Annapurna Base Camp Trek (Apr 2022)
Nepal - once is not enough.
Correction: One lifetime is also not enough for Nepal.
This was my 4th time trying to go to Nepal.
The first time, I bought my air ticket, but had no one to go with so I forfeited the ticket.
The second time, I bought my air ticket and Nepal had a earthquake one week before my trip. That was in 2015.
The third time, I have bought my ticket, but started a new job and couldn't go.
This was the 4th time. I finally made it. I had not been able to venture out of Singapore for 2 years due to covid. When I was able to travel again, the first country that came to my mind was Nepal. The news of Nepal scrapping its PCR test requirement upon entering its gateway couldn't come at a better time.
I booked the air ticket and contacted the tour and trekking company that has many good reviews, Himalayan Social Journey. We quickly made arrangements, and I finally made it to Nepal. Thank God.
29 Mar 2022 (Tue)
SQ flight from Singapore to Kathmandu was quite full, consisted of mainly Nepali passengers. The SQ staff that checked my boarding pass at the gate in Changi Airport wished me all the best for my Everest Base Camp trek, he could tell I would be going for a trekking trip in EBC.
I managed to find an aisle seat at the last row sharing with another lady who occupy the whole row by herself, and she didnt mind sharing the row with me, which was so kind of her.
When we were flying into Kathmandu airspace, the mountains range appeared above the clouds and greeted us. The snowy peaks were impressive, though I didn't know their names at that time. We landed around 1230pm in very hazy condition.(Kathmandu is 2 hours 15 minutes behind Singapore in time zone).
P1. Seen from the window of my seat.
P2. Kathamandu as viewed from the sky.
Once the plane was parked at the remote gate, we boarded the shuttle bus that ferry us to the terminal building. First thing will be to queue for the on-arrival visa. The Nepali visa officer asked me where I came from, and I replied Singapore. He returned me the USD50 visa application fee that I handed him, and told me that the visa fees will be cheaper if I paid in SGD. The first impression of Nepal civil service couldn't be better. Once I have got my arrval visa done, I went to queue at the immigration counter and the officer demanded to see my hotel bookings before he would stamp my passport. What if I only decide which hotel to stay after I get to Kathmandu? Probably not an option in his opinion.
After I have collected my check-in baggage, there was another queue downstairs for screening of baggages. I nearly fainted when all of us had to take off our shoes and put them into the plastic tray together with loose items and let the machine scan them, while we went through metal detectors. That was the last hurdle. Once that was done, I went out of the terminal building and saw a local holding a card with my name on it. He will be the driver for me for quite a few trips.
The drive to the hotel took us 1 hour as the traffic was heavy, and the wait at some traffic light junctions manned by police took quite long, especially the one near the palace musueum. Even if the traffic light works, there will be a police standing at the road junction monitoring traffic from all sides and intervene if necessary.
The driver told me 80% of the population in Nepal are hindus, remaining are either buddhists, muslims or christians. He also told me that a driver who can drive in Nepal, can drive anywhere in the world. I will soon be able to verify this fact. On the way to hotel, I saw some casinos along the main street.
After I have checked into the hotel, the General Manager of the tour company Mr.Rameshwor explained the itinerary to me. I will be boarding the 3rd flight to Lukla tomorrow morning. I requested for earlier flights if it was possible. He said he will try. Eventually I got bumped up to the 2nd flight.
P2A.
P2B.
I walked to the Thamel district across the main street not far from the hotel to buy postcards. I bumped into a local guide who was chatting with some foreigners and sought his help in getting stamps. Postcards were no longer easy to find, and post office was even harder to be located. With the guide's help I manage to get the postcard to Malaysia posted, but not the ones to be posted to Singapore and the UK as Nepal has stopped postcard sending services to many countries due to covid, Singapore and UK are two such countries.
I had my first dal bhat (Nepali national rice lenthil dish) on the recommendation of the guide that I met earlier, with a glass of hot lemon. The food was good but a little bit spicy for me. I managed to change SGD into Nepalese rupees at the Thamel district. (1 SGD = 87.70 NRP). There were street peddlers selling grapes near the hotel, and i bought some from grape seller. The grapes were very sweet.
I went back to the hotel to pack my trekking stuff into the duffle bag loaned to me and leave those that I probably won't need in my luggage.
The first night sleep proved to be challenging, as the next door couple were having so much fun and woke me up in the middle of my sleep.
30 Mar 2022 (Wed)
Breakfasts was not ready as it was too early in the morning, I just ate my bakkwa with bread and drank milo. There was slight drizzle on the way to the airport and the sky looked gloomy.
Upon reaching the domestic airport, another staff from the tour company helped me get into the domestic terminal and do check in. His name is Mingmar.
P3. Tara Airline check in counter for the Lukla flight.
The Tara Airline counter staff asked me to take a seat first as all flights to Lukla were suspended due to poor visibility at Lukla Airport that morning. After 2 hours of waiting, Mingmar and I returned to the hotel to consider our options as Lukla flights for that day were all but cancelled.
1. Try Lukla flight again the next day.
2. Pay USD400 and take helicopter to Lukla (one way), which means I will be able to travel to Lukla on that very day.
3. Change to another trek like Annapurna Base Camp trek, which will involve flight to Pokhara instead of Lukla. Pokhara is a bigger domestic airport with easier landing compared to Lukla.
I had a chat with the owner and founder of the tour company, Mr Ram Sapkota. He said if there were other trekkers that were keen on taking the helicopter to Lukla, he can offer the flight at USD 300 to me as he has shares in one of the helicopter companies and can offer the ride without markup. They need about 5 trekkers to make the flight worthwhile, unfortunately, and there were not enough takers at that time.
I have decided to take Option 3, which was to change the trek to Annapurna Base Camp trek with Poon Hill (ABC trek with Poon Hill sunrise). Mingmar will be my guide for the trek.
Mingmar helped me with the packing to lessen some of the weight in the duffle bag since he will be my porter+guide, which will help save cost. We will be taking the 2nd flight to Pokhara tomorrow morning.
To pass the time, I went to the Monkey Temple with another local guide on motorbike. It was my first bike ride in Kathmandu. The monkeys in Monkey Temple were not the aggresive type. We got to make a wish near the wishing well using old Nepalese coins. This temple is unique, as it has Buddhist and Hindu elements co-exist harmoniously within the same ground. From the temple compound, one can see the city of Kathmandu from high ground.
P4. Hindu and buddist elements coexist harmoniously in the Monkey Temple and many other temples/monasteries.
P5. The Eyes.
P6. Near the wishing well of the Monkey Temple.
P7.
It rained in the evening in Kathmandu. I borrowed an umbrella from the hotel staff and he generously loaned me his own personal umbrella. Crossing the street during evening rush hour in the dark while it was raining proved to be a challenging affair. I managed to cross the busy street by tailgating the locals. I felt more confident each time I managed to cross the street to Thamel district and back.
P8. Drizzling in Thamel district. I had to cross this road daily in Kathmandu.
31 Mar 2022 (Thu)
Mr Ram Sapkota's eldest son, Amrit, was keen to join us for the ABC trek since he has only done a section of the route before. The 3 of us, Amrit, Mingmar and I, boarded the propeller flight by Yeti Airline to Pokhara, and managed to see the mountain peaks near Annapurna punctuating the clouds.
P9. The snowy peaks seen near Pokhara airspace.
