Three and a half years have lapsed since I closed out my six months of traveling and blogging my way around southeast Asia. The blog was a little bit of a chore, but truth be told, I really enjoyed it. This blog was the closest thing I had approximating work or a job while I was traveling back then. Travel blogging helped me feel connected to my friends and family back home and the ones scattered all around the world. Although I haven't given up traveling by any means, I do miss being a full-time traveler and I miss the creative outlet of blogging so I figured why not dust off the ole Coconut and revive the blog with a few new entries from Nepal? Between my camera and Akila's I think we have over 3100 Nepal photos to choose from!
SO, Nepal....
We began our trip by non-reving on United to Delhi for a misrable 10+ hour sit. We took the 10:35pm red-eye from Newark and arrived around 8:30pm local the following day (16hr flight). After claiming our bags and clearing customs we were staring down about a nine hour sit before our 6:30am flight to Kathmandu. Due to the quasi-short nature of our sit and since everyone knows New Delhi is city full of completely craven thieves, cut-throats and way-too-horny gang rapists that acquire unstoppable powers after dark, we figured it foolish to risk leaving the relative safety of the airport in order to check into a comfortable hotel. We instead opted to rent two lounge chairs with shaky WiFi and bathroom access in a private traveler's spa inside the Delhi airport for four hours at a price comparable to a hotel.
As you can see Akila quicky settled into our temporary digs and proceeded to extract value and Z's for our money while I mostly fidgeted with the WiFi and listened to the late night noises of the airport. After a wink or two and a refresh in one of the spa's private bathrooms we had a late night snack of south Indian breakfast food; Vedas, Dosas, Idlis, etc. (Minus the chutney for me, I was banned. Too early in the trip to risk it on uncooked condiments) Sated, we headed to the Jet Airways check-in counter around 3am for our 6:30 flight to Kathmandu.
Flying into Kathmandu we were seated on the wrong side of the plane for views of the Himalayas but we still managed to sneak a few peeps here and there. My first up close look at the Himalayas really got me excited about our trip and the upcoming trek to Annapurna base camp.
The Kathmandu international arrival hall was brick, wood, low-ceilinged and cozy like a ski chalet. Things went quickly, but were a bit hectic and confused as the procedures seemed hazy for most travelers. We got our photos snapped and our visas in less than fifteen minutes and off we went to claim our bags yet again before begining the third and final leg of our trip to Pokhara. Kathmandu to Pokhara is eight to ten hours by bus or twenty minutes by airplane. Things got a bit more interesting at this point as booking domestic travel inside of Nepal on your own in advance is a iffy proposition. I attempted to purchase two tickets online from Budda Air the night before our Delhi flight but the only thing I could procure after giving away my credit card number was a screenshot of a confirmation number from some random sounding third party vendor. Not a ticket number, not a record locator, but something a little bit better than pure chance. Despite arriving by 8:00am, I played it safe and booked a flight on the 12:00 flight, although there was no mention of this fact either on my little screenshot. The Kathmandu domestic departures terminal looks like a chicken coop from the outside and people not holding paper tickets are not allowed access to the inside of the terminal where all of the ticket counters and airline employees are.
Outside there are a couple of tiny, partially shuttered screen windows, some with 4x4 inch holes where travelers can shout questions at the people inside who may or may not be airline employees, who may or may not understand you, and who may or may not want to help you. After about 45 minutes of frustration at all of the little cut-out windows/shouty-holes, and while Akila was waiting in another line to buy tickets to Pokhara on another airline, I finally had a breakthrough with a new guy on duty inside the unmarked Buddha Air hole and was issued real tickets in exchange for my alphanumeric string of characters! Horray!
Things get even better once we are inside as we manage to sweet talk our way onto the 10:00am flight and we are off to an almost immediate departure!
