Day 1 - Kathmandu to Chisapani
Our homestay kindly prepared us an early breakfast so we could make it to Ratna Park bus station nice and early. It was about a 20 minute walk. We found the bus and it left immediately to Sundarijal. It was here we would start our uphill climb with our trekking buddies from Pokhara.
The bus took forever and stopped to pickup and drop off passengers every 100 metres, actually make that every 10 metres. We finally arrived at Sundarijal whereupon the bus ticket collector tried to charge us far too much. A few questions to the locals and they told us the real price. We think the ticket collector was joking as he had a cheeky smirk from ear to ear!
We entered a national park gate where we purchased an entry ticket. A day of climbing up through the forest to Chisapani. Apparently the forest is home to leopards, birds of paradise and loads of other exciting critters ... maybe even the odd yeti! We, however, failed to spot it but saw and heard plenty of nice birds.
As we approached the top, views of snow capped peaks appeared. In fact our arrival in Chisapani offered some of the most spectacular Himalaya panoramas ever! Along with the mountain scenery lay a rather sobering sight. In 2015 Nepal witnessed a catastrophic earthquake and here it was very evident. There were many damaged buildings. Some were just rubble others still standing but leaning dramatically at angles that are impossible to imagine.
Unfortunately our trekking buddies received some sad family news when we arrived, so they had to go back down the mountain the following morning and immediately fly home.
The night was cold, so cold that we wore our coats to bed under the 2 duvets we had available. However the beautiful morning sunrise made it worth it. After porridge we said a sad farewell to our friends and wished them a safe journey home. We were continuing in the opposite direction to Nagarkot.
Day 2 - Chisapani to Nagarkot
The route was on and off a dirt road and the walk would take at least 8 hours. The views were amazing as we could see the Himalayas for the whole day on our left hand side. The skies were clear and blue! After a few hours of walking, we got lucky when a driver in a huge truck kindly gave us a lift to the next small track which we estimate saved us about 2 hours of uphill walking! We arrived at a picturesque village and had the most amazing lunch with the locals. We even did a little first aid to help an old man with a cut finger.
There were viewpoints everywhere and the days walking was pretty easy. We believe we saw a glimpse of Mount Everest in the far off distance. We arrived in Nagarkot early, found a room and rested before going out to watch the sunset. Our room was quite a luxurious pad for the price with an excellent hot shower.
Sunset was amazing. We watched the sun sink behind the hills and cast a pink hue over the snow covered mountains. Back at the hotel we ate a carefully presented dal bhat before the cold invaded our bones and we hit the sack.
Day 3 - Nagarkot - Dhulikhel
It was a little cloudy in the morning so we only witnessed an 'average' sunrise. Back to the hotel to fill up on porridge before hitting the hills. Today's trek took us around the rim of the Kathmandu valley to Dhulikhel. What a day! We had amazing views all day as we traversed one side of the valley to the next. There were beautiful terraces, tiny tracks to follow and the most incredible 360 degree panaroma imaginable. At the top of a hill we stopped at the most picturesque tea station, where a range of beautiful flowers were growing. Some of the leaves on one of the plants were pointed out to us as being a recently legalised medication in a lot of countries.
We climbed a lookout tower, walked a thousand step track and met some great local villagers. One asked very politely if she could have some of Christine's peanut butter sandwiches. Being generous Christine handed it over for the lady to eat, unfortunately along with a number of long hairs that had stuck to it! The villager soon decided the attached hairs weren't for her and fed it to our trekking dog. The whole experience was hilarious! The little dog led the way for a long time, often harassed by other dogs as we passed through their territory.
We eventually arrived in Dhulikhel which is also famous for mountain views. It should also be famous for the busy road we had to cross before we found the much quieter part of town. We are not far from the Chinese border and think this is where all of the trucks were coming from.
We searched for a guesthouse and finally settled for a budget option near a Shiva temple and in a very quiet part of town. The views from our room were of the mountains, which was really nice. After dropping our bags off we explored the old part of town. Many of the beautiful old buildings seem to have earthquake damage but are still standing ... just! Dinner was in two different restaurants because we were doubley hungry. We worked our way back to our guesthouse down the dark track. Bedtime was early as it was cold and dark around 6pm! Before bed Darryl accidentally brushed his teeth with the Savlon antiseptic cream. Oops... Yuk!!!