Upon reaching Pokhara, the landing gear was lowered, I was busy taking photos of Pokhara city. Suddenly the plane was pulled up and the captain announced that we had no choice but to return to Kathmandu due to unfavourable landing conditions in Pokhara Airport. Apparently the Pokhara Airport was closed due to poor visibility (again!).
After we got back to the terminal building in Kathmandu Dosmetic Airport, the common boarding area was swarmed with stranded travellers. Apparently flights to all parts of Nepal has been either postponed or cancelled due to poor visibility in many parts of the country. To add salt to the wound, the first 2 flights to Lukla managed to land in Lukla Airport that morning. We were stucked with no food as my bakkwa was inside my checked baggage (the duffle bag). The only winner in this battle: the little cafeteria in the boarding area was having unusually good business. We were only able to leave the airport after Yeti Airline has officially cancelled our flights to Pokhara.
Mr Rameshwor arranged for a private car to send us from Kathmandu Airport to Pokhara by road. It was the same driver who picked me up yesterday and today I will get to witness his skills in driving from Kathmandu to Pokhara. This 200km road trip will take at least 7 hours and I experienced one of the most bumpy road trips in my life. We packed some simple food as lunch and ate in the car, braced for the dusty two laner "highway" that was full of potholes, gravel and dirt sectionsssss. The highway was full of long trailers and tourist buses that either going to or coming from Pokhara, or as far as India. We were crawling at a snail pace, no faster than 30km/hr. At one point there was a road construction work that blocked traffic from both sides completely. Everyone got out of their cars and trying to stick their necks out to see what was happening hundreds of meters ahead. There were some opportunistic drivers who raced to the front using the empty opposite lane and created gridlock near the construction site, which further delay traffic on both sides once the section under construction was reopened to traffic.
We started leaving Kathmandu suburb at around 230pm, and sunlight were gone by 7pm. The driver drove in the dark, avoiding vehicles that have no headlights, pedestrians that walked on the road as there was no shoulders at some parks, and people who wear black to test the driver's eye sight. Sometimes the halogen lamps from the on-coming trucks were so blinding that we couldn't see what was ahead of us. I even saw a kid leisurely walking on the road with his mum, and did a somersault midway to show off to the drivers while his mum just laughed at his playfulness. I honestly didn't know how could they be so fearless on this busy narrow "highway". We saw a tourist bus with front section damaged and windscreen cracked, stopping by the side and waited for repair vehicle after an accident.
Shortly less than halfway through, we stopped at one famous chicken bbq stall to have our snacks before we carried on. I must say the BBQ chicken was quite delicious, though the delicious mint sauce was a bit spicy.
The rain came at around 8pm, the condensation inside the car made the driving even more difficult in the dark. I tried in vain to help wipe the windscreen using wetwipes but the driver laughed and stopped me, he said I made the windscreen even more blurry. He used a dry cloth to wipe instead, another hand firmly on the steering wheel. He could also drive with phone on one hand, totally a pro on the road.
We reached Pokhara, a scenic lake town, at around 9pm finally, and the lakeside boulevard was quite chill. Dinner was at Nepali Kitchen Restaurant, and it proved to be a good recommendation by Amrit and Mingmar. I thoroughly enjoyed the food they served. While we were having our dinner, another van with a group of travellers stopped by to let their guests have late dinner. Apparently the same fate befell these travellers - the same flight cancellations affected them today, and they engaged a van to drive them from Kathmandu to Pokhara as well.
P10. Finally dinner at 930pm in Pokhara.
We checked into Lake Star Hotel at around 1030pm. It was a very nice hotel, and i had a good sleep that night, until i was woken up by the chirping birds the next morning.
1 Apr 2022 (Fri)
The headline of the local newspaper mentioned that Kathmandu was ranked the most polluted city in the world yesterday. The poor visibility caused widespread flight cancellations across many parts of Nepal yesterday.
P11. The picture on the left of newspapers said it all.
After breakfast, the driver drove us from Pokhara to Nayapul to start our trekking. On a good weather day, one can see Annapurna ranges while driving out of Pokhara to Nayapul, but not today. Today the mountain view is hidden. While in the car, we could sense the smoky burning smells. I started to get worried about the trip if the air quality was that bad.
We had a stop at Nayapul trek permit office so that Mingmar can get our trekking permit processed. The car couldn't sent us up the gravel road any further beyond the permit office. The dirt gravel road is only suitable for jeeps. We bade farewell to the driver and began to trek from that point on. (The driver managed to reach Kathmandu safely around 5pm later, I found out after we returned to Kathmandu). There were some lady trekkers that we met near the starting point, and we said hi to them. We would eventually meet again in Ghorepani the next day.
The map of the Annapurna region:
Our route to ABC : Pokhara - Nayapul - Banthanti - Ghorepani - Tadapani - Chiule - Ghurjung - Chhomrong - Sinuwa - Bamboo - Dovan - Himalayan - MBC - ABC
Return from ABC: ABC - MBC - Himalayan - Dovan - Bamboo - Sinuwa - Chhomrong - Jhinu - Landruk (take jeep) - Pokhara
The trek from Nayapul to our lunch point Birethanti was quite ok. There was a section of road with construction that blocked the jeep road traffic from both sides. Those who take jeep service from Nayapul to Birethanti would have to walk across the construction section and change to a different jeep.
P12. Near the permit office at Nayapul.
P13. Guess what's this? :)
P14. You said potatoes, I said potatoes!
We stopped for lunch at Birethanti. Amrit ordered YY instant noodles for lunch and I ordered the same, upon seeing how delicious his noodles looked. The instant noodles with egg was a good lunch, so yummy.
P15. Bon appetite!
While we were having lunch, a German couple came over and asked Amrit for the wifi password of the restaurant. The couple chatted with us. They couldn't go to Lukla for two days in a row due to the flight cancellations. Look like I was not alone in the Lukla flight cancellation business. The couple changed their plan to do trekking in Annapurna region instead, the same decision I have made. They will be doing the trek to see Poon Hill sunrise, and continue with a newer trek called the Mardi trek. I will tell you more about Mardi trek later. The couple will be visiting Malaysia and transiting in Singapore Changi Airport after their trip in Nepal and continue their journey onwards to Australia.
After lunch, we trekked down to the river to cross the bridge before taking the very brutal near-vertical steps to Ulleri. Amrit and Mingmar had fun at a waterfall near the bridge to take pictures. Amrit fell gently into the small stream when he was approaching the waterfall due to the slippery ground, and got his shoes wet in the process. The sole of one of his boots opened up.
P16. The adventurers Mingmar and Amrit.
On our way up to Ulleri, we happened to bump into another trekker, accompanied by his guide. At that point in time, I didn't know that we will be trekking together for much of the journey and would have so much fun trekking together. We just said hi that day and he went on up the steps much faster than we did.
P17. Very brutal steps up to Ulleri.
Upon reaching Ulleri, Mingmar thought that we should trek slightly further to Banthanti to stay the night as Banthanti was a quieter place compared to the more crowded Ulleri. We trekked for another 30 minutes or so and reached Banthanti. There were 2 lodges there next to each other. Hot shower was available at a cost, I just went for it to refresh my body. That was a good shower, and my energy was restored.
The valley view from Banthathi was quite good. We could see the villages that we passed by this morning, which were perched on the other side of the river.
P18. Our lodge at Banthanti.
P19. The lodge opposite ours with the cute puppies.
P20.
P21.
The owner started the fire place in the dining area to keep us warm. We quickly hung our wet towels and Amrit's wet shoes to dry near the fire place.
