Walking the walk – On the trail of the Great Himalayas

Posted in: Blog on February 18th, 2012  | Comments: 1

Linda Bezemer of the GHTDP reports from the field.

26 January 2012 Kathmandu-Dobhan

Today is the day! I start my big Great Himalaya Trail adventure, joining the team of Apa Sherpa and Dawa Steven Sherpa on their GHT Climate Smart Celebrity Trek. Apa Sherpa is a Nepali hero, who has climbed Mt Everest 21 times, more than anybody in the world. Dawa Steven Sherpa climbed Mt Everest 2 times. Besides there is a professional photographer, Samir Thapa and videographer of Kantipur Television and British Council Climate Champion, Saurav Dhakal, in the team. And of course a big crew of strong Sherpas. They are walking the GHT – mostly the lower or cultural route, but at some parts the higher route – to raise awareness for the consequences of climate change in the Himalayas and for the GHT itself as a climate friendly new tourism product in Nepal. The GHT Climate Smart Celebrity Trek, is part of the Great Himalaya Trail Development Programme (GHTDP) for which I work. GHTDP aims to stimulate tourism in remote mountain areas in order to create income and job opportunities for the people living in these areas. During my trek I will gather as much data as possible about the trail itself; the difficulty, distances, altitudes, attractions, etc and about the goods and services available in the different villages the trail passes through. This will make it easier for other trekkers to walk the trail and for tour operators to offer it as one of their products.

Apa and Dawa Steven Sherpa and their team already left before, to walk a part of the Kanchenjunga base camp trek. From Dobhan in Taplejung they start to trek westwards and I am joining them there. At the moment the quickest way to Dobhan is a flight to Bhadrapur in South East Nepal, followed by a 9 hour jeep ride (within a year the Suketar airport should be ready, which is the starting point of the Kanchenjunga Base Camp trek and about 1 hour drive or 3 hour walk from Dobhan). Unfortunately our flight was 2 ½ hours delayed. We arrived in Bhadrapur at 3 pm, a bit late if you still have to drive for 9 hours…. After a very welcome lunch in a nearby town (Bhirtamod), we set way for Dobhan, passing by beautiful tea plantations in Ilam, Nepal’s famous tea district. We arrived finally at 1 am! I felt quite sorry for the driver, who still had to drive to Taplejung to pick up other passengers at 4 am. No time to rest….
It was not easy to find a place to sleep at that time, but fortunately we managed to wake up a friendly lady who had a room for my porter guides and let me sleep in her room; which we were sharing with some chicken as well, who I found out to be quite noisy eaters!

 

27 January2012 Dobhan

The lady of the house woke up at 5.30 am. That was far too early for me after the long drive of the day before, so I pushed my earplugs a bit deeper in my ears and went back to sleep. At about half past 7 I woke up. I was facing the wall and was trying to work out a few things on the new gps I had bought for the trip. After 5 minutes or so I turned to the other side….where the lady used to be sleeping, some men were sitting, zipping their tea and studying what I was doing with interest. Ooops! I was sleeping in a teashop full of customers! Definitely time to wake up!

Around lunch time Apa and Dawa Steven Sherpa and their crew entered the village, Apa Sherpa proudly carrying the Nepali flag earlier passed to him by the Nepali president. Nice to meet them here! I can’t wait to start the trek!

The afternoon I spent, visiting the 4 small guesthouses and 2 campsites of the village and gathering info about them. Especially the Hideout Campsite Retreat was surprisingly beautiful, a big peaceful hide away with a cozy lounge restaurant and a few big standing tents with beds inside, quite comfortable. The guesthouses mainly cater for Nepali guests, but if you bring your sleeping bag they are fine places to stay.

Around dinner time we had an official function, with speeches, lots of blessings and katas (white scarves which are used in Nepal to bless a person) to honor the endeavor of our team, but in fact mainly to honor Apa Sherpa, who really is a very big hero in Nepal. The team has received these functions almost twice a day since they started, so probably many will follow!

Tomorrow up to Deurali Banjyang at 2800 m….Dobhan is 658 m, so that will be quite a climb…. a tough start!

