Dear readers,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope that each of you were able to welcome in the new year with festive spirit and happy hearts. I hope that 2017 brings you all a very happy, prosperous and exciting year ahead and that you each find a moment in the year ahead to focus on 'you'. It has helped me tremendously.
I was granted the best Christmas present I could have asked for, that being James' arrival in Kathmandu. Apart from being lucky enough to have a boyfriend who would fly half way across the world to spend Christmas with me whilst I indulge in a journey of self discovery, his visit has also given me the opportunity to share with him my ever growing love for Nepal. Challenge number one was finding a way to celebrate Christmas and New Year in a country that does not practice our eccentric customs.
On Christmas eve, Maggie, Kayla and I loaded our lives into the back of a Scorpio 4x4 and began our 6 hour long journey back to Kathmandu with heavy hearts, having left the beauty of Phokara and the other volunteers behind us. It still surprises me how close you can grow with people after such a short time. There are a few faces that I was very sad to say goodbye to, and there were others who also recognized that our friendship was only just beginning. It wasn't long before we were each drawn out of our pensive states, by our driver's efforts to prove to us that he was able to achieve liftoff with the 4x4 on multiple occasions. As many of you may already know, I have a terrible weakness of displaying my emotions through my facial expressions. So you may be able to imagine what I looked like on the front seat as we took the sharp bends of the windy road that traced the edge of the cliff (with a rather spectacular drop into the river below it) at 90 miles an hour and on 2 wheels. He was very proud and seemed to draw strength from the look of terror permanently plastered on my face. I had to ask him to turn his Nepalese music up to mask the sound of the tires screeching on the road. Nonetheless, we arrived (surprisingly) in once piece at our hotels in the early afternoon of the 24th December. I being the last to get dropped off at the Yak&Yeti Hotel, said farewell to the driver who proceeded to ask me out and give me the most gangster handshake I have ever experienced. I don't think I will ever understand how things work here. Soon after my arrival, James knocked on the door and we were finally reunited after almost 3 months apart. Best Christmas present ever.
We spent Christmas day wandering through Thamel and purchasing a variety of weird and unusual items that we definitely did not need and most probably will never use again (Thamel seems to have that influence on people) and joined Maggie and Kayla in the Rosemary Kitchen in Thamel a delicious Chistmas dinner which to our shock and delight served a most delicious meal with all the trimmings and nouvel cuisine display. The portions were hearty and the mulled wine hearty and I cannot recommend the place more. We then proceeded to go in search of someplace, anyplace, that was open past 10pm to have a drink. As we charged around the streets of Kathmandu in a taxi so small that James could barely sit upright in, we could not help but feel let down by the silence on the roads and eventually ended up back in the neighborhood of our hotel. There, we found a rooftop bar that was doing its best to pretend it was a club, that would serve us. New Year's was a similar affair. Having said a very difficult goodbye to Maggie and Kayla the week before, James and I decided to do our best to find some New Year's spirit in Kathmandu. To our horror, we were confronted with a large scale street party in in front of the Garden of Dreams in Thamel which resulted in two things: a) a ginormous roadblock for both vehicles and pedestrians in the already cramped streets of Thamel and b) a mosh pit. We battled through the crowds to reach our restaurant and thanks to James volunteering himself as a human battering ram and him literally lifting me by my backpack out of what could have resulted in very hairy encounters with various drunken Nepalis, we were finally seated at the New Orleans Cafe for a lovely candle lit dinner. We then battled our way back through the crowds to return to the sanctuary of the hotel bar, which welcomed us with a live band and a table overlooking the stunningly decorated garden, There were twinkling fairy lights everywhere. Enough said. We counted in 2017 alongside a group of rather loud drunken guests who were attempting a coup of the band's instruments and spent the 1st of January 2017 doing absolutely nothing in the hotel room. We may or may not have ventured into Himalayan Java for a coffee and large piece of cake but after 3 months on the road, doing nothing in a 5* hotel was a very welcome suggestion.
