Tom’s adventures in Nepal

Performing Durbar Square

I ran into a French guy who did some juggling and here we made a little show together. On this same spot I once saw a bunch of western Hari Krishnas dancing around and evangelizing their beliefs, which seemed a paradox since at the time, Nepal was the only officially Hindu country in the world. Since I was there, the king lost his power and the new constitution declared it a secular state.

Durbar Square cutural center of Kathmandu

Durbar Square is in the center of the old city and is ringed by temples and tiered monuments where one can observe the goings on from above. It was one of the all-time coolest places to just hang-out and watch humanity pass by. Unfortunately, many of the buildings on the square were heavily damaged or destroyed by an earthquake in 2015.

Souvenir market by Durbar Square

This is the extension of Durbar Square, flanked by government buildings, as seen from the corner of the palace. Souvenirs for the tourists are sold here including human skulls or just the skullcaps, inlaid with silver and intricately carved. I bought such a skullcap for my older brother thinking at the time that this was “wild and cool”. In retrospect I can hardly believe I did it. Like where do the copses come from and who does such work? And does it really matter because I don’t come up with any possibilities that seem ethically acceptable.

Around Kathmandu

In the center of Kathmandu were many cheap hotels and restaurants catering to the many western backpackers. There was a law that hotels didn’t have to pay any tax if they were still under construction. The result was that there was always another floor being slowly added to most hotels. One could buy or rent anything necessary for trekking, even the most high tech gear was readily available. The expeditions to scale the peaks like Mt Everest cost millions of dollars and much of the equipment is sold afterwards to shops in Kathmandu.

While in Kathmandu, I met a girl in my hotel that was in great pain, which seemed to come from her teeth. There were only a handful of dentists in the whole country but I coincidentally knew one. A year before I was juggling on a beach in Thailand where I met an American guy with his family. He also juggled and we did a little passing. Turns out he lived in Kathmandu where he was a dentist for the American embassy. They usually only treated embassy personnel but he helped us out and gave the girl antibiotics for what he diagnosed as a sinus infection rather than a dental problem.

Kathmandu circus

I wandered extensively around Kathmandu and once ran into this circus set up on an empty lot. Okay, it looked pretty miserable and they only had half a tent, but maybe that was enough to protect from the sun and wind. I thought it would be interesting to meet the performers and maybe do something with them but nobody was around at the time. I regret not getting back to juggle with them but I was not sure I would find the spot again.

Street scenes

Just some typical street scenes. Like in India, Kathmandu had more than its share of Sadhus hanging around. There were always masses of people on the go. In addition to shops there were many street markets or vendors selling on the sidewalks.

Washing or making cloths in public

There were also some places in Kathmandu where people could wash their cloths – or themselves in public. Not sure if many homes  lacked running water or if this was meant more for the homeless. I also saw this woman weaving out on the street. No space at home or maybe she was selling her wares and it was just amore efficient use of her time to produce more while doing so. In the meantime an older sibling takes care of the younger.

Annapurna trek

One of the most popular treks in Nepal is around Annapurna, a few hundred kilometers west of Kathmandu. It takes most people around 9 or 10 days. This photo is from the beginning of the trek, which starts at a relatively low altitude where rice cultivation is still possible. Yet the route quickly become more challenging.

The trails along the Annapurna circuit are pretty clear and shown in the major guidebooks so one doesn’t need a guide.  But some people elect to take a porter to help carry their gear. There are few roads in Nepal so many things are transported by porters and donkeys. The trails are just dirt paths often prone to landslides or buried in avalanches. The danger is not so much that you will fall off of a trail somewhere but that a rock will on you from above. More than once, I had to cross areas with falling stones that were so narrow that one had to literally put one foot in front of the other.

Porters carry heavy loads

These are the packs of local porters who have stopped in to get some food or a drink of chai. Porters carry heavy loads on their backs for days into the mountains mostly with flimsy shoes if not barefoot. And the average Nepali was about half my size yet able to carry 3 times the load – respect! One was sometimes surprised to see and tempted by a bottle of coke available after a hard days trek but then I would have to realize how it was transported and think how unnecessary it was. Without roads, EVERYTHING had to be carried into the mountains and men used trails that even the often seen caravans of ponies or mules, like the photo right, would refuse to take.

Not optimally equiped for snow

Waiting to continue the trek, I put on my rented gaiters and stomped around in the snow. This is when I realized that the light Adidas hiking boots I had were completely slippery when wet and like most Gore-Tex boots they were not really waterproof either. When getting equipment for such a walk one should try to have the best boots and sleeping bag possible.

Difficulty with altitude

The following day’s walk was hell as I suffered from the altitude despite my extra day of acclimatization. The destination is just one building there to shelter and feed the trekkers at 4800 meters. About 100 people sleeping on wooden planks packed together like sardines. To eat were just some greasy noodles from which I caught Guardia for which I thankfully had medication along to treat myself with. I was definitely stressed and feeling bad from the altitude but was resolute on crossing the pass.