 

28 January 2012 Dobhan (658 m)-Deurali Banjyang (2800 m)

We started walking at 8, and the trail started climbing right away, which it did until it reached Deurali Banjyang. I walked together with the Sherpa porters, and as their loads are quite heavy they quite regularly took a break. And in the end this was quite good, it made the whole walk of today not as difficult as I thought!

Around lunchtime we arrived in the small village of Gorcha (2013 m), where they had organized an official program as well. A traditional dance/music group received us, we received katas and had to drink thungba, hot millet beer (I just zipped a bit, with the climb ahead of me in my mind). Some local authorities came to talk to Apa.

After an hour we had lunch, after which we left, accompanied by the dance/music group. I thought that that was it! But this was all just an introduction to the official program, which consisted of speeches, followed by lots of blessings with katas and vermillion powder, and performances of all the cultural groups living in the village; a Limbu, Tamang and Sherpa Dance. In fact it is great to see how people love Apa Sherpa and how our, and especially Apa’s presence, helps to raise awareness for the Great Himalaya Trail as a new tourism product and the possibilities it can bring for the local people.

But meanwhile it was 15.30 and we still had a climb of about 800 meters/4 hours ahead of us…. So I was happy when they finally allowed us to leave . And I was even happier that the climb went quicker than expected and we arrived just before dark in Deurali Banjyang.

And as the night sat in, so did the cold…..

 

29 January 2012 Deurali Banjyang (2800 m)-Nundaki (1540 m)

After a freezing night (even the water in my water bottle was frozen), we woke up with a beautiful view of the Kanchenjunga Range.
What a nice surprise!

The walk started with an easy climb to a small pass at 2922 m, during which we had even better views of the Kanchenjunga range and also the Makalu came in view. After the pass the trail went down, sometimes steeply and sometimes rather flat. We walked high on the slope, with views on rice fields and grasslands where yaks graze, with once and a while a tiny settlement.

Around 4 pm we arrived in the small village of Nundaki where we set tent. A great relaxed day of walking in the mid hills of Nepal!

 

30 January 2012 Nundaki (1540 m)-Bhanjyang Pucha (824 m)

Today we had to cover a long distance, about 18 km. But as we didn’t have to climb a lot, it was still quite an easy day. A big part of the day went over a dirt road, which wasn’t really a problem, as all we encountered were a few motorbikes.
The walk went through cardamom fields, rice paddies (it must be bright green here in summer!) and small villages.  Among these, Chainpur was the bigger one, with a big bazar (market). It is a lovely village, with well kept walking lanes and beautiful houses. After Chainpur we took a small trail again, walking amidst rice terraces. On the way, I met a small group of people, among which a girl in a bright pink sari who looked very beautiful. I asked if I could take a picture, which was ok, but to my surprise, immediately the young man who accompanied her took out an (also) bright pink camera and said, “But then we also want to make a picture of you!” So there we were taking pictures of each other. It turned out, that they were just married! Nice encounter on the way!

We pitched our tents next to a small bamboo teashop in the middle of the rice terraces, with beautiful views on the surrounding hills. Beautiful place to camp!

 

31 January 2012 Bhanjyang Pucha (824 m)-Khadbari (1041 m) 6 hrs

The day started with a steep descend in the forest of about ½ hr to a crystal clear river. I was walking by myself and was surrounded by the sounds of singing birds, a great start of the walk. At the river side I saw a beautiful bright red and blue bird, good I brought my binoculars! After crossing a wooden suspension bridge (600 m), the trail continued through rice terraces, and led via a small wooden bridge back into the forest, where it climbed to a dirt road (still not used by motorized transport).

It was easy, almost flat walking along rice terraces and forests, and we passed a few small villages, like Ghomare, which made a nice tea stop and Lingling, a somewhat bigger village, with a few restaurants, where we stopped for lunch.

We continued through countryside and forests, with terraced hills at the horizon. A steep descend through the forest brought us to a small settlement with bamboo houses, Dobantar. We continued on a beautiful trail through rice fields leading to a river, which we had to cross stone hopping (363 m). This might well be the lowest point of our whole trek! We followed the river for a while and arrived at an iron suspension bridge. Shortly after, the steep and long climb  to Khadbari (1041 m) began. The climb went through forest, small villages and countryside.

