back home

Slowly unpacking, up in the middle of the night due to jet lag. Whenever I get back from a vacation I think of the opening lyrics from the song 'Sand in My Shoes' by Dido. I think it sums up the feeling pretty well:

Two weeks away it feels like the whole world should've changed
But I'm home now and things still look the same
I think I'll leave it til tomorrow to unpack
Try to forget for one more night
That I'm back in my flat
on the road Where the cars never stop going through the night
To a life where I can't watch the sun set
I don't have time
I don't have time

some first reflections

I'm in the lounge in the Hong Kong airport, now. The flight from Kathmandu to Hong Kong was overnight, but fortunately I actually slept through most of it.

If I think about the greatest impressions of the trip, it would be the scenery and villages of the trek, of course, but also the Nepali people. Not just in the villages, but everywhere, even in the most run-down looking part of Kathmandu, people are very friendly and helpful. I also found them to be quite honest, and I always felt safe. I love that wide-eyed happy, open expression of the kids as the come up to say 'hello'.

Visually, however, Kathmandu takes some getting used to. The paving of roads does not include sidewalks or anything, and garbage collects in the dirt on the side of the road, sometimes in big heaps.

Mukund, the trek leader, explained that the Maoists recruited heavily in villages in certain parts of the country during their uprising. Once displaced from their villages, peopled tended to drift into Kathmandu. So, the population of Kathmandu has increased dramatically. However, it doesn't look like there's been any money spent to improve infrastucture like waste management, power, public transit, paving, or traffic control. And with the instability of government, the money may not come for a while. Right now I think the main thing holding things together is the good nature of the Nepali people. However, if the trend continues, Kathmandu could be headed for a real crisis.

Last day

My last day in Nepal turned out to be quite a busy one. My flight was not until late in the evening, so I had time during the day to do something, but had no plans. A Thai group had arrived at Sanu House, and at breakfast Sarita said she was taking them on a tour, and anyone else could come if they wanted.

Again, we had the adventure of travel by bus.

First, we went to Swayambhunath, a large complex of Buddhist temples and stuppas, also know as the Monkey temple because of the large number of monkeys there.

Next we packed into a small bus and drove the Kathmandu's Durbar square. I'd been there before, but this was interesting because it was so packed for festival time, and there was a kind of car and motorcycle rally going around waving flags and shouting, and groups of people in traditional costume.

Next we took a bus to the village of Kirtipur, on a hill on the outskirts of Kathmandu. There is an old stuppa there, dating to the 1500's. There is also a couple of temples, with a fantastic view over the city.

Things were really festive in Kirtipur. Just about every block had a mandala done in colours on the road.

Everyone was outside, and tons of people were driving around, shouting, banging cymbals, etc.

It is also a time for the men to get together and gamble.

We took the bus back to the house, and got there by about 4:00 pm. Sarita said to be in the kitchen early for dinner, as there was going to be a ceremony for festival that we would all participate in. When I entered the kitchen, I found every sitting place decorated with a design on the ground in front of it, with and arrangement of fruit, flowers, nuts, and candles. Quite a sight. We had to sit in order by age, men on one side, women on the other. Then Sarita's sister came around to each person, put the red dot on the forehead. We were then given a handfull of flowers and grain to hold in our hand. For each person, she lifted all the fruit on the ground in front of them. The person put handfull of flowers and grain over it, and then took the fruit in their hands and lifted it to their head saying 'namaste'. Then each person got an egg to eat, and spoonful of rice and yogurt to eat from their hand. Finally, the plates were passed around and there was a dinner of rice and couple of different types of masalas. What an amazing thing to experience!

On this trip I've seen so much, and this was a really special end to it. I felt very priviledged and grateful to have experienced everything. However, the trip was over. About half an hour after dinner, I got my bags, said the good-byes, and got a cab for the airport.

Tihar

When I first arrived in Nepal, it was the beginning of the Dasain festival. Now, back in the Kathmandu area towards the end of October, it is the Tihar festival (Diwali in India). I think it's a New Years celebration in the Nepali Lunar calender, and there are days of paying respect to certain animals, yourself, your brothers, your sisters, etc. This seems to be the highlight of the year, and with buildings all lit up, people preparing for meals in anticipation, fireworks, etc, it has a real 'Christmas and New Year' feel to it.

