January 20 It Just Wah Wah Wah.
Our final night in Nepal. Yes. The last night in India was awful. Gorakhpur is such a hole. The room was scum, mosquito's everywhere putting their malaria into me, and rats scurrying round my feet as I choked down the last Thali. We had met a Brazilian couple on the train and they proposed getting a taxi from Sonauli to Kath together. Lonely Planet 2007 edition says Rs 850. No, it isn't. We were pleasantly (un)surprised to be told Rs 7000. Devastating for all involved. The taxi driver didn't seem to understand we genuinely couldn't afford it. Got a private mini bus for cheaper than the public bus thanks to our bargaining savvyness. But it was terrible. On that note, this 'holiday' involved a grand total of 102 bus and 30 train hours. Outstanding. Kath was full of excitement. The rubbish collectors have been asking for higher pay, the Maoist government responded with murder and leg removal. So there is no rubbish collection. I wouldn't have thought it would be too noticeable, I mean, there's trash everywhere anyway, but it so completely is. Big piles of rotting garbage all over. Also, turns out the explosion we saw and heard at the post office just down from the micro bus stand was in fact a bomb. And there's been others at the airport. King's loyalists apparently. Joy. Niru was about twenty metres from the post office one and us perhaps 200, only very small but still... I'm sick, again. And because it's the middle of winter and Nepal relies on hydroelectricity and it doesn't rain in winter and India demands a significant percentage of Nepal's produced electricity anyway, Kath has four hours of electricity a day. Pretty much, we want to go home. EXCEPT. Tony contacted Niru to let him know our plane had been delayed for a day in case we didn't know. Seeing as we had already checked and it said nothing, we didn't know. And a day late made my getting to best man duties on time a big ask, plus I needed that day to get NZ and America organised. No fun. We went to the Singapore Airlines office to find out what was happening. No, it's not postponed (thank god), it was cancelled a week ago (oh shit). Had to leave a day early (yes, please) go via Delhi (with it's lack of transit?! shambles) and wait 17 hours (actually really easy) at the majestic, flawless and ultra clean Singapore Airport to make our original connecting to Sydney. Done. Next.
Currently in Christchurch. The greatest city in all the world.
Nepal. You need to sort out your shit. And if you keep charging tourists bullshit excessive fees and what not, they will stop coming. You have a beautiful country though. And generally beautiful people. Stop letting Indians in. And your younger generations know about the rest of the world, so you may have some explaining to do. But I might see you in ten years.
India. You are filthy and difficult and severely overpopulated and are hardly 'developing' as far as I can see. You make me fear for the future of this planet. Your people are rude, arrogant, slimey, stare too much, gross, and all around hopeless, with poor dental hygiene. I'm sure I sound racist, and that might be a slight generalisation, but that doesn't make it untrue. But I'll be back, you are interesting and a fun challenge, if nothing else.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Maybe if you don't turn around all the time you'll find what you're looking for...
January 10 There Is A Distinct Lack Of Teeth, But We Can At Least Try I Suppose.
Nothing much yesterday, tried to get here (Kausani), but got foiled by buses and roadworks. No dice. Arrived early this morning, it's by far the most pleasant village, town or city I've seen in the country. Superb Himalaya views from our hotel room. Went for a walk to a viewpoint that is much worse than we have from here and that's about all there is to do. So it's kind of boring, but nice. It has currently resorted to a terrible Mexican zombieslashvampire film starring Jon Bon Jovi. Followed by a convict escape movie featuring the worst spoken word 'jazz poetry' ever in the history of everything.
January 11 Yeah, Torque Is Definitely The Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen.
And we thought last nights movies were awful. Who comes to India to watch bad American cinema anyway? Oddly comfortable and suspiciously easy bus trips today. Much quicker than anticipated and being completely immobile and wedged in the midgets only back seat wasn't as bad as it sounds. Got to Nainital about 2pm and proceeded to get hammered by hotel touts, whom I'm surprised Anthony even bothered dealing with. Ended up with a cheap TV room that is pretty scummy. Nainital is even nicer than Kausani, amazing, and the food is outstanding. Explore tomorrow.
January 12 Got Any Spare Change Man?
Walked up through morning mist and plastic fire fumes to the ridge line above town for the supposedly amazing "snow view". Presumably they mean the mountains. And yes, the view is all vast and impressive despite me being close to mountained out, but the viewpoint is terrible. I'm not suggesting they cut down a few dozen trees just so people can see distant mountains, but why build a fairly comprehensive viewpoint (including a horrible fun park and optional cable car between town and viewpoint, no thanks, I remember the last one) in a forest? Walked back down to the other side of the lake, Naini Tal, which the town is built around and is quite lovely and largely clean thanks to a lot of work and positive re-enforcement. Watched a cricket match, the red team ploughed the yellow team, in case you were wondering. Returned to last nights dinner find for lunch, so good, mini golf is closed so not much doing this afternoon.
January 13 And This Inferiority, Is Complex.
Currently on the train to Varanasi, not as comfortable or easy as the last one. Booking a ticket was near impossible, and sleeper class was full anyway (that's not why booking was hard though, you'd still get a ticket if someone was willing to help despite it being full). Some of the rail staff are beyond helpful and pleasant, but they tend to be the ones who are of least use which is frustrating. We jumped on sleeper with nothing more than a general ticket for the pack-em-in second class, after finding the conductor to upgrade our ticket he gave us the "should be empty" guards seat without even looking at our ticket. Sometimes being white is has benefits. The seat's a pretty uncomfortable place to spend ten hours, at least we think it's going to take that long, but it's better than second for sure. We're going to get to Varanasi at a super awkward time, 3.30am perhaps. Finding a hotel is going to be fun. So glad to be back in Uttar Pradesh, the state that smells completely of human urine (no exaggeration, no lie).
January 14 I Think, Somehow, A Day, Night And Another Day just Happened.