The lodge next to ours have a very cute mother dog and 3 even cuter puppies that roamed around fearlessly around the tea house. I went to take pictures of them playing a afool with one another. The flowers at the lodge were also blooming in the chilly spring weather. The lady who worked there saw me taking photographs, went into the house to fetch me more pots of flowers for me to admire and take pictures.
P22.
P23.
P24.
P25.
P26.
The sky slowly turned dark. Suddenly we saw a couple of trekkers walked down from the road and checked into the lodge next to ours. I was curious as to why they reached Banthanti so late. Apparently this gentleman (G) was a trekker from Poland. He and his female travel partner took a toutist bus from Kathmandu at 7am this morning, and reached Pokhara around 430pm. The jeep took them from Pokhara all the way up to Banthanti, saving them the hassle of trekking up. They had to change jeep at the road construction site.
G was in high spirit, taking pictures of plants and objects of interest. Sadly, due to the poor visibility at that time, we couldn't see any snowy peaks.
Chicken fried rice that I ordered for dinner was fantastic. I managed to gobble down a huge plate of rice as I only had YY instant noodles this afternoon and have trekked long distance today, totally famished. I sat near the fire place to keep warm after the hot shower.
Sleep was challenging as the Nepali guides from another company that stayed next to my room were playing TV shows using their phones and chatted loudly with their friends on the phone. Since the room opposite to mine was vacant, I just went over to the room and slept through like a log in that room that night.
2 Apr 2022 (Sat)
I tend to wake up early like 530am Nepali time as my body is still following Singapore time, which was fine as I got to enjoy the quiet moments in the morning and took picture of the birds. The puppies came out during breakfast time and I took pictures of them.
P27.
P28.
P29.
P30.
Black tea was always a good way to start the day. I was not a tea drinker, but during trekking I drank 2 cups of black tea a day on average, always with sugar. Occasionally I would have hot lemons.
After breakfast, Mingmar announced zam zam (let's go), and off we went towards the destination today - Ghorepani. The trek was not as long and difficult as yesterday's. Along the way, one could see the beautiful national flower of Nepal - the Rhododendron, in full bloom. The Rhododendron were in all shades of pinks and reds on the hills. We did see a white Rhododendron that someone placed near the permit office of Ghorepani. We saw many other types of flowers as well, like magnolia, all blooming furiously in spring time. There were also some waterfalls along the way. Butterflies and bees were busy feasting from one petal to another.
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P32.
P33.
P34.
P34. The austrian lady finishing her Annapurna Circuit trek.
I bumped into an Austrian couple who were heading in opposite direction in a hurry. Apparently they were on their 19th and final day of completing the Annapurna Circuit Trek, and they were eager to get back to Pokhara for some rests. They told me that they saw everything that they was supposed to see (frozen lake, snowy peaks etc) in the mornings, and they loved every single day of the trekking along the circuit. I was in low spirit at that time as I only managed to take pictures of waterfall, birds, flowers, puppies etc, anything but the snowy peaks. Their encouraging words somehow made me realised that I will be able to see some mountain views afterall. I was doubtful that my luck will turn for the better at that point in time, but their words sank in and I hoped for the best. They also advised me to take garlic soup which worked like a charm against mountain sickness.
P35.
P36.
P37. Near the permit office of Ghorepani.
After 3.5 hours of trekking, we reached Ghorepani around noon time. We stopped at the permit office and Mingmar submitted our permits for checking. While going up to the Snunny Hotel, I saw a local lady crying in pain lying on the ground, with her legs opened, surrounded by ladies around her and comforted her. Could the local lady be in the process of labour at that time? I will never know.
We checked into our hotel for the night, the Sunny Hotel. We bumped into the same trekker with his guide we met yesterday, in the dining hall of the Sunny Hotel. This time round we did a formal introduction, and I learnt that his name was T, and his guide was K. T has been doing volunteering work in Kathmandu for close to a month, and was hosted by a local family in Kathmandu.
We had lunch in the hotel. Ghorepani is the base for Poon Hill sunrise viewing tomorrow morning. In good visibility one can see the mountains from the dining hall of the Sunny Hotel during day time, but not today. Everywhere was cloudy at that time. I had serious doubts that I will see a good sunrise tomorrow morning with the mountain views.
T and the gang went for a rest in their respective rooms. The room in Sunny Hotel came with attached bathroom, with hot gas shower, and multiple charging sockets so I managed to recharged the batteries of my phone and camera.
I had nothing to do beside charging my appliances in the room after the hot shower. I took a leisurely walk down to the permit office, which was about 15 minutes downhill from the hotel. On my way down, I saw some local ladies weaving flower garlands using the beautiful Rhododendrons. At that time I didn't know what was the purpose. Perhaps they were selling the garlands as souvenirs to tourists? I would soon find out.
Upon reaching the permit office, I saw a lady walking up the steps with her guide. I saw her yesterday when I was trekking up to Ulleri. She introduced herself as C and I walked her to her hotel tonight, the Dhaularigi Hotel, which was near my hotel. She was on assignment and managed to squeeze sometime out to do some trekking, yoga and cooking class in Nepal. I chatted with her and her guide for awhile in the hotel, while enjoying our drinks.
Suddenly there was a commotion in the town square just outside the hotel. We heard the sound of horses galloping down, together with the clink-clank sounds of the bells on these horses. Everyone that was waiting at the town square cheered as the train of horse riders arrived, proudly proclaiming their victories in the regional horse racing competition that took place in the morning. One horseman got champion while another got 4th in the regional competition. The horsemen looked triumphant. Someone gave a short speech and the ladies hung the flower garlands (now we know why haha) on the necks of their village heroes. I recorded the video of the celebration and cheered with them to share in their joy.
V1. The return of the heroes.
V2. Ceremony.
C and I returned to Hotel Dhaulagiri, where we met another 2 UK ladies that I have met on the trail yesterday as well. L and her friend (whom i didnt remember the name, shame on me). All 3 UK ladies were staying at Ulleri last night, in 2 different lodges. The 3 ladies were planning to go to Poon Hill the next morning at 430am, and I would like to trek up to Poon Hill together with them as well. Mingmar thought that 430am was too early for us. He suggested that we start at 5am tomorrow morning instead. I told the ladies I will met them on the way up instead of starting together from Hotel Dhaulagiri at the same time tomorrow morning.
The ladies guide pointed out to us that the villagers were doing butchering work outside the hotel, can be seen through the window.
It started to drizzle in the evening, paving the way for a better view the next morning. It looked like my luck was about to turn.
Dinner at the Sunny Hotel was a lively affair, with so many diners in the hall. I was feeling a bit unwell due to the altitude and cold, so I didn't order the specialty in Ghorepani - chicken sizzler. I had garlic soup and chicken fried rice instead. One lady ordered the chicken sizzler and I got to see the fire being lighted up sizzling the chicken, it was so cool!
3 Apr 2022 (Sun)
I was having all kinds of wierd dreams due to the altitude and suddenly heard someone banging the room door. Mingmar knocked to wake me up for the sunrise at Poon Hill. Amrit decided not to join us.
As i donned on my headlamp and headed outside with Mingmar, I saw stars in the night sky, a signal that the morning might be clear for possibly some good sunrise pictures with the mountains. The trek up to Poon Hill involved flights of steps, and I bumped into the 3 ladies near the telephone tower while they were catching their breaths. I carried on with Mingmar and reached the top of Poon Hill at around 530am before the sun rose and wow, what a glorious first view of the mountains!! We saw Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machapuchare (also known as fish tail mountain due to its shape.), and Dhaulagiri's peak was seen in the distant. Later on, the sun came up and lighted up the peaks with a golden glow.
