Monday, November 30, 2009
Nepal
Nepal was different to all the other places we have visited so far. Why? Firstly, we did not travel on our own, but had two companions, Andrea and Philipp. This was great, especially as both are keen hikers and as such they chased us up high mountains. Secondly, Nepal's capital Kathmandu is a monster in terms of traffic, people, poverty, dust and dirt. A real introduction to what will come in India (apparently, this is "India light" here). Thirdly, this was a real outdoors country, we - the sunshine daywalkers - did two hikes, all together 18 days of walking 5-8 hours a day. And lastly, it was a country where we had all travel illnesses you can think off, including a visit to a hospital (see the picture story below).
Our first trek took us to the Annapurna region, famous for its great scenery of 6000-8000m high mountains. We organised a guide and a porter, because we thought that walking alone will be challenging enough, so we spared ourselves carrying our big backpacks as well. This decision proofed to be right as we had to gain 1500m altitude in the first two days and this by walking up stairs the whole time! The trek took us in a loop to the Annapurna Basecamp which is at 4100m altitude. The scenery on the whole trek was amazing and changed with gaining altitude: first rice fields, then rhododendron and pine forest, followed by low bushes. All in front of a panorama of white snow capped mountains. We were extremely lucky with the weather as well, we had blue sky and sunshine for 11 days straight. Every night we stayed at basic lodges which offered 2 beds and wooden walls to separate you from your neighbours (not their snoring), unnecessary to say that earplugs as well as a head torch were essentials. Asian squat toilets and a basic, sometimes hot shower where mostly across a little courtyard. The higher we got the colder it was, especially at night where temperature easily hit the minus 10 degree mark at the two base camps. The huts cooked mostly over open fire or with a 2 stove gas cooker and for such little means they offered a huge variety of food: from spaghetti to pizza to Mars rolls (a Mars bar wrapped in dough and then deep fried). As we were four, we could always order an array of dishes and test most what was on the menu. Surprisingly, the national park authorities were very organised and every lodge offered the same menue, only prices increased with altitude.
After our first trek we had to go back to Kathmandu for a couple of days rest, sightseeing (for Andrea and Phil), visa organisation (for us), and not least laundry. We also witnessed the country's instable political landscape, as a strike by the Maoist party delayed our departure for our second trek by a day. Nepal has abandoned its monarchy last year, but the recent government is at disarray to say the least. A coalition of 22 parties is in charge, but only when the biggest party, the Maoists, don't block the parliament (which happened for the last 5 months).
So a day late, we made our 10hr journey to cover 160km of pretty bad dirt road to reach the beginning of our 7 day Langtang walk. Our second walk led along a river for 2 days until we reached an open valley. We stayed at a village at 3800m and climbed the 4984m high Tsergo Ri peak (a 5000m high mountain for our sake of arguing). Normally, the ascent should be fairly easy, but unfortunately it snowed a couple of days before we arrived and the trail was covered in snow which left us a bit disoriented. Without a trail we then had to climb over big boulders and walk through deep snow to reach the top. Needless to say that boulder jumping above 4500m and with a chilling wind in the face was quite strenuous. Finally, we made it and G could only think of getting back down soon so breathing would be a bit more comfortable, T on the other hand loved the climb up and took the time to film the top (see video below).
After the second trek and another 10hr public bus ride back into the Capital, we soon had to farewell Andrea and Phil, which was very sad as both of them proved to be perfect mountain companions. After their departure, we took life in KTM easy, did some sightseeing, spend another day at the Indian embassy to receive our visa (in total it took us 13 hours over 2 days), and ate a lot to spoil our bodies after nearly 3 weeks of hiking. After a week in KTM we left to our second last destination in Nepal: Chitwan Nationalpark. The park is in the south, so nice warm temperatures compared to KTM where the winter is settling in (4 degrees at night). We chose a nice hotel next to a river where we are currently planning our first weeks in India. We also saw some very interesting wildlife on a jungle walk and on the back of an elephant: 3 crocodiles and 3 rhinos, all wild!
We will leave here soon to see the birthplace of Buddha, which is still in Nepal and then with a lot of good karma that we will gain there, we are off to India.
So, will G&T come back to Nepal on an ongoing basis like so many others? Probably not, although we loved the mountain scenery, we have to admit that we remain "1-2 day warm weather, sunshine walkers" rather than "serious high mountain trekkers". Still, Nepal is a very amazing country!!