People started around 4 am to make sure they would be over the top by 10 am since later the winds tend to turn ferocious. This photo shows the summit, which was marked by a few prayer flags. Like everyone else I took a short break, had a drink of water but then pushed on to descend as fast as possible. Somehow I made it despite feeling so bad. I had no gloves and my hands were freezing until someone suggested I use my extra socks. My thinking was too muddled for me to even think of such an obvious solution myself.

Getting over can be life threatening

I would later meet a group of Israelis who were a couple days ahead of me and had been crossing the pass when the big snow came. They had trouble to find their way and it became dark soon after they started their decent. They eventually found a wall, the remains of an old hut where they huddled together and spent the night. The water in their canteens froze and they feared they wouldn’t survive. Then by daybreak they notice a plume of smoke a few hundred meters farther which came from a small intact hut. They stumbled to the hut relieved to find warmth and some friends that had spent the night there.

These were the lucky ones. Not so lucky were the 3 people who died in the pass a couple days after I went over. They got a late start and the winds came up stronger and earlier than normal. I also saw a family with kids of around 7 and 9 who had walked the other direction which is much more difficult. They had a porter who carried the smallest kid part of the time but the other one did it unassisted. Survival often just depended on the luck of the weather. These 2 panoramic photos were taken some hours later as I descended below the snow line.

Along the trail

Woman in Nepal have to share in much of the hard labor as one sees in this photo with an old woman carrying an awfully large bale of hay. Nepali men have a life expectancy of around 42 years. Although I saw plenty of small hovels, these building were pretty typical of what one saw along the route. For such a poor place, many of the homes seemed rather extensive but this is probably due to being right on a trade route.

Nepali rural architecture

There were a number of distinct styles of architecture in rural Nepal. Most houses were built from stone, often multiple stories, wooden window frames and doors. Ladders made from single logs gave access to upper entrances. There were also white prayers flags on all of the flat roofs. Others there tended to be round; with mud or cement layered over stone and straw used for the slanted roofing. Other buildings were made mostly from wood. They reminded me of the American western towns in old cowboy movies.

Simple accommodation, desolate landscapes

The accommodation throughout the mountains of Nepal was just extra rooms in private homes, hotels were non-existent. In this time, the people asked little to no money to put tourists up and barely covered their costs for the meals they provided. I tried to advise some of these people the concept of making a profit but it seemed to be against their sense of hospitality. The people lived on rice and lentils; locally know as dhal-bhat.

Some valleys the far side of the Annapurna pass were rather green and fertile. I saw strawberries being grown but the locals told me they only sold them. Even with the introduction of new foods they stuck to eating their dhal bhat, dhal bhat and more dhal bhat! Most of the terrain on the first half of the trek was dry and looked unable to support much agriculture. As seen in these photos, they tried to raise plants out of individual piles of dung placed on barren, rocky fields.

Dusty trails bad for asthma or contact lenses

This photo left is of a tea stand set up along the trail. It was a nice place to drop my pack, drink some tea and chat with these surprisingly cute girls. I was wearing my old thick glasses because I was unable to wear the soft contact lenses I usually used at the time. Most of the trail was so dusty that it irritated my eyes. It also affected my lungs, giving me a bad case of bronchitis and triggering my asthma. The photo right was nnother stop for a cup of chai or a cold drink along the route and a chat with the proprietor and her small child.

Otherwise, the walking was not all that bad. The distances most people did in a day were short of what I was actually able to do and I even some trekkers in their 50’s that simply took more time but managed quite well. My hint is that being used to your boots and having a properly fitted and not too heavy backpack are essential. Good sleeping bag, sunscreen and sunglasses are needed but one can leave the soap, shampoo and all but a small towel behind. It’s too cold to really wash even if you would have a place to do it.

Impoverished Nepali kids

I took this photo below left while leaving a small cluster of houses along the trail where I had stopped for lunch. I am not sure who was more intrigued by the other, these kids looking at the strange tourists or the westerners experiencing how people can live in one of the most underdeveloped parts of the world. Once, a boy not much older than the older of these kids came yelling down the trail. I had forgotten my sunglasses at a place I had eaten at and he ran half a kilometer to return them to me.

Despite many such examples of honesty and hospitality, the seeds of discontent that have plagued Nepal the last decade or so were already to be seen in 1990. Many young guys who worked in the larger villages at the end of the Annapurna route, impacted by the constant stream of trekkers, were getting aggressive. They seemed to long for the material wealth of the foreigners and seeing the extreme poverty, who can really blame them.

The shot below right is very cute in a way but also kind of sad. Other kids would play with dolls, Nepali kids start at an early age to carry heavy load on their head. I can’t imagine looking forward to a life of working like a beast of burden.

Tibetans in Nepal

Nepal is a predominately Hindu country yet one sees a large presence and influence of Buddhism. Hinduism actually incorporates Buddha into its fold by saying he is one reincarnation of a Hindu god. This photo shows a group of Tibetans who are very common in Nepal especially after the Chinese took over their country. The Tibetans are Buddhists and one sees many of their temples and artefacts. The burgundy cloth and orange sash worn by the one woman is typically Tibetan as are the facial features which tend to look more Asian than Indian.