In between our Kathmandu adventures/survival we arranged a four day trip down to Chitwan National park where we had booked an all-inclusive package at Sapana Lodge including the accommodation, meals and activities. All we had to do was show up! We purchased our $16 return bus tickets in Thamel with strict instructions to find the Rainbow bus at the Kathmandu central bus park at 06:00 on the morning of the 27th December. In retrospect, every part of that sentence should have warmed us of what was to come. On the morning of the 27th we made the following realizations:
1)The bus park did not exist. Rather, it was a series of buses parked along the side of the main road with some really dodgy people to help guide passengers to their bus.
2)The Rainbow bus was nothing like a rainbow. In fact, it should have been called something more along the lines of 'I most likely will not break down on this trip, but I can't make any promises' bus. We were welcomed by a mostly helpful man who guided us onto the bus which lingered idly and engulfed in darkness, who showed us to our seats.
3) We were screwed. Our seats were the furthest two on the back of the bus. AKA the most bumpy seats available. To say that I was airborne at least every half hour would be an understatement. I can proudly say however, that I must be getting used to Nepal , as through the dust, the car horns, the movement of the bus as it took the corners at 80 miles an hour, and my defiance of gravity, I managed to sleep for 2 hours!
4) We were the only foreigners on board. That too should have sounded all the alarm bells.
Nonetheless, we settled in and noting the fact that there were two windows on the bus which were in fact missing and had been covered with plastic, I could not help but dread the journey ahead.
The journey down to Chitwan took 7.5 hours and could in fact be sold to people in many countries as a roller coaster ride. For those of you who don't know, tarmacked roads in Nepal a rare and beautiful gift as most main roads are dirt roads sporting a sporadic sighting of what used to be tarmac. We flew down to Chitwan at around 90 km an hour in what looked like a bus, smelt like a bus and sounded like a bus, but in reality could have been nothing less than a 4x4 off-roading Ferrari training for the Nepali Grand Prix.
We were overcome with joy to arrive at Sapana Lodge where we were greeted with lunch and a chat with the manager Naran who briefed us on the following couple of days. The lodge prides itself in being a small family run, transparent business which donates a portion of its earnings to helping the local community. Having recently built a kindergarten in the local village and with multiple projects to encourage women's' development in the region, I was sure that we had mad the right choice.
The lodge sports 5 small houses with about 4-5 bungalow styled rooms to each house, a beautifully manicured lawn, an outdoor lounge area fully equipped with a bonfire, bar and Christmas tree and a restaurant not far from it with an excellently positioned outdoor dining terrace that overlooks the river and fields below it. Stunning. Furthermore, the Lodge also boasts 3 resident elephants, the youngest being no older than 3 years of age who frequently make an appearance within the Lodge's grounds. We quickly made ourselves at home and threw ourselves into our program which looked something like this:
Day 1: Arrival and tour of local Tharu village.
Day 2: Canoe ride down the river and walking safari, Jeep Safari.
Day 3: Elephant safari, elephant bathing, bird walk and massage.
Day 4: Departure with the 8am engine of death.
Firstly, please let me say that this was how the package was sold, and so feeling like this would give us the fullest experience we signed up to it. Secondly, allow me to add that we thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our stay at Sapana and their hospitality and very friendly staff. They instantly make you feel at home and go far out of their way to accommodate your every crazy and weird need. If you decide you want them to take you to the elephant festival down the road to watch baby elephants play football 30 minutes before your activity on your final day in Chitwan, despite them not having an available car, they arranged for two of the staff to drive us down there on the back of their motorbikes. If that's not service I don't know what is.
