Nepal: Trek day 2: Ghat – Monjo (28 Oct)

Index K1 K2 K3 K4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 D

Ghat: 2578 m
Monjo: 2853 m
Distance: 7.7 km (13.2 km total)

I woke up about 3 am (as usual) and needed to use the toilet. The cloud had gone, there was very little wind, and the full moon was lighting up the campsite and Nupla, the mountain behind. At around 4 am everyone was woken up by a dog that was running around the campsite, barking its head off, until it was chased away. It felt like I had a good night’s sleep, and I was very pleased that my headache from the afternoon before had gone.

Our daily routine went something like this: For our wake-up call, tea and hot water for washing was brought to our tents. We then had to pack our red bags and day packs by breakfast time, usually an hour later. As soon as the Sherpa guides were ready to go, we started walking. Most days we only walked about 4 or 5 hours, lunch would be at the campsite when we arrived. For the longer days we would have lunch somewhere along the way; either at a lodge or as a picnic. Sometime in the afternoon we would have washing water brought to our tents; about an hour after that we would have afternoon tea, with dinner at about 6:30 where we’d find out the schedule for the following day.

Today we were on the trail by 8:15, again at a slow pace. Some of the group were complaining it was too slow, but I think they don’t realise the effect altitude has on the limits of your exertion – it doesn’t take much to knacker you. Better to go slowly and get there without a headache, than try to go faster and suffer for it later. Besides, there’s no point in going faster – we have heaps of time in the afternoon.

We continued following the Dudh Koshi, passing some huge mani stones (prayer stones) and prayer wheels on the way. You’re supposed to go around these clockwise, so they are on your right hand side. The paths around both sides are well established so it’s not too hard to remember. I have managed to get caught out a few times with poles that have prayer flags on them, as these are sometimes well towards one side of the track.

Just past the village of Phakding (pronounced pack-ding) we encountered a traffic jam: dzopkes coming down, donkeys going up, and us caught in the middle. Not too far from there we had our first views of Thamserku (pronounced tam-sear-koo).
Raewyn and I have tended to end up at the back and have been asking Rishi what the name of this or that village or mountain is. A few times the response to the latter has been, ‘It doesn’t have a name, it’s just a hill’!

The village of Monjo is on a kind of ledge above the river, with a fairly steep climb getting up. Funnily the complaints about the slow pace turned into compliments about how good it was going slowly… The camp was another few minutes’ walk along a goat track back from the village. Lunch was served as soon as we arrived. Since our washing water was still some time off, we decided to go for a wander through the village. The gate to Sagarmatha National Park is just on the other side. We will pass through it tomorrow.

On our way back we saw an old lady resting, with her load beside her – 4 cases of 12 x 1L water bottles each, i.e. 48 kg. It made me sad to think how far she had carried it, how much further she had to go, and how little she would probably be paid considering a bottle sells for 80-100 Rs.

We were talking with some of the others today about how awkward we felt being waited on hand and foot – meals, washing water etc. The porters sleep in a corrugated iron shack with no door, and carry 30 kg of stuff, which must be at least half of their body weight. But compared to what other porters are carrying, maybe they see this as a cushy job. And they have a sense of humour; at dinner when Luk, one of the Sherpa guides, was bringing the food around for seconds and asked Raewyn if she wanted more rice, she said ‘Just a little bit’ and he dropped about three or four grains on her plate, with a cheeky smile...

Passing prayer wheels, prayer stones, prayer flags

Local labourers building a house by chiselling granite stones to size, by hand

Approaching Phakding

Dzopke convoy

Entering Monjo

Next day

Nepal: Trek day 1: Kathmandu – Lukla – Ghat (27 Oct)

Index K1 K2 K3 K4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 D

Lukla: 2850 m
Ghat: 2578 m
Distance: 5.5 km

Our 4:15 am wakeup call came at 4:05. We dressed, packed, took everything down to the lobby, and got a boxed breakfast before the van arrived to take us to the airport. We got there about 5:20 and had to wait for it to actually open! It was chaos inside so I’m glad Rishi was in charge. All the fuss yesterday about weighing our bags turned out to be pointless as they just aggregated the weight of all the bags. Between 9 of us (well, 7, since both Raewyn and mine were 10 kg each) they were 26 kg overweight, so some people must have brought an awful lot of stuff. We wore our puffer jackets and filled the pockets while the hand luggage was weighed, but we could just as easily have put it on the ground for two minutes.