Our first trek took us to the Annapurna region, famous for its great scenery of 6000-8000m high mountains. We organised a guide and a porter, because we thought that walking alone will be challenging enough, so we spared ourselves carrying our big backpacks as well. This decision proofed to be right as we had to gain 1500m altitude in the first two days and this by walking up stairs the whole time! The trek took us in a loop to the Annapurna Basecamp which is at 4100m altitude. The scenery on the whole trek was amazing and changed with gaining altitude: first rice fields, then rhododendron and pine forest, followed by low bushes. All in front of a panorama of white snow capped mountains. We were extremely lucky with the weather as well, we had blue sky and sunshine for 11 days straight. Every night we stayed at basic lodges which offered 2 beds and wooden walls to separate you from your neighbours (not their snoring), unnecessary to say that earplugs as well as a head torch were essentials. Asian squat toilets and a basic, sometimes hot shower where mostly across a little courtyard. The higher we got the colder it was, especially at night where temperature easily hit the minus 10 degree mark at the two base camps. The huts cooked mostly over open fire or with a 2 stove gas cooker and for such little means they offered a huge variety of food: from spaghetti to pizza to Mars rolls (a Mars bar wrapped in dough and then deep fried). As we were four, we could always order an array of dishes and test most what was on the menu. Surprisingly, the national park authorities were very organised and every lodge offered the same menue, only prices increased with altitude.
After our first trek we had to go back to Kathmandu for a couple of days rest, sightseeing (for Andrea and Phil), visa organisation (for us), and not least laundry. We also witnessed the country's instable political landscape, as a strike by the Maoist party delayed our departure for our second trek by a day. Nepal has abandoned its monarchy last year, but the recent government is at disarray to say the least. A coalition of 22 parties is in charge, but only when the biggest party, the Maoists, don't block the parliament (which happened for the last 5 months).
So a day late, we made our 10hr journey to cover 160km of pretty bad dirt road to reach the beginning of our 7 day Langtang walk. Our second walk led along a river for 2 days until we reached an open valley. We stayed at a village at 3800m and climbed the 4984m high Tsergo Ri peak (a 5000m high mountain for our sake of arguing). Normally, the ascent should be fairly easy, but unfortunately it snowed a couple of days before we arrived and the trail was covered in snow which left us a bit disoriented. Without a trail we then had to climb over big boulders and walk through deep snow to reach the top. Needless to say that boulder jumping above 4500m and with a chilling wind in the face was quite strenuous. Finally, we made it and G could only think of getting back down soon so breathing would be a bit more comfortable, T on the other hand loved the climb up and took the time to film the top (see video below).
After the second trek and another 10hr public bus ride back into the Capital, we soon had to farewell Andrea and Phil, which was very sad as both of them proved to be perfect mountain companions. After their departure, we took life in KTM easy, did some sightseeing, spend another day at the Indian embassy to receive our visa (in total it took us 13 hours over 2 days), and ate a lot to spoil our bodies after nearly 3 weeks of hiking. After a week in KTM we left to our second last destination in Nepal: Chitwan Nationalpark. The park is in the south, so nice warm temperatures compared to KTM where the winter is settling in (4 degrees at night). We chose a nice hotel next to a river where we are currently planning our first weeks in India. We also saw some very interesting wildlife on a jungle walk and on the back of an elephant: 3 crocodiles and 3 rhinos, all wild!
We will leave here soon to see the birthplace of Buddha, which is still in Nepal and then with a lot of good karma that we will gain there, we are off to India.
So, will G&T come back to Nepal on an ongoing basis like so many others? Probably not, although we loved the mountain scenery, we have to admit that we remain "1-2 day warm weather, sunshine walkers" rather than "serious high mountain trekkers". Still, Nepal is a very amazing country!!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Stans - Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan
The Stans were originally the highlight of our Bordertrekkers trip. Unfortunately due to G's father illness and her 5.5 week stay in Germany it got drastically reduced to just a week in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and a short 2 week round trip through Uzbekistan. Nevertheless, G&T obviously were really happy to continue their trip and The Stans presented us with some true marvels:
First of all, after nearly three months of Chinese (vegetable) food, Almaty in Uzbekistan was such a welcoming change for T that he had a meet shashlik extravaganza at least twice a day. The Kazakh do know how to do a good skewer of meet and also have great beer to accompany it (Derbes). Apart from that (and the abundance of well dressed Kazakh women), I found Almaty surprisingly boring with typical Soviet style architecture dominating the streets and no real city centre to do people watching. Venturing outside the city, some amazing sites are within a day trip distance from Almaty: First of all Chimbulak, a ski resort, where snow capped mountains can be seen even in summer. And secondly Charyn Canyon, the Grand Canyon of Kazakhstan which with its deep gorges and steep red rocks it does look as impressive as its American counterpart.
