Monday, May 31, 2004

To Tibet

Chilling in my favourite little internet cafe in Katmandu; five day overland trip to Lhasa booked for tomorrow morning. I was planning to spend the day finally updating this now sorely neglected blog... but No!

Word has just come through that strikes have pushed our departure date forward to today(!), and we've already missed the bus, which left without us this morning. We're going to hire a car and try to catch it at the border... gotta run...

More from Tibet here...

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 9:27 AM  0 comments  

Friday, May 28, 2004

Gourmet Pizza and Otherworldy Bargains

It's been quite a while since I've lived in a country that takes pizza really seriously, so my judgement is no doubt impaired, but the pizza we just had in a suave little restaurant in the grooviest corner of Kathmandu may just be the best I've ever eaten. Down the road the chocolate soufflé is to die for. The Korean restaurant was great, and the Japanese restaurants as good as they are in Japan. The german liquorice was delectable and the French patisserie divine. We feast on croissants, muesli, yoghurt and bountiful fresh fruit for breakfast every morning. Wallowing in this international gourmet paradise, we even managed to find a Nepalese restaurant one night!



The people of Kathmandu have the most extraordinary talent for knowing just what a foreign tourist wants, and serving it up to them in an irresistibly exotic package. Even an avowed shopping-hater like myself, soon fell under Kathmandu's spell. Wandering the winding misty alley ways, ancient statues of monkey gods and otherworldly temples of stone and damp wood loom up with as much frequency as the alluring shops full of ancient artefacts (real or not hardly seems to matter) and all manner of things you never new you needed (like my new $300 altimeter / barometer / compass / heart-rate monitor watch... how did I ever live without it). This seamless blend of the ancient and mystical with the irresistibly consumerist is just what gives Kathmandu its charm, and just what keeps the tourists here happily parting with their cash (though of course travellers cheques and credit cards are also welcomed).



Between the food, the shopping, the food, the nightly video screenings and the food, it takes quite an effort to get out of this tourist quarter of Kathmandu and see all the rest that this region has to offer.

Hmmmm.... chocolate souffle.....

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 9:10 AM  1 comments  

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Civilised Terrorism

If you're a foreigner in Nepal, the Maoist brand of terrorism certainly seems a civilised one. Only a couple of hours before we visited one temple in Pokhara, the Maosits had detonated a small bomb in a tiny governmnet office. But before setting it off, they announced their intentions to all present, and kindly asked all to evacuate the premises.

The Maoists will often stop tourists while they're trekking and demand a thousand rupee 'donation'. But after you've contributed, you are thanked for your support and written a receipt so you won't have to pay again next time. We even heard of people being invited to join their robbers for lunch.

We saw the burnt out shells of a number of vehicles beside the roads. The Maoists are notorioius for setting fire to buses and cars, but never with people inside, and only those cars caught driving on Maoist-appointed national strike days.



And it was just one of these strike days that forced us to extend our stay in the Annapurnas. As we approached the end of our trek, rumours were flying around about strikes and a clash in the area between the Maoists and the military. Perhaps it was just common sense, perhaps it was the idylic mountain setting we found ourselves in, perhaps the good company of our fellow hikers, or perhaps it was just the deep-fried Mars Bars (don't knock them'till you've tried them!). Whatever the reason, we decided to play it safe and stay in the tiny village of ____ for another couple of days.



After two days, a lot of good food, countless games of cards and a swim under the nearby waterfall, we walked the last half hour to the taxi stand and got a ride back to Pokhara.

This time there had been no clash, and we'd had a good time of it all. But the reality is that for the local people, Nepal's problems are certainly no joke. You didn't have to be terribly perceptive to see it in the faces of the villagers and shopkeepers, who would sigh in resignation and mourn the glory days before 9/11, and before the political break down, when tourists were many and the milk and honey flowed. It's hard to see a quick end to the stalemate, but Good Luck Nepal!