Now let me talk a little about what made all of your eye's twitch a moment ago. Having done some research into elephant tourism before I embarked on this journey, I will admit that both James and I were very silent on the car ride over to where we would meet our elephant for the safari. By the time we had finally managed to formalize our opinions, however, we were deep in the jungle on the back of an elephant. At this moment I made note of two very clashing emotions: How amazing it was to be traveling through the dense jungle on the back of such a majestic animal, and how much I wanted to get off it. Its difficult to fully understand what people tell you and what you read without seeing it firsthand, and boy should I have belied them. Although the elephant seemed to enjoy itself in the river and chomped happily on leaves, I could not help but stare at how the guide used his toes to poke the elephant behind the ears to steer it. Can you imagine having someone do that to you? What solidified my distaste however, was the wooden stick and metal hooked pole he had with him. He used the stick, despite my loud and firm disapproval whenever the elephant did not listen to the prodding behind her ears to smack her on the head and get her back in line. Thankfully, he didn't dare use the metal pole in front of me but one can only imagine how much that must hurt. Nonetheless I could not help but notice the elephant flinch underneath us the second he raised the cane and couldn't bare to imagine what training she must have undergone to get her into such a state of submission. It was sickening. At the end of the ride, I asked the guide to wait as we bought some bananas to feed the elephant with as a silent thank you, and a promise to ourselves that we would never again partake in such tourism. Consider my eyes opened. That being said and wanting to share the beauties of Chitwan with you, I can honestly say that it is worth a visit for anyone travelling in the region. Even in December!
The misty mornings cloaked the jungle in a layer of mystery and the feeling that there is more looking at you than than the other way round. The canoes there are made out of wood, as as has been the case for hundreds of years and sitting in them is an experience on its own, as they sink low into the water leaving only centimeters between the edge of the canoe and the crocodile infested waters. When you eventually trust yourself enough to breathe again though, you cannot help but feel part of the jungle as the boatman slowly paddles you down the river and points out the wild deer, wild boars, peacocks and birds that calmly graze on the water's edges. On the jungle walk, I could not help but feel like an intruder stomping our way through the jungle, sounding so loud and ungraceful in comparison to the jungles' inhabitants. The movie Avatar came to mind. I remember my shock and excitement when our guide pointed our the rhino feasting just meters away from us in the swampy waters. We got exceptionally close before he rhino decided he didn't like us and turned his back on us in search of tastier, less tourist infested bushes he could chew on. I have to say though that bathing with the elephant is something I will never forget. There was a moment when the elephant was submerged in the water and I was stroking/ washing her trunk and she breathed. When she emerged her head from the water, I found myself face to face with the elephant and our eyes connected. For a split moment I felt like the elephant stared deep into my soul as I stared into hers. It is a feeling I will never forget and still today I can't help but think of it and question what she must have been thinking at that moment.
I am now sitting in what feels like a completely different world in the business center of the Yak&Yeti in Kathmandu writing this and I cant help but feel that I will be leaving a little part of my soul in Nepal when I leave in 3 hours time. I have loved my time here, from trekking up to Mt Everest base camp, to white water rafting down to Pokhara, to paragliding over Fewa lake, to bathing with elephants in Chitwan and to circling the Bodhnatha Stupa in Kathmandu in the midst of the annual world peace festival.
For those intending on visiting Kathmandu in the near future here are my recommendations:
Must see:
- Durbar Square
- Swayambhunath (Monkey) Temple
-Bodhnath Stupa
-Pashupatinath Riverside sight of worship (they do cremations here)
-Bhaktapur Day Trip
-Garden of Dreams
-Thamel Streets for shopping and eating - beware of the traffic!
Outside of Kathmandu:
-Pokhara Town
-Chitwan National Park (3 days was enough - calculate more if you want some 'chill out' days there)
- Everest Base Camp Trek (2 weeks)
-Annapurna Trek (from 4 days - 2 weeks)
Dining in Kathmandu:
-Roadhouse Restaurant (amazing pizzas)
-OR2K (veggie but awesome)
-New Orleans Cafe (tasty and nice courtyard away from the chaos)
-Mezze (Rooftop restaurant and bar run by Roadhouse just outside of Thamel)
-Rosemary's Kitchen (small, discrete, not much view but tasty tasty food! Had Xmas dinner here)
-Boomerang (I think) rooftop bar (nice to sit in the sunshine for a drink- aforedable!)
- Little door rooftop restaurant in Durbar Square for a cheap, good meal with a view!
Must bring:
-Earplugs
-Smog mask for those who worry
-Patience
-An open mind
Next stop on my travels: Bhutan!