Arriving in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, felt like leaving Asia and entering the Middle East. Huge Islamic bazaars and mosques as opposed to Soviet style basilicas, Muslim women dress code as opposed to Western style fashion, more Uzbek language as opposed to just Russian.
After finally meeting G at the airport in Tashkent, the two of us went on a "Arabian Nights" / "1001 Nacht" trip through the ancient cities of Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand with a side excursion to the horrible environmental disaster site of the Aral sea. All three cities were scattered with old mosques and medressas (Islamic schools) dating back to the 13th century (after the Mongols left most of Central Asia destroyed). All buildings were true marvels of old times and had beautiful tile work on display, mostly held in blue colours. However, due to a keen renovation government programme, most of the old buildings were a bit over renovated and quite often it was hard to imagine that the site in front of us dated back nearly thousand years. Somehow it felt like walking within a giant museum rather than a living old town. Nevertheless, all buildings were very impressive and Bordertrekkers recommend Uzbekistan as a travel destination (G more than T).
A welcoming change to old buildings although quite daunting was the trip to a desert landscape formerly known as Aral Sea. A too ambitious Soviet project to grow cotton in a desert lead to an impressively complex irrigation system all over Uzbekistan, but also to a disastrous disappearing of the lake and many related health problems for the people living there. We visited the fishing village of Moynak where old fishing ships are stranded on sand. Apparently, since the start of the cotton project in the 60s, water levels fell by 18 meters and the lake has declined to 10% of it original size!!
So ... The Stans fascinated us enough to put them on the list of potential destinations in the future, but we will make sure to come in summer (when it's warm) and seriously brush up our Russian (as communication without Russian is difficult).
First of all, after nearly three months of Chinese (vegetable) food, Almaty in Uzbekistan was such a welcoming change for T that he had a meet shashlik extravaganza at least twice a day. The Kazakh do know how to do a good skewer of meet and also have great beer to accompany it (Derbes). Apart from that (and the abundance of well dressed Kazakh women), I found Almaty surprisingly boring with typical Soviet style architecture dominating the streets and no real city centre to do people watching. Venturing outside the city, some amazing sites are within a day trip distance from Almaty: First of all Chimbulak, a ski resort, where snow capped mountains can be seen even in summer. And secondly Charyn Canyon, the Grand Canyon of Kazakhstan which with its deep gorges and steep red rocks it does look as impressive as its American counterpart.
Arriving in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, felt like leaving Asia and entering the Middle East. Huge Islamic bazaars and mosques as opposed to Soviet style basilicas, Muslim women dress code as opposed to Western style fashion, more Uzbek language as opposed to just Russian.
After finally meeting G at the airport in Tashkent, the two of us went on a "Arabian Nights" / "1001 Nacht" trip through the ancient cities of Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand with a side excursion to the horrible environmental disaster site of the Aral sea. All three cities were scattered with old mosques and medressas (Islamic schools) dating back to the 13th century (after the Mongols left most of Central Asia destroyed). All buildings were true marvels of old times and had beautiful tile work on display, mostly held in blue colours. However, due to a keen renovation government programme, most of the old buildings were a bit over renovated and quite often it was hard to imagine that the site in front of us dated back nearly thousand years. Somehow it felt like walking within a giant museum rather than a living old town. Nevertheless, all buildings were very impressive and Bordertrekkers recommend Uzbekistan as a travel destination (G more than T).
A welcoming change to old buildings although quite daunting was the trip to a desert landscape formerly known as Aral Sea. A too ambitious Soviet project to grow cotton in a desert lead to an impressively complex irrigation system all over Uzbekistan, but also to a disastrous disappearing of the lake and many related health problems for the people living there. We visited the fishing village of Moynak where old fishing ships are stranded on sand. Apparently, since the start of the cotton project in the 60s, water levels fell by 18 meters and the lake has declined to 10% of it original size!!
So ... The Stans fascinated us enough to put them on the list of potential destinations in the future, but we will make sure to come in summer (when it's warm) and seriously brush up our Russian (as communication without Russian is difficult).
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