Yeah, the train got worse. Got up for a leg stretch at Lucknow and returned to find our seat occupied by three smug, arrogant Indian weed-men. Apparently another conductor told them to sit there. Our conductor was nowhere to be found, arguing wasn't worth the bother. Ended up sitting on my pack in the filthy end of the carriage between a sleeping man, the exit doors, a not-working-but-everyone-wants-to-try-anyway sink and the toilets which every time one was opened peppered us with that enchanting Uttar Pradesh urine smell. Yet despite this, it was actually much more comfortable than the seat. We later got moved to another guards seat in another carriage, only to arrive in Varanasi shortly after. At 2am. Now what do we do for 6 hours? We ended up getting minorly lost and going the long way to the Old City, killed some time. Got to Raj Ghat about 4am, which is the Northernmost Ghat in the city (Ghats... stairs going down to the river where Hindus bathe from? Not sure exactly, I know what they are, just not what they are, if you catch me, probably ask wikipedia) and walked down along the river, getting to the Old City about 6. It was very nice in the pre-dawn murk actually, and more and more people were coming down for their bathe. Finding a hotel was quite painful. Even at that time touts are everywhere. What they usually do is take you to a hotel, these are generally easy to find anyway, these men serve little purpose other than to annoy. If you follow them, they get a commission from the hotel, and you pay extra on your room (you're not supposed to know) to cover said commission. At Varanassi they have a bad habit of just standing in front of a hotel and when they see you approach reception, they run in and ask for you, so as to get their commission. So so so damn annoying, but that's India. Got an okish hotel that's right on the river, crashed.
January 15 Why Don't People Like Us?
Walked up to Gay Ghat this morning and got a boat ride back down to Dasawamedh Ghat, which is the major tourist point along this stretch of The Ganges (hard to believe this filth is the same river we saw at Haridwar and Rishikesh). Boat rides are the token tourist activity and well worth it, even with an annoying weed of a boatsman. The Ghats, the river here and all the people and activity are amazing, definitely one of the most incredible places I've been to. It's crazy to see thousands of Hindus coming down every day for their bathe (probably ask wikipedia again, I don't know the details exactly) in this river which, despite how holy it is to them, is absolutely disgusting. The water is literally (yes, literally) septic, on top is a layer of grime, oil and trash, cremated bodies are dumped (it's not uncommon to see half cremated bodies in the river, we weren't so lucky) and raw sewerage pumped into the river constantly and to think it's about a third to half the population of India who rely on this river for survival. Yeah, it's hard to have hope for a country whose centuries of tradition have placed them here, like this. It's actually people's job to put lime all over the Ghats every couple of mornings because people piss everywhere and anywhere. Experiencing the Ghats from the river and land was something I enjoyed a lot, even if enjoyed doesn't sound like the right word. This afternoon we walked a couple of kilometres south, upstream, to a sensationally disappointing fort. Although it did scratch a lot of urban decay itches. Then again, this country IS urban decay. Probably walked more today than on most of our trekking days.
January 16 Rats And Rats And Rats For Candy.
And that's India pretty well done. Gorakphur by train tomorrow, cross back to Nepal 18th and fly home 22nd. Supposed to go to Sarnath this afternoon, but it's not worth the cost. Power cuts ruined the end of the cricket and The Replacements. We have a mouse as a roommate and the worst lumpy, filthy, straw-filled bed of all time.
Nothing much yesterday, tried to get here (Kausani), but got foiled by buses and roadworks. No dice. Arrived early this morning, it's by far the most pleasant village, town or city I've seen in the country. Superb Himalaya views from our hotel room. Went for a walk to a viewpoint that is much worse than we have from here and that's about all there is to do. So it's kind of boring, but nice. It has currently resorted to a terrible Mexican zombieslashvampire film starring Jon Bon Jovi. Followed by a convict escape movie featuring the worst spoken word 'jazz poetry' ever in the history of everything.
January 11 Yeah, Torque Is Definitely The Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen.
And we thought last nights movies were awful. Who comes to India to watch bad American cinema anyway? Oddly comfortable and suspiciously easy bus trips today. Much quicker than anticipated and being completely immobile and wedged in the midgets only back seat wasn't as bad as it sounds. Got to Nainital about 2pm and proceeded to get hammered by hotel touts, whom I'm surprised Anthony even bothered dealing with. Ended up with a cheap TV room that is pretty scummy. Nainital is even nicer than Kausani, amazing, and the food is outstanding. Explore tomorrow.
January 12 Got Any Spare Change Man?
Walked up through morning mist and plastic fire fumes to the ridge line above town for the supposedly amazing "snow view". Presumably they mean the mountains. And yes, the view is all vast and impressive despite me being close to mountained out, but the viewpoint is terrible. I'm not suggesting they cut down a few dozen trees just so people can see distant mountains, but why build a fairly comprehensive viewpoint (including a horrible fun park and optional cable car between town and viewpoint, no thanks, I remember the last one) in a forest? Walked back down to the other side of the lake, Naini Tal, which the town is built around and is quite lovely and largely clean thanks to a lot of work and positive re-enforcement. Watched a cricket match, the red team ploughed the yellow team, in case you were wondering. Returned to last nights dinner find for lunch, so good, mini golf is closed so not much doing this afternoon.
January 13 And This Inferiority, Is Complex.
Currently on the train to Varanasi, not as comfortable or easy as the last one. Booking a ticket was near impossible, and sleeper class was full anyway (that's not why booking was hard though, you'd still get a ticket if someone was willing to help despite it being full). Some of the rail staff are beyond helpful and pleasant, but they tend to be the ones who are of least use which is frustrating. We jumped on sleeper with nothing more than a general ticket for the pack-em-in second class, after finding the conductor to upgrade our ticket he gave us the "should be empty" guards seat without even looking at our ticket. Sometimes being white is has benefits. The seat's a pretty uncomfortable place to spend ten hours, at least we think it's going to take that long, but it's better than second for sure. We're going to get to Varanasi at a super awkward time, 3.30am perhaps. Finding a hotel is going to be fun. So glad to be back in Uttar Pradesh, the state that smells completely of human urine (no exaggeration, no lie).
