It’s been a little while since we’ve had internet access. Here’s an update on the last couple of weeks…

The rest of the trek to Gokyo Lakes was great. It was a little hard going with the high altitude but the views from Gokyo Ri (the highest point of the trek) were spectacular. We had 360 degree views of the mountains and were able to see 4 of the 6 highest mountains in the world. We had one rest day in Kathmandu at the end of the trek and then made a last minute booking for a flight into Delhi.

Delhi is a hectic, chaotic place and we were glad to get onto a train the next morning after some adventures in buying the tickets (being hassled and nearly led astray by touts in the wee hours of the morning).

We made our way down to Agra where we spent a couple of days. We saw the Taj Mahal (aka Grand Taj ) which was amazing. We then caught a local bus to Fatepur Sikri, an ancient city. Made our way back to Agra via a local jeep with about 20 people hanging out of it which just happened to be leaving before the bus we intended to catch. Unfortunately it dropped us off on the other side of town in the middle of a chaotic market… interesting journey back to the hotel in a rickshaw.

The next morning we caught the 4:30am train… which was running 4 hours late!! The train stations aren’t exactly comfortable places to hang out, but somehow we passed the time. When the train eventually turned up, it took around 5 hours to get down to Ranthambore National Park (a tiger sanctuary), where we were met by a contact of a family friend who works for the park. They bustled us into a jeep for a dusk safari… we didn’t see any tigers, but right at the end we were extremely lucky to see a leopard (a rare sighting).

The following morning we had a dawn safari and despite us being in a much bigger noisier van, we finally saw our tiger! It was hunting deer in the jungle – again, a rare opportunity to have witnessed it.

The next day we made our way to Jaipur (the pink city) by train (again a 4:30am train, but on time!!). We went to see Amber fort from the 15th century and then to Jantar Mantar, an observatory of the same period - it had some astounding structures to measure time and astronomy to extreme accuracy (one of the sun dials could measure time to an accuracy of within 3 seconds). Decided to stay an extra day as there was plenty more to see. In the evening we escaped the crowds to see a Bollywood movie… Much to Nita’s disappointment, there was no singing and dancing, but the movie was actually really good – a political thriller called Kurbaan. No English subtitles, but Praty gave Nita a whispered translation every now and then. We also decided to join the locals and ate a full meal of curry and rice in the cinema.

Spent the next morning wandering through more forts and palaces. We caught the 2:40pm train to Baroda. Unfortunately our tickets were ‘waitlisted’, so we didn’t actually have seat for the 11 hour journey and we were told to cancel the ticket and rebook for another day. Luckily Praty managed to convince the ticket conductor that we had to catch connecting flights to Australia and needed to be on this train (Nita tried to squeeze out some tears for good effect but didn’t quite manage it). The ticket conductor found us 2 sleepers in an air-conditioned carriage up until the stop before Baroda. From there we had 1 hour to go.

We’re now in Baroda (Praty’s birth place) staying with Praty’s parents in their apartment. We’ve had streams of visitors bringing food and tea… the food is so good that it won’t be long before all our hard work in Nepal is undone.

We’ve done some clothes shopping and seen some sights around Baroda. We’ve got another few days here with short day trips to various places before leaving for Mumbai on the 29th.

 

We’re on our second trek… here’s the update so far..

Day 1: KTM flight to Lukla (2840m) – running a little late to catch the flight and had a harrowing taxi ride where we nearly hit a motorcyclist, had a close call with a bus and ended up on the wrong side of the road twice! Once at the airport we jostled with the best of them but unfortunately it was all in vain as we missed the flight! Never mind, as we were able to get on the next one. Enjoyed great views of the Everest range from the plane before landing on the tiny runway at Lukla. After a short breakfast we had a pleasant couple of hours walk to Bengkar (2710m).

Day 2: A quiet day as Juanita’s stomach battled it out with some dodgy food. We only made it a couple of kilometers before resting it out for the night.

Day 3: Early start as Juanita is feeling much better. Got our first glimpe of Mt Everest from the ground as we made it up to Namche Bazaar. Spent the day enjoying a rest – drinking espresso at the Everest Bakery and eating croissants and cinnamon scroll (who would’ve thought!). For the previous Everest crew from 2006, we found Scooter-dude’s shirt at the Danfe Pool Bar with everyone’s name on it! We took it down and have taken some photos for the gang and put it back up at the same window spot.   See if it’s there in another three years…. Big day tomorrow as we head up to Dole (4110m), but we’ve got lots of ups and downs. Over the next 5 days we’ll make it up to Gokyo Ri (5357m) from where we will be able to see 4 of the world’s 6 highest mountains!

