This next moment I'll never forget for as long as I live. We pulled the ball out and gave it to him and I don't think I'll ever be able to explain the joy in his face, I have never seen it before on any other childs face. It was pure shock, happiness, amazement all in one. It really hit us that this family had so little but seemed so happy and when the children get a gift they appreciate it more than any child in the western world would.

After that incredible moment it was time to say goodbye to Patan and go back to Kathmandu one last time and collect our Indian visas


How to get there: 
We walked from Kathmandu and it's a very straight forward route, it takes about one hour. We then took a taxi back into Kathmandu from Patan.

Where to stay:
Since it's so close to Kathmandu many people do day trips to Patan so there isn't a huge selection of accommodation available in the area.
We found the Durbar Square Guesthouse and really enjoyed our stay there

Tripadvisor reviews of Durbar Square guesthouse:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g315764-d1520704-Reviews-Durbar_Guest_House-Patan_Lalitpur_Kathmandu_Valley_Bagmati_Zone_Central_Region.html








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Wednesday 18 September 2013

Our 7 Day Langtang Trek in the Himalayas (part 2)




Day 4: Kyanjin Gompa.

The next day was a free day and that morning Bolle offered us a chance to do an additional half day hike to get to an even higher elevation, once again my stomach was aching and I knew that I would be better off trying to get better for our hike back down rather than going higher. But Jason went with him. They had a nice hike and got to know each other better. That day Jason got to 4,000 meters.
Kyanjin village from Jasons extra hike.



Our guide Bolle taking in the views.



We spent the rest of the day walking around the village, taking in the views and visiting the town bakery. The food on the trek was very basic and every tea house had identical menus so it can get boring very quickly. We were quietly surprised to find the bakery up so high and even more surprised to find that the owner bakes everything himself. We enjoyed some yak cheese pizza and some cake. I hadn’t been able to eat much over the last couple of days so I pretty much just stuffed it down my throat, it was such a good feeling!


Myself and Jason in Kyanjin Gompa

We got photo-bombed by a local in this photo.



Day 5: Kyanjin Gompa to A tea house along the river.

Our first day of descent was magical. It was such an uplifting feeling knowing that I could walk as fast as I wanted to without having to worry about suffering from altitude sickness. I guess our mistake for this day was walking very fast. The weather was beautiful and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky making the descent beautiful. Initially while walking away from the majestic Himalayas I had to turn my head every couple of minutes to take a look at them, knowing that I may never see such a beautiful sight again. It was a little sad having to walk away from them. After about an hour of trekking we stopped at the Tip Top café. This is a wonderful little café that served real coffee. I ordered a cup and sat drinking it with the finest views in the world. It was one of those moments that I realized just how lucky I am to get to do these things.


The beautiful Himalayas

Jason on the descent 

Such beautiful views!

Myself, Bolle, Jason and Dendee

A coffee with a view!


Once we arrived at Langtang village I knew that the view of them would be hidden from me forever and took as many final glances as I could. But now that we were going back down the way that we had come we were given a chance to see the views that we had missed because of the mist and rain on the first two days. The valley itself is incredible, the river flowing down the middle of it is surrounded by mountains on either side. The lush green just makes it postcard perfect.
One of the local children near Langtang village.


Entering Langtang village.


That night we stopped at a delightful teahouse that was right on the river. There was also an older couple from England staying there with their guide so it made for a nice little group. We sat outside next to the river chatting and monkey spotting (there were quite a few Lemurs there) and it was definitely an evening that I’ll remember for a long time. Once it got dark we moved inside where once again the fire was lighting. I really do feel that these tea houses are what sets trekking in Nepal apart from other places. The people are locals that have a chance to make some money and you get to stay in a locals house and learn a bit about how they live.




On our way to our tea-house.

The river next to our tea-house

Enjoying the views by the river wearing my really comfy jumper that
I bought in Kathmandu.

Bolle and Jason sitting by the river.


Day 6 Tea House to Thulo Syabru.

Waking up that morning was torture. After doing a full day downhill the day before we both woke up with aching bodies. I had pains in places that I never knew existed. Also we both thought that today was another day of downhill but how wrong we were! This day will definitely go down as the toughest day of the trek for me.

We continued on downhill for another 3 hours and had lunch at the hot springs. While having lunch we had chickens running around under our feet. After lunch we had another 40 minutes downhill backtracking the way that we had previously come. Then came the turn off to Thulo Syabru.
To get to Thulo Syabru we had to climb straight uphill in the sweltering heat for about 2 hours and to make matters worse our muscles were still aching and we had run out of water.
The views from the top of the grueling hike.