Lets see how the land of the Dragon compares to the uncoordinated chaos of the somehow lovable Nepal.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope that each of you were able to welcome in the new year with festive spirit and happy hearts. I hope that 2017 brings you all a very happy, prosperous and exciting year ahead and that you each find a moment in the year ahead to focus on 'you'. It has helped me tremendously.
I was granted the best Christmas present I could have asked for, that being James' arrival in Kathmandu. Apart from being lucky enough to have a boyfriend who would fly half way across the world to spend Christmas with me whilst I indulge in a journey of self discovery, his visit has also given me the opportunity to share with him my ever growing love for Nepal. Challenge number one was finding a way to celebrate Christmas and New Year in a country that does not practice our eccentric customs.
On Christmas eve, Maggie, Kayla and I loaded our lives into the back of a Scorpio 4x4 and began our 6 hour long journey back to Kathmandu with heavy hearts, having left the beauty of Phokara and the other volunteers behind us. It still surprises me how close you can grow with people after such a short time. There are a few faces that I was very sad to say goodbye to, and there were others who also recognized that our friendship was only just beginning. It wasn't long before we were each drawn out of our pensive states, by our driver's efforts to prove to us that he was able to achieve liftoff with the 4x4 on multiple occasions. As many of you may already know, I have a terrible weakness of displaying my emotions through my facial expressions. So you may be able to imagine what I looked like on the front seat as we took the sharp bends of the windy road that traced the edge of the cliff (with a rather spectacular drop into the river below it) at 90 miles an hour and on 2 wheels. He was very proud and seemed to draw strength from the look of terror permanently plastered on my face. I had to ask him to turn his Nepalese music up to mask the sound of the tires screeching on the road. Nonetheless, we arrived (surprisingly) in once piece at our hotels in the early afternoon of the 24th December. I being the last to get dropped off at the Yak&Yeti Hotel, said farewell to the driver who proceeded to ask me out and give me the most gangster handshake I have ever experienced. I don't think I will ever understand how things work here. Soon after my arrival, James knocked on the door and we were finally reunited after almost 3 months apart. Best Christmas present ever.
We spent Christmas day wandering through Thamel and purchasing a variety of weird and unusual items that we definitely did not need and most probably will never use again (Thamel seems to have that influence on people) and joined Maggie and Kayla in the Rosemary Kitchen in Thamel a delicious Chistmas dinner which to our shock and delight served a most delicious meal with all the trimmings and nouvel cuisine display. The portions were hearty and the mulled wine hearty and I cannot recommend the place more. We then proceeded to go in search of someplace, anyplace, that was open past 10pm to have a drink. As we charged around the streets of Kathmandu in a taxi so small that James could barely sit upright in, we could not help but feel let down by the silence on the roads and eventually ended up back in the neighborhood of our hotel. There, we found a rooftop bar that was doing its best to pretend it was a club, that would serve us. New Year's was a similar affair. Having said a very difficult goodbye to Maggie and Kayla the week before, James and I decided to do our best to find some New Year's spirit in Kathmandu. To our horror, we were confronted with a large scale street party in in front of the Garden of Dreams in Thamel which resulted in two things: a) a ginormous roadblock for both vehicles and pedestrians in the already cramped streets of Thamel and b) a mosh pit. We battled through the crowds to reach our restaurant and thanks to James volunteering himself as a human battering ram and him literally lifting me by my backpack out of what could have resulted in very hairy encounters with various drunken Nepalis, we were finally seated at the New Orleans Cafe for a lovely candle lit dinner. We then battled our way back through the crowds to return to the sanctuary of the hotel bar, which welcomed us with a live band and a table overlooking the stunningly decorated garden, There were twinkling fairy lights everywhere. Enough said. We counted in 2017 alongside a group of rather loud drunken guests who were attempting a coup of the band's instruments and spent the 1st of January 2017 doing absolutely nothing in the hotel room. We may or may not have ventured into Himalayan Java for a coffee and large piece of cake but after 3 months on the road, doing nothing in a 5* hotel was a very welcome suggestion.