C bought me a mug of coffee, and the 4 of us took mug-shots literally at the top of Poon Hill (3210m), celebrating our first successful clear mountain views in the sunrise. G (the polish hiker) was doing timelapses using his camera and I couldn't wait to see his pictures and videos, as he is a pro.
P38. Mug shots.
P39. Sunrise at Poon Hill.
P40.
P41.
V3. Sunrise at Poon Hill.
P41A: I got these 2 pictures below from the web to show the names of the mountains we saw from Poon Hill.
After watching the beautiful sunrise, the clouds started to roll in, the mountains went into their usual veils of clouds and became hidden from our us. We trekked down to the hotel to pack up and had a quick breakfast, before settling our bills and trekked towards Tadapani today.
The way to Tadapani was very interesting. First we passed through a view point where we could actually see Poon Hill on a clear day, though not today. It was very misty and windy at the view point. We passed through mainly alpine forest in the earlier part of the trek. Mingmar told me that in this section of alpine forest trail, one might encounter mousedeers on a lucky day.
P42. The Rhododendron.
P43. Windy at this point.
P44.
P45.
We went on to another village also with the name Banthanti (same name as the Banthanti on Day 1 of trekking, but different locations) for lunch before we proceed on to Tadapani. The egg dal bhat that Mingmar ordered was very appetising, I regretted ordered fried rice that day. His egg dal bhat came with a fried egg and very tasty peanuts, such a savoury snack.
P46. Lunch at Banthanti.
While we were having lunch, another trekker came and collapsed on the ground to take a rest, exhausted. He was actually a Lebanese that worked in UAE. His pace of trekking will be faster than us in general and would complete the trek ahead of us. I bumped into him and his guide quite a number of times along the ABC trail, as well as later when we return to Kathmandu via the Pokhara Airport.
Our lunch place in Banthanti was near the cliff where there were deposits of Himalayan salt. Due to the conservation status of Annapurna conservation region, the salt mining activities have stopped many years ago. There were monkeys seen near the cliff high above us. According to Mingmar, sometimes the monkeys will throw stones at the trekkers below. After lunch, we saw some sheeps along the way. I saw a mother sheep with a baby sheep near her.
P47. The monkeys at the cliff high above us.
We bumped into the German couple we met on Day 1 of our trek while crossing the bridge. We also chatted with a Protugal lady who just completed her 15-day Annapurna Circuit trek with her 5 other friends who were way ahead of her, and probably already reached their destination Gandhruk which is below Tadapani, while we were chatting near Tadapani.
After walking up the steps, we reached Tadapani. The Protugal lady, the german couple and the 3 of us had a rest at Tadapani while I decided to wait for the 3 UK ladies. I went down the stairs to see if the ladies were on their way up and bumped into G (the polish trekker), who was on his way up to Tadapani with his partner. While I was walking up the steps with him, G told me that he left his tripod on Poon Hill this morning and got his porter to go back to the viewing platform to retrieve the tripod. His porter shoes had an opened sole after that, and lucky for this porter, G had a spare pair of boots that was of suitable size, so the porter could carry on trekking with G's spare boots. The guide of G told me that Mingmar and him were born in the same village, they lived on the same street when they were young. Talk about coincidence!
P48. The gentleman at the background is a trekker from Lebanon who works in Dubai. We had drinks with the couple with German.
Mingmar waved at me from the top of Tadapani and shouted that the UK ladies were already in their tea houses in Tadapani. Apparently there was another trail that leads to the tea house that the ladies will be staying this evening directly, and they will not pass through the area that we were resting. Lucky Mingmar saw their guide and waved me up, else I could have waited there for hours and still no signs of them.
After some brief chat and a cup of drink, I bade C farewell and went on to the detination for the night: Chuile. Chuile was only 20 minutes downhill from Tadapani. T and his guide K waved at us when we reached Chuile. Mingmar decided that this tea house will be our lodge for tonight. There was a sheep farm just below our tea house. In the evening, the shepherd will round the sheeps back to the compound with the help of 4 very fierce guard dogs.
P48. Baby sheep with mum.
P49. The farm before the sheeps return.
V4. The sheep farm below our lodge. Mingmar said they have 400 sheeps in the farm.
Amrit ordered some fries for sharing, and I found the fries to be very delicious. The potatoes that Nepali grew were tasty. The fried was much appreciated as the fast food restaurants in some parts of the world were facing potatoes shortage at that time.
As usual, I ordered a large bottle of hot water for the night so that I had water to drink in the middle of the sleep. The air tend to be very dry, in order to prevent dry coughing at night, I drank warm water to keep my throat dry when I woke up in the night.
Mingmar reminded me to lock my door during my sleep, when he helped me get the spiders out of the room. He said leopards and tigers have been spotted near this teahouse due to the presence of sheeps. He wanted me to take precautions just in case.
4 Apr 2022 (Mon)
The view of Annapurna South, fish tail and Hiunchuli from our tea house in the morning was absolutely fantastic. I managed to get pictures of some birds chirping away on a tree just outside my room. Now I started to believe what the Austrian couple told me on Day 2 of my trekking.
P50.
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P55.
We trekked towards Sinuwa today. We passed by the tea house that G was staying not far from ours, which was supposed to be the place that I would have stayed if K didnt stop us and convinsed us to stay in the same lodge yesterday. By now, the 5 of us (Amrit, Mingmar, K, T and I) were more or less in a loosely-formed trekking team.
We trekked to Chhomrong from Chiule and had a brief soft drink stop at Ghurjung. Mingmar decided to prove his tree climbing skill near where we were having our drink break.
P56. Having a break at Ghurjung.
P57. The Tarzan.
P58. Mingmar took this shot.
On the way to Chhomrong, we came across 4 dogs that were heading in opposite direction. A black dog decided to turn around and followed us all the way till Chhomrong. The dog even got into a fight with another dog from another village as it entered the other dog's territory. He/she faithfully guiding us all the way to Excellent View Guest House in Chhomrong. When we reached the viewing platform of Excellent View Guest House, we saw Annapurna South and Himchiuli soaring proud in the mid-afternoon sky. It was our first afternoon viewing of snow mountains, normally we only got to see the snowy mountains in the morning, before the cloud rolled in. In the midst of busy taking pictures and ordering lunch, I forgot all about the black dog that went to Chhomrong with us, I hoped he/she managed to find his way back to his/her village without getting into trouble.
P59.
P60. The view from Excellent View Hotel at Chhomrong.
P61.
We had pizzas at Excellent View Hotel, and the food was good. I managed to get apples there as well, which I needed to ensure a smoother business in the mornings.
Chhomrong is the point of convergence of great importance. Trekkers who were going to and from ABC have to pass by Chhomrong regardless of whether they want to do the Poon Hill Sunrise, or just want to go to ABC directly. The price of food and groceries here were more affordable as well. Price tags from here on towards ABC will get more expensive by the mile.
T and I went ahead to trek towards Sinuwa. After crossing the river below, we had to trek back up to Sinuwa village (consisted of Lower Sinuwa village and Upper Sinuwa village). It took us around 1+ hour to complete the trek to Upper Sinuwa and call it a day.
P62. Amrit just pushed open the gate and walked through like a boss :)
P63.
P64.
