Nepal.... a land of the Gods.....
Resham pree ree, resham pree ree ree
Udeya juankey, dandaa ba buanjung, resham pree ree ree
the silk cloth is fluttering, the silk cloth is fluttering...
(a nepali folk song)
Nepal trip : from 3rd nov 1997 to 24th nov 1997 ;-)
hey...sorry for the delay in setting up this special feature on nepal ;-) here's the long awaited story of my trip hehehe
3rd Nov : 4.45am : slept at about 12 plus plus am ....cant sleep lar..too excited..hehe actually was packing my bags and chunking out stuff ...as usu. last minute packing ;pp
5.50am : reach changi airport at abt 5.20 am *flight is royal nepal airlines (RA) at 7.30am, flies every mon and thurs* the counter wasnt even open... anyway, had a great time looking at pple who like mi are kiasu and come early to 'chop' a good seat *note : to get a look view of the himalayas as the plane touches down, advisable to request for a right window seat...superb view of the snowed capped mountains *sighhhhh**
6.50 am : Anyway, 2 church frds, philip and figin was there to send mi off *sob..how touchin'*
8.00 am : RA 408 finally starts flying off the runway.... managed to get a right side seat ;-) journey abt 7 hrs; transit in bangkok; (one hr); nepal is abt 2 hrs 45 minutes behind singapore.... then hor, meet this malay girl, khadijah from singapore; she is also alone; her second trip and she is heading for everest base camp..got 6 weeks to spare...lucky girl!!!
12.45pm : reach kathmandu...abt 1 hr 45 minutes late... hope my dear guide *i emailed him to meet me* has got the patience to wait for me...the locals were not allowed to enter the airport's arrival hall...
1.00pm : Met Chappale, the manager of the trekking company... nearly missed him.. he was holing my name plate ;-) anyway, i got hold of khadi who was in the midst of booking a cab from the airport counter *rp 100* and we went to the first hotel that khadi suggested... but it was fully booked, so we went to another one *hotel lai lai* usd$ 8 for the two of us, with attached bathroom.... anyway, we will onli be staying for a couple of nites so i thought we'd pamper ourselves b4 'torturing' ourselves during the trek hehe
2.00pm : settle my trekking stuff like itinerary and wages for the porter-guide.... usd$11 per day, plus any transport charges.... *note : guides in kathmandu is generally more expensive then if u get a guide from pokhara* but in pokhara, to gat a guide u gonna play by ear.. and believe what u see ;-)
7.00pm had a lazy lunch and a late dinner... really pampered ourselves as we went to eat at a posh restaurant.. no other guests were there so we had the whole place to ourselves with 2 waiters at out disposal ;-)
8.00pm : went to hotel karma to meet khadi's guide... then decided to stay at the hotel the next morning.. usd$6 ;-) *for 2*
5/11/97
9am : meet chappale at hotel karma... went with the porter guide *pasang sherpa* to make my permit...the office opens at 10am
11.30am still lining up for my permit....the permit room was hot and stuffy...locals again was asked to wait outside.... anyway, i learnt from khadi that the trekking agency can actually make the permit on my behalf....shd have tell mi earlier on, spare me from queuin up and *jump queue* some more...
12.30pm : pasang brought mi ard kathmandu... we went for lunch at a little local restnt. cheap food... had some roasted chicken rice or sth.... cost abt $1 ; anyway, then we walked ard..went to pasang's college then to the man-made lake, pass the royal palace then to durbar square... very run down and broken... i tired to pass off as a local but for my camera... pasang and myself were lazing ard but sitting at the top of the temple steps *abt 4 storeys high* and observe pple ard us... tourists who were by themselves were hounded by locals trying to sell them something.. but i think they saw pasang, a local, with me so neber 'harass mi hehe
6pm : went back to hotel karma to meet khadi... went dinner with her.. a roof top place... food is expensive though... it even played piped christmas songs!
Resting with a refreshing sprite at one of the many villages..... i think it is day 11...
6/11/97
5.45am : wake up.. tried not to disturb khadi.. left her a note plus some oranges.... *10 for a dollar*
6.10am: went down stairs....at the lobby, pasang and chappale was waiting for me...
to be continued.....
see pictures first!