In between our Kathmandu adventures/survival we arranged a four day trip down to Chitwan National park where we had booked an all-inclusive package at Sapana Lodge including the accommodation, meals and activities. All we had to do was show up! We purchased our $16 return bus tickets in Thamel with strict instructions to find the Rainbow bus at the Kathmandu central bus park at 06:00 on the morning of the 27th December. In retrospect, every part of that sentence should have warmed us of what was to come. On the morning of the 27th we made the following realizations:
1)The bus park did not exist. Rather, it was a series of buses parked along the side of the main road with some really dodgy people to help guide passengers to their bus.
2)The Rainbow bus was nothing like a rainbow. In fact, it should have been called something more along the lines of 'I most likely will not break down on this trip, but I can't make any promises' bus. We were welcomed by a mostly helpful man who guided us onto the bus which lingered idly and engulfed in darkness, who showed us to our seats.
3) We were screwed. Our seats were the furthest two on the back of the bus. AKA the most bumpy seats available. To say that I was airborne at least every half hour would be an understatement. I can proudly say however, that I must be getting used to Nepal , as through the dust, the car horns, the movement of the bus as it took the corners at 80 miles an hour, and my defiance of gravity, I managed to sleep for 2 hours!
4) We were the only foreigners on board. That too should have sounded all the alarm bells.
Nonetheless, we settled in and noting the fact that there were two windows on the bus which were in fact missing and had been covered with plastic, I could not help but dread the journey ahead.
The journey down to Chitwan took 7.5 hours and could in fact be sold to people in many countries as a roller coaster ride. For those of you who don't know, tarmacked roads in Nepal a rare and beautiful gift as most main roads are dirt roads sporting a sporadic sighting of what used to be tarmac. We flew down to Chitwan at around 90 km an hour in what looked like a bus, smelt like a bus and sounded like a bus, but in reality could have been nothing less than a 4x4 off-roading Ferrari training for the Nepali Grand Prix.
We were overcome with joy to arrive at Sapana Lodge where we were greeted with lunch and a chat with the manager Naran who briefed us on the following couple of days. The lodge prides itself in being a small family run, transparent business which donates a portion of its earnings to helping the local community. Having recently built a kindergarten in the local village and with multiple projects to encourage women's' development in the region, I was sure that we had mad the right choice.
The lodge sports 5 small houses with about 4-5 bungalow styled rooms to each house, a beautifully manicured lawn, an outdoor lounge area fully equipped with a bonfire, bar and Christmas tree and a restaurant not far from it with an excellently positioned outdoor dining terrace that overlooks the river and fields below it. Stunning. Furthermore, the Lodge also boasts 3 resident elephants, the youngest being no older than 3 years of age who frequently make an appearance within the Lodge's grounds. We quickly made ourselves at home and threw ourselves into our program which looked something like this:
Day 1: Arrival and tour of local Tharu village.
Day 2: Canoe ride down the river and walking safari, Jeep Safari.
Day 3: Elephant safari, elephant bathing, bird walk and massage.
Day 4: Departure with the 8am engine of death.
Firstly, please let me say that this was how the package was sold, and so feeling like this would give us the fullest experience we signed up to it. Secondly, allow me to add that we thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our stay at Sapana and their hospitality and very friendly staff. They instantly make you feel at home and go far out of their way to accommodate your every crazy and weird need. If you decide you want them to take you to the elephant festival down the road to watch baby elephants play football 30 minutes before your activity on your final day in Chitwan, despite them not having an available car, they arranged for two of the staff to drive us down there on the back of their motorbikes. If that's not service I don't know what is.