After about 2 hrs, we arrived at Khadbari, which is a small town, where we saw buses again! Khadbari even has some banks with ATMs (but not 100% reliable that they work) and internet cafes. We are staying in quite a big guesthouse here, and could even enjoy a hot shower!

 

1 February 2012 Khadbari (1041 m)

Today was a so called a rest day, but apart from the fact we were not walking, there was not so much time to rest! We had several meetings, among which with the chamber of commerce and with the CDO, Chief Development Officer (head of district), during which we received lots of khatas and blessings. Besides a press conference had been organised.

Today the German Ambassador joined us; she will walk with us up till Lukla. So I won’t be the only female foreigner any more

 

2 February 2012 Khadbari (1041 m)- Majuwadanda (800 m)  5 hrs

After an official goodbye, we took a small path down to the west from the centre of Khadbari. We were immediately in the countryside again, and had surprising good views of the Makalu range. The trail went down steeply for about 1 ½ hours till we reached a small river with an old wooden suspension bridge at 320 m. Will this then be the lowest point of our trek? We reached the beautiful big and slow running Arun River, which we followed for almost all of the rest of the day.  After crossing a big suspension bridge over the Arun River, we arrived at the village of Kattike Pull. The scenery was very idyllic here, with the spread out houses, rice fields and the beautiful Arun River to our right.  At the end of the village we started climbing again, while the trail kept on following the river, which was now far below. It was a nice walk through the countryside again, with beautiful views of the Arun Valley below us. We pitched our tents in the small settlement of Majuadanda, next to a small guesthouse; Sagarmatha Hotel and Lodge.

Very appropriate name with so many Everest climbers in our team and crew (Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Mount Everest). How good to be in the countryside again enjoying the sounds of the birds!

 

3 February 2012 Majuwadanda (800 m)-Salpa Phedi (1530 m) 8 hrs

Today was quite a long and tiring day and I am happy to have arrived at our guesthouse. We walked 22.4 km! And in the mountains that is quite a lot. But it was a beautiful walk, through the countryside and sometimes subtropical forests, with pretty settlements along the way. We regularly met men with huge loads, about 2 times the size of the person carrying it. They were carrying Himalayan medicinal herbs, destined for the Chinese market. It was good to walk with Verena Gräfin von Roedern, the German ambassador, nice to have another foreign female to talk to .  Both of us have to catch up with all these strong Everest climbers, but fortunately we are managing ok, although we are both pretty tired now at the end of this day!

 

 

Solukhumbu Section

4 February 2012 Salpa Phedi (1530 m)-Sanam (2834 m) 8 hrs

Today we walked only 14 km, but the hike took us as long as yesterday. We had to climb to the Salpa pass, at 3340 m so a climb of 1800 m, after which we descended 500 m. But fortunately I felt in a lot better shape than yesterday, and the climb was not too difficult. Only starting up is always a bit difficult. And as much as the porters were stopping on the first day, as little they stopped now! But at a certain moment you get the rhythm. It is beautiful to see the landscape changing as you get higher: we started among rice fields, climbed into forests, which turned into bushes, and higher up we walked through dense rhododendron forests. Close to the pass we passed beautiful mani walls (walls with stones with Buddhist prayers and drawings carved on them). The pass is also the border between the districts Bhojpur and Solukhumbu. When we were going up we saw some patches of snow, but going down we walked in a white snow world! What a difference with yesterday when we were walking among banana trees and subtropical forests! We arrived at our guesthouse a quarter past 6, it was just getting dark. Tired, but satisfied about a beautiful day and about our achievement .

 

 

5 February 2012 Sanam (2834 m)-Khiraule (2535 m) 8 hrs
Today’ programme: a long descend of about 1500 m till 1350 m, followed by a tough climb of 1200 m, to Khiralule at 2535 m.

At the start I felt my knees a bit, but fortunately my ayurvedic creme did miracles. From Sanam the trail went down through rhododendron forests, passing some mani walls and we could see the snow capped Mt. Numbur (6959 m) at the horizon.

