Words + Photos By: Guida Verschut
We decided to close the doors of the office during Eid, giving us time to take our first holiday since we started our business. Pete suggested Thailand, but I had something different in mind, a place not that far from here; this was my chance to get my “wish come true” – Nepal.
We left the office around lunchtime to catch our flight from Sharjah airport and in only four hours we were in Kathmandu. With our forms already filled in, we smoothly got through customs where three clerks sitting side by side registered us and issued our visas, all by pen and paper. We were picked up by Nima, the Nepalese end of Mountain Quests, Matt Farr’s Dubai-based boutique expedition company. They did all our legwork by arranging transport in the country, hotels, trekking permits and information for our six-day trek.
A short but good night’s sleep was followed with a morning discussion with Nima to confirm our route, lodges to use, receive trekking map and local telephone (coverage would be sporadic and a comprehensive safety net was never a real option once we left Kathmandu). We planned to do the Helambu trek (Langtang Region) which would take us six days to complete. This gave us some slack in case we needed an extra day for our trip and of course we wanted to leave enough room to sniff out some Kathmandu culture.
Our trek was described as moderate with daily walks between five and seven hours. Pete, who is not a newbie to Nepal, and did the Annapurna Sanctuary trek in three days (Lonely Planet gives a six-day trek) said that if we leave early in the morning we would have the afternoons to explore the area near the lodge. I found out on day one that this measurement did not include tea and lunch breaks.
I had also been advised that I should expect at least one day of diarrhoea, but suffering avoidance was possible with good hygiene awareness. So we took lots of antibacterial wipes with us as a substitute for flowing water in bathrooms.
Raw food was off the menu, although in Kathmandu some restaurants mentioned that they soaked their veggies and salads in iodine water for 30 minutes. In reality, safe food is either cooked or fried and served really hot. Tap water is not safe to drink so in order to avoid contributing to the plastic bottle mountain we took an MSR water filter with us, this was really useful.
Day 1
A one-hour taxi ride from central Kathmandu and we were trekking by 10:00 from Sundarijal at 1,460m. While Pete managed to do a small nap during the ride, I was captured by what I saw and could not keep my eyes off the urban views. Sleeping dogs everywhere, a man without legs begging, people selling their goods near the road, the numerous little shops selling mainly cheap stuff, the potholes in the road, glossy saris, lots of dust and, just outside Kathmandu, people working the fields.
We planned to be self-sufficient, travel light and carry our own pack. There is a basecamp GPS map of Asia available; with this and our trekking map, we felt confident we did not need a guide. I clicked my walking poles ready, swung my rucksack on my back and switched on my GPS, ready to go. My heart did a skip when I found out that Asian base map had not been loaded on my device; I blame it on a beginner’s error. A great moment for an argument, but I was glad it didn’t come.
We walked past shops and teahouses along a sloped path rich in trees. After a short while, the path transformed into steps that never seemed to end. The young couple in front of us (she was wearing shoes with straps and pointy heels) were soon out of sight. We were overtaken by a mum with a four-year-old. It was hot and we definitely found it challenging. I started thinking what I shouldn’t have brought with me – my fleece, shawl, binoculars? Many people passed us, a lot of them were on the way to visit family as it was Pachali Bhairab Jatra festival week.
Around five in the afternoon, we were glad to have reached Chisapani at 2,165m, our destination for Day 1. We found a decent lodge with a great view over the valley, got a room with toilet and hot shower. All we could think of after dinner was straight to bed.
Day 2
We left at 8:00 after Nepali bread and fried egg. Studying the results of the GPS the day before, we noticed that we could gain time if we could cut down on teas and lunch breaks. We also became aware that the gross altitude gain was not a realistic measure of the day as for every ascent there appeared to be significant descents in the day as well. Consequently, we started to read the map with different eyes, we counted every high line looked for every detail and symbol, shades and valleys to anticipate how long it would take us.
