First Days in Nepal

October 29^th  2009

After a short night in a luxurious hotel in Barhain, I finally land in Kathmandu. I met Elke, a German lady who is 51, and really fun.

We first look for a guest house, in Thamel, the backpakers area, and I get a bit of sleep. We go for diner, so I have my first Kathmandu experience. We also have a local beer, Gurkha. The beer is a bi disgusting, too watery and too bitter, but the live band is pretty good.

Thamel is a bit like Kaosan Road in Bangkok, slightly poorer and less animated at night. Basically, it’s a big supermarket for tourists, and they sell all kind of trekking stuff. Nepalese Young guys often try to sell you hash or marijuana. Kathmandu is, to my mind, a typical city of the third world : dirty, dusty and magically messy. Motorcycles, like in Marocco, are the king of the road, and the drivers make a better use of the horn rather than using their brakes. Consequently, it’s really noisy, and sometimes even the police jams with them, using their whistle like crazy. Crossing big Streets is a real adventure, and on the major ones, they put some bridges so you don’t get smashed by a local three Wheeler bus.

There are many tourists in Thamel, and the average age is relatively High. I think it’s not rare to find Young women that hook up with the guide they « rented ». I heard that there are people trying to implement female guides… I Wonder why.

Nepalese people are really nice and smily, and definitely have a good sense of business (la Népalaise, quant-à-elle, n’est pas laide)

There are a few beggars :some of them are handicapped, some of them are leprous

October 30^th 2009

For the major part of my day, I manage my trek : flight tickets booking, trekking permit, equipment shopping (trekking sticks, wind cutting jacket etc.). Despite my level 2 bargaining skill, prices are a bit High.

I meet two Swedish girls, and we go have a mint lemonade in a relaxed place. They just came back from the Everest base Camp trek, so we talk a bit, and I get their impression : it’s a bit hard, but nothing impossible (especially when you’re French). There are many tourist, many people… so it’s a bit like a trekking highway.

At night, I have dinner with Elke, Emma and Offa in the relaxed cafe we were before.

It’s a Jewish restaurant, but they don’t serve casher food, and actually it’s very fresh and good. We have a couple of drinks, then go out in a weird local club where I get annoyed a bit by a very stoned guy, who happens to be a Rikchok driver (it‘s like a taxi, pushed by a poor Nepali on a bike). After the club, outside, I meet an Indian girl, a bit dirty, a lot crazy and definitely on drugs. We sit in the street with a lot of Nepalese, and she sings and dances… well at least she tries. She was probable just a prostitute. I go to bed very late.

Crusty anecdote :

In the middle of the day, a women, holding her daughter by the hand, pukes right on the street (something yellow), and I must admit that she does that with a lot of skill.

October 31st 2009

After only 2 hours of sleep, I get up to get my taxi for Kathmandu local airport. It’s incredibly messy, I really love it. Security check is a big joke, and the airport looks lika a big hangar. I’d say it’s worse than in Luanda.

I start waiting for my plane, which is supposed to leave at 8:15 trying to understand how the screen showing the flights works. Unfortunately, a lot of flights are delayed because o bad weather condition.

There’s a group of Americans, with a young show-off guy that starts doing gymnastic in the airport... I bet they’ll all rent porters to carry their bags.

Finally, after falling asleep several times on my sit, I get my plane around 12:00. There are many companies that are operating local flights from Kathmandu, and I found really fun that they all do their own organization, meaning that you often have two announcements at the same time, making them totally impossible to understand.

The plane is really small, a bit scary, but it only takes 45 minutes to get to Lukla. On the « way », we have a magnificent view on the Himalayas, and get really close to them.

After landing in Lukla, I start walking. There is a lot of people here, the same amount of tourists and porters. I really don’t understand why young and fit people rent porters… and guess what… the show-off American guy rented a porter. It’s a bit sad to see all those people walking with their really small bags, if only they carry one, and behind them to Watch their porters with kilos of material.

There are two kinds of porters : the one that carry lazy tourists backpacks for two dollars a day, and the one that carry supplies to bring to higher cities, probably for less. They are really impressive, as they carry between 50 and 80 kilos on those steepy roads, and even though they are not really fast, they walk a lot each day, or even during the night. I feel very humble with my 18 kilos backpack…

I meet a Portuguese photographer, Rui, who is doing a secret reportage. He’s been in Asia for 8 months already, and he did many treks in the Himalayas so I can get good tips from him. We walk together, and as he’s taking pictures of a porter, we don’t go really fast, which is good for a first day I guess. We stay for a night in Tok Tok, just a bit further than the touristy town, Phadking, and I have a good night of sleep after eating my first Dhal Bat (rice, curry vegetables and lent soup). Before that, we try to find the porter Rui’s doing his reportage on, and so I have the opportunity to see where porters sleep. Basically, they stay in small wood houses, and all share big beds, directly on the ground.

November 1^st 2009

I Wake up early, around 6:30, and after having a big breakfast I start hiking around 8:15. The first 2 or 3 hours are fine and I talk with a Nepalese kid who is on his way to his home. I take a good rhythm, and catch up Rui, still following the porter. I pass them, as the road starts to become really steepy. The view begins to be really nice, and now I can see snow covered mountains, standing really High in front of me. I have a bit of a hard time reaching Namche Bazaar, but I only walked for 4 hours, which is fine. The good news is that I feel comfortable in my shoes, no blisters, nearly no pain. However, we’ll talk about that in a week.

I’ll stay two nights in Namche, to get acclimatization, and tomorrow I’ll just go on a short trek to see how it feels to hike at 3500 meters high.

I stay with Rui in the lodge the two Swedish girls told me about, and talked a bit with the owner, telling him my plan : I’d like to go to Gokyo Ri (5357 meters) to get the best view on the Everest, and then cross the Cho La Pass, which is around 4700 meters high, to reach Lobuche and eventually the Everest Base Camp. I’ll also probable hike up to a summit, Kala Patthar, reaching 5550 meters high.

This trek will last at least 10 days, as I need another day acclimatization around 4000 meters, and as I don’t plan to walk fast because I don’t really know how I will react at such altitude, and also because my backpack is heavy (18 kilos with the water).I’ll probable leave some stuff at the lodge, that I’ll pick up on my way back to Lukla, to minimize the weight I have to carry.

I don’t have much to do this afternoon, I think I’m going to buy a water bottle to have at least 2 litres on me, and a down jacket because it’s starting to be a bit cold when you’re not heated by the sun.

I'll post some pictures as soon as the Internet connection gets better.