The next day in Patan, we woke up before 4:30 am, and Sarita took several of us from the house on a tour of the old town to see the early morning festivities. People prepare elaborate designs in colour on the ground outside their doors, lit with oil lamps.

She also took us inside the Golden Temple, where there was a full ceremony going on. There was a group of older men in the center singing, and a steady stream of people came in to make the rounds worshiping at the altars. The climax seemed to be when a boy serving as the novice for the month appeared, and performed a ritual at the main altar. Everyone gathered round and there was a lot of excitement. Everyone, including us, got the red mark on the forehead, or tikka.

What was interesting was that this was a Buddhist temple, and certainly the symbols were mainly from the Tibetan Buddhist style. But the cermonies seemed to have a distinctly Hindu flavour. Another example of the blending of the religions here.

Afterward, Sarita took us on a tour of little side-streets, showing us courtyards of Buddhist houses that contained a little stuppa, for example. We never would have found that on our own.

On the streets, vendors were selling all kinds of treats that were special for the festival.

We also went to a temple that has the Kumari for Patan. This is the girl who lives there and is thought to be the embodiment of a goddess. I mentioned it before because there is one for Kathmandu, as well, in Kathmandu's Durbar square. In Kathmandu, the girl only appears in a window once in a while, and photos are forbidden. In Patan however, she came into a room with us and pictures were allowed. As another example of blending of religions, the Kumari is chosen from a Buddhist family, but is then treated as a living Hindu goddess. Go figure. You have to wonder about the life of a little girl kept hidden away like that, but I guess it's impossible to judge.

After everything was done, it was about 10 am, and we went back to the house to rest. I slept for a few hours, and then just hung around for a while. At night, several of us walked into town again to take in the festivities. Things were really lively. All the lights were on, and groups of little kids would go from shop to shop, singing and dancing to get a treat.

Durbar square was turned into major party zone, with a stage and DJ and tons of young people dancing. What was interesting was that there was no alcohol, and there was actually a soldier presence around the perimeter. It looked like everyone had fun, but there was no way it was going to get out of hand.

Patan

My second day in Patan I walked to the old center, Patan's Durbar square. It's a collection of temples, and a royal palace, similar in style to the Durbar squares in Kathmamdu and Bhaktapur.

It also has one of those deep square wells that people walk down into to get water, bath, and wash clothes. It's a really communal aspect of life.

From Durbar square I basically did the Lonely Planet walking tour. The Kumbeshwar temple had a nice large space inside, and many people came to worship at the shrines. There were also some ceremonies going on, I assume for the upcoming festival.

I also went by the Golden temple, some courtyards with stuppas, and the Pim Bahal Pokhari pond.
That was about it for the day. I went back to the house to rest. That cold I thought I'd shaken off during the trek has come back with a vengence, and I can't really talk without coughing. The dust and pollution in the Kathmandu area doesn't help, I'm sure.

Jazzmandu

I was lucky in that the annual jazz festival, Jazzmandu, was taking place the same time as I was back in the Kathmandu area. Not ony that, but there was a concert in Patan the evening of my first day here. It took place in the courtyard of the Patan Museum, a spectacular setting.
The band was Condenza, and it experimented with fusing Eastern music with Western jazz.
A funny thing was that when they were setting up the stage, and all the lights were up, the power went out. Boom! Total darkness. It came back on, but it started you wondering about how the concert was going to go. Actually, it was fine. After the first set, just as they finished saying they were going to take a break - boom! Darkness again. Talk about timing.
The music was a really cool mix of east and west. There were Indian style musicians seated in front - sitar, drums etc - and jazz musicians on either side. There was a famous Nepali singer who sang in the classic Indian style, but would sometimes modulate is voice differently so it had a slightly more western style rythm that matched the saxophones. Very cool. By the end, it was like a big jam session with the musicians all trying different things.

Bhaktapur

From Lumbini, I flew back to Kathmandu. I had arranged to stay at a place called Sanu House, a homestay and hostel that Steve Herbert recommended from when he and Sharon were here last year. It is located in Patan, a city just across the river south of Kathmandu, and part of the greater Kathmandu area. Patan has it's own old center and a lot of temples.