That climb was by far the toughest climb I had to do on the entire trek, it took everything out of me and at one stage Bolle ran up to the top ahead of us and bought us some drinks at a little shack that was at the top. Once we had some drinks in us we felt better and made it to the top. We relaxed at the little shack for a while and drank more and more drinks, the views were beautiful and we could see Thulo Syabru from there…then came the most heartwrenching part of the trek.

After resting we walked for a bit and I saw the only way to get to Thulo Syabru was to cross a bridge. Meaning we had to climb back down to the bottom of the mountain, cross the bridge and climb back up on the other side. I’m not proud of what I did next but I may have stomped my feet like a four year old in frustration.
Some of the houses on the way up to Thulo Syabru.

This next part seemed easier than before as it wasn’t as hot and we had water and we had an ending point up ahead. We also had the porters from the big Korean group keeping us company. 

Once we finally made it to Thulo Syabru we were pleasantly surprised, it was a beautiful little village surrounded by rice paddies as far as the eye could see. It was also full of cobbled old streets and had many children around playing.

The tea house that we stayed in that night was by far the best that we had had for the entire trek…why? Because I was FINALLY able to have a nice hot shower! I must have showered for about 40 minutes but it was so good. While at our highest point of the trek I had to have a cold water shower in an icy cold bathroom and then get dressed in our icy cold room, it was torture, so this was the best present that I could wish for.

Day 7: Thulo Syabru to Dhunche

The last day of our trek was finally upon us. We woke up to an incredible view of the Himalays in the distance from our bedroom window. It felt strange knowing that this was going to be our last day, it almost felt like a way of life now. But we had made plans to meet up with some people that we had met on the trek and eat a big steak dinner when we got back to Kathmandu so we were getting excited about that.
Our view from the bedroom the next morning.

Beginning our final day of hiking.


Thulo Syabru was beautiful except for one thing…the flies. There were flies EVERYWHERE. I would see old ladies sitting on the ground in the street with hundreds of flies on them, the same with the dogs. I don’t know why there were so many but it made eating nearly impossible, especially eating a pancake with jam on it, you’d look down and see about 10 flies on the pancake and another 30 or 40 on you!

This last day of hiking was enchanting. This route isn’t taken very often so there was only one other small group of trekkers on the route. It was very peaceful walking through the forests and seeing cows, sheep and goats on the path. We also came across many farms and farm houses. There were so many monkeys on this route also. While in the forest all of a sudden you look up and there could be 12 lemurs on the branches above you. After about 2 hours of going through the forest and farms we came to the road. We would walk on the road for the last 2 hours ever of our hike. While on the road we came across buffalos, children swimming naked in the river, old men resting on the side of the road while hearding their goats/buffalos. People from the surrounding villages walking to and from. We even came across a man and his young son chasing their 2 pigs that had somehow escaped.
Jason and Bolle looking out at the many rice paddies that layer the mountains.

A random cow on the trail.

Amazing views!

A woman tending to her crops.

A mother and son at one of the final tea-houses that we stopped at.

The mountains nearby were so beautiful.



It was a lovely day. Unfortunately for poor Dundee (our porter) our bags were heavier that day and he was feeling sick so the trek was hard for him that day, luckily he flagged down a passing truck and got a lift to our final destination. Once we arrived in Dhunche it was such a strange feeling, we were ecstatic that we had completed the trek, sad that it was over and nervous about the next days bone knuckling ride to Kathmandu. That evening we bought both Bolle and Dendee a big Everest beer and spent the evening playing card games. We also had Dhal Bhaat for dinner and Bolle and Dendee taught us how to eat it Nepali style…with our fingers. Jason was a pro at it (I think the child in him was delighted to be able to eat his curry with his fingers) Me; not so good. It was great fun all the same though.
Jason eating some Dhal Bhaat.
That evening we also had to say goodbye to our wood sticks that had gotten us through the 7 days of trekking, it was strange to know that they wouldn’t be glued to our hands anymore.

Day 8 Dhunche to Kathmandu.

The day to return back to Kathmandu was upon us and we were both excited to get back to a comfy bed and a steak dinner but I was also apprehensive about the bus journey back since the one to there was quite scary. Luckily the weather was good for us which meant that we had no near death experiences and arrived in Kathmandu 2 hours before we expected to.

Overall our trek was an amazing experience. The Langtang trek offers a quieter trekking experience with fewer trekkers compared to the EBC and Annapurna treks. It also offers a diverse landscape, starting with the beautiful lush green forests and then to the more sparse higher elevated areas. There are tea houses everywhere so you are guaranteed a comfortable nights sleep throughout the trek. Also if it’s yaks that you are interested in seeing then Langtang is the place for you; we saw quite a few of them and apparently there are no yaks on the Annapurna trails.
But saying that, whatever trek you choose I have no doubt that it’ll be just as beautiful and awe-inspiring as ours was.