When our flight was called it was a mad rush to get on the bus that took us to the plane, then another mad rush to get on. I managed to score the last seat on the left hand side, and the view of the mountains was amazing. We took off ten minutes early, at 6:20 am. As we got closer to the mountains it became evident just how steep the hillsides are. The landing in Lukla was uneventful. So far so good! The sun hadn’t yet reached the airstrip and it was freezing. Our bags were collected for us and we were able to swap things around between them and our day packs, so the porters could then take the red bags to the campsite. Then it was off to a lodge for morning tea, and we had about one and a half hours to wander around Lukla – although most people seemed more interested in logging in to the lodge wifi!

It was quite relaxing wandering around Lukla. There were a number of shops selling the usual hiking gear, maps, souvenirs etc. Planes and helicopters were constantly coming and going. There were kids playing football in the street – I guess some things are universal.

Finally it was time to hit the trail. One of the guides went first to set the pace, and Rishi went at the back. We walked slowly, which was good because it meant we didn’t sweat too much. The temperature soon started warming up – from single digits when we arrived to about 15-20C in the sun.

We had views of Nupla peak on the other side of the Dudh Koshi (pronounced dood ko-see, meaning ‘milk river’ because of its pale colour; we would follow this all the way to Gokyo). We passed through a number of villages on the way with lodges and eateries, encountering trekkers, porters, convoys of mules and dzopke (half yak/half cow), but not as many as I was expecting based on other people’s accounts. Mind you, tourist numbers must be down significantly this season due to the earthquake.

We had views of Kusum Kangkaru shorting before arriving at the camp, but it was quickly hidden by cloud. Upon arriving at camp we collected our red bags and were assigned to tents. We unpacked a bit and were then summoned to lunch.

The camp is a permanent campsite which means there are flush toilets, storage buildings, a kitchen and dining room. There are 20 sleeping tents that can each accommodate two people; they are large enough to stand up in and are put up at the start of the trekking season. They have camp beds with mattresses – more comfortable to sleep on than the beds at our first hotel.

After lunch we had the option of going for a walk down to the river, which we all did. After the walk we were brought bowls of warm water to wash in. Raewyn and I had agreed to take turns to wash and get changed in the tent. The rest of the afternoon was free time until dinner. We were in bed by 8 pm, largely thanks to the super early start.

Checking in for our flight from Kathmandu to Lukla

Disembarking at Lukla

Lukla airstrip

Lodge at Lukla, selling (among other things) 'Bugers'

Trekking north out of Lukla. Nupla in the distance (5885 m)

First swingbridge, near Chheplung

Trekking past a large mani stone (prayer rock)

Next day

Nepal: Kathmandu (26 Oct)

Index K1 K2 K3 K4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 D

Today we were scheduled for city sightseeing as a group, while Rishi sorted out our trekking permits. We were picked up by a bus just after 9 am to our first stop at Pashupatinath: a Hindu temple and cremation site on the Bagmati river. On the way, our guide Sri explained some of the main beliefs of Hinduism and the rituals around funerals and cremations. Their aim is to be a good person by living a peaceful life, to escape the cycle of reincarnation. According to their beliefs, a bad person’s life is characterised by suffering, ‘like beggars’, he said. When asked what made a beggar a bad person, he replied, quite matter-of-factly, ‘because of some bad karma’, i.e. from a previous life. I thought about a girl we had seen with a deformed hand, begging in Thamel. It would seem that under Hinduism there was no compassion for someone like her, hence why she was asking tourists for money. The futility of this mindset is overwhelming if you think about it for too long.

There was a funeral taking place while we were there. (Sri seemed disappointed there was only one!) The body, wrapped in a shroud, was down by the river bank and about a hundred or so people surrounding it, with another couple of hundred tourists, hawkers and onlookers watching from the other side. People would lay or sprinkle various things on or around the body. I looked away when they started unwrapping various parts and did not watch the cremation.

While all this was going on there were people throwing money onto the spire of one of the smaller temples. Sri explained that if the money landed on top and did not fall off, the person who threw it would not need to work for money ever again. We have people like that at home – it’s called Lotto.

We also saw some ‘holy men’ sitting around on our side of the river, with faces and torsos painted with vibrant colours. Sri said we could take photos of them or with them if we gave them some money. He explained how they smoke marijuana for breakfast and continue through the day. We have people like that at home too...

The colours of this place were full-on: the clothes, flowers, spices, the shroud of the dead person. The smells were equally full-on: burning wood, incense, cigarette smoke, and monkeys (which were everywhere). The ‘holy river’ was grey/brown, with trash and dead animals and goodness knows what else floating down it. The River Jordan was beautiful in comparison.
I wonder what the family of the dead person thinks about tourists watching the proceedings and taking photos. I wonder what the more devout Hindus think of this and also of the hawkers taking advantage of the activities to try and make money from the tourists.

