Sep 20 - Oct 16, 2001
Short Version
- Nepal is like a simplified version of India.
- Rafting class 4/5 rivers isn't necessarily all fun & games.
- We saw our first Rhino (only one horn though!).
- Tibet is a wild trip & has a fascinating, if disappearing, culture.
Long Version
Day 1: The airports are starting to return to normal after the World Trade Centre bombing so our 3 hour early arrival nets us an earlier flight.
It's 7 hours to London, 5 hours lost, 3.5 hours between flights (watching Lou shop at Heathrow), 6.5 hours to Bahrain, 1 hour on the plane, 2 hours lost, 1 hour to Abu Dhabi, 1 hour lost, 2 hours wait (stocked up on chocolate at the duty free), 2.5 hours to Delhi, 1.5 hours lost, 5 hours wait at the airport (while several people detail their reports to find our luggage we get an unexpected free breakfast!), 1.5 hours to Kathmandu.25 hours lost!
Few effects from the bombing: one guy wouldn't hand search our film, one guy muttered It's only been a week and they're already asking for hand searches we had to retrieve and recheck our luggage at Heathrow (it always had tight security though).
Day 2: See Day 1
Day 3 Kathmandu: Picture a typical filthy impoverished Indian town, with Vancouver's scenery. We made a beeline for the tourist ghetto called 'Thamel'; well stocked with the usual traveler's services and street hustlers (exactly how much Tiger Balm does one person need!).
Found a hotel with a beautiful view took a quick catnap from 3p until 6a the next morning.
Day 4: There's surprisingly little open at 7a in the morning in Kathmandu (or probably anywhere). Guess we haven't been missing much. We spend half of the day looking into Rafting Tibet trips the other half sleeping!
Day 5: Our city tour by coach consists of 6 of us in a vehicle that makes our 1986 Honda Civic look like a Lexus. Being the only white guy I got to sit in the front while the guide, wife an Indian couple squeezed into the back. Lots of interesting sites: a cremation at Nepals holiest Hindu temple, the bizarre Tyrolean atmosphere at the Buddhist stupas Kathmandu's only stoplight!
Day 6: Spend the morning finalizing our Tibet trip.Then it's off to Durbar square; Kathmandu's downtown Lovely 15th century architecture with beautiful (original) wooden carvings. We lunch on a rooftop overlooking it all. At street level Kathmandu is quite grimy but up on the rooftop terraces it's a beautiful world of falcons soaring over ancient temples against a backdrop of beautiful mountains. Ah..... almost makes the street hustlers bearable.
Day 7-14 (Sep 24-Oct 1): Off on our 8 day rafting trip of the Sun Kosi river. Kosi means large river in Nepali. We're just a few weeks past the peak monsoon time so the river is quite large. Lots of class 4 a few class 5! The trip was quite a mix of emotions so I'll do it in 2 sections.
The BAD: Day 1: Our 3 hour private bus trip stretches on as we stop to shove two huge truck tires in our aisles then deliver them to an on the way gas station (very little surprises us anymore).
Day 2: Overnite local kids steal 2 of our life jackets. A 4 hour search by our Nepali guides of the nearby mountain villages turns up nothing.
Day 3: We flip! Lou I stay with the raft are dragged for a mile thru big rapids over rocks. For the first time I'm a little nervous as to how this will end. Our guide ends up swimming back to the raft we right it in some relatively calm water. yes"> Our $250 small camera it's waterproof bag are torn to shreds.
Day 4: Sunburn sets in.
Day 5: We flip again (but the raft gets to calm water quite quickly this time). We pass a dead body (apparently not a rafter; the poorer people can't afford cremation). We lose 3 paddles on our flip our Nepali trainee ends up having to use a kayak paddle.
Day 6: Bad day for the 2 chickens we pick up at a local village (which is Maoist so I can't use my expensive camera!). By now 1/2 of our stuff is covered in sand (the downside of our beautiful beach campsites).
Day 7: A thunderstorm interupts the nites festivities. Only us the Israeli couple are in tents. The Texan, 3 western safety kayakers 4 Nepalis are under raft/tarp combinations get drenched.
Day 8: Rain drizzles all the way to the pull out point.
The GOOD: Day 1: We run the lower Bhote Kosi (a bonus given by our rafting company). It's a continuous stretch of class 2/3/4? rapids is the funnest rafting day ever! At nite it's snooker at their riverside resort.
Day 2: Lush rice terraces beautiful mud thatch homes dot the well treed mountainous terrain. Village kids scream 'bye bye' as we pass.
Day 3: We pass monkeys and beautiful birds. John Coltrane lulls me to sleep.
Day 4: A perfect day. We survive lots of class 4 rapids get our confidence back. We see our first Gibbons ever (a rarish monkey).
Day 5: I win tonites Whist game rescue 3 paddles during our flip. One of our safety kayakers gets great pictures of us running 'Harkapur'; the rivers hardest rapid.
Day 6: Lots of fun successful rapids, a group shower under a beautiful waterfall.