About 2 ½  hours after leaving Sanam, we reached the village of Gudel (2042 m), which is mainly inhabited by Kulung  Rai people. From there it really went steep down, and it seemed it never ended…I was quite happy to finally reach the small suspension bridge over the Hongu Khola at 1350 m. After crossing the bridge, the only way is up! After about 15 minutes, we arrived at the village of Bung, which is spread out over the hill. It takes you an hour to climb through the whole village….

The trail kept on climbing through forest and agricultural plots, passing small settlements once and a while. After about 2 hours we reached Khiraule. But we had to climb even more, as our lodge is above the village, situated next to a Buddhist monastery (2535 m). That is trekking in the mid hills of the Himalaya: steep up and down!

 

6 February Khiraule (2535 m)-Sibuche (2800 m) 7 hrs

Dawa Steven, our expedition leader, informed us that today would be an easy day. Here a summary of the program of today: climb till the Surke La (also called Charakot pass) at 3070 m, then go down more than 1000 m till the Inkhu river (1985 m), then go up again 800 m to Sibuche (2800 m). I guess easy is a relative concept, and there is definitely a difference between an Everest climber and a regular hiker !

From our lodge we followed the small trail up the hill, which lead to a trail through rhododendron forests. We were surrounded by forested hills as far as we could see. In about 2 hours we reached the Surke La/Charakot Pass at 3070 m. From the pass we had to go down steeply over an icy, slippery path. Fortunately we had our security officers with us (because of the German ambassador joining us), who came out very handy lending me a hand on the slippery trail . We had lunch in the Sherpa village of Najingdingma (2700 m). The village is surrounded by grass fields where people of villages higher up take their yaks to graze in summertime.

From Najingdingma we continued over a small trail steeply going down through the forest all the way down to the wild flowing Inkhu river (1985 m). After crossing the river over a high suspension bridge, the trail went steeply up again. At the end of the afternoon we reached the Sherpa village of Sibuche (2800 m). From the lodge we have a splendid view of Mera Peak (6476 m) and Samir could make some spectacular pictures of the sunset and of the rising moon behind the mountain ridge.

 

7 February Sibuche (2800 m)-Paiya (2767 m) 7 hrs

Today we had two passes to cross, the Narkung La (also called Chaduk La) at 3161 m and the Kari La at 3059 m. In between we went down till 2400 m, so you could say it was a typical mid hill GHT day: lots of ups and downs!

The trail was stunning again, almost completely in (mostly rhododendron) forests, offering good views of Mt Numbur (6959 m) and once and a while passing a small Sherpa settlement.

We got on to the famous Jiri to Lukla trail and you could notice that you are entering a more touristic region by the quality of the lodges! In Solukhumbu, and especially in this part, they know very well what a trekker wants: a nice, clean room, a bed with a soft mattress and a soft pillow, a hot shower, clean toilet, a shop with nice bites and cold drinks for the hungry and thirsty trekker, good food and a warm and cozy dining. The good thing is, that Lower Solukhumbu does have these facilities, but receives just a fraction of the tourists that Khumbu (the Everest region) gets. Up till now, I didn’t meet any tourist (but this is also because we are trekking in the low season; however, January and February are excellent months for the mid hills, as you don’t get too high).

Almost all settlements in Lower Solukhumbu have one or more guesthouses, so for this section there is no need to camp!

 

 

8 February Paiya (2767 m)-Lukla (2840 m) 4 hrs

Today I woke up from the sound of thunder. And it rained. I was hoping it would have stopped by the time we had to leave, but unfortunately I hadn’t… In fact it had gotten worse, and we had hail, rain and stormy wind all the way to Lukla. Fortunately it was not too far! The day started with a gradual climb of 1 ½ hours, after which the trail went down steeply to Surke (2290 m), where we warmed up with a cup of tea at the fireplace in the kitchen of Everest Trail Lodge. Shortly after Surke, we crossed a bridge at 2276 m, which was the lowest point of today. From here it was a long climb to Lukla (2840 m). I felt quite exposed to the elements sometimes, with the hail blowing in my face! Finallly we arrived in Lukla, where we are staying in Paradise Hotel. How good to arrive in a warm and cozy lodge, where they kept the dining hall nice and warm all day long! Meanwhile the rain still hasn’t stopped….

 

Today a whole lot of international journalists should have arrived, but obviously with this weather all flights were cancelled….