Finally we left and went to the Boudhanath stupa, one of the most important sites in Nepal for Buddhists. It is a large concrete raised platform with a dome on top. The spire had been damaged in the earthquake and taken down for restoration.
After lunch (at a rooftop café near the hotel) we packed and repacked our bags, trying to get our weight down to 10 kg in our red bag and 5 kg in our day pack. We eventually managed it, but it would entail wearing our puffer jackets on the plane tomorrow! We decided to have an early night in preparation for the 4:15 am wakeup call in the morning.

Pashupatinath: Hindu cremation site

Bus seen near Boudhanath - fairly typical for Kathmandu

Next day

Nepal: Kathmandu (25 Oct)

Index K1 K2 K3 K4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 D

After breakfast we packed and checked out of the hotel. Heading back to Thamel we noticed that some of the shops which had been closed on previous days were now open, so this gave us some hope that the bike shop would be too. It was, and we both felt much better about doing a tour with them than another outfit we found yesterday.

We were taken around to their workshop to get kitted out with bikes and helmets, and another guy arrived who was interested in doing a day trip. Turned out he was an ex-pat Kiwi who grew up in Hawkes Bay but is now living in Cairns. Small world...

Our guide, Rozin, took us on a loop out in the countryside to the northwest of the city. We began by heading past the Swayambhunath (a.k.a. monkey temple) complex. It wasn’t long before we were out in the countryside, riding on dusty, rocky paths past fields where people were harvesting rice. It was like riding up the firebreaks back home, except we were riding past people’s houses. After some time we stopped at a small shop for a cold drink. There were some kids playing on a massive swing supported by bamboo poles, erected right across the path. Apparently these swings are built in rural areas as part of the Dasain festival celebrations. It was tempting to have a go, but I’m not sure the travel insurance would cover any injuries!

At the top of the first big climb we reached a saddle which gave us a fantastic view down into the next valley. After that we followed the dirt road more or less along a contour, so it was much easier going. There was a bit more motorbike and pedestrian traffic. We even passed an old bus that had broken down, leaving a trail of oil behind it.

Eventually we turned off the main dirt road onto a trail that was much rougher and much steeper, both up and down. At one point I said to Raewyn, ‘This is like Karapoti on steroids…’ We resorted to walking the bikes, having given up on pedalling up the really steep hills and I was getting cramp on the downhills. Finally we reached the forest, which was a lot cooler (temperature-wise) to cycle through and the trail was smoother. It was a gentle downhill to the road leading us back to Kathmandu and a reasonably pleasant ride back in.

When we reached the city it was full-on; no easing back into things through the outskirts - all of a sudden there were people and traffic everywhere. It was hard to concentrate on Rozin while avoiding obstacles, pedestrians, and getting hit by anything. We came to an intersection with the ring road, which we had to cross, and it was absolute madness. The road was in just as bad condition as what we’d been biking on all day. Thankfully we made it across in one piece and back to the bike workshop about 3:45 pm. That gave us a little more than an hour to get back to the hotel, collect our bags, walk up the road to the Radisson, check in, have a shower and meet the rest of the tour group at 5:00 for drinks and to be told the logistics by our trek leader, Rishi. There are 9 of us in total: three Brits, four Aussies, and the two of us.

Overall, I really enjoyed today. I know I’m not a city person; maybe that’s why I enjoyed getting out to see the countryside. It was also really interesting seeing more rural dwellings and how the earthquake has affected people living there. Interestingly they still have TV and cell phones...



Rural houses and fields just outside Kathmandu


People harvesting by hand in fields just outside Kathmandu


Taking a short rest. In the background is one of the bamboo swings erected for the Dasain festival


Rural transport


Arriving back into Kathmandu

Next day

Nepal: Kathmandu (24 Oct)

Index K1 K2 K3 K4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 D

The next morning after a good-sized breakfast we hit the road at about 8:30, heading back to Thamel. Our original plan was to go on a mountain bike tour, but the shop we were aiming for was closed, so we opted for plan B, which involved shopping and then heading down to Durbar Square. It was much less frenzied walking around Thamel in the morning than it had been yesterday evening.

We went back to the hotel via the Garden of Dreams. It wasn’t overly big, but was quite pleasant. Many of the buildings had cracks from the earthquake and were off limits, but the staff were still using them. In Thamel there was surprisingly little earthquake damage visible, apart from one back street we walked down, where a collapsed building had spewed rubble all over the place.