Day 7: We stop early at a beautiful campsite watch as an endless stream of porters ferry goods between villages along the tiny mountain trails. This area is quite remote it's an extensive carry to get anything here. Recently the government has built giant suspension bridges every 10 miles or so along the river. Before that they used tiny wire chairlifts to cross the raging river.
Day 8: Only a true man can carry the mega heavy rock around the monastary. The first 4 people fail (including the big Texan) but I will not be denied! Our 12:30am drop off for our Chitwan hotel van goes flawlessly! It's been the trip of a lifetime (or as Louise states it; we're not doing class 4/5 rapids again any time soon).
Day 15-16 (Oct 2/3): Chitwan national park is home to a nice range of animals but the prize is the one-horned rhino (apparently African rhino's have a 2nd small horn above the 1st). Our expensive $100us/person 2 nite package buys us 7 meals, 3 nites accommodation, park admission, an elephant ride, canoe ride, bird walk, jungle walk, village visit, dance show elephant breeding centre visit. All with 1 or 2 good guides and great service. We constantly feel uncomfortable about the extravagance though and we're isolated from the village where the normal backpackers go do the same trip for $40-$60. Things start off slowly (drizzly) but we end up seeing several rhino's, spotted dear, fox, jackal, crocodile lotsa birds. Well worth it!
Day 17: Six hour bus ride back to Kathmandu along the Trisuli river. We've got the front seats but the views spoiled since the windshield wipers don't work (the driver's assistant occasionally stops to wipe the window!). Only the 2nd time I've been nervous on an Asian bus ride! Endure the usual rush of touts when the bus drops us off but end up at an outstanding hotel for $10us.
Day 18: Submit a test roll to 3 different photo labs, get the final itinerary for our Tibet trip, get our laundry done, buy a new small camera to replace the one that drowned on our rafting trip and shop for snacks (apparently the Tibet travellers service situation rivals that of Siberia!). $4.50 for 8 poptarts; we must be desperate.
Day 19-29 (Oct 6-16): 11 Day Tibet trip. Tibet was one of the last isolated civilizations in the world. Surrounded by mountains and at an impossibly high altitude it wasn't discovered by the West until the 1900's. Tibetan's have always been an independent, resilient people, living a medieval existence. They survive weather worse than Canada's in mud houses with thatch roofs. Their only crops were barley, potatoes squash. They had almost no trade with the outside world. Everything they needed they could glean from their yaks; yak butter tea, yak wool, yak meat. Even yak dung for fuel as there's no trees at this altitude.
Sadly this culture started to disappear when the Chinese liberated Tibet (from what?) in 1950. Since then they've replaced yak paths with roads, installed monuments to Chinese greatness, built shiny new stores karaoke bars for the Chinese settlers flown in hookers for the plethora of soldiers that dominate the landscape.
During the 1959 Cultural Revolution in Tibet the Chinese destroyed centuries old monasteries holy books and made monks renounce their faith. Today Tibetans aren't taught their own language. Their religion, Tibetan Buddhism, is only barely tolerated.
Tibet Day 1: The one hour flight from Kathmandu is $273us (the North American equivalent of paying $1500 to fly Toronto to Vancouver) but we get excellent views of Everest the entire Himalayas. China is one big time zone, so even though Nepal Tibet are side by side, we lose 2 1/4 hours on the flight there.
Lhasa is at 3650 metres (nearly 12,000 feet) we feel tired a little headachy but the remarkable sites of the Barkhor Bazaar rejuvenate us. Whereas the rest of Lhasa has been 'Chinacized', in the heart of the city are the Pilgrim circuits where Tibetans come from 1000 miles away to walk circuits around important temples. Some prostrate themselves all the way around (with a leather apron gloves taking the brunt of the impact). There harsh faces highlight the toughness of their lives (our guide tells us Tibetans are descended from a monkey an ogre!). Some are wild eyed, clothed in sheep skins with hair strewn everywhere. Others look like Mennonites with their small hats plain clothes. yes"> Many have outlandish turquoise coral jewellery representing possibly their entire wealth. Although they are poor their is a constant stream of small bills being thrown on the altars precious yak butter being poured onto the constantly burning candles.
By 7:30 we are exhausted and promptly crash at the hotel.
Tibet Day 2: We have Diamox pills to help with the altitude we each take another one. This morning we tour the Drepung monastery, the largest in Tibet. It has been rebuilt since the Chinese destruction of 1959 but the monk population has only rebounded to 600 from the original 10,000 monks. There's an endless series of small rooms or altars covering the plethora of icons, buddha's and bodhivistas existing in Tibetan Buddhism. The stream of pilgrims is endless the most famous rooms have lineups!
This afternoon it's the Sera monastery. As with other Tibetan monastaries taking a picture comes at a price. The posted price varies from $2 to $100 and I've generally shied away from it. But a wall full of precious holy books hand painted in gold forces me to take a shot. They've been charred beyond recognition by the 1959 cultural revolution. Luckily I'm allowed 2 shots for only half the normal $4 price.