Travel Agents:
Exotic Mt.Treks: They were very honest and really seemed to want to help us in the best way possible. I'd definitely recommend any travelers to use their services.



Trekking Guide:
Bolle Magar: bollemagar@yahoo.com
He was a highly qualified guide who always had our best interests at heart, he always had a smile on his face and became a good friend during our trek. His English is also great.
Hint: if you book with him directly you will be able to cut out the agent fees and save some money.


Sunday 15 September 2013

Our 7 day Langtang Trek in the Himalayas (Part 1)




Day 1:
Syrabrubesi-Lama Hotel.

The day had finally come to begin our trek. We woke up at about 6 and got ready then went downstairs and had some breakfast. We left our guesthouse at about 7am. The rain had stopped from the night before but it was still very cloudy and it looked like it could rain again.

The route we would be taking.
The beginning of the trek was walking along a beautiful river, it was very easy going and we got to walk through a beautiful little village. The first hour went very smoothly and we were surprised at how easy it seemed. The air was fresh and the area was so luscious and full of green. We were going quite quickly for the first couple of hours when Bolle (our guide) pulled us over and warned us to go slower because of the altitude. I had only ever done short hikes before so my style of hiking is to go quick, I love going up a mountain at a fast pace. Unfortunately this wasn’t going to be possible this time. Our first tea house came along and once we got there I immediately began to feel nauseous and had a headache. I knew that this was a mild form of altitude sickness and began scolding myself for walking too fast. I took some altitude sickness tablets and ordered a hot cup of peppermint tea from the tea house.
Our first tea house stop; This cute little boy lived there.

Tea houses are exactly what you think they are. They are peoples homes that you can stop in all along the trek and order drinks and food from and also spend the night there. Most tea houses are basic with no electricity and there is only hot water if the sun is shining. The best thing about the tea houses is that they are always situated just after a very tough part of the hike. So they give you a chance to catch your breath, have a chat and get ready for the next part of the hike.

After our first tea house visit we realized that this would be the end of the level walking for now, our next part of the trek was all uphill. It was quite a tough climb, especially when you have to go as slow as you can to avoid altitude sickness. But it was so beautiful. That first day we hiked along with the river, hiked in the woods and near a hot spring.

Day 1


Day 1

Day 1

Jason on day 1 of our hike.

As you can see it was quite misty so there wasn't any views.

It was a good solid 9 hour trek and by the end of that first day we were so tired. About 6 of those hours were completely uphill and it was tough. We went from 1503meters above sea level  in Syrabrubesi to 2420 meters in Lama Hotel.
Our first nights stop.


Lama Hotel is not one hotel but it is a name given to an area that has plenty of tea houses. It is usually the first stop for most people that are doing the Langtang trek. Bolle quickly found us a room and we were excited to find out that the fire downstairs went up through the pipes and heated each of the rooms, a nice little treat after our first day hiking. Once we got into our room all we could do was collapse on our beds. I think we got a couple of hours sleep until Bolle came knocking at the door warning us that we had to order our dinner soon. We went down to the common area and had a nice chat with some other trekkers while eating and then got ready for bed.
That night was a very scary night for me as I began suffering from altitude sickness badly. I was awoken in the middle of the night because I couldn’t breath, my chest felt so tight, I had a terrible headache and felt very nauseous. I knew that if you keep going higher while suffering from altitude sickness it can become very serious and you could die. So while lying there that night I was so worried that I would have to give up and go back down the next day.

Day 2:
Lama Hotel- Langtang Valley

Luckily, I woke up and felt much better so was able to continue on. Day 2 was the toughest uphill of our hike but thank god my mindframe was in the best place and I had a positive outlook on the day that I felt great and pushed through to our next destination. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great and it was raining. I had a rain jacket but unfortunately Jason didn’t so Bolle made him a makeshift jacket from a plastic sheet. We also found some bamboo sticks to help us with the uphill and they soon became our best friends for the remainder of the hike. 

We had some pretty grueling uphill climbs on our second day and unfortunately because of the rain we had no views whatsoever. While hiking we came across a familiar face, Benjamin, the German that we had met at the Indian embassy. He was on his way down and told us that because of the bad weather he had to finish the hike early and go back down, he said it was snowing very heavily up higher and there were no views whatsoever. We were a bit worried at this point, thinking that we may not get the views that we had imagined, but we pressed on through some beautiful fields with horses and along the valley rim.

We noticed a lot of locals going downhill that day with their children. We were curious as to why so many of them were going down so we asked Bolle. He told us that the new school year was starting and many of the kids in the mountains go to boarding school in nearby cities so the families had to do the two day trek downhill to get the children onto their school bus and then the parents had to do the three day trek back up. It blew my mind that these people that lived up there had to do this trek everytime that they needed to get somewhere. There were no roads in this area and the only way to get supplies up and down the mountains were on donkeys backs.
Children on their way down to school.