We get two seats in the very back of an ATR turboprop like the one above for our short flight to Pokhara. Once again we didn't manage to get many mountain views during the flight, this time because the peaks of the Annapurna range were already becoming obscured by clouds at our late morning take-off time. We arrived in tiny charming Pokhara with no game plan and grab the first taxi waiting outside the airport. We ask to be driven to the "Lakeside" tourist district. From my understanding Lakeside is the only game in town for tourist accommodations. Our driver suggests a little family run place called 'Green Tara' and we figured what the heck? We were far to tired to pound pavement saddled with our bags and the only other ideas we have are from a very outdated 2008 Lonely Planet "Trekking Nepal". Staying at the Green Tara Inn proves to be one of the best decisions of our trip. It was very quite and charming. The Nepali family who runs the inn is just lovely, from the moment we walked through the door they were super helpful and they sprung into action acting as our travel agents, trekking advisors and concierge service. Jeevan from Green Tara arranged for a courier service to drop off and process both our TIMS card (Trekking Information Management System?) and our ACA Permit (Annapurna Conservation Area) in a matter of hours. The TIMS card is required for trekking anywhere in Nepal and the ACA Permit is just for the Annapurna conservation area, but both are no-go items which must be obtained prior to beginning any Annapurna trek. They both need to be validated at the appropriate checkpoints at the beginning and the end of your trek.
 |
| TIMS and ACA permit. Not a bad souvenir for the scrapbooker. |
It is advisable for other travelers to expect at least a 24 hour processing times for these permits especially if you're arriving on a Saturday afternoon like we did. Jeevan also took care of all of our return flight reservations to Kathmandu including a last minute flight change after our trek concluded earlier than anticipated allowing for a visit to Kathmandu. The folks at Green Tara really were awesome!
Pokhara is a fantastic little backpacker town with a super chill vibe and a heart of gold. It has a picturesque little lake and jaw-dropping views of the Annapurna range on clear days. When we first arrived around noon the mountains were obscured by clouds, but by that evening around sunset it had cleared enough that we were able to make out the outlines of a few peaks. We awoke the morning of our planned trek to brillant clear skys and shocking views of the higest, most dramatic mountains I have ever seen in my life, including Machhapuchhre, Annapurna 1-4, Annapurna South, and Dhalugiri. Peeking outside the window when I awoke I saw this:
We then ran up to the roof and took this photo:
 |
| HDR photo made from combining three images |
AK beside Phewa lake:
 |
Besides the mountains and Phewa lake, Pokhara is gifted with a glut of bargain priced accommodations and an insane amount of stores selling Chinese knock-off trekking gear, Himalayan crafts, jewelry, art, handicrafts and of course book stores, restaurants, bars, and other back-packer staples. The trekking stores do have some genuinely good buys but one needs a sharp eye and a good idea of what you hope to buy beforehand. Name brands and proprietary technology are all just a confusing jumble of embroidery and tags to your average Pokharan, because 99% of the outdoor merchandise being sold in Pokhara are Chinese fakes of Western name brands. Any logo that a Chinese merchant thinks looks sharp or carries a cachet, well that's what gets sewed on. I bought a great looking rain jacket that I really believe is real Goretex, but I purchased it hastily only to discover later the hood was crap (it covers 3/4's of my head). It pays to remember when grabbing fake gear that would have cost $400-500 USD back home for $35 (or less) corners will be cut... somewhere. Buyer beware indeed. That being said, there really are bargains to be found.
