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Epic Trip to Nepal

April - May 2017
A 31-day adventure by Janet Read more
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  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 6

    Durbar Square

    April 16, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After the Monkey Temple we drove to Durbar Square. If you've seen any videos of the earthquake, it's probably of this area. There are very old buildings here and many of them were damaged in the earthquake and are being supported by beams and poles on the outside. The old palace is here which was in use by the royal family until 1969 when a new one was built in a different location. It seems to have two distinct sections, one in the pagoda style and one that looks almost European. The palace was so badly damaged that it cannot be repaired. It will have to be taken apart and rebuilt to the tune of approximately 10 billion dollars. Of course the Nepalese government doesn't have the money and is hoping the Americans and Chinese will help them out. I'm not hopeful the current US administration will be too open to that! Many other old buildings in the square will also need to be repaired. I think it will be a while!Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 6

    Bouddhanath Stupa

    April 16, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    The next stop was this stupa which is the largest in Nepal. It enshrines the remains of one of the Buddhas. It is a huge round structure of many levels. On the street level their are prayer wheels around the whole thing and their is a constant stream of people walking in a clockwise direction, praying and spinning the wheels. Its quite something to see.

    The stupa is surrounded by buildings which are about 4 or 5 stories tall. Our group made it's way up to a roof top restaurant in one of these buildings for our lunch. We spent the lunch hour visiting with some young Spanish people who had moved to Ireland for work.

    After lunch we walked around the stupa to some stairs which took us up a level and we did a full circle on this level.

    We walked back to our bus and made our way back to the Trekking company office.    Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    1
    Day 6

    The trek begins!

    April 16, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We have chosen to do this trek with only the four of us, Elizabeth, Reig, Jon and me, in the group. We were not trying to be anti-social, but we have planned a trek that's a bit different than the usual one people do and also we wanted to be able to go at our own pace. Adjusting to altitude can be tricky and we didn't want to feel pressured to keep up if there were younger more energetic members in the group. Going up too quickly can lead to lots of problems.

    Apparently, there are tons of tourists in Nepal right now - many more than were expected. It's great for the Nepalese as they need all the business they can get. We will have a chance to visit with other travellers along the way and in tea houses in the evenings.

    I had to pair down my gear even further to only 17 kg. I'll carry 5 kg and the porter will carry 12 kg. The porter will also carry 12 kg from Jon. Makes us westerners seem like wimps by comparison.    Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 6

    Hurry up and wait!

    April 16, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We ate breakfast and then checked out just as a car and driver and our guide, Bijay, showed up. We loaded up the vehicle and headed for the airport for our 11:00 am flight to Phaplu.

    We arrived at the airport at 9:30 am and commenced waiting. Then we waited some more. Then we moved to a different area and waited again. Finally at about 12:30 pm our flight was announced and we loaded a small bus to take us to our plane. We were flying with a group of doctors on a medical expedition.Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 6

    Wild Ride!!

    April 16, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    It was a crazy, bumpy ride through the mountains to the Phaplu airport. You ascend from Katmandu but then you never really go back down.

    To land you go through a pass so close to the mountains that you feel like the wings will touch the trees. The plane then banks to the right and basically drops quickly down onto a runway. The runway ends at the edge of a cliff so there is no room for error here.

    It was a bumpy, windy ride but it only lasted about 20 minutes.    Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 6

    Phaplu to Junbesi

    April 16, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    We stopped in Phaplu at a tea house for lunch and water and then we started off towards Junbesi.

    It was so awesome to be finally walking. At every turn there was something interesting to see. Not many tourists go this way so we were a bit of an oddity and locals seemed curious about us. We passed a school and the children waved to us and yelled Namaste until we were out of sight.

    It happened that many boys who were students at a Buddhist monastery were on the trail with us. They had been at a different monastery for a ceremony and were on the way back to Junbesi. Our guide struck up a conversation with three of these students and we ended up walking with them for most of the way. They shared with us fascinating details about their schooling. They said they had been learning English from an Italian fellow, go figure!! They were shy to speak with us at first but eventually they got quite chatty.    Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 6

    Junbesi

    April 16, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Elevation - 2700 m

    Sir Edmund Hilary came through Junbesi and for the rest of our trek we will be following the same route he took. The first picture below is of the tea house he stayed in. It wasn't open as it was damaged during the earthquake and was being repaired.