January 14 I Think, Somehow, A Day, Night And Another Day just Happened.
Yeah, the train got worse. Got up for a leg stretch at Lucknow and returned to find our seat occupied by three smug, arrogant Indian weed-men. Apparently another conductor told them to sit there. Our conductor was nowhere to be found, arguing wasn't worth the bother. Ended up sitting on my pack in the filthy end of the carriage between a sleeping man, the exit doors, a not-working-but-everyone-wants-to-try-anyway sink and the toilets which every time one was opened peppered us with that enchanting Uttar Pradesh urine smell. Yet despite this, it was actually much more comfortable than the seat. We later got moved to another guards seat in another carriage, only to arrive in Varanasi shortly after. At 2am. Now what do we do for 6 hours? We ended up getting minorly lost and going the long way to the Old City, killed some time. Got to Raj Ghat about 4am, which is the Northernmost Ghat in the city (Ghats... stairs going down to the river where Hindus bathe from? Not sure exactly, I know what they are, just not what they are, if you catch me, probably ask wikipedia) and walked down along the river, getting to the Old City about 6. It was very nice in the pre-dawn murk actually, and more and more people were coming down for their bathe. Finding a hotel was quite painful. Even at that time touts are everywhere. What they usually do is take you to a hotel, these are generally easy to find anyway, these men serve little purpose other than to annoy. If you follow them, they get a commission from the hotel, and you pay extra on your room (you're not supposed to know) to cover said commission. At Varanassi they have a bad habit of just standing in front of a hotel and when they see you approach reception, they run in and ask for you, so as to get their commission. So so so damn annoying, but that's India. Got an okish hotel that's right on the river, crashed.
January 15 Why Don't People Like Us?
Walked up to Gay Ghat this morning and got a boat ride back down to Dasawamedh Ghat, which is the major tourist point along this stretch of The Ganges (hard to believe this filth is the same river we saw at Haridwar and Rishikesh). Boat rides are the token tourist activity and well worth it, even with an annoying weed of a boatsman. The Ghats, the river here and all the people and activity are amazing, definitely one of the most incredible places I've been to. It's crazy to see thousands of Hindus coming down every day for their bathe (probably ask wikipedia again, I don't know the details exactly) in this river which, despite how holy it is to them, is absolutely disgusting. The water is literally (yes, literally) septic, on top is a layer of grime, oil and trash, cremated bodies are dumped (it's not uncommon to see half cremated bodies in the river, we weren't so lucky) and raw sewerage pumped into the river constantly and to think it's about a third to half the population of India who rely on this river for survival. Yeah, it's hard to have hope for a country whose centuries of tradition have placed them here, like this. It's actually people's job to put lime all over the Ghats every couple of mornings because people piss everywhere and anywhere. Experiencing the Ghats from the river and land was something I enjoyed a lot, even if enjoyed doesn't sound like the right word. This afternoon we walked a couple of kilometres south, upstream, to a sensationally disappointing fort. Although it did scratch a lot of urban decay itches. Then again, this country IS urban decay. Probably walked more today than on most of our trekking days.
January 16 Rats And Rats And Rats For Candy.
And that's India pretty well done. Gorakphur by train tomorrow, cross back to Nepal 18th and fly home 22nd. Supposed to go to Sarnath this afternoon, but it's not worth the cost. Power cuts ruined the end of the cricket and The Replacements. We have a mouse as a roommate and the worst lumpy, filthy, straw-filled bed of all time.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I can't think of anything, India.
January 2 Inconvenience Caused Is Deeply Regretted.
Sitting at Gorakhpur Train Station. Waiting. Our train is delayed by a couple of hours, although others are delayed by up to twenty, so it's not to bad. There was a derailment somewhere and there has been super thick fog over the last five days so delays are to be expected. Plus, it's India, like I said, delays are to be expected. We went to The Niru's fine residence for dinner on (Western, not Nepali) New Years Eve (just to clarify, cause I'm not sure that I have, Niru runs the trekking company we used and has known Anthony's father for years, he's awesome. Adventure Geo Treks plug). To get there we were driven through the wealthyish parts of Kathmandu which are quite nice but still have that rundown, dirty Kath charm which makes for some unusual buildings at times. Niru's home is very big and very nice, likewise with the dinner. He just keeps piling it on your plate, until you physically have to stop him. Once again I was pointlessly overfull in a starving third world country. Spent the first day of 2009 mildly ill, with Anthony much worse. We have a suspect, needless to say only whole, fresh coconut from here on. That's Nepal pretty much done, a couple more days in Kath after India, before we fly out but yeah, I'm satisfied. Not sure that I'd come back either, there's more I want to do but a return is way down on the list. Francesca has gone on another trek and myself and Ant have come to India. It took another lengthy (14 hours) bus trip to get to the unsurprisingly vague, confusing yet still fairly simple border crossing, then a thrasher of a three hour bus trip to Gorakhpur. India is pretty much the same as Nepal, just dirtier and more people, and many more irritating people. There's nothing to do here in Gorakhpur, at least that's what the tourist bureau says so we just found a cheap room with a TV to kill the nine hours we have to kill before our train. Oh, actually, the train station. It was awesome. We were going to hire a retiring room, to do so you have to fill out a lengthy form and the woman was a massive bitch and clearly didn't want to help us. Conversation went as follows:
Woman: What is your name!
Anthony: Anthony.
Woman: What is your fathers name!
Anthony: Anthony. (because it is)
Woman: What is your name!
Anthony: Anthony.
Woman: What is your fathers name!
Anthony: Anthony.
Woman: Then what is your name!!
Anthony: Anthony...
Woman: What. Is. Your. Fathers. Name!!
And so on. Delight.
January 3 Background Noises And Stuff Like That. Horns, Perhaps?