Tibet Day 3: The Potala Palace is (was) the home of the Dalai Lama. It's striking in it's 13 stories of whitewashed brick set into the mountainside. It is almost as important as the Dalai Lama himself has become heavily politicized. It is now run by the Chinese government. They get all entrance charges all the money donated by the pilgrims. Images of the current Dalai Lama (now living in exile in the West) are not allowed anywhere. yes"> Tourists carrying Dalai Lama pictures to give out to pilgrims can be imprisoned. The Dalai Lama is constantly spreading his message in the west. That's why the Beastie Boys have annual Free Tibet concerts Tim Robbins Susan Sarandon yell Free Tibet at the Oscars. But no government will take up their cause; preferring stable relations with China to justice for Tibet. The Potala has many remarkable rooms, just like the monasteries we've seen, but this place has a more subdued feel to it. We tour much of the Red Palace; the religious side, but little of the White administrative side. Too be kind I would say sanitation in Tibet is disastrous. Even at this, their most sacred Palace, the bathrooms are simply slits in a concrete floor. yes"> The excrement falls down onto the mountain below.
In the afternoon we tour the Dalai Lama's summer palace; the Norbilingka. Next is the most central temple; the Johkang. Inside is the smallest pilgrim circuit where people walk in endless circles pouring yak butter turning prayer wheels. Outside is the main Barkhor Bazaar circuit. We watch in amazement then head home through a maze of markets alleyways.
Tibet Days 4-11: Most tourists fly into Lhasa then take a 5 day Land Cruiser trip back to Kathmandu. This is as cheap as $350us (excluding flight) if you're willing to cram 7 people into a Land Cruiser. We didn't want to get crammed wanted the (expensive) side trip to Everest Base Camp so we ended up paying $1000us (each!). Our land cruiser was built the same year as our Honda civic; 1986!. I think the shocks gave out about 10 years ago. Our guide is Tibetan and has a half decent command of English.
Our tour is almost indescribable. We see some of the most spectacular scenery in the world but suffer constant hardships. It takes 3-4 hours to drive 100km. Only about 2% of the main road is paved, but much of our trip isn't even on the main road. We drive across rivers, through rock fields, along narrow ledges, up 45 degree angles and down terrifying hills. All the while we feel every bump and are frequently shocked by the sound of our luggage crashing back to the trunk floor. It hits a high of about 10 celsius during the day but falls to around 6 at nite. yes"> Outside Lhasa none of our hotels are heated, so we sit around in our jackets gloves with barely the concentration to read. For 4 nites we have no running water, one central heated room (the restaurant) one 40 watt bulb from 8pm until 11pm. One nite we have a dirt floor.
But nonetheless Tibet has it's treasures. The holy books in the monasteries are spectacular. We pass thru many cites where people seem to live the way they have forever. On cold mornings as we shiver in our Western gear children play games smile as we walk past. Our troubles seem so trivial compared to how incredibly hard their lives must be. yes"> Still they are always smiling (at least the kids anyway). The scenery reminds me of Canada; all of it. From the barren Artic tundra to beautiful Maligne lake (pictured at one of our hotels!) to our snowcapped peaks to the lush forest raging rivers we encounter on the final drive to Nepal.
But the highlight was my solo attempt on Everest. Our Land Cruiser took us to Tibet's Everest Base Camp (Everest is exactly on the border between Nepal Tibet). yes"> That's the North side, the most difficult climb. I left around 10am and was making good time for the summit (although it looked quite windy up there), when I realized I had no food or camping equipment. Disheartened, I turned around at camp 1 returned to base camp (where a kind group of French people offered me a ride to avoid the 3 hour walk back to the lodge!). Although I was unsucessful in my attempt, I believe it was the highest ascent by a solo Canadian climber on the North Face this season!
On our final day our guide changes our normal departure time from 9:30am to 8am for the one hour drive to the border. It's still dark at this time since we're on Bejing time. yes"> We change money, say goodbye then realize Chinese customs doesn't open until 10am. I guess our guide was anxious to get back to his wife (it's a 2 day drive home). The border is a bizarre place strung out along the switchbacks that account for the 3000 metre elevation gain going from Nepal to Tibet. After exiting Chinese customs it's a windy 8 kilometre road to the Nepalese border. We were expecting an organized shuttle bus, but it's a confusing no mans land with trucks strewn out along the road such that there's little room for other vehicles to drive. yes"> Luckily we hitch a ride with a Dutch group that gets us to within 2k of the border before a backlog of parked vehicles forces it to stop. Get out and carry your luggage the last 2k we're told. Lou proudly struggles along with her own pack, leaving the porters running to more vulnerable targets. Nepali customs the 1.5 hour wait for our ride pass, then it's a four hour bus ride to Kathmandu and a much needed return to civilization. yes"> We've been dreaming of tonite's steak for a week now. Best $5 we ever spent!
Lou's #1 Tibet tip: Sports bra!
Best Story Thus Far: We met a Dutch couple in Tibet who's family got together to offer them money to cancel their trip in the wake of the World Trade Centre bombings!This is especially strange being that Holland is the 2nd biggest source of tourists in Asia. Is it really more dangerous traveling abroad than opening your mail in the West?