At Bamboo lodge.... abt 2000 m above sea level.... i saw my 'true love' a 'kaati barchar' ie. baby girl... she was very cute and cuddly... and she gave mi a present... her urine.... ;-)
Near the foot of Annapurna south.... read a book about a guy who conquerred Annapurna south in 1958... conditions were very hard then.. and the guy , well, he has frostbite and most of his fingera and toes have to be amputated .. so how did he write the book... u wonder.. well, he has got a mouth aint he? Sure not difficult to conquer.. just needs lots of pushing and puffing keke
Ah... decided to do away with the boring accounts of day-to-day climb... just some highlights...
At Gorepani, the highlight was of course Poon Hill.... i missed the first sunrise *gonna wake up at 5.ooam ;p* so decided to stay another day to climb Poon hill.. well, this poon hill *see first picture* is basically a hill haha.. but u get a panorama view of the Annapurna south, anna. 1 , 3 and 4, fish-tail and lots of other peaks.... they are like all around u ... cant get enuff of it.. and the mountains.. well they just sort of pull u to them.. cant tear yr eyes off them..get what i mean?
Oh Gorepani.. standing at abt 3000 plus metres.. no wonder.. i was playing volley ball and basketball with some local youths and felt damned breathless !!! keke <== retrace.. met this pretty and wonderful girl who brought me to her frds and had 2-on-2 basketball with her and another 2 chaps....of course i get to drink free kalo char *black tea* from her shop after that....
9.10pm.. I was locked out from my inn *moonlight hotel* 'cos they closed shop at 9.00pm!!! luckily my guide, pasang was around and we went thru by the back door lor....hehe i was out 'pubbing' .. no lar.. no pubs there.. just went to a teahouse for tea lor.. courtesy of my volleyball frds...(a 21-yr-old guy who is the manager of a teashop! they sure rised fast in nepal)
Anyway, the moonlight hotel boss wanted me to sell him my baby-G watch .. but it was a present so of cos cannot sell lar! (btw, got 3 offers for my watch and 2 offers for my old track shoes and one offer for my bag)
Logistics:
went for 21 day..12 days spend trekking, 2 days to make permit and hang ard . the rest hang around pokhara and did some boat rowing... touring.. hibernating...10 rolls of films...
spent abt $1800 *includes $820 on air fares* and lots of presents for my frds....and also tips for my guide and donations to schools, sumptuous meals, 3 star hotel stay in kathmandu, a few solid books, lots of ice creams, tibetan wine and chang, the local beer...ah of course money to appease those in strikes!!! *met with 3 strikes alotogther hmmmm*
lost some weight though... average abt 7 hours walking per day except one day, walked from morning 8.30am to night 7.00 pm.. okie okie.. we made many stops along the way lar and i was SLOW! ;p
For those who are interested in going, singapore tour groups offer lots of arranged tours.. prices range from 900 - 2100..depends how many days u are going, what kind of activities they offer : white water rafting *abt grade IV*, royal chitwan national park *safari lar* to sit on elephants and look for one-horned rhinos.... got snow leopard ..but not at the terai... try in mustang , the northeast side.. but please bring yr own food , porters to carry the food and cooks to cook yr meals...hehe anyway, all these and more can be found at pokhara .. no need to book from singapore lar... just get the ticket and fly there! *either by royal nepal : twice a week, mon and fri* or SQ.. twice a week, sunday and thursday. hmmm got lots of emailing services there... opened by entrepreneur pple lor... one kb = 15 rps *abt S$0.40*... to send or receive. okie to give u guys some guides lar...
1. Deepak b . roka : [email protected], mountain adventure trekking (pte) ltd gpo box #3440 tel: 227040 fax: 977-1-525126 *my agent in nepal* charges abt usd$11 perday for porter cum guide... includes all the guide's meals and lodging. exclude all transportations.
2. Pasang sherpa *my wonderful but blurr guide* : gpo box #5544 sundhara, kathmandu, nepal.
3. Ambassador Tours and travels : Raj Kumar Shrestha , lakeside-6 ,pokhara, post box 168 nepal
okie... got more to yak about ... any questions can email me.... and got a guide book : lonely planet on loan to entreprising backpackers.... aiya... tour groups no need guide book one keke....
ps : must really try the daal bhat... their local food.... u either love it or hate it.... captain's lodge *chromrong ==the apple pie county* prepares very nice daal bhat and crumbled apple pie...yum, yum yum
.