The fifteen hour train from Gorakhpur to Haridwar was pretty comfortable. You get your own berth, even in the cheaper (but not cheapest, they're the sardine in tin thing) classes and it's pretty comfortable so pretty much slept the journey away. The rail network is really good actually, other than not knowing what station you're at and the difficulty in buying tickets it's wonderful, thank you, England. Haridwar is pretty nice, and we're out of Uttar Pradesh, which is always good. It's a big pilgrimage site, but not really this time of year, we will explore tomorrow. Wasted the night away watching HBO.
January 4 Gone Beard Go.
Spent the day exploring Haridwar. This is where the Hindu's sacred Ganges River emerges from the Himalaya, so it's a big deal and still cleanish (can't wait till Varanasi). Went to the Har-ki-Pari (Footstep of God) which is a ceremonial bathing Ghat where Vishnu is said to have left a footprint. Basically, Hindus come and strip to their underwear or less and bathe in the river, which is cold and moving rather quickly (there are chains for them to hold on to, especially in monsoon). Loads of Sadhus, 'donation' collectors (no), monkeys and deformed folk about so people watching was fun. It's actually a really nice spot and quite interesting. Also went across the river to the huge and very impressive statue of Shiva. The thali man across the road has made regulars of us. Bananas and Chapatis, as always. Good times.
January 5 Stop! Thief! Cow! Banana!
Discovered the best tea dipping biscuits this morning, nothing like further perfecting a routine. Had a hour bus to Rishikesh, except it took a half hour thanks to an outstanding if not overly aggressive driver. Loves the horn he does. Took hours to find a hotel as we're picky price wise and Rishikesh is spread over a fair number of kilometres. Rishikesh is the self declared "Yoga Capital of the World", you can just imagine the Westerners who come here right? It's quite funny actually, they won't look you in the eye as seeing another pale faced Westerner ruins the authenticity of their trip. Not exaggerating, barely anyone returns your greeting, despite my exceedingly pleasant demeanour. The harder they're trying to fit in (and it's hilariously obvious and they end up standing out even more) the more they go out of their way not to look at you. Massive asshole vibes. On the other hand, our hotel manager is a delight and super helpful. Rishikesh is another big Hindu pilgrimage site, being on the Ganges and all, it's fairly nice, a bit more vegetation than the average Indian city, but just as much grime and deformed people. This one guy had no lips amongst other things, and was just hanging out in a pile of burnt rubber watching the world pass by. Went for an afternoon stroll to a disappointingly uninspiring temple, but it was a nice walk all the same. Saw a guy get jumped by a monkey and Anthony got almost mugged, then stalked by a cow. And you can't do anything. They're holy. Although most of them really really need to be put out of their misery. It's like the Ganges, the 'holier' a thing is, the more it has to endure and suffer. This country is rapidly choking to death.
January 7 OK, Lets Forget The Bullshit, Get Into The So Called Art.
Today blew pretty hard, slept through our 2am alarm and had to thrash to get on the 3am bus we needed so as to get to Josimath at a reasonable time. Bus was packed, as always, and most uncomfortable. It ended up taking two buses, a jeep, a lot of waiting, a decent helping of confusion and twelve hours to travel the 252km to Josimath. The road safety signs are outstanding though: "If married, divorce speed", "We like you, not your speed" and way better ones I can't remember. And nobody pays attention to them. Josimath redefines disappointing. It's the base town for "India's premier ski resort" and boy is it depressing. It's going to cost as much as twice what we were hoping and there isn't even enough snow yet (season officially starts in two days). We'll take the cable car up tomorrow and investigate, but it doesn't look good. This is a most depressing turn of events as snowboarding in Gulmarg (Kashmir, near the line of control with good friends Pakistan) was the main reason I wanted to come to India, and since it's currently too dangerous to go there we came here. Feeling pretty surly, despite some outstanding peanut brittle.
January 8 Can We Get Another Nail In The Coffin Of Culture Theft?
At least the weather was perfect this morning, a little snow overnight and clear as so we can go up to Auli and see if anything is going on. It isn't. It costs a massive Rs 500 (including 30% 'entertainment tax') to use the chairlift and you get jammed in with 25 Indians for 25 minutes, provided there are no power cuts. Delightful. The snow was pretty bad, the facilities are terrible or non-existent, or worse, there wouldn't have been hire gear in my size anyway. It seems wealthy Indians come up here to see snow and that's about all. Went for a walk up to a pretty nice viewpoint through some much deeper, really nice snow. Nice view of the India Himalaya, but mountains are mountains are mountains as far a I'm concerned at the moment. For some reason (invading Pakistan?) the Indian Army were learning to ski. Met an Australian family who'd made their own fun for a few days. Pretty much, we're leaving tomorrow morning and going a different way to kill the two days we've gained and so we don't have to backtrack. All good. Gulmarg would have been a lot better I'm fairly certain, but it's not worth getting stuck for two weeks through weather or a war.
Sitting at Gorakhpur Train Station. Waiting. Our train is delayed by a couple of hours, although others are delayed by up to twenty, so it's not to bad. There was a derailment somewhere and there has been super thick fog over the last five days so delays are to be expected. Plus, it's India, like I said, delays are to be expected. We went to The Niru's fine residence for dinner on (Western, not Nepali) New Years Eve (just to clarify, cause I'm not sure that I have, Niru runs the trekking company we used and has known Anthony's father for years, he's awesome. Adventure Geo Treks plug). To get there we were driven through the wealthyish parts of Kathmandu which are quite nice but still have that rundown, dirty Kath charm which makes for some unusual buildings at times. Niru's home is very big and very nice, likewise with the dinner. He just keeps piling it on your plate, until you physically have to stop him. Once again I was pointlessly overfull in a starving third world country. Spent the first day of 2009 mildly ill, with Anthony much worse. We have a suspect, needless to say only whole, fresh coconut from here on. That's Nepal pretty much done, a couple more days in Kath after India, before we fly out but yeah, I'm satisfied. Not sure that I'd come back either, there's more I want to do but a return is way down on the list. Francesca has gone on another trek and myself and Ant have come to India. It took another lengthy (14 hours) bus trip to get to the unsurprisingly vague, confusing yet still fairly simple border crossing, then a thrasher of a three hour bus trip to Gorakhpur. India is pretty much the same as Nepal, just dirtier and more people, and many more irritating people. There's nothing to do here in Gorakhpur, at least that's what the tourist bureau says so we just found a cheap room with a TV to kill the nine hours we have to kill before our train. Oh, actually, the train station. It was awesome. We were going to hire a retiring room, to do so you have to fill out a lengthy form and the woman was a massive bitch and clearly didn't want to help us. Conversation went as follows:
Woman: What is your name!