Drizzle came in the late afternoon, so we retreated to the dining hall. Out of nowhere, K told us that Fishtail mountain was glowing in sunset. At first we thought he was kidding since it was still drizzling at that time, but when we went out to take a look, true enough, the peak of fish tail was shining in orange glow. It was a fantastic sunset despite the drizzle and clouds.
The egg dal bhat in Upper Sinuwa was not as good as the one Mingmar had in Banthanti. T ordered burger, but got something that looked like sandwich instead.
The dog at Upper Sinuwa was barking loudly into the night and affected my sleep. I vaguely remembered that I shouted shut up and the dog barking stopped, in the middle of my sleep.
5 Apr 2022 (Tue)
Mingmar reminded me no meat from today, for the next two days. We would have to deposit all meat with the lodge owner at Upper Sinuwa.
P65.
P66. Fish tail Mountain.
P67.
P68.
P69.
P70. Chhomrong as seen from Upper Sinuwa in the morning.
P71.
Today, we trekked from Upper Sinuwa to Deurali, passing by Bamboo village, Dovan village, Himalayan village and Deurali cave, before sleeping at Deurali tonight. I kept passing gases, thanks to the Dal Bhat i had last night (really annoying). As we started our trek from Upper Sinuwa, we chanced upon the very shy, non aggresive long tail monkeys.
On the way to Himalaya, we came across a very wide and tall waterfall. The river (Modi Khola) below had water that roared down at high speed, typical of an upstream river profile. It was at this place that I met a team of 2 trekkers who were also hiking up to ABC - a gentleman from UK (same name as T, we will call him T2) and a Frenchman P. The two of them (T2 and P) trekked very quickly.
The lunch place at Himalayan Village was the most advance - they accept credit cards and have cctv monitoring the restaurant area. Later I found out from Amrit that the boss of this lodge in Himalayan Village is the one looking after the well being of ABC and MBC area.
We also passed through a glacier snow field which claimed 7 lives during the winter season in 2020. 4 Korean trekkers and 3 Nepali guides were swept by by a snow wall while crossing the snow field in 2020, and some of the bodies were never found. It was an area that deserved caution. Mingmar ensured I crossed the snowfield safely.
P72. Such a poser.
P73.
P74. Deurali cave.
P75. The snow field that claimed 7 lives in 2020.
P75A. News articles about the tragedy at the snow field in 2020.
P75B.
P75C.
V5.
We arrived at the lodge at Deurali in windy condition. I had hot bucket shower and it was refreshing. We met a hiker from India, AK, and his guide B (who is a Nepali who looked like a Korean, so we always jokingly called him the Korean). Amrit and the 3 guides (Mingmar, K and B) decided to have a game of Ludo, and the 3 losing players would have to buy chilli fries for the winner. After some tough game, K emerged as the victorious champion.
P76. Gaming session.
The 7 of us had some good dinner and lively chat in the evening. Very loosely, the group of 7 trekkers began to bond with each other. AK and his guide B shared with us that they will leave Deurali 5am tomorrow morning, as they were avoiding a stay in ABC, as a precautionary step against mountain sickness. Mingmar assured me that we should stay in ABC tomorrow evening as we will get very good pictures in the next morning if we stay in ABC.
6 Apr 2022 (Wed)
AK and his guide went off to MBC and ABC early in the morning today, around 645am (they initially wanted to depart at 5am). The 5 of us (Amrit, Mingmar, T, K and I) left later at 8ish. We passed by G again this morning. Somehow G and I always stayed at different lodges within the same village every night.
It was a 2 hour hike from Deurali to MBC (Machapuchare Base Camp). We stopped at MBC for some refreshments. T bought us all snickers bars. Eagles were seen circling the mountains around us.
P77.
P78.
P79.
P80. MBC.
P81.
P82.
P83. T2 and P were the speedy trekkers.
P84. Fishtail.
P85. Annapurna range!
P86. T took out his map.
P86A.
P87.
P88.
P89.
P90.
P91.
P92.
P93. Game of thrones like scenery on our way to ABC.
From MBC, we walked another 2 hours through patches of snow fields and reached ABC (Annapurna Base Camp). Mingmar helped me put the prayer flag at the ABC signboard for picture taking. While we were taking pictures, AK and B were on their journey down. We had a group picture of all 7 of us at the signboard, with the prayer flag hung high. ABC was shrouded in mist and clouds and we could not see the mountains in the afternoon.
P94. The trio of Himalayan Social Journey. The prayer flag at the top of the sign board was hung by Mingmar. He is a perfectionist.
P95. Group of 7! Fellowship of the ring.
P96. Lodges at ABC.
We had lunch at the guest house at ABC, and I managed to get tuna mac and cheese there.
At ABC, I bumped into the UK and french trekkers, T2 and P. They were staying at a different guest house. T2 didn't feel too well drinking the untreated glacial water, so I offered him some water purification pills that he could use. T2 and P decided to have some "high" time at a hill nearby and invited me along. We saw hamsters around the areas where we were chit chatting.
There was some shrines and a statue as a sign of respect for the climbers who have perished while climbing Annapurna. P brought out a bottle of Himalayan Whisky and i drank a few sips. The whisky provided me some much-needed warmth.
Avalanche and rock fall were common in the ABC region. The few of us heard the familiar but dreaded sound every 10 minutes or so. The helipad locations have to be shifted away from the cliff face as it got eroded over time.
After some chat with T2 and P, I went back to the lodge and found that the lodge was abuzzed with trekkers, totally different from how the dining was like when we first arrived. I had dal bhat this evening and went to sleep early. K slept in the dining hall as it felt warmer. Amrit, Mingmar and T shared another room.
Despite putting on two blankets (a luxury during non-peak season only), I still shivered while sleeping on the bed.
7 Apr 2022 (Thu)
The temperature at ABC according to the thermometer that G brought with him: 2 degrees Celcius. Lucky there was no wind at the base camp.
When I heard T's foot steps outside my room, I knew it must be the night starry sky picture taking time that we discussed last night.
The time was about 4ish morning. I reluctantly changed into my winter wear, brought my tripod out and set up the camera and took some pictures of the night sky above ABC. T was eager to show me his milky way pictures captured using his iphone, with long exposure. It was incredible to get photos with milky way above the snow mountain, and T did that just using an iphone, how cool was that?!
I, on the other hand, kept getting completely dark shots. I was so frustrated. I increased the ISO and exposure time to no avail, all i got was completely dark image. After one lucky twist of fate, I realised what was wrong.
I forgot to take out the lens cap. Damn. So much time wasted by my rookie mistake.
Once the lens cap was removed, Annapurna appeared under the starry sky right and I managed to capture the snow mountains with the starry sky as backdrop. Milky Way seen above Fist Tail (Machapuchare) was totally awesome and with some luck, I captured that as well.
P97. I was mesmerised.
P98. Countless stars.
P99.
P100.
Sunrise was around 545am. The peaks got their golden glow one by one, amidst the backdrop of clear crisp blue sky. The whole paranoma was breathtaking. Now I understood why the trekkers told me that the snowy peaks were 360 degrees around us in Annapurna Base Camp. 60. T commented that the view he saw in ABC was quite similar to the scenes in Games of Throne.
Some mountain facts:
1. Annapurna, 8910m, 10th tallest in the world, summitted in 1950 by the French.
2. Machapuchare (fish tail), 6993m, not summitted yet.
P101. Fish tail (Machhapuchhare) on the right and
P102.
P103.
P104.