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 8:53 AM  0 comments  

Saturday, May 15, 2004

The Extreme Pain Will Only Last a Few Minutes

If you find youself with bad blisters and many days left to walk, and have only a tube of super glue with you, consider this treatment: Puncture the blister with a needle, drain the fluid and then insert a small amount of super glue under the skin. The glue should hold the skin in place, and the extreme pain will only last a few minutes.
-- exert from Blair's "Wilderness Survival Handbook"

Now where is that tube of super glue when you need it?!



My blog has finally earnt its name. Walking down the Kali Kandaki Valley, which is the deepest in the world, each step is like treading on nails. No combination of bandaging, limping nad pussy footing seems to help. As the valley gets deeper and the terrain greener, the only thing keeping me going is the thought of the hot springs which lie a little further ahead in Tatopani (Nepalese for 'hot water').

My imagination gets carried away dreaming of these springs, until in my mind they are an impossibly scenic steamy heaven surrounded by tall green cliffs. But when we finally arrive, they are all that I had hoped for: Two large inviting pools of hot or devilishly hot water; a few metres away the fast flowing mountain river for a cold dunk; and the now lush green sides of the steep ravine rising sheer on each side.



We stay at the rustic but very cool guest house a few minutes away. Two days were scarcely enough...

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 8:23 AM  0 comments  

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Vast Mountain Beauty and the Power of Britney Spears

We had flown to Jomsom, deep in the Annapurnas and walked up the harsh stoney valley, treeless mountains rising up on either side. We arrived breathless from the altitude at Kagbeni, a small oasis of green in this vast, empty world. Set amid this high alpine desert, Kagbeni rests on the border of upper Mustang, a wild land still lost in legend, cut off to the world by its US$700 entry fee. Around this tiny medieval Tibetan hamlet, the mountains rise up so sheer that the sun sets in the mid-afternoon, and we watch goat herders bring their flocks down these 'hillsides' that you'd be forgiven for calling cliffs. We amble through the town, soaking up the vast timelessness of it all.


View into Upper Mustang

And then I see her - and a particulaly crass poster at that. Britney Spears, cheesy as ever, plastered up on a white-washed wall just inside the door of one of these ancient homes. And reality comes crashing home!



Remote and harsh this roadless land may be, but cut off from the outside world it is not. Just around the corner from Britney, we come upon a Seven Eleven (albeit a Nepalese rip-off) and a restaurant called YakDonalds, specialising in the tastiest Yak Burgers this side of Katmandu. The trek we are on - the Jomsom Trek - is perhaps the most civilised in Nepal, sometimes nicknamed the Apple Pie Trek, in tribute no doubt to the culinary delights that abound at the guesthouses all along the way.

Rather than bemoan this loss of wildness, we decide to relish it. At dinner that night, we delight in eavesdropping on one of the neighbouring tables as our fellow-hikers discuss the virtues of the French and Ukranian wines. At the other table, the young man sits quietly reading Dostoyevsky. The Yak Burger Happy Meal was delicious.

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 8:10 AM  0 comments  

Friday, May 07, 2004

Enchanting Mountain Vistas

Pokhara boasts some of the most magnificent mountian views in the world. The lofty peak of sacred Machapuchare soars, and behind it looms the mighty Annapurna range. And all of this snow-clad glory is reflected in the peacful waters of Phewa Lake...

But not in May.

May in Nepal marks the build up to the rainy season, and the skies are relentlessly cloudy. Even if they part for a while, the pre-monsoon haze ensures there are no mountains to be seen.

Sarankot - a village atop a hill next to Pokara - is said to offer some of the most enchanting mountain vistas in Nepal. We climbed it one afternoon and spent the night, hoping to catch at least a glimpse of this alpine splendour all around us.

The photos speak for themselves:


What we're suuposed to see


What we got

A bout of food poisoning was all I got for my efforts.

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 8:03 AM  1 comments