Six Nights in Nepal

We crossed over the border between India and Nepal on Saturdayand we all felt an immediate difference. Nepal is a country the size of England and Wales with a population of 31 million. I thought India was bizarre with a 30 minute time zone shift (UTC +5:30). Nepal takes things a little further by adding another 15 minutes.

We’d swapped the crowds of Varanasi for the relatively rural setting of the Lumbini Palace Garden Resort. The accommodations were dotted around in various buildings in a highly pleasing lawned setting. It was certainly much nicer than the Yatharth Hotel in Varanasi where we’d endured three nights.

The following morning we were greeted to dense fog which is apparently normal for this time of year. Lumbini is where Siddhartha Gautama was born, but we all know him as Buddha – “the awakened one”. He was born in either the 5th or 6th century BCE into royalty, his father being the leader of the Shakya clan.

When Siddhartha was born, his parents had a horoscope reading for him. That was a big thing back then. It said he was going to be a king or a saint. Wanting only the best for his son, his father kept him in the palace living a life of luxury, and avoiding all suffering. At the age of 29, Sid left home without telling anyone, including his wife and son. He wandered around searching for the meaning of life and after seven years he plonked himself under a tree and meditated for seven straight days, seven times in a row. After 49 days he’d cracked it. He was enlightened and changed his name to Buddha. He went home, said sorry to his wife and never had sex again. From then onwards Buddha led an ascetic lifestyle meaning he led a frugal life and abstained from worldly pleasures. He wandered around as a religious teacher pursuing spiritual goals. He lived for another 45 years and died aged 80. Buddhism as a religion didn’t start in his lifetime. In fact it was a couple of centuries later.

After the temple we headed for a homestay some 40 km away. It took three hours to get there because the roads are appallingly crap. Top marathon runners complete 42 km in just over two hours. That’s how crap the roads were. The homestay was in a quiet rural area which was very peaceful indeed, and late afternoon we ventured out in a jeep to watch the sunset by a river.

On Monday we left the family compound and headed for the Chitwan National Park. Three more hours on abysmal roads. The roads were so bad that my step counter jiggled me to 11,000 steps and I hadn’t walked anywhere. We had two nights in Chitwan at a very acceptable lodging establishment. We had a late afternoon bike ride around the local area including a village where the Tharu people live a very basic existence. In the evening there was a show where the Tharu tribe performed some traditional dances. Apart from the redemptive “stick dance”, it was very third-rate, but entertaining in its own way.

A couple of Nepali facts for your delight. It is the only country in the world with a triangular flag (two triangles). They obviously didn’t get the memo. Nepal has eight of the top 10 highest mountains in the world. Nearly all of the mountains in the Himalayas have local names – except Everest which was named after Sir George Everest, the Surveyor General in India in the mid-nineteenth century. Everest does however have another name – Sagarmatha. Nepal have never won an Olympic medal, but they do hold the record for the longest handshake at 42 hours.

On Tuesday we had two main activities planned – a canoe ride down the Rapti River followed by a jeep safari in the national park. The canoe ride was quite something as we were punted along with the current. There were two boats and we saw many crocodiles and a huge variety of birds. Harriet and Carol were the only twitchers in the group so this was right up their alley. The rest of us were less enthusiastic and by the end of both excursions we were birded out. The trip along the Rapti took two and a half hours which was way too long for someone needing a pee in crocodile infested waters.

Then it was into a jeep to see what we could find in Chitwan National Park (established 1973). Within the park there are tigers, bears, elephants, deer, monkeys, and more birds. There are also rhinos – the single horned rhino to be precise. I didn’t know multi-horned rhinos were a thing. The problem with Chitwan is that there are too many bloody places for the animals to hide. Elephant grass pretty much covers the whole park. We could have been surrounded by people from the Fakawi tribe all day long and not known it.