P105.
P106. Fish tail and the lodges at ABC.
P107.
P108.
P109.
P110.
P111.
P111A. This is not my picture, I got it from the web so that the reader know the names of the peaks around Annapurna Base Camp area.
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P122.
V6.
V7.
We took a quick breakfast and went down to MBC to take more pictures. We continue down to Himalayan for a short hot chocolate break, before carrying on to Bamboo for lunch. Bamboo was also the last place we got to see T and K for the day as they went ahead of us. T2 and P also passed by Bamboo when we were having lunch, and the duo planned to go all the way to Pokhara today, totally ambitious and crazy fellows.
K tried to convince Amrit to stay in Chhomrong for the night but Amrit was hesitant due to the ups and downs crossing the river. Amrit said he would only consider going to Chhomrong if K managed to get him horse that carry him from Lower Sinuwa to Chhomrong. K, ever a resourceful guy, quickly made some phone calls. Normally the horse riding would have costed 3000rps one way from Lower Sinuwa to Chhomrong, K managed to get us 1500rps a ride.
P123.
Amrit, Mingmar and I went on to Upper Sinuwa to retrieve our luggage deposits and continued on to Lower Sinuwa. AK and his guide were at Lower Sinuwa, already checked into the guest house earlier. It started to drizzle and Amrit asked Mingmar to cancel the horse riding from Lower Sinuwa to Chhomrong as it will be slippery. We had walked 23km today from ABC to Lower Sinuwa. It was even longer for T and K as they had trekked all the way to Chhomrong/ instead of stopping at Lower Sinuwa.
AK and his guide were happy that we stayed in Lower Sinuwa with them tonight. Hot bucket shower was available, and I managed to clean myself after not bathing in ABC for a day. This teahouse was new and provided towel for the guest, a rarity during my stays in the mountain region. It even has cable tv connection where guides and guests can watch youtube programmes.
Amrit ordered YY noodle sandeko and it was an absolutely delicious snack. Love it. Mingmar got me a small glass of Nepali wine made from millet. I must say the wine and the sandeko was one great combination.
8 Apr 2022 (Fri)
I woke up very early in the morning and went to Chhomrong with AK and his guide, while Amrit and Mingmar followed closely behind. K was esctatic to see the 3 of us reaching Excellent View Hotel in Chhomrong slowly. T had a good room in this guest house last night, with a good view from his balcony. After bracing the rain yesterday afternoon and the long trek, he deserved it.
P124.
P125.
P126.
P127.
P128.
P129.
The 7 of us walked down to Jhinu together. Midway, AK managed to find a tea house with fresh lemons (the lemons were still on the tree) and the owner made us 7 cups of freshly squeezed lemons.
P130.
P131.
P132.
P133.
I had my first momo for lunch near the hotel and it was simply delicious, I fell in love with momo.
Afternoon shower deterred our plan to go boating today. We waited in the hotel until the rain abated a little, and went on to meet the guys near the shore. T and K told me that they bumped into the Lebanese guy today in town, who had already completed his trekking to ABC ahead of us.
P134.
P135.
We went to have some food and bar hopping in Pokhara for the night.
P136.
9 Apr 2022 (Sat)
P138.
First flight out from Pokhara back to Kathmandu today. We were lucky that the flight went on without any delay, though we didnt get to see the peaks due to the clouds. In Pokhara Airport, we bumped into the Lebanese trekker and his guide.
T, K and B were taking tourist bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu today and will reach Kathmandu arounf 5pm. AK will be doing bunjee jumping today.
AK's bungee jump video on youtube. He is sucn an adrenalin junkee!!
V8.
In Kathmandu, I went out to Thamel area for dinner. By chance, I actually witnessed the festival of chariot of Seto Machhindranath in Ghantaghar this evening. It was a huge crowd waiting for the chariot near the Seto Machhendranath Temple. I saw many people gathered near the temple and decided to stay and watch. A very tall chariot came through the narrow street to the temple. The electricity to the area was off to ensure that the tall chariot will not cause electrocution in the event that the chariot hit the overhead electricity cable. India just had a fatal accident a few weeks after I left Nepal, where a chariot hit the cable and people on the chariot was electrocuted to death.
The guards fired shots to celebrate the first day of the Seto Machhindranath chariot festival. Peels of oranges were bring tossed to the crowds below as signs of blessing and the crowd all went forward to receive them.
V9.
V10.
P139.
P140.
P141.
P142.
P143.
10 Apr 2022 (Sun)
Amrit arranged for massage service for me and it totally help to soothen my sore muscles after the trek.
P144.
P145. Massage and jacuzzi at Himalaya Suite Hotel. Fantastic.
Mingmar drove me to see the Buddha stupa. Lunch with Amrit and Mingmar at a nearby momo place. Fried momo was delicious.
P146.
11 Apr 2022 (Mon)
Today I went to Durbar Square to have a morning walk. I didnt venture into the square though, just taking some pictures around the outside perimeter.
P147.
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P157.
After visiting the surrounding areas outside Durbar Square, I walked to the The Narayanhiti Palace Museum. The museum was created in 2008 from the complex of the former Narayanhiti Palace following the 2006 revolution. Before the revolution, the palace was the residence and principal workplace of the monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal. In 2001, the Crown Prince Dipendra murdered multiple members of the royal family in the palace before shooting himself. Among those killed were King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya. The Nepalese monarchy was abolished following the 2006 revolution. The last king, Gyanendra, vacated Narayanhiti in 2008. Cameras were not allowed so I couldn't take any photos.
P158.
Dinner with Amrit and Mingmar at a very famous briyani restaurant in Kathmandu. The briyani was served in a claypot, which was interesting. The briyani didnt come with any papadam though. (Dal Bhat comes with Papadam normally, but not Briyani. Not in Nepal.)
P159.
P160.
On 8 September 2022, my article on Nepal was published in Singapore chinese newspaper Lianhezaobao.
Notes:
(A) Flights, immigration and visa related
A1. Getting a flight that actually fly to Lukla can be tricky, due to visibility conditions. Bigger groups got better chance in securing flights in general. When visibility was bad in Lukla, flights were either cancelled or diverted to other airports.
A2. Always queue for the visa first before you queue for immigration. Some countries do not need to pay for visa, while some have reduced visa fees compared to other countries. Always make enquiry before paying.
A3. Always arrive in Kathmandu Airport 3 hours ahead of departure for international flights, as the check in scene is really chaotic. For domestic flights, just follow your guide’s suggested timing and chill.
A4. It is challenging for Nepalese to get domestic flight tickets as they generally pay lower prices for the same segment compared to the foreign tourists. Airlines tend to prefer selling tickets to tourists than locals.
A5. SQ flight from Singapore to Kathmandu were full of Nepali that do transit in Singapore and fly from Australia.
(B) Environment related
B1. Kathmandu had one of the worst air pollution in the world in end Mar/ early Apr 2022, due to shortage of rain and forest fires. The hazy condition in Kathmandu has also affected many parts of the country and the flights visibility suffered as a result, which results in flights delays and cancellations.
(C) Economics and politics related
C1. 13 May 2022: Nepal will have its General Election.
C2. Nepal currency pegged to India rupees (INR) and Nepal hold INR as foreign reserve. Nepal currency used to be on par with Pakistan and now Pakistan rupees went down against Nepalese rupees. Nepalese currencies are traded only in Nepal, and cannot be bought/sold outside Nepal.