Life is on the street. Opposite every house along the path was a tap with flowing mountain water, this was the place were women do their dishes, wash their clothes, hair, meat and vegetables all on their squat. Houses were sometimes less that a few metres of the path so you wondered how they maintain their privacy. Almost every house has a dog or two that seem to sleep all day. While the internet suggests to vaccinate against Rabies, I did not come across any angry dogs. Most houses have a toilet shed at the back that is flushed with a bucket of water. No seat but all standing ones, in a way this is the best solution as they have a different approach of using and keeping things clean.
The food is delicious. It is fresh and made at the spot in a short time. I love curries and being a vegetarian was not a problem at all. Looking at the kitchen brings you back in time, it is very basic and everything gets prepared on a wood stove, you can often find bits of coal in the bottom of your tea cup which adds a nice flavour to it.
We walked through small villages most of them had no more then 15 houses. We passed a lodge that stood out due to its colour and tidiness, outside we met the owner who was from Switzerland and married to a local. He mentioned that the weather forecast was heavy rains for the coming days. We looked at each other and frowned, this was supposed to be the dry time, the best period to visit Nepal.
The last hill was a torture, Pete took some of my stuff in his rucksack as he became worried we might not reach our lodge before dark. We took the first lodge we saw, just before dark we arrived at Kutumsang at 2,470m after a 10-hour day.
Day 3
Today would be the hardest day as we would end at 3,690m in Thadepati Pass. It started with clouds and a few hours later the first small drops fell. We walked through a beautiful forest of small trees that gradually changed to high trees that at first glance appeared to be branchless and wrapped in moss. After lunchtime, the rain became more serious and the temperature dropped.
In the pouring rain, we regularly felt off route but were reassured by fresh walking pole prints. We arrived at our destination in fading light, lashing rain and high winds; we were soaked, cold and in need of tea. The first hut we approached was full but luckily the next one had places. No hot shower; poor Pete, he was so cold that it took him hours to heat up. The hut was busy as many routes crossed at this desolate location.
Day 4
The next day, Pete felt too tired to get up, all he wanted was to stay in bed with tea. I convinced him to go to the dining room and sit near the wood stove. There he rolled up in a corner to have a nap. Two men approached us wondering what was wrong with him. One of them happened to be a doctor. A short consultation concluded that he was suffering from altitude sickness. An injection, some pills and instructions to descend followed. Amazingly, within one hour he was back on his feet ready to go. I was now the one who took some of his stuff in my rucksack to save his energy. We descended to the valley in the pouring rain and decided to stay in Melamchi Gaon 2,530m instead of a village further. To our surprise, we found the couple we met the evening before in the same hut. Eva (the younger sister) lived in Nepal and worked for an organisation involved with women rights and Taj sets up green energy plants for a company located in the US. We had an interesting evening and came a lot to know about life in Nepal and how appalling the position of women are, how young children get lost as they get sold in order to earn money through charity.
Day 5
Rain and more rain, we had to walk through rivers and got lost at some point. Cold and wet, we reached Timbu 1,580m. With warm water buckets, we refreshed ourselves and tried to lay everything out to dry. While I hung up my waterproof, I felt something sticky on my thumb. By the light of my head-torch I saw this crawling thing – a leech! I believed it could sink his teeth in my flesh at any moment and I could not avoid screaming. In an attempt to get rid of it, I frantically waved my hand and was successful. But where did it go? We looked through all our stuff, there was no way I could sleep before we had found it, and eventually we noticed it crawling on the ceiling. Checking my waterproof, there were two more bloodthirsty leeches to be rid of. But I slept that night with the light on just in case.
Day 6
We got in touch with Nima, who arranged transport back to Kathmandu for us. We left the clouds behind us, the further we went the better it got. It took five hours of careful driving as the rain had washed out roads and left significant damage.
Days 7, 8 and 9
The rest of the days we spent sightseeing Kathmandu, the immediate region and buying souvenirs in Thamel.
Places worth visiting:
Kathesimbu Stupa in Jyatha area
Durbar Square
Pashupatinath
Bodhnath
Patan (Durbar square)
My favourite place to have lunch:
Nepalese Kitchen in Thamel
Trip set up and fixes:
Mountain Quest made it very easy and saved a couple of days sleeping around ministries and bus stations.