Now let me talk a little about what made all of your eye's twitch a moment ago. Having done some research into elephant tourism before I embarked on this journey, I will admit that both James and I were very silent on the car ride over to where we would meet our elephant for the safari. By the time we had finally managed to formalize our opinions, however, we were deep in the jungle on the back of an elephant. At this moment I made note of two very clashing emotions: How amazing it was to be traveling through the dense jungle on the back of such a majestic animal, and how much I wanted to get off it. Its difficult to fully understand what people tell you and what you read without seeing it firsthand, and boy should I have belied them. Although the elephant seemed to enjoy itself in the river and chomped happily on leaves, I could not help but stare at how the guide used his toes to poke the elephant behind the ears to steer it. Can you imagine having someone do that to you? What solidified my distaste however, was the wooden stick and metal hooked pole he had with him. He used the stick, despite my loud and firm disapproval whenever the elephant did not listen to the prodding behind her ears to smack her on the head and get her back in line. Thankfully, he didn't dare use the metal pole in front of me but one can only imagine how much that must hurt. Nonetheless I could not help but notice the elephant flinch underneath us the second he raised the cane and couldn't bare to imagine what training she must have undergone to get her into such a state of submission. It was sickening. At the end of the ride, I asked the guide to wait as we bought some bananas to feed the elephant with as a silent thank you, and a promise to ourselves that we would never again partake in such tourism. Consider my eyes opened. That being said and wanting to share the beauties of Chitwan with you, I can honestly say that it is worth a visit for anyone travelling in the region. Even in December!
The misty mornings cloaked the jungle in a layer of mystery and the feeling that there is more looking at you than than the other way round. The canoes there are made out of wood, as as has been the case for hundreds of years and sitting in them is an experience on its own, as they sink low into the water leaving only centimeters between the edge of the canoe and the crocodile infested waters. When you eventually trust yourself enough to breathe again though, you cannot help but feel part of the jungle as the boatman slowly paddles you down the river and points out the wild deer, wild boars, peacocks and birds that calmly graze on the water's edges. On the jungle walk, I could not help but feel like an intruder stomping our way through the jungle, sounding so loud and ungraceful in comparison to the jungles' inhabitants. The movie Avatar came to mind. I remember my shock and excitement when our guide pointed our the rhino feasting just meters away from us in the swampy waters. We got exceptionally close before he rhino decided he didn't like us and turned his back on us in search of tastier, less tourist infested bushes he could chew on. I have to say though that bathing with the elephant is something I will never forget. There was a moment when the elephant was submerged in the water and I was stroking/ washing her trunk and she breathed. When she emerged her head from the water, I found myself face to face with the elephant and our eyes connected. For a split moment I felt like the elephant stared deep into my soul as I stared into hers. It is a feeling I will never forget and still today I can't help but think of it and question what she must have been thinking at that moment.
I am now sitting in what feels like a completely different world in the business center of the Yak&Yeti in Kathmandu writing this and I cant help but feel that I will be leaving a little part of my soul in Nepal when I leave in 3 hours time. I have loved my time here, from trekking up to Mt Everest base camp, to white water rafting down to Pokhara, to paragliding over Fewa lake, to bathing with elephants in Chitwan and to circling the Bodhnatha Stupa in Kathmandu in the midst of the annual world peace festival.
For those intending on visiting Kathmandu in the near future here are my recommendations:
Must see:
- Durbar Square
- Swayambhunath (Monkey) Temple
-Bodhnath Stupa
-Pashupatinath Riverside sight of worship (they do cremations here)
-Bhaktapur Day Trip
-Garden of Dreams
-Thamel Streets for shopping and eating - beware of the traffic!
Outside of Kathmandu:
-Pokhara Town
-Chitwan National Park (3 days was enough - calculate more if you want some 'chill out' days there)
- Everest Base Camp Trek (2 weeks)
-Annapurna Trek (from 4 days - 2 weeks)
Dining in Kathmandu:
-Roadhouse Restaurant (amazing pizzas)
-OR2K (veggie but awesome)
-New Orleans Cafe (tasty and nice courtyard away from the chaos)
-Mezze (Rooftop restaurant and bar run by Roadhouse just outside of Thamel)
-Rosemary's Kitchen (small, discrete, not much view but tasty tasty food! Had Xmas dinner here)
-Boomerang (I think) rooftop bar (nice to sit in the sunshine for a drink- aforedable!)
- Little door rooftop restaurant in Durbar Square for a cheap, good meal with a view!
Must bring:
-Earplugs
-Smog mask for those who worry
-Patience
-An open mind
Next stop on my travels: Bhutan!
Lets see how the land of the Dragon compares to the uncoordinated chaos of the somehow lovable Nepal.
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