C3. Nepal was also currently facing its own financial woes. It has a new international airport in Pokhara built by the China construction company and the loan by China entailed 2% interest, which Nepal made it clear to China that it couldn’t pay.
C4. Nepal Finance Minister has just fired its Central Bank chief, after it was disclosed that Nepal only has enough foreign reserves to pay for 6.7 months’ worth of essential supply, short of the 7 months target. Nepal has since announced it wanted to reduce imports of certain goods (fuel for example) by 50%.
C5. India and Nepal allows land travel without passport and visa via land border. India and Nepal do have land disputes and the Nepali felt that a strategic piece of land has been taken away by India.
C6. Traffic police in Nepal do not get under table money from errand motorists. They issue fines and the motorists have to pay fine at the traffic police fines collection department.
C7. A cook in a Chinese restaurant can earn a salary of 30k Nepalese rupee from a Chinese restaurant and up to 40k Nepalese rupees if they work for Chinese projects corporations.
C8. Drones and cryptos currencies are forbidden in Nepal. A local guide used drone to capture the view. Drone was actually not allowed in Nepal.
C9. Boss of YY Noodles listed his company in Singapore Exchange and became the first billionaire from Nepal.
C10. Nepalese generally belongs to the middle class, very few are ultra-rich, and most own lands (95%). The employers tend to be very understanding to Nepalese who take leave of absence to handle family matters, so Nepalese do enjoy quite a fair bit of freedom.
C11. Religion tolerance is high in Nepal. Majority of Nepalese in Nepal are Hindu, and Hindus are taught that always respect others’ religions as their first guiding principles. I have seen temple that have both Hindu elements and Buddhism elements within them, coexist harmoniously in Nepal.
C12. Nepal was allowed to export more hydro power to India.
C13. When constructing the hotel, Amrit has to travel to China to source for building materials, and imported through port of Calcutta. The cost of importing from China was cheaper than if he source them locally. It was hard to deal with the Chinese, but the Chinese kept to their words.
C14. Nepal has never been colonised, and hence is one of the countries that does not celebrate independence day.
(D) Trekking and climbing related
D1. Landslides and rock slides are common in Nepal as a result of the monsoon rain. The trekking trails have to be shifted further and further away from the cliff as the years go by.
D2. Nepali flat = some ups and some downs.
D3. There were some new treks like the Mardi trek and Copra trek. The german couple we met were going to Mardi trek after they have done Poon Hill sunrise. According to Amrit, Mardi trek used to be not safe due to looting of trekkers etc and lack of tea houses/lodges in the past but now it is all different. There were lodges along the way and the trek has become safe.
D4. AK shared that he has done a frozen river trek in India and he shared some experiences he had with us. His sharing on how he dealt with the low temperature during the trek was amazing.
D5. Amrit offered me complimentary jacuzzi and spa service with massage. I must say the muscles were totally soothed with the massage after the trekking.
D6. One can ride a horse up the steps in some parts of the trekking trails, but riding horses in these narrow trekking trails can be a challenge on its own. The horse will look after its own safety first before the rider’s.
D7. Expedition company earned better money than trekking company according to Amrit. Just by referring one ex-trekking client who was interesting in climbing to an expedition company, Amrit’s dad received 5k USD as referral fee.
D8. Nepalese climbing team managed to summit K2 in winter in 2021. One of the ex porters who worked for the trekking company I engaged (Himalayan Social Journey) was one of those who managed to summit. He used to work as an assistant guide and went on to porter work for an expedition company, and by a stroke of luck, he summited Everest. He was well liked by his expedition clients and went on to do climbing from then on.
D9. T used tiger balm to soothen to his sore muscles after trekking on some days. He found tiger balm useful.
D10. During the harsh winter in 2019, the staff in guest houses near ABC retreated to MBC. The authority found the risk of avalanche was too high and requested them to stay at MBC.
D11. Mingmar asked if I mind he play music along the way, while we trekked, which I dont mind at all. He only did it occasionally. We met some Koreans on the way. Some even asked Mingmar to turn on the music louder so that they can dance with his music.
D12. The sherpa was seen using their heads to hold a big basket/backpack that contains all kinds of items and they walk for long distances. I had also seen some carry bulky construction items like doors and mattresses etc.
D13. Annapurna is a Sanskrit name which literally means "full of food". It is 8901m in height, the 10th tallest in the world. It was summited by the French expedition team led by Maurice Herzog in 1950, 3 years before Everest summit was claimed. The french men lost their toes and fingers due to frost bite. Some say that certain sections of Annapurna are even more difficult to climb than K2 and Everest. One of the reasons why is Annapurna so deadly is because of its unpredictable climate. Annapurna remains cold and covered with snow throughout the year. This season (2022 summer), no expedition teams were going up to Annapurna.
D14. Macchapucchre means fish tail, so called because it has double summits. It is 6993m in altitude, remain unsummitted.
D15. Pani = water. Many villages has -pani as part of its name.
(E) About the trekking agency I have engaged - Himalayan Social Journey (HSJ) and the hotel they own and operate - Himalayan Suite Hotel
E1. Amrit's dad, Mr Ram, started Himalayan Social Journey. Mr Ram worked in USA for 6 years before. Not only is a renowned touring company, HSJ also is well-established name as a social organization actively participating in social welfare activities. HSJ has accomplished numerous exemplary social works for the uplifting of the livelihood of the people and for sustainable development of the remote areas of Nepal focusing on the education of needy children.
Please click HERE to find out more about the tours and trekking packages they offer, and about the company.
E2. Himalayan Suite Hotel is a hotel owned by Mr Ram and Amrit has been instrumental in the building and construction of the hotel.
(F) Transport and roads
F1. I was once lost near International Friendship Hospital. I sought help from a local lady in a eatery. She used an app Pathao to help me get a motorcycle, so that I can return to my hotel. I couldn't book the motorcycle for the ride later as one needs a Nepali/Bangladeshi number to register for the app to use the motorcycle booking app.
F2. I saw a electric car Kona in the carpark near airport upon arriving. Amrit’s dad also drive an electric car in Kathmandu. I saw one and only one sign board during the road trip from Kathmandu to Pokhara about electric car charging point.
F3. The road conditions between Kathmandu and Pokhara necessitate day time driving, try not to drive after the sun has set unless you have no choice, primarily due to the road conditions. Safety come first. The so-called tourists buses normally do not have air condition and wifi.
F4. The vans moved pretty fast in Kathmandu - Pokhara highway. One can consider hiring a van for this journey to speed up travelling time.
F5. Nepalese honk on the road – more as a way to notify others of incoming traffic. Crossing roads proved to be challenging for me, some motorists slow down to let me cross, after seeing how helpless I was. That said, I have witnessed a taxi that knock down a Nepalese motor cyclist in an intersection.
G. Food and beverages related
G1. Nepalese rice wine from millet and Himlayan whisky were both quite nice actually.
G2. Unlimited refill for Dal Bhat made this lenthil rice dish very affordable for Nepalese, and keep even the poor well fed. Nepalese have t-shirts that stated : Dal Bhat gives you 24 hours of energy.
G3. Generally Nepalese have their breakfasts in the morning at 9am (Dal Bhat), then snacks at 2-3pm, followed by dinner at 8pm or 9pm. (another round of dal Bhat).
G4. Bakeries in Nepal are for the tourists. Locals do not patronise bakeries in general. The same amount paid for the pastry can be used to buy a proper portion of Dal Bhat.