According to our guide, there are 128 tigers in the park as well as 600+ rhinos. The closest we came to a tiger was a paw print. However towards the end of the safari we did see a rhino in the distance. We were in there for over five hours which was way too long. We did see a sloth bear which made up for it slightly. It transpired that in twelve trips to Chitwan, Joe, our trip leader, had only seen a tiger once.

We probably lingered at certain animal sighting spots a little too long. There’s a limit to my excitement levels at seeing a bear from two hundred metres away, which could easily be a bloke on all fours wearing a bin bag. It’s nice to see animals in the wild, but at least you can get a close-up in a zoo. There were 32 army checkpoints in the park to deter poachers. If caught, poachers can be shot below the knee. It’s kind of ironic that animals can’t be shot, but poachers can.

On Wednesday we left for our final destination of Kathmandu. We had a long drive that wasn’t particularly far, but the roads hadn’t improved overnight. Our driver was highly skilled at scaring the pants off us with his aggressive driving. I don’t think he let one person go ahead of him in five days.

As we made our way to the capital, the scenery became quite dramatic. We seemed to follow the Trishuli River for most of the journey and drove through gorges – gorgeous gorges. There were many bridge crossings, most of which were for pedestrians. We stopped at one and wobbled across it, then wobbled back.

We arrived in Kathmandu in the afternoon and checked into the Moonlight Hotel for our final two nights. It was an interesting place to walk around with far fewer people bothering us compared with India.

My wandering took me past a “male grooming” salon if you can imagine such a thing in grubby Kathmandu. Forty minutes later I emerged having been apricot scrubbed, threaded – face and eyebrows, head-slapped, and had my back pummelled. I only went in for a shave. Chundun had worked me over. I was exhausted, but I did look 10 days younger.

On Thursday we had a very early start as we were all on an Everest sightseeing flight. Although we were delayed for 90 minutes, it was still a great experience in the 72 seat prop plane operated by Buddha Air. They only allow 36 passengers so that everyone has a window seat. As soon as we took off the foothills of the Himalayas came into view and it wasn’t long before we could see the majestic snow capped Himalayas in the distance. We had three flight attendants which I thought was a bit much until I realised that they were also mountain spotters and would come and inform us, individually, which one we were passing.

We flew at 29,000 ft which is pretty much the height of Everest. Everest wasn’t the most impressive mountain that we saw, nor was it the closest. Still, there it was, next to Lhotse. The flight lasted one hour and cost $240.

In the afternoon the rest of the group went on a tour with Joe, and a local guide, whilst I did my own thing, again. I had picked up a nickname on the trip – Pat the Cat, because I’d go and do my own thing but always return. I got a rickshaw to Durbar Square which is the highlight of Kathmandu. It didn’t disappoint. I was approached by Dilip who guided me round for an hour. There was something impressive to see around every corner including the Indiana Jones temple from Raiders of the Lost Ark. He showed me another temple with Kama Sutra carvings, and let’s face it, who doesn’t like erotic woodwork.

On the way back I made some purchases. One could easily come to Kathmandu with an empty suitcase and go on a shopping bender at very cheap prices. During my wanderings I did find a rather splendid hotel called the Manang. If i came here again I’d stay there.

We dined as a group for the last supper. The group were fabulous. One of the best I’ve travelled around with. We had one American lady called Sharon, from Maine. There was a mother and daughter combo, Carol and Harriet from Yorkshire who had left their partners back home. I had some great conversations with Harriet. The Odd Couple, who joined us in Agra – retired policewoman Tracy from Canada, and Yorkshire Nikki. They had met on a tour in Africa a few years before. Last but not least were Mat and Lauren from Kent. Early forties, just married and sharing their honeymoon with a bunch of strangers. Super couple. Our guide was 36-year-old Joe from Delhi. Always smiling, very patient, 10 years of guiding experience – over 10,000 people guided.

I got to the airport and was able to use the Nepal Airlines lounge as I was travelling in Shangri-La class. Probably the plushest lounge I’ve ever used. When the plane took off we had great views of the Himalayas. The irony wasn’t lost on me.