Anthony: Anthony.
Woman: What is your fathers name!
Anthony: Anthony. (because it is)
Woman: What is your name!
Anthony: Anthony.
Woman: What is your fathers name!
Anthony: Anthony.
Woman: Then what is your name!!
Anthony: Anthony...
Woman: What. Is. Your. Fathers. Name!!
And so on. Delight.
January 3 Background Noises And Stuff Like That. Horns, Perhaps?
The fifteen hour train from Gorakhpur to Haridwar was pretty comfortable. You get your own berth, even in the cheaper (but not cheapest, they're the sardine in tin thing) classes and it's pretty comfortable so pretty much slept the journey away. The rail network is really good actually, other than not knowing what station you're at and the difficulty in buying tickets it's wonderful, thank you, England. Haridwar is pretty nice, and we're out of Uttar Pradesh, which is always good. It's a big pilgrimage site, but not really this time of year, we will explore tomorrow. Wasted the night away watching HBO.
January 4 Gone Beard Go.
Spent the day exploring Haridwar. This is where the Hindu's sacred Ganges River emerges from the Himalaya, so it's a big deal and still cleanish (can't wait till Varanasi). Went to the Har-ki-Pari (Footstep of God) which is a ceremonial bathing Ghat where Vishnu is said to have left a footprint. Basically, Hindus come and strip to their underwear or less and bathe in the river, which is cold and moving rather quickly (there are chains for them to hold on to, especially in monsoon). Loads of Sadhus, 'donation' collectors (no), monkeys and deformed folk about so people watching was fun. It's actually a really nice spot and quite interesting. Also went across the river to the huge and very impressive statue of Shiva. The thali man across the road has made regulars of us. Bananas and Chapatis, as always. Good times.
January 5 Stop! Thief! Cow! Banana!
Discovered the best tea dipping biscuits this morning, nothing like further perfecting a routine. Had a hour bus to Rishikesh, except it took a half hour thanks to an outstanding if not overly aggressive driver. Loves the horn he does. Took hours to find a hotel as we're picky price wise and Rishikesh is spread over a fair number of kilometres. Rishikesh is the self declared "Yoga Capital of the World", you can just imagine the Westerners who come here right? It's quite funny actually, they won't look you in the eye as seeing another pale faced Westerner ruins the authenticity of their trip. Not exaggerating, barely anyone returns your greeting, despite my exceedingly pleasant demeanour. The harder they're trying to fit in (and it's hilariously obvious and they end up standing out even more) the more they go out of their way not to look at you. Massive asshole vibes. On the other hand, our hotel manager is a delight and super helpful. Rishikesh is another big Hindu pilgrimage site, being on the Ganges and all, it's fairly nice, a bit more vegetation than the average Indian city, but just as much grime and deformed people. This one guy had no lips amongst other things, and was just hanging out in a pile of burnt rubber watching the world pass by. Went for an afternoon stroll to a disappointingly uninspiring temple, but it was a nice walk all the same. Saw a guy get jumped by a monkey and Anthony got almost mugged, then stalked by a cow. And you can't do anything. They're holy. Although most of them really really need to be put out of their misery. It's like the Ganges, the 'holier' a thing is, the more it has to endure and suffer. This country is rapidly choking to death.
January 7 OK, Lets Forget The Bullshit, Get Into The So Called Art.
Today blew pretty hard, slept through our 2am alarm and had to thrash to get on the 3am bus we needed so as to get to Josimath at a reasonable time. Bus was packed, as always, and most uncomfortable. It ended up taking two buses, a jeep, a lot of waiting, a decent helping of confusion and twelve hours to travel the 252km to Josimath. The road safety signs are outstanding though: "If married, divorce speed", "We like you, not your speed" and way better ones I can't remember. And nobody pays attention to them. Josimath redefines disappointing. It's the base town for "India's premier ski resort" and boy is it depressing. It's going to cost as much as twice what we were hoping and there isn't even enough snow yet (season officially starts in two days). We'll take the cable car up tomorrow and investigate, but it doesn't look good. This is a most depressing turn of events as snowboarding in Gulmarg (Kashmir, near the line of control with good friends Pakistan) was the main reason I wanted to come to India, and since it's currently too dangerous to go there we came here. Feeling pretty surly, despite some outstanding peanut brittle.
January 8 Can We Get Another Nail In The Coffin Of Culture Theft?
At least the weather was perfect this morning, a little snow overnight and clear as so we can go up to Auli and see if anything is going on. It isn't. It costs a massive Rs 500 (including 30% 'entertainment tax') to use the chairlift and you get jammed in with 25 Indians for 25 minutes, provided there are no power cuts. Delightful. The snow was pretty bad, the facilities are terrible or non-existent, or worse, there wouldn't have been hire gear in my size anyway. It seems wealthy Indians come up here to see snow and that's about all. Went for a walk up to a pretty nice viewpoint through some much deeper, really nice snow. Nice view of the India Himalaya, but mountains are mountains are mountains as far a I'm concerned at the moment. For some reason (invading Pakistan?) the Indian Army were learning to ski. Met an Australian family who'd made their own fun for a few days. Pretty much, we're leaving tomorrow morning and going a different way to kill the two days we've gained and so we don't have to backtrack. All good. Gulmarg would have been a lot better I'm fairly certain, but it's not worth getting stuck for two weeks through weather or a war.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Fend for yourself now kid.
