If Nepal was for dinner, we'd have seconds.

Sore Feet, Achy Legs, Perfect Mountains

After catching a tourist bus (less shitty than a public bus. . . but still shitty) from Kathmandu to Pokhara, we checked into a guesthouse, procured a couple rental sleeping bags, grabbed a quick bite, and crashed for the evening. The next morning, we had a nice breakfast, made birthday calls to our sisters, then caught a taxi to Besisahar. From Besisahar, we took a bus down the 7 km jeep trail to Khudi. In Khudi, we started our 210 km march of the Annapurna Circuit Loop Trail through the heart of the Himalayas. The trail starts at 810 meters of elevation. From there, our legs took us about 120 km to a max elevation of 5,400 meters (17,800 feet), before descending the final 90 km to Beni, situated at 1,200 meters . . . . long, slow up then long, slow down.

The hike itself was sensational . . . steep, deep river valleys with rice, potato, and buckwheat fields carved out of the mountain side in the lowlands; lush pine forests at mid-elevations; and rocky, barren mountain landscapes at high elevations. Six, seven, and eight thousand meter peaks filled the skyline in almost all places. Sensory overload for 15 days.

On top of it all . . . . no roughing it. In each of the small villages, of which there are plenty (the trail was created initially as a foot path from village to village over hundreds of years), you’ll find anywhere from 1 to 10 small lodges which will happily provide a warm, comfortable bed at night and a delicious plate of food at a very reasonable price (dhal bat set for $3, Snickers for $0.80, not bad considering a good portion of the food is carried up by porters – human ants carrying 150 lbs).

On the trail, we met up with some Dutch friends we initially met in Lhasa. While in Kathmandu, we had planned to catch up with them at some point. About 9:30 am on our second day of hiking, we saw a couple of hikers waving their walking sticks and shouting enthusiastically . . . we had caught up with Hub and Debbie. It was great having another couple with whom to hike and enjoy the evenings (we were about 2 weeks ahead of the main season, October, so things were extremely quiet on the trail – only 20 hikers a day were starting the trek at that time, we had most lodges to ourselves). In the evenings, Hub and I played Claviese (favorite game of card lovers in the Netherlands), my new favorite card game. Once we crossed the pass into the Mustang territory, we became connoisseurs of the local apple brandy.

All in all, the hike was a terrific time . . . my only complaint is the fact they are in the process of constructing roads up both sides of the pass. This sucks as it will pretty much destroy the whole trekking experience. Unfortunately, a good majority of the people in this remote area think the road will help them (cheaper supply of goods, easier to get vegetables back to bigger towns for sale, etc.). However, when asked where their source of income comes from, the answer is always tourism, which is pretty obvious when in the area . . . In October and November alone, 60,000 trekkers pass through the villages. They understand that trekkers don’t like roads and that it will have a significant, if not cataclysmic, effect on tourism (which they concede is the source of their money . . . . and they have it a hell of a lot better than most Nepalese), but they still think “road is good”. I disagree, but that’s only one man’s opinion. Let’s hope I’m wrong for their sake.

If you do this hike: I’ve only got a couple of tips.
#1 Watch out for the poo . . . . there’s lots of it. There’s more donkey porters than trekkers, so the supply is fresh and copious.
#2 Stay at lodges with a 1+:1 female:male ratio . . . dude’s may try to run a kitchen and lodge, but they generally suck at it. A lady’s touch.is sorely needed high in the mountains. The only exception to this rule is at the High Camp Lodge just before the pass . . . these guys are pros.
#3 Eat as many pastries in Manang as humanly possible . . . . you’re going to be sitting there anyway for an acclimatization day so you might as well consume 11,000 calories of chocolate danishes.

Back to civilization.

After a couple weeks and a day on the trail, we arrived at Beni, the end of the trek. We plopped ourselves on a public bus for the 4 hour rattle back to Pokhara, where all the conveniences of the tourist world awaited . . . endless hot showers, internet, and a wide variety of chow. The next day it rained all day, which is funny because we had spectacular weather the entire trek. We found a couple comfortable chairs at the Bamboostian Teahouse and settled in for a day of movie watching, the perfect activity for our tired bodies. That evening, we met up with Hub and Debbie at the New Everest Steakhouse for some superb cow and a beautiful glass of red wine . . . a nice end to the trek and goodbye dinner.

Holy Rhinos!!!!

The next morning, we boarded a tourist bus for Royal Chitwan National Park to enjoy a couple days of safari living. We found a terrific lodge on the river bordering the park . . . the perfect place to relax before heading to our next destination, the not so relaxing India. The next morning, Megan and I boarded a dugout canoe and headed down the Rhapti River. The highlight of the float was passing a massive old rhino just chilling in the cool water of the river. After 45 minutes, we took the canoe ashore and headed into the dense forest of the park for a jungle walk. Lead by our fearless guides, K-Pee and Usa, we marched through the mangrove swamps, thick bush, and steamy grasslands. We managed to see a number of monkeys (rhesus and langurs), birds, and deer . . . nothing too big or crazy (tiger, elephant, rhino) on the walk. The only problem with the jungle walk was the overabundance of leeches hanging out, just waiting for a warm body. Unfortunately, 6 of the bastards successfully treated themselves to breakfast on Rob. Megan was more successful at swift identification and removal . . . no blood loss for her.