My flight was an evening flight, and once I arrived in Kathmandu I first had to go to the hotel I stayed at before and pick up some luggage I left in storage. This was the same night that the Indian Prime Minister was visiting Kathmandu, so the traffic was completely grid-locked. It was quite late when I finally arrived at Sanu House, and I was tired from the long day. However, Sarita, the woman who runs the place, came out to meet me, and her warm, good nature put everything at ease. The first people I met at the house were a girl from Japan and one from England, both are staying here for months. One is a student doing research and the other is volunteering as a councellor.

The next day, the student was going to a village outside a city called Bhaktapur to do some research. Sarita was going to help to get there by bus, and to act as translator. They said they would visit Bhaktapur afterward, and invited me along.

Travel by bus is interesting. I'd have no idea where to catch a bus, as there are no signs. When a bus comes, there is a young guy who stands on the door and shouts the bus's destination, and then bangs on the bus when it's ready to go.

The countryside around Bhaktapur is very beautiful with farms on the hillsides.

Bhaktapur is a smaller city about 12 km from Kathmandu. The old part has been beautifully preserved. The buildings are very old and are famous for the intricate wood carvings on the windows. The streets are all of brick and it is very clean. Many tourists. We walk all through the old part of town, seeing many old temples and the royal palace. This dates from the time when Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur all had different kings. They are all of the original Newari culture, though, of which the wood carving is distinctive, for example.

Here is a picture of Sarita and I in front of the largest temple.

It is harvest time, and everywhere there is grain spread out to dry.

It is also festival time, so there are a lot of vendors selling fruit that is used for festival, and little clay lamps that are used to make lights outside peoples houses.

Kapilavastu

One afternoon while I was in Lumbini, I got a ride to Kapilavastu, about 30 km away. This is the remains of the palace where the Buddha grew up. The Buddha was born in Lumbini because in the tradition of the time, his mother was on her way to her maternal home when she stopped in Lumbini.

There are remains of brick foundations of the palace, which are 2600 years old. I found this very interesting. Only the east gate and west gate and one of the central complexes are excavated. Walking on the path, you can see more brick beneath you, so there is a lot more underground. There was a thick wall so the place was heavily fortified. There are also the remains of a large bath or swimming pool. The east gate is particularly revered because it was the gate by which the Buddha left on his spiritual quest.

The ride to and from Kapilavastu gave me another chance to see the countryside and villages.

Lumbini

The next day I flew from Kathmandu to Lumbini. For those of you who know Nepal, I realize this makes no sense since Lumbini is another half day drive from Chitwan. However the Chitwan trip was booked with the same tour as the trek, and the package ended in Kathmandu. In any case, the only cost was the extra flight to Lumbini.
The guide book warns about the total chaos at the domestic air terminal. This is where all the trekkers catch flights to places like Pokhara, and all flights leave in the morning while the weather is clear. So it is packed, and without a tour leader I knew I'd have to navigate this on my own. However it turned out to be not so bad. Mainly because as soon as I stepped out of the cab, a guy grabbed my bag and led me straight to security. Inside, another guy helped with paying the airport tax and checking in. They are actually quite honest - you just have to accept the fact that you'll be constantly shelling out money in tips.
In the departure area, there are just two gates, and no signs indicating which flight is leaving. You just keep listening for your flight number, and if you think you hear it, go to someone at the gate and show your boarding pass. Eventually you'll get it.
Lumbini is the birth place of the Buddha. It is near the border with India, and the landscape is flat with vast rice fields dotted with clumps of trees and villages. It is a very rural area, with people walking on the road carrying packages of food or farming tools, children leading water buffalo, horse driven carts, people on bikes. It is also very hot.
The Lumbini area itself is a very large, and it looks like there was a grand vision of a complex of temples, but now parts have fallen into disrepair. The center of the area is a 2 km long pond, now empty except for leaves and a few stagnant pools. From one of the bridges looking north there is a nice view of the Japanese World Peace Pagoda.