We’ve made it back from our trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). It was harder than we anticipated – lots of steep uphills and downhills and not a lot in between! But the views at the top made it all worthwhile. Here’s a quick update on the highlights of the trek…

Day 1: A rude start to the trek with a 600m climb from the very first step. The path weaved its way through lots of small villages -  it was interesting to see the Nepalese villagers going about their daily chores, tending to the crops and the kids going to school.  A long day, walking for about 7 hours  until we made it to the Landruk to enjoy a cold drink.

Day 2: The day started with fantastic clear views of the mountains and a nice easy downhill walk. It all rapidly declined from there with a gruelling uphill climb. We ascended 1200 m in total today!

Day 3: A long day of walking today with plenty of uphills. We ascended 1520m today but the views of the mountains helped us take our minds off the hard work! Had a good break for lunch where a kitten tried to eat Juanita’s dal baat. Then a tough climb up to Machhapuchhre Base Camp (MBC) which is at an altitude of 3700m. Starting to feel the effects of the altitude. Finally made it to MBC where it was super cold! Huddled in the dining room and watched the light slowly fade over the mountains.

Day 4 : Not a good sleep last night courtesy of a rat, people wandering around in the dark and Juanita’s strange dreams of herding giant seahorses through New York City (must be the altitude/Diamox!). Left at 5am to make it to Annapurna Base Camp. Kaji impressed us with his mountaineering skills by leading us in the dark guided only by moonlight. A tough, cold walk to get to Base Camp. We watched the morning light slowly light up the mountains as we walked.

We finally made it to the top where the views were spectacular – we were surrounded by 360 degree views of 8 snow capped mountains. Had breakfast up there where Praty had a tough battle with a boiled egg. The egg won. Stayed until the sun came up over Machhapuchhre and thawed out our fingers and toes.

Then a tough descent of 1830m back down to Dovan where we enjoyed a cold drink and popcorn (yes, popcorn!). We spent the afternoon marvelling at the green 80′s eyeshadow of one of the French trekkers. Praty said it matched her jacket, but it still doesn’t make it right.

Day 5: A slow start to the day with both of us nursing sore knees. Then a massive climb back up to Chomrong via a never-ending staircase. Juanita counted the steps up to around the 2000 mark, but then a combination of delusion, denial and lack of dal baat set in and she lost count. We think it would have been around 3000  stairs up to Chomrong. Spent the night in Jinhu where we enjoyed the hot springs.

Day 6: Last day of the trek – we took a shortcut back down the rest of the mountain.  A much easier walk today and we enjoyed some flat ground instead of the steep up and downs we’ve encountered over the last few days.

Caught a taxi back to Pokhara where we have checked into a hotel overlooking the lake with views of the mountains. Dinner at Moondance Restaurant (we went there last time with the Nepal crew) – the pizza made a nice change from all the dal baat we’ve been eating! We’ve both just had a massage and Juanita enjoyed a luxurious shampoo and blowdry – using face wash as shampoo doesn’t work too well.

We fly back to Kathmandu tomorrow morning where we then catch a flight the next day to Lukla to do the Gokya Lakes trek which is about 9-10 days.

 

PS – Happy Birthday Abuella!

Arrived safely on Friday in Kathmandu to be greeted by Kaji, our guide from our last trip. Kaji and his wife Maya treated us to a delicious authentic Nepali lunch at their apartment in Kathmandu. Had a chilled out massage that evening (1 1/2 hours for $30 each – marvellous!) followed by masala dosa (Praty’s favourite) for dinner. Early to bed thanks to jet-lag.

A good sleep-in on Saturday morning followed by a bakery breakfast (tea, egg sandwiches and chocolate croissant) at the Pumpernickel Bakery. Spent the day planning the treks. We are going to do Annapurna Sanctuary (7 days), then 3 days relaxing by the lake in Pokhara, then off to Lukla for an 11 day trek up to Gokyo Lakes in the Everest region where we will be able to see Mt Everest. The viewpoint at Gokyo Lakes is at an elevation of 5450 m, so Annapurna Sanctuary will be a good training ground (it’s only 4200m )

Long bus ride today from Kathmandu to Pokhara. We set off early tomorrow and will probably be out of internet access for the next 7 days.

We’re leaving for Nepal today… We hope to keep in touch with you all via our blog. Next post will be from Kathmandu!