 

9 February Lukla (2840 m)

 

I had a wonderful sleep in my bed with a real mattress, soft pillow and lots of blankets. And how good to have your own toilet you can sit on J. What a luxury here in Lukla! Of course I also took my long awaited hot shower.

 

The journalists couldn’t fly again; first fog in Kathmandu, and when that was cleared too much wind here in Lukla. So the press conference is cancelled, as the team can’t wait too long for the journalists. Our next point where we are easy to reach by motorized transport is Borderlands, about 4 hours driving from Kathmandu. So there will be a next chance there.

 

Tomorrow our paths will separate for a while….Apa Sherpa and his team will follow the higher GHT route over the Tashi Labsta pass (5755 m) while I will continue on the lower trail, as I want to document the whole trail. To be honest, I am not regretting that I can’t join them. As they are on a tight schedule they will ascend pretty quick, and I am normally a bit slow in adapting to high altitude. I wouldn’t want to keep the whole team stuck with having altitude problems!

 

So today became an unplanned rest day, but still quite a lot of things to do, as checking my blog, day by day itinerary and pictures, emailing, re-packing, etc.

 

10 February Lukla (2840 m)-Kharikhola (2007 m) 8 hrs

 

At breakfast I got the news that I am not the only one in the team following the lower GHT up to Rolwaling. Saurav is joining me as well. Great!

 

Kharikhola was our destination of today, which brings us back to the lower GHT. You could say that the trip to Lukla was a side trip; good to document as well, as this will be an entry of exit point for people who walk the trail in different sections.

 

We woke up with fabulous weather. Unfortunately it was foggy again in Kathmandu, so it was still not sure if the German ambassador could fly back. Fortunately the weather cleared in Kathmandu as well, and soon half a dozen planes were arriving one after the other. At that time, we were on our way already. To go to Kharikhola, you have to walk back to Paiya. No problem at all! It was good to be walking again, especially with the good weather. Only now I could see that the trail offered a great view of many rugged snowcapped peaks, among which Khumbi Yul La (5761 m), Khongde (6168 m), Numbur (6959 m) and Kusum Khangaru (6367 m).

We reached Paiya in about 4 hours and took lunch there. About half an hour after Paiya we reached the junction between the way to the Kari La, where we came from, and Kharikhola.

 

We took a right here. On the map it says “slippery trail”, and this was particularly true today, as big parts of the trail were covered with ice! At the side of the trail there were beautiful icicles, it all looked a bit like a winter fairytale landscape. The trail was climbing slowly to Thamdada (2871 m), from where it went down again in the sun and through the forest. Far below we could see the roaring Dudh Khoshi River.

 

We reached the village of Bupsa, with a couple of tourist lodges. After Bupsa the landscape had changed and we were walking amidst terraces with wheat and vegetables. We descended all the way below 2000 m again (1984 m), to a suspension bridge over the Khari Khola (1984 m). From here the trail climbed a bit to the village of Kharikhola (2007 m), a rather big, spread out village, which offers plenty of possibilities to stay.

 

11 February Kharikhola (2007 m)- Ringmu (2739 m) 8 hrs

 

Summary of today’s programme: go down about 500 m, cross the Dudh Khosi, climb 1560 m to the Taksindu La at 3062 m and go down 300 m to Ringmu. In other words; a regular GHT lower route day J.

 

So it was a bit tough, but nice walking day. On the way down to the Dudh Khosi we passed the beautiful spread out village of Juving. The Jiri-Lukla route is really a mule highway. On the way we passed many huge mule caravans, all carrying rice up to Lukla. It takes them 5 days from Jiri to Lukla and they get 40 rps per kg for the transport. One mule carries about 60 kg, so per mule they make 2400 rps (Eur 24).

 

It took us about 2 hours to the suspension bridge over the Dudh Khosi River at 1492 m. After this, the long climb to the pass started, going through the countryside and forests. The forest opened up once and a while offering great views to the snowcapped Himalayas, like Kusum Kangaru (6367 m), Mt Numbur (6959 m), Khatang (6853 m) and Karyalung (6681 m). As with the previous passes, above about 2800 m we were walking in the snow again. It took all together about 4 ½ hours to reach the pass (excluding lunch break).  Unfortunately we were walking in the clouds, so no Himalaya views!