At the south end there is a garden and the Maya Devi temple, which is the focal point of the area, since it is supposed to be the spot where Buddha was born. The temple building houses ruins of brick foundations of structures that were built a few centuries after the Buddhas birth. There is also a carved marker stone inside. Outside is an Asokan pillar, erected by king Asoka, who spread Buddhism about 250 BC. There are more ruins outside, and an enormous tree covered in prayer flags. I think the legend says the Buddhas mother gave birth under a tree.

It's a busy place, with lots of large groups of Nepali school children. There are also several groups from other countries, like Vietnam and Burma, and most of the people in the group wear robes so I assume it is a pilgrimage.
On either side of the long pond are temples from different countries and organizations. They are spread out over a large area, and mostly hidden by trees, so it's hard to get a sense of continuity. They are also kind of hard to find since what signs there are have faded. You just take a dirt road until you come across something.
There are temples from Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Korea, China, Vietnam, etc. Not all are open, and some look like they were abandonned before even being finished and have started to decay. On the other hand, some temples are being constructed or renovated. The Thai temple is under renovation, and there is the beginning of a Cambodian temple in the style of Angkor Wat. The Korean temple was well maintained and seemed quite active, with a building containing rooms for people to stay in, and posted schedules for meditation and ceremonies. The Chinese temple was also very nice and was the most lively with lots of people and people selling things outside.

There were also temples that were not affiliated with a country in particular, but were built by a Buddhist organization in the name of world peace. These were very new and beautiful.

Back to Kathmandu

From Chitwan it was another 6 hour drive to Kathmandu. The traffic was better, at least until we got to the city. I think normally this would be done by a van, but I was the only person who added this 'Chitwan Extension' to the tour, so the tour company just got a car and driver. I think the driver stayed somewhere near Chitwan while I was there.
From Chitwan in the south, the road goes north and connects with the east-west road between Pokhara and Kathmandu. It follows the Trisuli river for a while, which is fairly large and in a steep valley. There is a Trisuli Adventure Center where you can go river rafting.
On the way I notice more things. For example, at first I thought there were shanty towns built on the side of the road. Then I realized that these were villages that were here before the road. When they built the road they just laid down some asphalt through the middle of the village, leaving the dirt floors where garbage collects on the side. The houses are simple small wood structures with corrugated roofs, and people continue to live as they did before, bathing and cooking outside their houses. The stoves are all this terra cotta coloured, low square shape with a ledge and a hole in the side for wood and pots on top. People walk up and down easily despite the crazy traffic going by. Once in a while there is a group of school children whose nice uniforms stand in contrast to the rustic surroundings.
Along the way there are swinging pedestrian bridges across the river that connect the villages to the terraced hills on the other side.
After a few hours the road starts up the long winding hills to Kathmamdu, and eventually you come over a pass and see the Kathmandu valley below. The pollution is quite bad. On the road, once in a while we'd pass a truck belching thick black smoke. I had the window open, and when I got to the hotel I realized by forehead and ear were black with soot.
Once in Kathmandu, I take a few more hours to explore the rest of the old part. Namely, I walk all the way down the market street until Durbar Square. This is a group of large pagoda-shaped temples surrounded by some open space. The size of the area is quite a contrast from the narrow market streets that lead to it. I wander around taking it all in. There are as many Nepali hanging out on the steps of the temples as there are tourists milling about.

One interesting thing is a smaller square ornate building with a courtyard. Apparently a young girl is always kept there, looked after by priestesses, who is supposed to be a living embodiment of a godess, and she makes appearances from time to time.

elephant bathing

When the elephants have done carrying tourists to spot wildlife in the morning, they get to go into the river. Tourists can go on their backs and the elephant sprays water on them with its trunk. Eventually, the elephant rolls over and the people have to jump into the river. There are tons of people on the sidelines to watch, and there are even seats where you can watch and order a drink. It's really quite a show. The whole thing is quite funny, really.