Day 4 Dhulikhel - Panauti
A restless night's sleep due to dust, which we couldn't see but it certainly played havoc on our sinuses. We woke up early, headed off down the road and found a roadside cafe for early morning milk tea and cake. Yep, that's cake for breakfast. It was really, really good. We started trekking up the 1000 steps that started our route to Namo Buddha. On the steps we met a man training for fitness. He was carrying his mountain bike down the steps, having cycled up the roadway. We interrupted his training to talk and another man joined us. It was his grandfather who was on his way to sweep and guard the huge Golden Buddha statue on the hill. We walked with him and he had the keys to let us in to the statue area. We were very lucky as, if we had not stopped and talked to his grandson, the statue would have been closed when we got there!
Trekking continued through tiny villages and it was mostly uphill. We asked a man for directions and he kindly invited us to his house for tea. He was the village school teacher, now retired. He also invited his friend to join us who spoke good English from his time in America. He explained a lot about why the teacher had 2 houses, due to the 2015 earthquake. He told us about how the village was changing due to mobile technology and how the tiny cockroaches were no more, blaming the phone masts.
Tea finished, we said goodbye and continued through the village. We watched an iron monger using a mechanical bellow and were invited to watch another using traditional leather bellows. It was amazing to see, though very smoky inside the little room. We really worried about how the man's health must suffer day after day in this environment.
Onwards we trekked, along dusty tracks with cars creating huge choking dust clouds as they passed. Eventually we arrived at Namo Buddha, a very sacred site with an interesting story of a tigress It has a monastary perched on top of a hill and a stupa. We took our time investigating and were blown away by the beautiful main hall. Elaborate decoration and beautiful paintings everywhere. Wow, really impressive! Today it was a little cloudy so we didn't get the perfect 360 mountain vista the location is famous for. We did, however, see many lovely birds throughout the day. One we thought could be a bird of paradise. We saw blue ones, green ones, red ones and many huge eagles
From Namo Buddha we headed downhill through a village of oranges, through another making bricks and through a few villages closed up due to what we think were condemned buildings ... earthquake damage.
The road changed from a dusty track to tarmac as we approached Panauti. Panauti is famous for its beautiful old temples, like Durbar Square in Kathmandu. We crossed the river on a rickety suspension bridge, caught glimpses of the old temples and tried to find a place to stay. The town was small and most places closed, however we checked out a few possibilities. The first few rooms we tried hadn't been cleaned for a while but luckily we found a larger hotel with cheaper rooms that were well cared for.
We dropped off our bags and went to explore the ancient city and temples. The temples are right on the river and next to some ghats. We noticed people laying oil lanterns along the steps and a music system being set up. As it got darker the oil lamps on both sides of the river were lit and a group of Nepali ladies started a celebration\festival.
There were no tourists in the whole town and we were watching the action from a distance and taking photos. All of a sudden we were presented with garlands of marigolds, given burning incense sticks and welcomed into the festival. The ladies were all ringing bells in time with the prayers/music and Christine was also given a bell to ring. We watched as the oil lamps reflected in the river and candles and incense were swung. We were given an offering of flowers and sweets and joined in the event, throwing the offering into the river in unison. Afterwards we were given fruits and sweets and blessed with a red dot. The ladies packed up and crossed the river and we thought all had come to an end. We were about to head home and were instructed to go the other way. A little confused we changed direction and followed.
The celebration was not over and now it was time for ... DANCING! We danced the night away with the ladies under candle light, down by the river! This has to be one of the most INCREDIBLE moments ever. We were made to feel so welcome as strangers and feel very lucky to have experienced the night in Panauti.
We left when the dancing came to an end. It was now time for dinner. We ate at a small cafe. We ordered 2 cups of milk tea each, a plate of 10 pakoras each plus a huge plate of veg chowmein each. We were totally stuffed and it was delicious. We asked how much the feast came to and were
astounded when the price came to 200 Nepalese rupees ... £1.50!
All in all a very memorable evening.