December 23 500.
Said our final goodbyes to Chhiri, Ganesh, Binod, Surya and Dipak, we're on our own again after five or so weeks. Will try to spend as little as possible rupee over the next week or so, until India, about Rs 500 a day, should be easy enough as it's low season. Walking today was pretty easy, back on well defined paths with loads of people, although there were far less tourists than I had been expecting. It's the end of the Winter off-season and the hundreds of restaurants and lodges up this valley are eerily quiet. Had a steep climb down to the river in the early morning then flattish alongside and over the river for the rest of the day, felt like it was 6am till about midday, misty and pleasantly cool. Left the main trail at the turn off to Lukla and got to Chaurikharka about four, went to the same place Ant and Frank came to two years ago. Disappointing. Expensive, and the food didn't justify it. It wasn't too bad, I suppose, just fails compared to last time apparently. Although we do have a room each and the toilet is magical. It's a squat. With a chair above it. With a hole in the chair. You had to be there. The hosts remind me of that old couple from The Neverending Story.
December 24 Buy Direct And Save!
There was a chapati incident at breakfast, the less said about that, the better. Going pretty hard till we get to Jiri, so a few big days ahead of us. Today was pretty up and down, as will be the rest. Mandarines have made a big reappearance, although they're Rs 10 each (because we're white). No dice. Managed to talk one guy down to three for ten, I think he just didn't want to carry. Good Daal Bhaat for lunch and seeing lots of big porter loads, 150kg+, very impressive. There is no road up here (yet) so everything is ported or flown in to Lukla. Discovered the savings in buying other stuff direct of the porters too, like biscuits. So I'm carrying a kilo of Coconut Crunch. Delightful. Kharikhola is super cheap, but his portions are tiny. Christmas tomorrow. Weird.
December 25 Damn White Christmas...
Not big on Christmas around here (it's the first step in getting out of the third world Nepal, take my advice here) but that's fine by me. Started the day with a 500m descent to the river again then began the sloggy 1500m climb to Taksindu La. Got to Nunthala, about halfway, for lunch. Had a very different feel to pretty much everywhere else. The layout of the town is different to most others, wide and uninviting. The people are exactly the same. I think they got pretty thrashed back in Maoist season. The weather closed in after lunch, had this really nice Autumny feel to it that I love. Then, at about 2800m, it started to snow. Yep. White Christmas. Crossed the pass and got down to Ringmu in really good time, actually did all of today in really good time. We have free accommodation if we eat here, currently waiting to see if it's worth it (yeah, pretty much, except the noodles). The room is big and empty and the building has that haunted feel about it. Which is cool as. The people have been interesting since leaving the Namche trail, a mix of super friendly, super surly, and super trying to rip us off (because we're white). But we are superior...
December 26 Damn Painfully White Christmas.
Another long, sloggy, up and down day. Up, across, then down to Junbesi, which was to expensive for lunch. By the time we got to Taktor Lamjura La was well covered with snow cloud, it wasn't pretty, but we decided to just try and smash the 850m climb ASAP, in three inches and rising snow following a fast disappearing trail. It was quite nice I suppose, snow, forest trail and everything, but so exhausted and so happy to reach the top. Walking down to Goyam was slippery, uncomfortable, tired and cold. So glad there's only two days left.
December 27 Philosophy? Chapati!
Had a pretty outstanding breakfast, including a massive chapati with probably the best jam I've ever had. Actually, it wasn't the most comfortable, but last nights' lodge was close to the best yet. Our Sherpa host was amazing and her son was entertaining as. Big, knee thrashing, 1500m descent out of the snow, down to Kinja for lunch where we had the best and cheapest Daal Bhaat ever. Walked up all afternoon under threatening but ultimately nothing rainclouds. Terrain is pretty boring, not much more than village dotted, agriculturally shaped hills and river valleys. Lodge tonight is the cheapest yet, home-made honey, home-grown tea. Delight.
December 28 Put The Banana In A Pie? Of Course! Amazing!
Breakfast was special this morning, great start to last day of hiking. Massive greasy omelette and huge lemon sugar pancake. Began with a 600m climb into the clouds (again), over the pass then 900m down to Shivalaya. Got some awesome bread and solid noodles, although a blatant rip-off attempt was made (getting rather tired of that). Anthony and especially Francesca have been talking up this Shivalaya Banana Pie forever and we were there, it was now. Most everything else they talk up ends in disappointment. Not This. It was huge, dense and amazing. It's basically a banana turnover. But so much more. Very special. Up 550m again, then down to Jiri. Done. Yes. Jiri is an expensive (because a lot of folk start Everest trek here) hole (because most of the bigger towns around here are). A hotel owner wallahed up to us and offered free room, free hot shower and 20% off food (there's no tourists here at the moment, off-season and all). The food is disappointing, we got 20% off the price and at least that off the portion size, but the hot shower after 37 days of cold or none was unbelievable. Back to Kath tomorrow on an eight (turns out to be 12 and awful) hour bus. Will be glad to be back there and cannot wait for Mo Mo's. Very happy to be finished hiking for the time being. If I feel this relieved to be finished after two months, five months in the states? No problem.
Said our final goodbyes to Chhiri, Ganesh, Binod, Surya and Dipak, we're on our own again after five or so weeks. Will try to spend as little as possible rupee over the next week or so, until India, about Rs 500 a day, should be easy enough as it's low season. Walking today was pretty easy, back on well defined paths with loads of people, although there were far less tourists than I had been expecting. It's the end of the Winter off-season and the hundreds of restaurants and lodges up this valley are eerily quiet. Had a steep climb down to the river in the early morning then flattish alongside and over the river for the rest of the day, felt like it was 6am till about midday, misty and pleasantly cool. Left the main trail at the turn off to Lukla and got to Chaurikharka about four, went to the same place Ant and Frank came to two years ago. Disappointing. Expensive, and the food didn't justify it. It wasn't too bad, I suppose, just fails compared to last time apparently. Although we do have a room each and the toilet is magical. It's a squat. With a chair above it. With a hole in the chair. You had to be there. The hosts remind me of that old couple from The Neverending Story.