After lunch (at a café near our hotel) we headed back down towards Durbar Square. At one of the major roads, we successfully navigated 5 lanes of traffic, only to nearly get hit by a boy on a bike.

Our route took us through an area which was obviously where the locals did their shopping. It was still chaos with pedestrians competing with motorbikes and vice versa, with lots of horns and bells. A couple of times the street would open up into a bigger square with a few shrines, more bikes and cars and noise.

Durbar Square itself was not what we were expecting. For a start, it’s not really a square like what you have at cathedrals in Europe, for example. It’s more of a street with temples and shrines on both sides. The entrance fee had gone up to 1000 Rs because of the earthquake. Many of the buildings were damaged, some propped up with wooden posts, others fenced off, yet there were still people sitting on or in them. There were pigeons galore, and dogs just lying around – not normal!

We came back a different route and came across a stupa in a courtyard down an alleyway that wasn’t on the map. There were a couple of little kids running around and a few older ones playing cricket. We breathed a sigh of relief at getting back to the main road and recognising where we were.

Sounds and smells can’t be conveyed through photos. The noise of car and motorbike horns is non-stop when you’re out and about. The smell is not so much of sweaty people (like I might have expected), but incense and dust.
We finished off the day by watching the Rugby World Cup semifinal between the All Blacks and South Africa!


Street in Thamel


Street in Thamel


Garden of Dreams


Locals' shopping street on the way to Durbar Square


Temples at Durbar Square


Buildings near Durbar Square


Hidden square and stupa (not named on our map)

Next day

Nepal: Kathmandu (23 Oct)

Index K1 K2 K3 K4 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 D

Our flight from Singapore to Kathmandu was just like any other until the last half hour, as we started coming in to land and caught our first glimpses of the countryside. The first thing that struck me was the terraced hillsides, which gave way to fields interspersed with clusters of buildings 3-4 storeys high – as if people build the houses vertically because that’s what the landscape is like. As we got closer to the city the clusters got closer together until it was just continuous. Here and there we could see gaps where a building was no longer standing.

Getting visas at the airport turned out to be no trouble, nor was collecting our luggage. We decided to take a pre-paid taxi to the hotel rather than engage in bargaining with a crowd of taxi drivers. It cost US$15 which was ok (higher than normal due to the fuel crisis). On the way it became apparent that there aren’t really road rules – more like ‘road suggestions’. You drive on the left, unless you need to pass, in which case drive on the right and use your horn liberally. Cars and buses and motorbikes and cyclists and pedestrians all share the road. Intersections are a free-for-all. Cows have right of way.

Upon arriving at the hotel, we unpacked and took a breather, then headed out towards Thamel for a walk. There were countless shops there selling trekking gear (real or fake, it was hard to tell), carvings, knives, textiles, maps, tea, etc. It got a bit overwhelming with so many people wanting you to look in their shop, or asking if you wanted a rickshaw ride, or flat out asking you for money. I don’t like feeling like I’m being viewed as a walking ATM. We sought refuge in an ‘Italian’ café and had some momos (spiced chicken dumplings). We watched people, motorbikes, taxis (mostly small Suzukis) passing by outside, including a guy with two stumps shuffling by a few inches at a time, pushing his begging bowl ahead of him and trying to avoid getting run over.

Next day

Nepal!

Ok, here it is - my account of our trip to Nepal. 13 days of trekking, 5 days of missions work with Calvary Chapel Kathmandu/Westgrove (CA) and Promise Child.

To navigate around, here are links to each day:
1 Arrival in Kathmandu
2 Kathmandu
3 Kathmandu (mountain biking)
4 Kathmandu sightseeing with trekking group
5 T1 Kathmandu - Lukla - Ghat
6 T2 Ghat - Monjo
7 T3 Monjo - Namche
8 T4 Namche acclimatisation
9 T5 Namche - Phortse Tenga
10 T6 Phortse Tenga - Dole
11 T7 Dole - Machhermo
12 T8 Machhermo - Gokyo
13 T9 Gokyo - Gokyo Ri - High camp
14 T10 High camp - Renjo La - Maralung
15 T11 Maralung - Namche
16 T12 Namche - Ghat
17 T13 Ghat - Lukla
18 T14 Lukla - Kathmandu
19 Missions (orphanage)
20 Missions (village day trip)
21 Missions (orphanage)
22 Missions (orphanage and Bible college)
23 Missions (Bible college)
24 Departure


GPS overview of our trek:

Link to Google photos (note these are slightly out of order): Click here

Nepal photos are coming - watch this space!