Chitwan National Park

Chitwan is in the southern, low altitude flat part of Nepal called the Terai. It took a harrowing 6 hour car ride to get here. It is still festival time, when most people travel to visit family, and traffic is as bad as it could possibly be. It took an hour just to get out of Kathmandu. The cars were literally jammed wall to wall. There are no lanes, and if there is an inch to spare to fit your car in ahead of you, you just go for it. From Kathmandu there is a long descent down winding roads, and there was so much traffic that every 10 minutes or so, everything just stopped so long that everyone turned off there engines and waited, got out to walk around.

When we were moving, it was interesting to watch the driver as he passed cars around a corner without being able to see what was coming, but he'd be honking the whole way to let another car know he was coming. Seems to work... I guess...

I arrived in Chitwan yesterday afternoon, and it is tropical, hot and humid. Hard to believe that two days ago I was in the Himalayas. There is just me, but there are several other groups at the hotel here. We stay in jungle style thatched roof cottages.

The first thing I did yesterday, late afternoon, was an elephant ride into an area of the park with tall grass, to look for one-horned rhino. We were lucky and saw two of them.

This morning we went for a ride in a dugout canoe down the river, and spotted several types of birds, the most beautiful of which was the kingfisher. We also saw the infamous mugger crocodile, which is actually quite dangerous.

Afterward we went to the elephant breeding area. The youngest elephant is only 5 months old.

end of part 1

Well, I'm back in Kathmandu, now. We've returned the gear to the tour company. The others in the group catch planes tomorrow to go home, and we've said our good-byes. Feels like the end of the trip, but for me there's more to come. Tomorrow morning I'm on my way to the Chitwan Nature Park for a few days. After that I'll be in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, for a couple of days, before coming back to the Kathmandu area.

Today I'm organizing bags, so I can leave the trekking stuff in storage while I'm away.

the trek back

After Lo Mantang, we trekked back using a different route for part of the way. It was at higher elevation and consisted of trails used by shepherds. During the past few days, the temperature had dropped, and the wind was colder and stronger and really whipped up the dust. Also, we walked for more time each day, often covering in one day what we did in two days on the way up. This include multiple passes at over 4000m.

Our one night of camping was also during this time.

It's interesting how your attitude changes on the way back. The novelty of the landscape has partly worn off, and your focus is just getting back, so now the climbs became more of a slog.

Also, the cold, wind, dust, and poor sleep from altitude finally took their toll and I caught a bad cold. Actually about 3 of us did. This made the long days particularly exhausting. However, I was able to shake it off in a couple of days. By the last couple of days of the trek, I was cruising along, listening to music on my phone, moving at twice the speed we were walking at the beginning of the trek.

That brings me back to Jomsom. This morning we flew from Jomsom to Pokhara, and tomorrow we fly to Kathmandu.

paintings and more

I managed to do a couple of paintings so far. An advantage of painting is that you see things in much more detail that when taking a photo. Also, it allows interaction with local people as they come to watch what you are doing.

Here is one of chorten outside the village of Samar, on the third day of our trek:

And here is one of prayer wheels at the entrance to Lo Mantang:

As I sat down to draw the one in Lo Mantang, about half a dozen kids, ages from about 4 to 10, gathered around, and sat with me to watch as I drew. Soon, the littlest ones were literally hanging off of me. When I finished, one of the older boys, who spoke some English, asked if he could try. I tore a piece of paper from the pad and gave it to him with the pencil. I asked what he wanted to draw and he pointed to me. So, I sat patiently for about half an hour, with kids hanging off of me, while he drew. I could tell he was pretty focused on it, and I gave him pointers when I could, like not to make the top of the head too small. In the end it was not a bad drawing for a kid his age.

While I was sitting there, something interesting happened. There was a stretch of time when there happened to be no other tourists around, and my presence didn't seem to matter, and something seemed to shift. More people came outside and were joking with each other. A boy monk went by trying to ride a horse, and then the horses owner put his toddler on the saddle and let it around just for fun. It was a very light, fun atmosphere, and it seemed to me to be a rare and privileged glimpse into this aspect of village life.

Lo Mantang

Generally, Nepal is mostly Hindu, with the Buddhist areas being in the mountainous north. As we started the trek, there was still a mix of Hindu and Buddhist symbols on the inside of lodges, etc. However, as we headed north toward Lo Mantang, by the third day of the trek, the culture and symbols seen in the villages and lodges was definitely Tibetan Buddhist. By the fourth day, even the first language of people was Tibetan, although they also speak Nepali. So, instead of saying 'namaste' to say 'hello', we said 'tashi deleh'. The word 'Lo' in Lo Mantang refers to an ethnic group of Tibetan origin that occupies the northern part of Mustang.

