After a few days in Kathmandu it was time to get out into the Nepali countryside. We had heard about a village about 5 hours away from Kathmandu. An early microbus out of the city and we where on our way. More stunning views of raging blue rivers seemingly hundreds of meters down. finally we arrived in a small town called Dumre and from there negotiated a share jeep (read the local type of bus as there is no regular public transport system). After climbing slowly through the hills up up up, we passed through small villages, barefoot kids ran out to wave and people stopped the jeep to get on and off. People sat on the roof and hung out the back, the road was very windy. As we climbed up up up (700m increase in altitude from Dumre) the views became better and better. In the distance you could see the himmalayas peaking out through a sort of mist that made the snow capped peaks appear to be floating in mid air. Finnally we arrived in Bandipur, it was a great little town with all traditional houses, old style bricks, glassless shutter windows, bougainvillea of all coulours drooped from the balconys and gave the town an almost european feeling. The people where very friendly, I sat and played guitar and small children came and sat and watched. We found a nice guest house very simple with a very nice family. They cooked us dinner each nite (traditional Nepali food) and helped us with maps of the best places to see and the best things to do. The view from the window (read wooden shutter without glass) was stunning, it looked into a farming valley with small villages clustered in its floor all without road access. Then you could see the Himalayas and that direction marked the old trade rout from Tibet to India (Bandipur being one of their stopps when they braught salt on the backs of sheep). Great town, great views amazing history. Corney words are the only ones that can describe it well.
The Sidha cave.
To get to the Sidha cave from Bandipur you must walk down almost all the way to dumre. 90% of the trail is stairs. its approximately 650m drop in elevation to the cave. each stair is about 20cm high, that makes about 3,250 all very slippery because the hill faces north and in winter no sun all day. even give or take few for taller steps its a lot! The cave was amazing, it was so big, the rooms sometimes having 10m high ceilings. A hindu shrine stood at the entrance and also one more about 5 mins walk in. the stalactites as thick as tree trunks gripped the roof and stalagmites equally as impressive hugged the floor. The feeling inside the cave was very interesting and after a 20m walk inside including some hairy climbs down ladders and skids down slippery parts we came to a huge cavern that had one more big passage but it was blocked off. We decided to stop there and before turning back sat for a few minutes and turned off all torches. TOTAL DARKNESS not a photon of light was around. You could feel your eyes trying to adjust but not being able to. You could literally put your hand in front of your face and not see anything at all! It was easy to see why people have used caves for self reflection and meditation, there where no sounds and no light just yourself and your mind. The cave as well as being beautiful was also very intriguing. According to some information written about it, it is the biggest system of caves in the Himalayas and has unexplored areas.
Villages lost in time.
With one more day around the Bandipur area we decided to take a walk to some villages about 4 hours away from our guest house. We set off in the early morning, the fog was so heavy in some places you could only just see the path in front of you. It was quite cold. The vegetation changed as we climbed and dropped. At first farming terraces, for grazing or crops like barley (wheat and rice don’t grow at such high altitudes) then we got further away and the oak forests started, the trees where not old but provided a cool atmosphere (much appreciated as the sun had now burned off the fog. The view to the farming valley bellow (700m bellow so falling was to be avoided) was stunning, terraces went right to the bottom from about half way then they where growing some crops in the valley, and there was no road access to this valley. Farm houses dotted the valley floor some with solar panels on the roof as some of the villages still don’t have electricity. The first small village we came to was very small (just 6 or 7 houses) and woman standing around and waved us in to talk. Goats and buffalos where tied to sticks and in small sheds. The houses where made of stone and bore slate roofs. Some where two stories but where so short it seemed like 1 big level you would not want to be a tall person living in that village! We showed them photos of our house. They all laughed at my hat so to make the situation even more amusing I started dancing around. One older woman who was apparently the village clown started dancing around too to the amusement of everyone in the village. Then a younger woman made her sit down and told her something in Nepali which seemed to translate to sit down and stop being so silly! We then headed onto the next village about another two hours walk. The walk displayed more amazing views and when we finally reached the village it was worth every step. The village really seemed lost in time. Most houses had a stone grinder for grinding grain into flour. Electricity had not reached there yet although you could see it nearby so soon it was coming. All the houses where made of stone or red mud or both all with slate roofs. There where no vehicles and no streets, just dirt paths between the houses. We where allowed into one house and found a kitchen and an upstairs area for storage of food. A ladder carved out of a single log led up there. Many kids just followed us around stopping their rubber-band and marble games to watch the westerners in town. They kept small sway back pigs in houses, even the pigs peaked out through their wooden slat walls to see what the commotion was. We didn’t have long as it was several hours walk back and it would be difficult walking in the dark. What a great place, but like so many others on the brink of major changes. With electricity comes lights first, then television and running hot water and a variety of modern things. Everything changes. The walk back was quicker but we stopped at a pass near Bandipur to see the sun setting oppisate the mighty Himalayas, illuminating them orange and pink (the colors where enhanced by the pollution from the plains of India, something dirty making something beautiful.
