Ursula's Weekly Wanders

Sunrise from Deurali
Mount Machhapuchchhre (Machhapuchhre) pokes through the clouds as the sun rises over the Annapurna Range, Nepal.

Street Shave
Kathmandu was my first experience outside the “developed” world. Fortunately for me, it was winter, so it was not too hot – keeping the assault of smell at bay. The rickety bus to the hotel provided a welcome buffer against the culture shock of the rubble, the dust, the skinny dogs and kids, the odd cow, the garbage and the throngs of people with something to sell…  Motorcycles, ancient buses and tuk tuks crowded everywhere.  Car horns pipped constantly – day and night.
Of course, after years of living and working in Asia, I’m an old hand at all of this, and navigate it easily. But, you always remember your first.

Cremation Ghats ~ Bagmati River
The ghats were relatively quiet, and only a few funeral pyres were burning when I was there in 2001; at the moment, they cannot keep up with the earthquake casualties, and are running out of the wood it takes to consume a body.

Sakyapa Gompa, Bodhnath
Buddhist and Hindu temples rub shoulders in the Kathmandu Valley. I don’t know about this particular temple, but many districts have been completely flattened by the quake. For a photographer’s view on the ground, check out the recent posts by Gavin Gough who is in Nepal at the invitation of an NGO: “Nepal Earthquake”

Colourful Truck
I spent most of the drive from Kathmandu to the starting point of our Annapurna trek with my nose pressed to the window: I’d never before seen sadhus travelling on roadsides and traffic that seems to have no regard for rhyme or rules.
The parlous state of the roads – even before the earthquake and aftershocks tore through them – is making distribution of relief even more difficult.

Trail Head at Naya Phul (Nayapul)
This is where the fun starts! Off the bus we trundled. We walked across the Modi River; through the gauntlet of shops selling scarves (necessary against breathing too much dust), water bottles and trinkets; and into the Annapurna Conservation Area.

Our Sherpa Guides: Dendi, Dipak, Ongchhu and Purna
These were our Sherpas. In addition, our small group of seven trekkers had four porters who carried the overnight bags, and brought us our morning wash-water (no showers) and hot tea (no coffee!), etc. The Australian company (Peregrine) I travelled with ensures that porters are properly paid, not overly burdened, and have decent footwear. In a country as poor as Nepal, these minimal conditions are often not met. Sherpa guides called a strike in 2014 over conditions and compensation after the deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.

Goat Herder
“Childhood” is a relative construct. In countries like Nepal, children start work at a young age.

Up through Rocky Terraces
One thing Nepal has lots of: rock. No shortage. The country actually exports gravel and crushed stone.

Hiunchuli
Our first glimpse of the heavens: Hiunchuli, a 6641 metre peak in the southern part the Annapurna mountain range rises up in front of us.

Terraced Fields
Below us, the terraced farms drop back down to the river: from what we saw, it was mostly cabbage and potato at these altitudes.

Annapurna Daybreak
Every morning we were woken up to a bowl of reasonably warm water for washing, and a cup of tea. Then, we’d eat breakfast (porridge, two eggs, and either Nepalese bread, toast or chapattis) surrounded by snow-covered peaks.

Rhododendrons
The famous rhododendron trees of Nepal flower from late February through April.

Tadapani (2700 m)
Crude buildings cling precariously to cliffs – always in sight of those magnificent mountain peaks. One of the things that struck me, however, was the noise: as soon as the sun cracked over the horizon, people would be chattering as they went about their work, and the dogs would set off barking as the cocks crowed.

Ghorepani (2874m)
Poon Hill (3210 m) marked the high point of our trek. When we learned it was all back down hill from this point, one of our group broke into a rendition of “The Hills are Alive”. We descended shale steps into Ghore (horse) Pani (water), where traders have long watered their ponies. I remember it as the place I was able to book a short, crackly overseas phone call, at $US200, to touch base with family after several days off the grid.

Ulleri (2070m)
We got used to “basic” accommodation pretty quickly: mud huts, wooden structures perched on the sides of cliffs, tin roofs held down with stones. The “lodges” we stayed in didn’t quite conform to any building code I’m aware of: two foam mattresses on wooden frames in a tiny cubbyhole with drafts that blew out the candles – no electricity, remember. We learned to keep a torch handy for the cold walk to the outhouse in the night. There was no such thing as soundproofing: “Goodnight, John-boy” became a running joke; snores and “Oh yuch, who was that?!” could be heard from the rooms four doors down. At some lodges we could even see each other through the cracks in the walls.

Laundry – Tirkedunga (1525m)
Laundry and dishes are all done manually at the town taps; shampoos and showers are also conducted (modestly) in the same place.

Modi Khola
A long part of the walk back to Naya Phun is along the beautiful Modi Khola …

Naya Phul Terraces
… to the rice terraces in the river valley.