 

It was about half an hour descending to Ringmu, a Sherpa village surrounded by grass fields. A couple of days ago I was very happy with the lodges in Solukhumbu offering a warm dining, etc. Unfortunately the lady of the house here doesn’t want to heat the dining yet, so I am writing this, sitting in my room, under my sleeping bag, in down jacket and still cold! So that can also happen….

 

At dinner time we could finally heat the stove. Apparently Kanchha, my guide, bribed her with sweets for the children!

 

12 February Ringmu (2739 m)-Sete (2538 m)  9 ½ hrs

 

Today we walked 24.76 km, we crossed a pass of 3532 m and all together we climbed 2038 m. So I hope I am allowed to feel a bit tired !

 

As we knew we had a long day ahead of us, we left early, at 7.15 am. We walked in a frozen white landscape, gradually descending to a suspension bridge at 2606 m. We entered the forest and climbed slowly again, till we were high on the slope, following the Dudhkund Khola far below us.

 

We arrived at the small village of Salu (2945 m), from where you have an amazing view of the Himalayas. Walking to  Phurtyang/Phurteng (3004 m), the view got better and better. At the far left you could even see Mt Everest (8848 m). Besides, you could see Thamserku (6608 m), Kangtega (6685 m), Kusum Khangaru (6367 m) and Mera Peak (6476 m). Awesome!

I found it hard to move on, as I knew that after this point I wouldn’t see this part of the Himalaya like this anymore! But I consoled myself with the knowledge that there are many other parts of the Himalaya waiting for me.

 

We went down again, and drank tea in the charming town of Junbesi (2679 m). From here the long climb to the Lamjura La started. I had a bit of a hard time before lunch, but after a filling dahl bath (lentils with rice and vegetables; real Nepali power food) I had regained my energy. Above about 3000 m we were walking in a white world. Lots of snow!

At about 3.30 pm we arrived at Lamjura La (3532 m), completely in the clouds/fog. It was still a long way to our sleeping place in Sete (2538 m), where we finally arrived at 6.30 pm, in the dark….

 

13 February Sete (2538 m)-Deurali (2700 m)7 hrs

 

Again a day with lots of climbing up and down! We went down to the charming village of Kinja (1624 m), and further to the small village of Korhem (1580 m). And from here it went up again. On the way we passed an orange orchard and stopped to eat oranges right from the trees. What a difference with yesterday, when we were walking in a white snowy world!

 

We passed the village of Bhandar which is not only on the Jiri-Lukla route, but also on the Numbur Cheese Circuit, a beautiful non-touristic trekking that brings you in beautiful Sherpa villages and spectacular landscapes (www.numburcheesecircuit.org). From Bhandar we kept on climbing till we reached Deurali (2700 m), our overnight place for today.

 

We are staying in Lama Lodge, a wonderful lodge, with a warm, cozy dining and great food. Saurav and me have turned a corner of the dining into a small office, where we are working, charging our devices and even connect to internet J. I called my mother over skype with the webcam on. She could say Namasté to the whole crew, really nice! The connection was very bad, but hey, I am in a small settlement in the middle of the Himalaya, amazing that this is possible!

 

14 February Deurali (2700 m)-Jiri (1930 m) 6 hrs

 

As Deurali means pass, it is to no surprise that the day started with a descend. We went down to the small town of Shivalaya (1807 m), down at the riverside of the beautiful Khimti Khola (River). And, as usual, after crossing the suspension bridge at the end of the town, we went up again (till about 2400 m). And then went down to Jiri (1930 m).

 

All together it was a lovely walk, mainly going through the countryside. How strange to arrive at the busy market town of Jiri, walking on a black topped road and to be surrounded by stinky trucks and buses!

 

Tomorrow the real adventure starts, as nobody in the crew really knows the way to Bigu Gompa where we have to meet the rest of the team. We are asking around, but get different directions from different people. Besides some are mentioning stopping points which are not on the map. That’s going to be interesting!