Jason on day 2

Jason and our guide Bolle.

Jason at one of our many tea house stops.


Our view as we got close to Langtang village, as you can see it was quite rainy/misty.


We passed so many donkeys throughout our trek. The rule is that when a group of donkeys come along you must try to find somewhere to stand away from the path, those donkeys had very tough jobs and it broke my heart to see some of them collapsing on their way and having to get back up and continue.

Some of the many donkeys
on the trail

After another tough day hiking we arrived at Langtang village, our home for the night. Once we got here Bolle brought us past all of the other guest houses to one that was quite a bit away from all of the others. It was his friends tea house and we were the only guests. It was a wonderful little place owned by a husband and wife, his father and their three children. They also owned a horse that was out in the garden and her beautiful young foal. We had a lovely evening with the family and had a great time learning more about them and their culture.

That night I woke up with pains in my stomach so I went outside to use the bathroom (all teahouses only had shared bathrooms, usually outdoors) After using the bathroom I was walking back to my room when I looked up and saw the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. It was the middle of the night and it was quite dark out but the moon was shining and from its light I managed to catch a glimpse of a snow capped mountain. I was so excited that the sky finally looked clear and I was hoping that it would stay clear until the morning time. I think I stood there in the freezing cold for about 20 minutes just looking up at that mountain.

Day 3:
Langtang Valley to Kyanjin Gompa.

I woke up the next morning and immediately opened the curtains and looked out the window, I was so excited when I saw the majestic snow capped mountains all around us, I quickly got Jason up and we ran outside to get a better view. The mountains were so beautiful and they were snow capped all along the valley that we had just come from, it was hard to believe that they were hiding from us for the whole time.  We were quite excited, especially as this was our last day of trekking uphill. Kyanjin Gompa was to be our highest point on our trek.
Our view from the bedroom window.

Myself and Jason excited about the beautiful views.

The living area of our tea house. This served
as the cooker and heater of the house. 

Beautiful son of the tea house owners.

the views from Langtang village.


Unfortunately I was still feeling sick and could barely stomach breakfast. Every teahouse along the trek had identical menus and served identical food. Since my stomach wasn’t good I had been turned off most of the items on the menus and since every menu was the same it meant that I could barely eat for a while.

That morning we set off and I immediately noticed that my mind frame was completely different from the day before. I was feeling sick and seeing the uphill climb ahead of me I nearly felt like crying and I was wondering how I was ever going to get through it. I had put on too many layers of clothes that morning also because it was much colder in the valley but once we started walking I soon began sweating. Halfway up a big hill that we were climbing I decided that I’d have to go into a nearby field and take off some layers. I was feeling so low and miserable at this point and then something amazing happened.

When I went into the field it was a bit higher up than the path, while taking off some layers I looked straight ahead and saw the most beautiful awe inspiring mountains I had ever seen, they were all snow capped and it was a glorious sight. I immediately felt drawn to them and suddenly my mind frame had completely changed. With those magnificient views that days trek was wonderful. I just kept my eyes focused on the mountains and could barely take my eyes off of them, they were honestly one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. Luckily that day was only a half a days trek. It also felt very different from the two previous days that were filled with lush green forests and rivers, today the landscape was much more barren and there were many yaks around. The trail to the Himalayas also became almost like a Buddhist shrine, there were prayer flags, wheels and shrines everywhere along the path. I had to keep remembering to walk to the left of the shrines (always in a clockwise direction).
You can see my delight at seeing the amazing Himalayas
 (the sun was so bright that it made capturing them a bit difficult)


Myself and Jason



So beautiful!
On our way to Kyanjin Gompa

Dendee, Bolle and me.

Jason with the incredible mountains behind him.


After about 3 hours of hiking we made it to the highest point of our trek; Kyanjin Gompa. It is a small village that had some incredible views from every direction, it was also bitterly cold up that high.

Unfortunately I was still feeling sick when we arrived so when Bolle offered us a tour of the village I had to pass. I put on my layers, got into my sleeping bag and tried to rest (although the cold was making it hard). That evening was spent in the common room of our tea house playing games with some new found friends with the fire lighting. It was very enjoyable.


Travel Agents:
Exotic Mt.Treks: They were very honest and really seemed to want to help us in the best way possible. I'd definitely recommend any travelers to use their services.



Trekking Guide:
Bolle Magar: bollemagar@yahoo.com
He was a highly qualified guide who always had our best interests at heart, he always had a smile on his face and became a good friend during our trek. His English is also great.
Hint: if you book with him directly you will be able to cut out the agent fees and save some money.