We approached the walled town of Lo Mantang and walked around the outside of the wall towards our lodge. There are now several houses and lodges around the outside of the wall, a trend that is certain to continue. After settling in, I explored the walled town. Compared to the villages that we passed through, which had populations of at most a couple of hundred, Lo Mantang has a population of about 1000. The wall and buildings are of the same white-washed stone as the villages, and the alley-ways are very narrow. It was clear that the life inside was similar to that of villages though: I saw herds of goats and cows being herded through the alleys, and people bringing in harvest from the fields.

It is harvest time, and the fields were being cut and grain being separated, all being done manually. It was like a pastoral scene from a town from middle ages Europe.

The next day we were given a tour of Lo Mantang by the owner of the lodge, which was really great as he was so full of information. We started at a monastery which is very new, built and supported by the American Himalayan Society, and is the only active monastery with about 100 students. There is a small museum with ancient artifacts that were found in old monasteries or caves. Some of the paintings were almost 1000 years hold. To get to the museum we walked through a room of students writing exams:

Next we went to a very old monastery, built in about the 8th century. It was so old that the floor was lower than the ground of the surrounding town, but when it was built, it sat on a mound above the town. An interesting thing is that the wood columns and beams that supported the inside of the monastery we made from locally harvested wood. The barren hills around Lo Mantang were once forests of juniper. A classic case of deforestation. The population was once much larger. At some point hundreds of years ago, thousands of monks studied in the monasteries here. There are also ruins of fortifications in the surrounding hills.

Next we went to the roof of a monastery for a view of the town:

We had a break in the afternoon, and in the evening we went to the kings residence. In fact, we had tea with the king! He does this for tourists. He is 79 years old and is the 25th ruler in the line of kings of Lo Mantang. We went to the finest room (ie. it had a wood floor instead of a mud one) that was colourfully decorated. We lined up in front of the king each presented him with a white scarf that he put over our necks. We then sat at the side, drank tea, and were told to ask questions if we had any. I asked what he thought of the road being built from Jomsom to Lo Mantang. We walked on parts of this dirt road during the trek. It is in pieces now, used mainly by people of neighbouring villages, but in a couple of years it will be complete. He said the road was very much favoured by the people, but he feared the increase in congestion, pollution, and crime, and the loss of way of life that will result.

It's easy to see the dilemma. Certainly the road will provide better access to health care and education, etc, but that pastoral way of life I took pictures of will likely be gone in a few years.

lodges

Before continuing with a description of the trek, I'd thought I'd make a short post on the lodges or teahouses we stayed in. It occurred to me after my last post, that in commending the guides I may have been the impression that we lived in the lap of luxury.

The lodges were in the same type of stone and mud building as in the rest of the village. The rooms were typically dirt-floored with simple wood-frame bed with foam mattress that was comfortable enough. Light was available if the power did not go out, but sometimes there was solar power as well. There was a common toilet, which was a squat toilet you 'flushed' by pouring a bucket of water down the whole. Used toilet paper went into a basket. Also a common wash area with cold water. The only warm water was the bowl of heated water brought to us in the morning by our guides. No hot shower until we return to Pokhara.

The food was mostly prepared by the guides, and was carbohydrate heavy like pasta, potatoes, with some egg and vegetables. I would have preferred more Nepali food, but apparently the only Nepali food is dahl-baht, or rice with lentil stew, which is all that is prepared by the people at the lodges. Personally, I wouldn't have minded, but I can imagine that previous clients probably complained about it.

The cleanliness of the lodge varied a lot from village to village. Sometimes it was perfectly clean and swept. Other times there was garbage and dirt around, tons of flies, and horribly musty smelling rooms. In fact, you could almost tell upon entering the village what the lodge would be like. Some had a run-down look with garbage around and messy fields. Others looked tidy and prosperous. These would be villages only half a day's walk apart, so I can't explain it.

trek overview

It's been about 11 days since my last post. The trek is finished and I'm back in Jomsom, where there is a decent internet connection. My last post was from Kagbeni, after the first day of the trek, and the power cut out so frequently that it was done in a hurry. So, I've gone back and edited it quite a bit and added pictures, so have another look.