 

 

15 February Jiri (1930 m)- Putchar Kharka (2341 m ) 7 hrs

 

And interesting it was! We took every opportunity to ask for the way. During our lunch in the small and beautiful village of Sherakapti (2411 m), a villager recommended us to go straight north on a small trail in the direction of Suri Dobhan, instead of going west first, what would be the GHT indicated on the map. That route would be longer and mostly on a dirt road, so a bit boring. We took his advice and the trail was beautiful indeed. We were walking in beautiful forests, with loads of birds. At one point I stopped for a while to watch them, and they were just flying around me. This must be a paradise for birdwatchers!

 

At the resting places (which are everywhere in Nepal along the trails), you find beautiful and colorful Buddhist paintings. Unfortunately we got a bit lost at one point, and had to climb a very steep hill to come back on the track. Already on the first day we got lost J! We lost an hour, but it is all part of the adventure.

 

At 5 pm it would be still 2 hours to our intended destination (Surigaon) which means walking in the dark for 45 min, so we asked the people of an isolated house, if we could stay there for the night. Fortunately we could. The house was situated on a beautiful spot, with a splendid view to the hills around and snowcapped Himalaya, including the impressive Gaurishankar (7135 m). Although there are no other houses in sight, the place does have a name: Putchar Kharka (2341 m).

 

I was surprise to find out that our hosts were Hindu Chhetri, I didn’t expect that among all the Buddhist Sherpa villages here, but from now on we would meet more Hindu villages again. They were very friendly and we spent a lovely evening sitting on the ground around the cooking fire. They don’t even have solar light here, they manage with the light of the fire and torch light. Amazing what a great meal they prepared on that one-pit fire for all of us!

 

16 February Putchar Kharka (2341 m )-Laduk (1790 m) 6 hrs

 

This was another adventurous day….

 

After a nice breakfast with local milk and cornflakes brought from Kathmandu, we had to say goodbye. We walked down to the Kaichapa Khola (river) and climbed up again. After about 200 m I realized that I had forgotten to make a waypoint on my GPS where we crossed the river! The rest of the group was already ahead, but as in my opinion this was an important waypoint, I took off my backpack and run down to the river, made my waypoint and run up again. Including getting my breath together again this took me exactly 12 minutes, so I was 13 minutes behind now. I just hoped that I wouldn’t get lost. Fortunately after a while I saw 2 of the Sherpa’s waiting for me. We reached the small village of Suri, where I practiced my Nepali with 2 women and took a picture. The rest had already continued, so I rushed on, following the dirt road we were walking on. However I didn’t catch up with them, which was a bit strange. I started to walk faster, shouting loud “Kanchhaaaaaa” and whistling the whistle I had especially brought for this kind of situations. However, no reaction…. I tried to call as well, but no network. That was awkward. What to do?? Proceed on the same way even quicker, or return? I decided to return, looking for an arrow, which they always put if they go left or right and some people in the group are not around. I didn’t find an arrow either… I went back to the same women, and fortunately they could tell me my friends had gone left somewhere nearby. I asked one of them to go with me to show me the trail and after looking very carefully I saw the arrow there as well. But not so strange I had overlooked that one! After another half hour, I found Kanchha waiting for me, to my relief!!

 

Due to all this, I hadn’t have time to take even a small break all the way to our lunch stop, so after walking for 4 hours continuously (and going down 1500 m), I really needed a break!! But after an energizing dahl bath I could hit the road again.

 

We climbed up again to Laduk, where we are again staying with a local family. I got the room of the 2 girls in the house, who will now sleep with their brothers. Very nice of them J!

 

17 February Laduk (1790 m)-Bigu Gompa (2500 m) 8 hrs

 

On the map this stretch looks really long, but the local people told us it was possible in 1 day. It turned out to be long indeed, we walked 20.5 km and climbed in total 1972 m.

 

This day, not only me, but we all got a bit lost on the trail. Fortunately we got lost all together, and fortunately we found the trail back pretty soon.

 

The day ended with a long climb from a very scary bridge over the wild flowing Singati Khola (River) at 1650 m to the village of Bigu Gompa (2500 m). On the way we had a sudden rain shower. I wanted to put on my rain coat, lost! No idea where I lost it…. Fortunately I have a poncho as well, but quite annoying (or should I say stupid) to loose your raincoat!