December 24 Buy Direct And Save!
There was a chapati incident at breakfast, the less said about that, the better. Going pretty hard till we get to Jiri, so a few big days ahead of us. Today was pretty up and down, as will be the rest. Mandarines have made a big reappearance, although they're Rs 10 each (because we're white). No dice. Managed to talk one guy down to three for ten, I think he just didn't want to carry. Good Daal Bhaat for lunch and seeing lots of big porter loads, 150kg+, very impressive. There is no road up here (yet) so everything is ported or flown in to Lukla. Discovered the savings in buying other stuff direct of the porters too, like biscuits. So I'm carrying a kilo of Coconut Crunch. Delightful. Kharikhola is super cheap, but his portions are tiny. Christmas tomorrow. Weird.
December 25 Damn White Christmas...
Not big on Christmas around here (it's the first step in getting out of the third world Nepal, take my advice here) but that's fine by me. Started the day with a 500m descent to the river again then began the sloggy 1500m climb to Taksindu La. Got to Nunthala, about halfway, for lunch. Had a very different feel to pretty much everywhere else. The layout of the town is different to most others, wide and uninviting. The people are exactly the same. I think they got pretty thrashed back in Maoist season. The weather closed in after lunch, had this really nice Autumny feel to it that I love. Then, at about 2800m, it started to snow. Yep. White Christmas. Crossed the pass and got down to Ringmu in really good time, actually did all of today in really good time. We have free accommodation if we eat here, currently waiting to see if it's worth it (yeah, pretty much, except the noodles). The room is big and empty and the building has that haunted feel about it. Which is cool as. The people have been interesting since leaving the Namche trail, a mix of super friendly, super surly, and super trying to rip us off (because we're white). But we are superior...
December 26 Damn Painfully White Christmas.
Another long, sloggy, up and down day. Up, across, then down to Junbesi, which was to expensive for lunch. By the time we got to Taktor Lamjura La was well covered with snow cloud, it wasn't pretty, but we decided to just try and smash the 850m climb ASAP, in three inches and rising snow following a fast disappearing trail. It was quite nice I suppose, snow, forest trail and everything, but so exhausted and so happy to reach the top. Walking down to Goyam was slippery, uncomfortable, tired and cold. So glad there's only two days left.
December 27 Philosophy? Chapati!
Had a pretty outstanding breakfast, including a massive chapati with probably the best jam I've ever had. Actually, it wasn't the most comfortable, but last nights' lodge was close to the best yet. Our Sherpa host was amazing and her son was entertaining as. Big, knee thrashing, 1500m descent out of the snow, down to Kinja for lunch where we had the best and cheapest Daal Bhaat ever. Walked up all afternoon under threatening but ultimately nothing rainclouds. Terrain is pretty boring, not much more than village dotted, agriculturally shaped hills and river valleys. Lodge tonight is the cheapest yet, home-made honey, home-grown tea. Delight.
December 28 Put The Banana In A Pie? Of Course! Amazing!
Breakfast was special this morning, great start to last day of hiking. Massive greasy omelette and huge lemon sugar pancake. Began with a 600m climb into the clouds (again), over the pass then 900m down to Shivalaya. Got some awesome bread and solid noodles, although a blatant rip-off attempt was made (getting rather tired of that). Anthony and especially Francesca have been talking up this Shivalaya Banana Pie forever and we were there, it was now. Most everything else they talk up ends in disappointment. Not This. It was huge, dense and amazing. It's basically a banana turnover. But so much more. Very special. Up 550m again, then down to Jiri. Done. Yes. Jiri is an expensive (because a lot of folk start Everest trek here) hole (because most of the bigger towns around here are). A hotel owner wallahed up to us and offered free room, free hot shower and 20% off food (there's no tourists here at the moment, off-season and all). The food is disappointing, we got 20% off the price and at least that off the portion size, but the hot shower after 37 days of cold or none was unbelievable. Back to Kath tomorrow on an eight (turns out to be 12 and awful) hour bus. Will be glad to be back there and cannot wait for Mo Mo's. Very happy to be finished hiking for the time being. If I feel this relieved to be finished after two months, five months in the states? No problem.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
And that's when the C.H.U.D.'s came after me...
December 20 If I Survive The Night.
It only took two hours to reach the top of the pass this morning, it's pretty much just a lump so it was nothing more than a crampon-assisted plod. There were some dicey ice sections early on but it a relatively easy pass these days, just the approach on both sides and the altitude (5755m) make it difficult. I feel really good at altitude these days, but I still get mild headaches most afternoons which is no fun. The camp. Well, it's about fifty metres below the pass, to the north (awesome band) and golly it's terrible. Trashy (as always, it seems) and under a big, dirty rock overhang. So basically, we could get crushed at any moment (not really, but, well, maybe...). It's also pretty blowy out at the moment, very blowy actually, and cloud has closed in. Not looking good for our climb tomorrow, hopefully clears overnight. Currently trying to kill time in the tent with nothing. It's fun.
December 21 Oh, Now I Get It.