After returning to the lodge, we headed down to the river to watch the elephant bathing, a daily occurrence. I stripped down to my trunks and joined the party. I hopped aboard a younger elephant, which I came to the quick conclusion was minimally trained. Sitting atop an elephant is supposed to be a fun, peaceful experience. This first elephant was more like a rodeo bull. After being bucked back into the river several times, I hung up my spurs and went in search of an older, more sedate elephant. Fortunately, I found a nice 36 year old female (elephant) to ride. I tipped the driver 100 rupees ($1.50) and we headed out into deep water where the old girl proceeded to hose me down a handful of times with her trunk . . . good solid playing with elephants fun.

That afternoon, Megan and I boarded a different elephant and headed into the forest. For a couple of hours we rocked back and forth, spotting a handful of rhinos, including a baby, and several herds of the local deer . . . cool experience. The remainder of our time in Chitwan was spent relaxing at one of two river front places . . . staring at the grasslands and river (we saw a wild elephant several times as well as crocs and gators), doing soduku, reading, and enjoying quiet candle-lit dinners.

Enough of these beautiful mountains, friendly people, and relaxing landscapes . . . let’s go to India.

After a few days and nights in the park, we boarded yet another bus for the sound and fury known as India. We arrived in Sunauli (border) around 2:00 pm, where we grabbed some noodles, changed money, and banged through customs. Next, we piled into a Bolero Jeep with 13 of our closest friends for Gorakhpur. In Gorakhpur , we caught a train for Varanasi, the first destination of most backpackers entering from Nepal.

We arrived in Varanasi around 4:30 am and found a clean, quiet hotel where we crashed for the remainder of the morning. That afternoon, we headed down to the sacred Ganges River to see what the city was all about. I can’t recall the Lonely Planet’s exact description of Varanasi, but I think it goes something like “this idyllic city, located on the picturesque banks of the Ganges River, is the beating heart of Hinduism”. After a couple of minutes (not hours), I believe my wife would probably recommend the following edit “this shithole, located on the garbage strewn banks of the filthiest river in the world, is the stinking armpit of the universe”. The whole go to India thing was not going so well.

First Impression: What is the fastest way to get out of this country?

However, we persevered. Our patience was rewarded with the sight of burning corpses (very sacred Hindu ritual performed on the banks of the Ganges, bodycount numbers 300+/day . . . soul is carried to heaven by the flames/smoke of the fire). This was not my wife’s idea of a vacation . . . tears fell (#7 – I’ve blown my target of 4 times, but all in all, 7 ain’t that bad). We retreated to the rooftop restaurant of one of the riverside guesthouses where we regrouped from the rough start.

We enjoyed a nice lunch, the company of the restaurant crew, and the surprisingly pleasant views of the river and city from there. Megan put it best when she said that, Varanasi is beautiful from a distance, but shit up close. That evening, we watched a religious ceremony at the main bathing ghat (where believers wash in the river), a tribute to the holy river.

The next morning, I awoke at 4:45 am and headed down to the river for a sunrise boat trip (supposedly the nicest time of day). Megan opted to sleep as she was already fully satisfied with her Varanasi experience. I found a young guy to paddle me up and down the Ganges as the new sun cast a warm glow on the riverfront. It was actually really nice. However, I did see a floating corpse at one point, which is also quite common here (they don’t burn 5 types of people . . . children, pregnant women, holy men, unmarried men/women, and cobra bit victims . . . instead they plop them in the river).

I don’t want to seem like I’m mocking the culture or religion . . . it was just a bit much, a bit quick. We left Varanasi on an afternoon train, hoping this was as bad as it got.

Next Up: Agra

We caught a night train to Agra, home of the legendary Taj Mahal. We got in shortly after noon today. We had a very nice Indian fellow in our sleeper cabin. We were asking him about the condition of other cities, relative to Varanasi. Much to our delight, Varanasi was a 10 on the filthy scale, while other cities ranged from 2 to 7 according to this gentleman. What a relief! However, seeing is believing. When we got into Agra, we were pleasantly surprised to find treelined avenues and relatively clean neighborhoods. We’ve only been here a few hours, but things are definitely looking up. Tomorrow, we’re going catch the sunrise over the Taj Mahal, then head to the Agra Fort in the afternoon. It should be great.

From here:

After Agra, we’re headed to Rajasthan, a beautiful desert area west of Delhi . . . every traveler we’ve met seems to love it there.

As far as the volunteering thing goes, saving the world ain’t so easy. We haven’t heard back from our contact in northern India for several weeks. Not sure what happened there, but it doesn’t look like we’re headed north . . . kind of a headscratcher. We’ve got a couple e-mails out to people back in Thailand who can hopefully use some helping hands at the tail end of our trip.

We really love and miss everybody . . . getting close to the end of the trip makes us long for home, but we’re going to push on a week or two more in good old India before heading to Thailand for a bit of R&R and hopefully volunteering.

Big congrats to SKG!!!!!!