We got back from Nepal two weeks ago. Don't worry - photos are coming; it's just taking me a lot of time to sort through them all (3000 in total between Raewyn's and mine). I'm hoping to have everything uploaded here before Christmas!

Tongariro Northern Circuit

As our final training for Nepal, a couple of weekends ago Raewyn and I tackled the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Originally we had planned on doing the Southern Crossing a couple of times to test out our gear in the cold. We locked in a weekend before I went to Europe, but hadn't realised the Otaki Gorge Road was closed for a couple of months due to a slip, so we did the Holdsworth-Jumbo loop instead. Trouble was, there was hardly any snow, and what there was made Raewyn very nervous that she was going to slip and slide down the mountain. So we decided to make our next (and final) trip somewhere in snow.

I've done the Tongariro Crossing once before, in summer, and the Northern Circuit, also in summer. But winter is a different thing altogether.

We also opted to do the walk anticlockwise (last time I did it clockwise). This was for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the hut at Ketetahi, which I stayed at last time, was destroyed by the eruptions in late 2012. So day 1 - the only real 'snow' day - would have been really long (from Mangatepopo to Oturere) and we wouldn't get to summit Tongariro if we wanted to. Also, getting to Mangatepopo was somewhat problematic - either 3 hours walk from Whakapapa Village, where we were staying, or getting a shuttle, which we didn't have time to arrange.
Secondly, we weren't sure how much snow was really up there. The avalanche advisory was saying 'moderate risk'. So I figured it was probably better to approach from the Oturere side, because it would be easier to turn around and go back if we had to. Basically, if we could get to Oturere on day 1, it gave us options for day 2: summit Tongariro and return to Oturere or Waihohonu, then out the next day; or continue on and stay at Mangatepopo hut, then out to Whakapapa. We ended up doing the latter.

(Once again, click on any image for a larger version)



Day 1
Whakapapa Village - Oturere hut, via Waihohonu hut for lunch
23.7 km, 1016 m climb, 799 m descent, moving time 6:04, total time 8:33

The track from Whakapapa to Waihohonu goes over the Tama Saddle. It was pretty cold when we started off, and couldn't see much because of the cloud.

But around 10:00 or so the cloud burnt off and we had great views of Ruapehu...

... and Ngauruhoe.

The terrain is reasonably open, so there's little protection from the sun, but it's reasonably easy going.

After lunch we had a couple of big gullies to cross - 150m up, down, up again.

View of Mt Ruapehu from one of the 'ups'.

Another messy gully to get across, just before the hut. I don't remember this from last time... but that's not to say it wasn't there.



Day 2
Oturere hut - Mangatepopo hut (including Mt Tongariro summit)
17.3 km, 950 m climb, 1110 m descent, moving time 5:53, total time 9:26

Dawn came with not a cloud in the sky, only some in the valley below us.

Mt Ruapehu just before sunrise.

On the track towards Emerald Lakes. 'Welcome to Mars, where the local time is 9:30 am. The weather forecast today is fine, with a brisk westerly.'

I suggested Raewyn have some snow training on the way up to try and overcome some of her fear of slipping over. She did really well (and the tobogganing was very, very fun!)

Made it to the (partly frozen) Emerald Lakes. Still have to climb up the right hand side of Red Crater (high point on the left of the picture).

One of the Emerald Lakes with Red Crater behind. Check out the depth of the snow!

Taking a breather on the way up to Red Crater.

Our view of Mt Taranaki/Egmont, over 120 km away - the clearest I've ever seen it from here.

A snow-filled South Crater and Mt Ngauruhoe behind. A perfect backdrop for lunch (which was 2-minute noodles made with melted snow).

View of Ngauruhoe and Ruapheu from the summit of Tongariro. I've only been here once before, also in winter - Outdoor Pursuits Course with air cadets in 1996. The weather that day was completely clagged in, and we caught a glimpse of the two mountains in a break in the clouds. This was so, so much better.

Crossing South Crater is much easier in summer, when you don't have to wonder if you're going to sink to mid-calf or not with every step. The poles marking the track (which are about 1.8 m tall) were about waist-height, so I reckon the snow was about a metre deep here.

Down the aptly named Devil's Staircase towards Mangatepopo hut. One benefit of doing the track in reverse is that you don't have to walk up these steps... over 300 in total.



Day 3
Mangatepopo hut - Whakapapa village
9.1 km, 285 m climb, 343 m descent, moving time 2:27, total time 3:07

No pictures from this day. The weather was a bit claggy and the track was horrible - badly eroded, lots of gullies to cross. I can see why most people skip this section of the circuit. Enough said.