Arose at the magical time of 4:30am after a largely sleepless night of wind and a little snow. It's pretty clear now, the wind has dropped and it's warm (relatively speaking) and looks like a go to climb. Parchamo is it's name, 6273 glorious metres above sea level is the height. Started around 5:15 with a little pre-dawn light and head torches, which was pretty special. It is a technically more difficult climb than it looked yesterday afternoon when we scoped it out, definitely not a snow plod. The snow was good though, the crampons and axe bit and held very well and the crevasses were no problem. We were roped together for about half the climb which is necessary, but a massive pain but the climb was super fun. Summited about 8:30, little wind and almost perfectly clear morning. Honestly, I'm surprised at how easily I made it up, especially taking my Tashi Kang effort into account, we all basically went straight up, taking only a couple of short rest breaks. The view from the top was pretty special, this is why it's one of the more popular trekking peaks (which are below 6500, the permits are cheaper and you don't need a three month expedition to summit). Complete, 360 views of the Himalayas including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and loads more I can't remember or don't know. We did the obligatory photos then as I got up, my crampons got caught in the token prayer flags and I fell to my death. Not kidding. I would have, only I landed in a foot of the only powder snow on the mountain, stopping my slide to infinity. I guess it looked a lot worse than it actually was and Chhiri dove feet first to save me stopping my lack of slide by cramponing straight into my hand. Which is now all swollen and impressive and a little sore. But thanks Chhiri. The climb down was then disappointingly uneventful, Chhiri and Ganesh didn't even bother with rope, we were more than comfortable with that, and got back to camp around 10:30. Were supposed to make it down to Thyongbo this afternoon but getting down off the pass was horrible. All scree and loose rocks, ice and glaciers, ups making for more painful, awkward downs and general exhaustion from the climb, Chhiri piked out and we made camp about halfway down. We have pretty much run out of food.
December 22 The Tale Of The Unexpected Chicken And, Wait, What Does That Say? Citrus Odour? Huh?
Walked on our own today. The morning plan was to go as far as we could, the end of porter time, but Chhiri and the others were pretty keen on us waiting for them at Namche and we ended up doing so. Yesterday was supposed to be the last guided day, but Chhiri and Ganesh offered to get us a campsite and make dinner. As if we're going to refuse that. Finally got off the last glacier after about a half hour of walking, so unbelievably happy for that, easy as trail down to Thyongbo. The town is abandoned over the winter and it is eerily beautiful because of that, probably the nicest village in Nepal, all stone walls, lovely homes and a gorgeous river. Took a little longer than expected to get to Namche and had to wait about two hours for Chhiri and the porters to show up. Namche is pretty nice, very touristy as it's on the way to Everest so we saw our first fellow tourist folk since the Koreans and had first wash in a freezing and very scummy 'shower' in about a week. Binod cooked a massive dinner. It wasn't his tastiest effort but it was enough feed a small galaxy. Last night in tents for a while.
It only took two hours to reach the top of the pass this morning, it's pretty much just a lump so it was nothing more than a crampon-assisted plod. There were some dicey ice sections early on but it a relatively easy pass these days, just the approach on both sides and the altitude (5755m) make it difficult. I feel really good at altitude these days, but I still get mild headaches most afternoons which is no fun. The camp. Well, it's about fifty metres below the pass, to the north (awesome band) and golly it's terrible. Trashy (as always, it seems) and under a big, dirty rock overhang. So basically, we could get crushed at any moment (not really, but, well, maybe...). It's also pretty blowy out at the moment, very blowy actually, and cloud has closed in. Not looking good for our climb tomorrow, hopefully clears overnight. Currently trying to kill time in the tent with nothing. It's fun.
December 21 Oh, Now I Get It.
Arose at the magical time of 4:30am after a largely sleepless night of wind and a little snow. It's pretty clear now, the wind has dropped and it's warm (relatively speaking) and looks like a go to climb. Parchamo is it's name, 6273 glorious metres above sea level is the height. Started around 5:15 with a little pre-dawn light and head torches, which was pretty special. It is a technically more difficult climb than it looked yesterday afternoon when we scoped it out, definitely not a snow plod. The snow was good though, the crampons and axe bit and held very well and the crevasses were no problem. We were roped together for about half the climb which is necessary, but a massive pain but the climb was super fun. Summited about 8:30, little wind and almost perfectly clear morning. Honestly, I'm surprised at how easily I made it up, especially taking my Tashi Kang effort into account, we all basically went straight up, taking only a couple of short rest breaks. The view from the top was pretty special, this is why it's one of the more popular trekking peaks (which are below 6500, the permits are cheaper and you don't need a three month expedition to summit). Complete, 360 views of the Himalayas including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and loads more I can't remember or don't know. We did the obligatory photos then as I got up, my crampons got caught in the token prayer flags and I fell to my death. Not kidding. I would have, only I landed in a foot of the only powder snow on the mountain, stopping my slide to infinity. I guess it looked a lot worse than it actually was and Chhiri dove feet first to save me stopping my lack of slide by cramponing straight into my hand. Which is now all swollen and impressive and a little sore. But thanks Chhiri. The climb down was then disappointingly uneventful, Chhiri and Ganesh didn't even bother with rope, we were more than comfortable with that, and got back to camp around 10:30. Were supposed to make it down to Thyongbo this afternoon but getting down off the pass was horrible. All scree and loose rocks, ice and glaciers, ups making for more painful, awkward downs and general exhaustion from the climb, Chhiri piked out and we made camp about halfway down. We have pretty much run out of food.
December 22 The Tale Of The Unexpected Chicken And, Wait, What Does That Say? Citrus Odour? Huh?
Walked on our own today. The morning plan was to go as far as we could, the end of porter time, but Chhiri and the others were pretty keen on us waiting for them at Namche and we ended up doing so. Yesterday was supposed to be the last guided day, but Chhiri and Ganesh offered to get us a campsite and make dinner. As if we're going to refuse that. Finally got off the last glacier after about a half hour of walking, so unbelievably happy for that, easy as trail down to Thyongbo. The town is abandoned over the winter and it is eerily beautiful because of that, probably the nicest village in Nepal, all stone walls, lovely homes and a gorgeous river. Took a little longer than expected to get to Namche and had to wait about two hours for Chhiri and the porters to show up. Namche is pretty nice, very touristy as it's on the way to Everest so we saw our first fellow tourist folk since the Koreans and had first wash in a freezing and very scummy 'shower' in about a week. Binod cooked a massive dinner. It wasn't his tastiest effort but it was enough feed a small galaxy. Last night in tents for a while.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)