 

On the way up we passed the beautiful village of Alampu (spread out around 1850-1950 m). Sometimes you pass villages which are almost completely deserted, but here many people where working on the fields, all greeting when we passed. They are Thami, a group that I hadn’t heard of before. But well, Nepal has about 100 cultural groups, you can’t know them all! That they are Buddhist you could notice by the mani walls and stupa’s that we passed.

 

The climb from the river to Bigu Ghompa took about 2 ½ hours and we arrived at 6 pm, so just in time before it was getting dark.  We stayed in an Eco Himal Community Lodge. There is a kind of circuit of these lodges in the Gauri Shankar Area, developed by the Austrian Development Co-operation. They really remind to the Austrian Berghütte, with dormitories in the same style. Both Saurav and me had a dormitory for ourselves J. (For more info see: http://www.ecohimal.org)

 

18 February Bigu Gompa (2505 m)-Durumthali (1970 m) 9 hrs

 

Today was again a long stretch, crossing the Tinsang La (3310 m) and covering a distance of 20 km. All together we climbed 1808 m.

 

Shortly after leaving we got lost again! The trails are not always easy to find and we have to ask directions to the local people a lot. But they are not always around! But fortunately they always find the trail back again pretty soon, keeping the direction we have to go to in mind. Personally I would prefer to back track, but in our group I’m the only one, so that  means crossing the hills on tracks where are no trails at all. Ah well, that’s adventure!

 

I hadn’t looked well on the map, and thought we would climb to the Tinsang La from Bigu Gompa. To my disappointment we first had to go down to the river (as usual) and only started climbing from 2282 m. Climbing up, we saw the landscape changing around us, from bamboo forests to a more grassy and rocky landscape, changing into rhododendron and pine forests. Besides, when we got higher we suddenly got stunning views over the Himalayas, including the Gaurishankar (7135 m), Mount Chekigo (6257 m), and Mount Bamongo (6400 m).

 

About 15 minutes before the pass there were 2 small restaurants, where we had a great and energizing dahl bath. Arriving at the Tinsang La (3310 m), the trees were blocking the view to the Himalaya a bit, but we did have a splendid view over the new valley we were about to enter.

 

We were planning to go to the village of Dolangsa (2600 m), but they had no good electricity/recharge facilities, and especially Saurav needed to recharge, so we continued on. At 6.20 pm, almost dark, we finally reached the village of Durumthali (1969 m). Fortunately they had plenty of power, and we installed a recharge station with the multi plug of Saurav J.

 

My computer had gone black the day before, I thought it was a lack of power, but even on our power station, the screen stayed black…. A bit alarming, as how can I update my blog and day by day itinerary without computer….

 

19 February Durumthali (1970 m)-Barabise (870 m ) 3 hrs and to Kathmandu by bus

 

As we are pretty ahead of schedule – our planned arrival in Borderlands was 22 February – we have been discussing about how to spend the coming days for a couple of days now. At breakfast I told the rest I wanted to go to Barabise, as I had tried my computer again, and I couldn’t make it reacting to anything, so I wanted to find a computer repair shop there. My guide Kanchha discouraged this, as may be they would put cheap Chinese parts. “You can also go to Kathmandu”, he said. I hadn’t thought about that at all! But indeed it did seem a good idea to me. So I decided to leave Saurav, who was planning to stay in the nearby village of Khartali and walk up slowly towards Borderland, and go to Kathmandu. What a strange sensation, a minute before I thought I would only see my home in Kathmandu in May, and suddenly I am going there today!

 

It took us 3 hours walking down to Barabise, from where we took a mini van to Kathmandu. At 5.30 I was suddenly home!

 

I had contacted a computer repair expert, who came to my home. He had to take the computer with him, unfortunately, I was hoping he would have been able to do some tricks and repair it on the spot L!

 

20-21 February Kathmandu

 

The computer guy called me and he didn’t have good news… It would cost 140 euro and take 2 weeks to repair my computer, as the LCD screen has to be changed. I can’t wait so long, so there is only one solution, I have to buy another one. It was 3 years old, so it was about time, but still, a bit unfortunate.

 

The good thing is that I am seeing my friends again and have very good internet (and other) facilities here

Tags: Arun Valley, Linda