    Our first tea house was a very interesting experience. The rooms were about 10' x 10' with two beds. There is room under the beds for bags and boots and things but it's tight for two people. Being very small people, Reig and Elizabeth shared a bed to keep warm. There was no way Jon and I would fit on one though.

    We had walked for about 5 hours and having been awake since 4:00 am, I was ready for bed.    Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 7

    Thuptencholing Monastery

    April 17, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After breakfast we started off to the monastery. It was a lovely 2.5 km hike up and it was a beautiful, sunny day.

    Once at the monastery, we were welcomed by a monk and shown two of the places where they meditate. In each of these rooms the walls are painted with very detailed artwork and there are long pads on the floor on which the monks sit. A monk in the second room did a blessing for us and put a loop of red string around our necks.

    After viewing these rooms, we were offered tea. We went down to a little room beside the kitchen and joined three older monks who were having tea. Through our guide we learned a bit about them and about the monastery. Before the airport in Lukla was built 25 years ago, the way to Everest Base Camp was through Junbesi and they used to get many visitors. Now almost no one comes.

    We shared our cookies with our hosts and drank delicious sweet, milky tea. It was a lovely, lovely experience. As we were leaving one of the female monks asked me to take her picture. I showed it to her and she a friend had a good giggle about it.

    There is a picture below of the kitchen where they cook food for the 400 monks that live there. Ladies reading this, never complain about your kitchens!! The cooking here is done with wood, it's not vented properly so it's very smokey and everything is black!    Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 7

    Walk to Ringmu

    April 17, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Elevation - 2720 m

    We left the Monastery and started off for Ringmu. It was a beautiful walk but it was mostly uphill and we were pretty tired when we rolled into Ringmu. In total we walked 20 km today and I was really feeling it.

    The scenery is, of course, amazing. We passed little collections of houses. People use every available level space to grow vegetables and they make level spaces by terraacing the slopes.

    The houses are mostly made of stone blocks which are hand carved and they are not heated. There is usually a wood stove of some kind in the dining area but not in sleeping areas. We have down sleeping bags and usually the tea houses give you a big heavy blanket to put over. I was a bit squeamish about using the blanket as I'm sure they are not washed much. I got over my squeamishness quickly when it was time to get into a very cold bed.

    The food here is bland and either boiled or fried but it's filling and keeps you going. I am relying on potatoes, noodles, porridge, pancakes and eggs. At noon I have been having noodle soup with veg and an egg. Apparently there is a bakery at Namche Bazaar so I'm looking forward to that.

    After supper we stumbled off to bed for a very early night.    Read more

  • Janet TaylorEpic Trip to Nepal
    Day 8

    Ringmu to Jubhing

    April 18, 2017 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Elevation - 1680 m

    Today we walked 19 km and, no word of a lie, it was all steeply downhill and very rocky. Every step down was a precarious balancing act. Because we were decending, it was very warm and dusty and we all felt nasty and dirty when we arrived in Jubhing. This was the worst day for Jon because all the downhill was very hard on his knees. And to add insult to injury, he got a very bad case of chafing in his nether regions!!
    We were so very glad to finally make it to the tea house.

    We desperately needed a to clean up but there was no shower. They had a separate building for a toilet and shower which looked fairly new but they hadn't got the shower hooked up yet. We had to make do with buckets of cold water in a little shower room. It was actually quite refreshing and it felt wonderful to be clean.

    This tea house looked fairly new so we figured it had been rebuilt since the earthquake. We had actually planned to go a bit farther and sleep at a higher elevation but there was no way we could have walked anymore. Unfortunately, there were mosquitoes at this level and as we hadn't planned to stay this low, none of us had gotten malaria vaccinations.

    I felt as though I was developing a cold so, once again, I stumbled off to bed right after supper.    Read more

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