G5. There were many grape sellers in Kathmandu, and the grapes were sweet and not expensive. It was not yet the mango season though, and orange season was just over.
G6. On the way to Ghorepani, I saw many tea houses have water filters installed and they will sell tourists filtered water at a price. They have heaters in the tea houses and they will only turn it on if they are enough dwellers for the evening.
G7. Amrit eats dal bhat with fork and spoon, while the guides will eat with their hands. Amrit mentioned that it is messier to eat with hand.
G8. While in the guest house in lower Sinuwa, AK shared indian sweets with us. He also ordered us Pakhora in Pokhara during dinner time.
(H) Tourism, social and culture related
H1. China women have been paying handsome money for young, impressionable Nepali guides that can speak mandarin and communicate with Chinese customers. Some guides could afford to buy a car with these sugar mums from China. All the guides need to do will be to pamper their female customers from China and provide services required.
H2. A US customer was very happy with my guide Mingmar and sent him an iphone as a gift from USA.
H3. Israelis' reputation were notorious in Nepal. Many of them didn’t pay the hostel or guides for the services engaged. Nepal PM has to write to the Israelis PM to complain of such situation.
H4. Nepal shop business owners gives change in general, unlike in some other countries where small change are given in the form of small merchandizes like gums etc.
H5. No one pestering you to spend in their shops in Nepal. They will perhaps asked you once, or in general leave you alone to wander and explore, even in so-called tourists districts in Kathmandu. Locals were friendly and helpful.
H6. People are genuinely helpful and happy in Nepal. If they help you, most don’t expect payment in return.
H7. Tourists can get drugs in Kathmandu with locals’ help.
H8. There are many casinos in Nepal, and the locals are forbidden from visiting them. Some Chinese cooks patronise such casinos and lost their hard-earned salary either in the casinos or through online gambling. If you want a cheap meal, you can bring a passport and enter the casinos, change some tokens to play and you will get to enjoy the cheap food and drinks inside the casinos.
H9. Nepalese celebrates many festivals. The civil servants and bank employees can have more than 100 days of holidays due to the many festivities. As such, Nepal government only granted Saturday as one day off for the week, while Sunday remains a working day. Friday night will be the party night.
H10. Nepalese sprinkle water in front of their shops from time to time to pray for good business.
H11. Many tourists come to Nepal to do meditations, yoga or to learn cooking other than trekking, mountain climbing, hot spring visits and Chitwan national park animal viewing.
H12. 31. It is easy to change money in Nepal. One does not have to change for USD before coming to Nepal in general. They money changer accept a wide range of currencies.
H13. Characteristics of tourists from different countries: Japanese – they wear masks even before covid. Chinese – loud, true to their words. India – come to Nepal for touring, some in family tour style.
H14. I still find bookstores in Thamel district in Kathmandu, selling books meant for tourists. I am not sure how long these book stores can survive.
H15. Sometimes i will see young joggers running with loads in their bagpacks as training around Kathmandu. I really gave it to them. The pedestrian path was virtually non-existent, the road was dusty and full of vehicles, yet these determined souls jogged across Kathmandu in great spirit and great speed. What other excuse do we have?
H16. There used tobe more Italians visiting Nepal, for trekking and mountaineering compared to now.
H17. Nepalese new year was celebrated 3 days after I left, on 15 Apr 2022. They only celebrated their new year for a day.
H18. Do check with your bank whether your ATM card allows withdrawing Nepalese rupees from ATM in Nepal. You will need the pin for withdrawing cash from ATM machine, which might not be the same as the ATM pin code one uses in their own countries.
H19. The guest house at lower Sinuwa has cable TV that allows one to watch youtube, and the guide of AK, B was watching a singing program, which was quite interesting in Nepal. The jeep driver played one such song as well. It involved singing between 2 parties (could be just a male and female singer, or a group of singers on the left and another group of singers to the right). Even though I couldnt make out what they were singing, they seemed like debating with each other, with teasings.
H20. The chinese translation in the tourist map for interesting destinations gave me gag!!
H21. Nepali time = rubber time. Nepali flat = ups and downs.
H22. Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, was born in 623 B.C. in the famous gardens of Lumbini, Nepal, which soon became a place of pilgrimage.
H23. The chinese translation found in the tourist map was hilarious.
I. Covid related
I1. During covid, the some of the Chinese were stranded in Nepal. Amrit helped them by providing hotel stay at promotion price. The Chinese even added Amrit to their wechat group. During card game, one Chinese tipped Amrit 5k rupees, and Amrit wondered why they have so much cash.
I2. Amrit was using an empty gas cylinder at the back of his motorcycle to move around Kathmandu during lock down, so that he could run errands. When stopped by police, he just point to the empty gas cooking cylinder, citing reason that he need to buy new gas cylinder so that his mum could cook. That’s how he satisfy the guests in the hotel when they needed some groceries.
I3. Amrit learnt cooking and making sandwiches and burgers from youtube during covid period so that he can cook for the guests in the hotel. He is a very resourceful guy.
I4. While I was at Dhaulagiri Hotel at Ghorepani, the Nepali guide for the two ladies shared with me that he was down with Covid early this year, probably the milder Omicron strain. he was vaccinated with one dose of Johnson and Johnson vaccine. He felt tired for about a month after he contracted covid.Other symptoms dissapeared after about 3 days or so, but the lethargy stayed with him for about a month, even though he was a strong guide.
K. Sharings by fellow trekkers
J1. I asked Amrit about tradition, culture and marriage in Nepal, from a hindu and Nepali point of view. He gave me very interesting view points.
(a) As the eldest son, Amrit has less freedom than his younger brother whether he can move out from his parents' house after marriage. He would be expected to stay with his parents, and both him and his wife will take care of his parents. His younger brother may or may not stay with his parents after marriage.
(b) Amrit is a Hindu, a Brahmin. There are many castes within brahmin. He is expected to marry a Brahmin from a different caste. He cannot marry close cousins. He is ok with matchmaking.
(c) Even Brahmin in India will be different from Brahmin in Nepal. Even same caste in India and Nepal will have different customs and habits. One of Amrit's cousin married a lady from the same caste in India, and the two have faced some challenges after marriage, the challenges mostly came from their respective families.
(d) The tradition of dowry is dwindling in modern world Nepal.
(e) Marrying a foreigner can be even more challenging in Nepal.
(f) Marrying overseas without blessing from the parents in Nepal is not that easy too.
(g) Pre-marriages sex are getting more common but still a hush-hush in Nepal.
J2. T has shared his views:
(a) For french, a meal can last 3-4 hours. It is more a joyous occasion to celebrate, to enjoy the occasion with friends. It is also about good food.
(b) The place where T is having his tertiary education, Lyon, is known to have good food.
(c) You can tell a French: If he wears French colour like T (blue, white, and red). If he shows his displeasure by blowing a humph. Also can tell from the accent.
(d) You can tell a German by their dress sense, they are normally prim and neat.
J3. When we were dancing in a club in Pokhara, Amrit commented that Nepali girls won't bother with Nepali guys.
Thank you for reading the blog! You can access the followings by clicking the links below:
1. Please click HERE for my other travel blogs.
2. Please click HERE for viewing of pictures for this trip in Flickr.
You can see G's picture in Flickr too, just click HERE. His pictures are definitely of another level compared to mine.
3. You can click HERE and HERE to view the pictures in Google photos.
4. Click HERE to see the videos for this trip in Youtube.
5. I have uploaded the pictures and videos to Google drive for easier download, feel free to ask me for the link for download :)
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