Since I've already begun the gear discussion, what can you buy in Pokhara for your upcoming Annapurna trek you may ask? Simple: Anything. What would I recommend buying? Well it depends... If you're the type of person that would show up in Nepal intending to trek, but with no gear of your own, well congratulations. You're not the fussy type and you probably won't mind the value priced Chinese knock-off merchandise one bit. Go crazy and enjoy saving a bunch of cash. I scored a super lightweight, very thin nylon bag liner for Akila for $6 ($40 USD minimum back home) and after the trek I bought a great lightweight thin foam and mylar mat that would have been great for the damp beds on a Teahouse trek for $4 or 400 Nepali Rupees. Rain jackets of varying materials, zip-leg pants, synthetic T's and long sleeve shirts, aluminum trekking poles, fleece jackets, beanies, and neck gaiters while of dubious origins all seem to be of acceptable quality and a good buy. I would exercise extreme caution when purchasing sleeping bags or down jackets billed as "high quality" or God forbid "super-down" (as in assume chicken feathers) and I would not under any circumstances outside of an extreme emergency consider buying a pair of hiking boots/shoes from Pokhara. If you plan to trek in Nepal please bring a broken-in pair of these from home as you will be walking, A LOT, and you will be doing so under trying conditions. Blisters are a complication you don't want on the trail and you don't want your fake Vibram soles to peel off your fake leather boots halfway up the Annapurnna base camp trek with no way to repair or replace your shoes. Flip-flops (thongs) for the shower and relaxing at days end are a perfectly acceptable and smart purchase in Pokhara however. Regarding the down items and the sleeping bags in particular, despite what you might hear elsewhere, I would recommend you not bring them on an ABC trek unless: 1.) you have a porter, OR (2.) you are doing the hike during late fall to early spring (November to April?) when the nights do get quite chilly. If you are reading this for planning purposes please note I am recommending ditching the down gear for the Annapurna Base Camp trek a.k.a. Annapurna Sanctuary trek, NOT the Annapurna Circuit trek which is high enough to be chilly even in the middle of summer. Throng La Pass is almost 18,000 feet high and Tilcho Lake is around 16,000. Hikers will need the goose down year-round up there.
We completed our ABC (Annapurna Base Camp) trek between September 15th and the 23rd and the coldest temperature I was able to record on my ABC wristwatch (altimeter-barometer-compass) was 48 degrees Fahrenheit up at Annapurna base camp around 4:30 am. Everywhere else temperatures hovered anywhere from the upper sixties to mid-fifties in our various rooms at night. In order to save weight and bulk we only carried very thin, lightweight sleep sacks (me- silk, Akila- nylon) and we made do with the provided blankets. We were never cold and for the record my wife is easily chilled. We slept with wool socks and our beanies on from 8000 feet up, but other than the dampness that haunted us, particularly at Himalaya and Doban, we were quite comfortable. Some people in addition to three-season sleeping bags even suggest packing inflatable sleeping pads but that seems extremely unnecessary to me. If I had it to do over I would have left behind the extraneous gear that I packed (I might delve into this matter later), swapped the silk sleep sack for my REI 55 degree synthetic summer weight sleeping bag and taken the Pokhara $4, five ounce, thin foam and mylar sleeping pad I previously mentioned. This combo would have been warm enough to make the damp, heavy teahouse blankets un-needed and the thin foam pad would have blocked the moisture seeping up through the mattresses. Once again though if you plan to do this trek without porters you need to count every ounce, and the silk/nylon sleep sack is the absolute lightest option that still provides a barrier between you and the sometimes grimy teahouse bedding. Trust me, less is truly more on this trek, BUT... as previously mentioned if you're hiring a porter you can splurge a bit more on multiple outfit changes and creature comforts like a bulky giant down bag that you will only use one or two nights. If you do opt for a porter (There is certainly no shame in that, in fact most trekkers do choose to hire a porter and/or a guide and by doing so provide much needed work for the locals) don't be a jerk. Porters are people too and if you don't need something on the trek (brass idols, medicine bowls, all of your souvenirs from your RTW backpacking trip) there's no reason not to leave it behind at your hotel in Pokhara. I really had to wonder what was in the gigantic bags I saw some porters herking up the mountain. If your bag is over 15kg on a teahouse trek you've really gone too far. If your porter needs a head strap, well you're just an jerk and you should be ashamed.
Enough about trail matters. Let's enjoy some pretty pictures of Pokhara now, shall we?
 |
| Pokhara, the kind of town where a Buffalo can be a Buffalo |
 |
| Boys can walk their camels in peace |
 |
| Crows can contemplate the meaning of the Himalayas |
 |
| Hotel windows can soar with beauty |
 |
| The Annapurna range can be itself morning after glorious morning. (HDR) |
Next up: blood, guts, sweat, leaches, yak cheese, gold and glory- The fabled Annapurna Base Camp Trek.
