Zoom Zoom! (Part 1 of Trekking in Nepal)

Where to start?  Since my last post I have travelled to Pokhara (central Nepal, west of Kathmandu), trekked for 12 days (climbing to around 4000m), been to  Bhaktapur (one of the medieval city-states of the Kathmandu valley), and am now back in Kathmandu.

So, in the words of our Nepalese Sherpa guides… Zoom zoom (“Let’s go”)!

The World Expeditions '16-day' tour started officially with a briefing in the evening of Monday 21^st at our Kathmandu hotel (the Radisson: a bit of a ‘step up’ in glamour compared to my lodgings for the previous few days).  We were a group of 10 – a range of ages, some couples and some singles; so a real mix of people – which would prove to be a blessing, and also a source of some amusement for the subsequent 2 weeks together.  Our lead guide (Tsering) was the man charged with looking after us – and all our support team.

‘Day 2’ (Tues) was organised sightseeing around Kathmandu.  I’d already seen some of the attractions, so only joined the group for the morning session, visiting the Bodanath – a huge Buddhist stupa, surrounded by monasteries and souvenir shops.  It’s an impressive sight: I didn’t think it was as beautiful as the Monkey temple (Swayambhunath), but it is larger in size and of significance to the Tibetan Buddhists.

The journey really started on ‘Day 3’ (Wed) when we headed for Kathmandu airport (domestic) – what a chaotic place!  There were piles of luggage, and people everywhere.  Our trekking gear was carted away by a team of porters, but we had to submit our carry-on to the using scanning process; except that Tsering was extremely insistent that we ourselves must pass through the scanners quickly – so as not to lose sight of our bags; it all felt very urgent and high-stress.  The security queues were segregated into men & women, which was very necessary given the ‘uninhibited’ nature of the pat down procedure!  The next excitement was to find out that we were flying with ‘Yeti airlines’ (can Yeti’s fly?) – it seemed appropriate for a true Nepali-experience (although I would have been just as happy with ‘Buddha Air’).  The 35min flight to Pokhara gave us our first view of some impressive mountain ranges, and terraced fields.  We had just a couple of hours in Pokhara itself (a launching town for a lot of trekkers, so well set-up with equipment stores, souveniors, restaurants and bars).  The town sits on a lake, surrounded by hills and mountain ranges – and reminded me somewhat of Queenstown NZ (apart from the water looking much less appealing). 

Lake at Pokhara

Our first ‘catered’ meal was served to us at the World Expeditions campsite in Pokhara (a permanent campsite, complete with dining hall).  I have written in my diary that “lunch was served as we sat – i.e. we were waited upon; food was plentiful and very tasty”… In fact, food was to become a central focus of our trek: often described as ‘a short walk between meals’, and the quantity of food was frequently overwhelming (particularly the number of forms of carbohydrates the cooks managed to pack in – think: rice + pasta + fries + pizza – all on the one plate!)

To start the trek, we hopped onto a ‘pimped up’ bus (interior décor was all- mirror and metallic cut outs: very Elvis-style).  As it turns out, all the trekking buses seemed to be in this style, and even the local buses around Kathmandu have had some degree of decoration applied.  The walk on this first day was very short (and very slow – which as many of you know doesn’t suit me at all).  The path wound upwards through small villages, seeing local people (a reflection of the number of trekkers who must come through this area was provided by the English language repertoire of the local kids “sweets? / chocolate? / money?”). 

We arrived at ‘Australia Camp’ – which was horrendous: a veritable tent-city; just a sea of tents packed closely together, multiple buildings (presumably dining halls etc.), and even a large square area screened off (apparently for the big party that night).  Fortunately for us, our camp site was another 10min walk, at the next small village; giving us a little space and peace away from the crowds.

Although we had warm, dry weather on this first trekking day we didn’t really get any views of the mountain ranges, and couldn’t see anything special when we set up camp that afternoon…  It was amazing to get up the next morning and discover that our campite looked out on an incredible view:

Pre-dawn light at camp on 'Day 2' (Thurs 24th March)



View from the tents: Annapurna South