Wow, how to describe the past 11 days! The trek was everything I wanted it to be: days of just settling into the rythym of walking and just taking in the spectacular scenery, passing through picturesque, little villages that were like going back in time, and meeting the people and their culture. We really lucked out with the weather, as the skies were perfectly blue every day. I think my favourite part of the day was waking up to outstanding scenery lit by the morning sun. Like this:

or this:

The trek was to what's called the 'Lost Kingdom' of Mustang. It's a part of Nepal that buldges north into Tibet, north of Annapurna. It used to be an isolated kingdom of Tibetan culture that was actually forbidden to tourists until the 1990's. Even now it's what they call a 'restricted area', which means the goverment charges a large fee to go in and are supposed to limit the number of tourists.

There were 9 of us in the group. In addition to myself, there was Paul and Elaine, from England, and their friends Jeff and Caroline, formerly of England by now from Australia. There was also Helen and Tim, and Dianne, and George, all from Australia. The tour company I booked through, Peregrine Adventures, is an Australian company. Everyone had done something like this before, and had travelled to a lot of places, so they were familiar with the trekking, accommodation, etc. They were all pleasant and easy-going about things.

We were helped by our tour leader, Mukund, and his three assistants. They did an outstanding job, and worked very hard doing everything from leading the way on the trail, organizing our bags when they were off the mules, getting our rooms organized, helping the people at the lodge, waking us up in the morning with warm water to wash in, even cooking some meals. They were attentive to every question. Highly, highly recommended. In the picture below from left to right are Ghire, Mukund, Mannu, and Ramesh:

There were also two mule tenders. Typically the mules were loaded and started off after we left in the morning, and would pass us at some point in the day, so our bags were at the day's destination when we arrived.

The day would start with a wake up at 6:30, breakfast, and start walking by 8:00 or 8:30. We'd walk from 4 to 7 hours. On the shorter days we'd reach our destination by lunch, and have the afternoon free or visit the local monastery. On longer days there would be a lunch break for about an hour. All the meals were at lodges or teahouses in the small villages. In fact, we only had to camp one night, and the rest were spent in lodges. We got lucky there as well, as it seemed the greatest number trekkers to Mustang started after we were on our way back, so there was not yet much competition for rooms in lodges.

The villages were small and so quaint, with people manually working in the fields, carrying in harvest, tending cows and goats. Typically a village was single narrow alley between white-washed stone and mud buildings, with roofs consisting of stacks of wood. There would also be 'chorten', or structures of religious significance, in the village. The people would be going about their business as we passed through, though the little kids would run up to us saying 'hello' and 'chocolate'.

The first couple of days were about 2800 m altitude, and it quickly rose to 3500 m and then 3800 m. Most days during the walk we'd go over at least one high pass about 4000 m, the highest was 4300 m.

The hills were characterized by a striking red colour and erosion patterns that formed columns in the cliffs. There often caves in the cliffs were the people lived a long time ago.

The walking was reasonably demanding, but the pace was good. On the way, even during a long climb, it never felt like a slog. I just had to stop and look and the scenery and just be so amazed at where I was.

One difficulty was that I had more trouble with the altitude than I expected, particularly at night. I'd lay awake consciously breathing just to get enough air into my lungs. Most nights I got enough sleep though, because it gets dark at 6:00 so after dinner there really wasn't anything to do except read for a bit and go to bed.

The landscape got more and more barren as we went north. Looking ahead, it would be hard to believe that we were going there, to what seemed like completely inhospitable territory. But then, as well climbed a ridge, a valley would come into view that had a stream and a village and fields that provided and oasis of green.

Our destination was Lo Mantang, the walled town containing about 150 houses, the kings residence and three monasteries - two of which dated back to the 7th century. However I will save that to the next post. Tomorrow we fly back to Pokhara, where there will be good internet connection and more time to catch up on the posting.