Trekking impressions

* Amazing views of Machhapuchhre (“Fish Tail”), the sacred mountain, emerging from the clouds at the end of the Modi River Valley

Machhapuchhre, early am, Sanctuary Lodge, Birethanti

Machhapuchhre with rice fields, Modi River Valley

* Enjoying socializing and free drinks with fellow trekkers at well-deserved Happy Hours at the end of each day 

Happy Hour around the fire, Gurung Lodge

Free drinks, snacks, socializing

* Delicious, filling breakfasts eaten on the lawn of the Himalayan Lodge, Ghandruk, while gazing up at the peaks of the Annapurna Range 

Lunch on lawn, Basanta Lodge, Dhampus

* Our 30 year old porter, Min Bdr, hiking along effortlessly wearing flip-flops while carrying our extra gear & water in a large, conical basket secured with a strap across his forehead

Altho this porter is wearing tennis shoes, our porter wore flip-flops on this rugged trail!

* Trekkers wearing hiking boots/shoes & using trekking pole while porters & guides wear flip-flops or tennis shoes, don’t need poles & carry our extra gear & water

Min Bdr, our porter, is on far right & wears a green & red uniform provided by Ker & Downey.  Each porter carries the extra gear & water for 2 trekkers in these green dufflebags.  The bags are placed in conical baskets carried on their backs.

* Finding small black wiggly leeches on our hiking boots searching for ways inside our socks next to our skin 

Don checking for leeches after hiking through wet, shady area 

* Climbing up, up, up over thousands of stone steps carefully & laboriously placed in the sides of mountains by Nepalese people over hundreds (thousands?) of years

* Climbing all day for 6 hours and never reaching the top; other days climbing down, down, down

* Saying Namaste over & over again to everyone I pass, never failing to receive a Namaste and smile in response, whether from a child, a young man or woman, or an elderly person

Interested in the foreigners assembling across the road to begin their trek

Curious about the trekkers passing by his home

Bath time

Apples for sale along our trekking path

Namaste I say. She smiles & says Namaste while continuing her spinning

Young mother & child we pass by

Curious children at a school we pass

* Learning to say Lakshmi when someone sneezes (she’s the goddess of wealth & prosperity)

* Frequent stops to catch my breath, mop my brow, and cool my over-heated body while admiring the incredibly gorgeous scenery all around me

Catching my breath & admiring the views

* Emerging from my room at 6 am to watch the sunrise begin to light the peaks of the Annapurna Range which are bright, sparkling & clear in the early morning air and gradually turn them from  pink to yellow to white

Ken using chair & pillow as impromptu tripod

Annapurna South at sunrise

* Nepalese children singing folk songs & linking arms to block our passage until we make a small, voluntary offering; then  receiving a lei of marigolds from a Nepalese child in celebration of the Festival of Diwali, the Hindu 5-day Festival of Lights

Happy children dancing & singing folk songs while celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights

James making small contribution in order to pass the childrens' "blockage"

Children had a school vacation because of the festival & knew where to find trekkers!

Rajendra G, our superb Nepales program guide, with kids

We've been "lei-ed" with marigolds

* Wet clothes drying on lines in front of our rooms, hoping they’d get dry before morning

Clothes drying outside our Himalayan Lodge rooms

More clothes drying outside our Gurung Lodge "cabin"

*Passing hundreds of trekkers, donkeys and porters going up into the mountains & hundreds more coming down

Donkeys with jangling bells passed frequently

We shared the trail with herds of goats

Labors struggling to haul a pizza oven (!) up stone steps as we walk down

Tigers & Rhinos & Muggers, Oh My!

It seems everyone in our group felt a let-down once our 6 days of trekking were over & we were headed to Chitwan National Park.  However, that mood improved markedly shortly after we arrived at the posh Kasara Jungle Resort.  We given just enough time to visit our open-air, modernist & minimalist rooms to freshen up.  Then we were whisked off for an elephant ride.

Ram, our bus driver, with our bus transport

Eric & Helen climbing atop their elephant

Our first encounter with a one horned rhino 

Spotted deer 

Grass as high as an elephant's eye

Endangered gharial crocs at breeding sanctuary

A "wolverine" about to get soaked

Now Kate's turn

Setting off our our dugout canoe ride

Our two other dugouts sliding down the Rapti River

Sunset on the Rapti River in Chitwan National Park

The group was ferried by jeep to a staging area where we saw 4 large elephants and a baby elephant.   Each adult elephant was "saddled" with a small deck-like structure.  Four people at a time climbed a tall wooden structure then stepped onto the  foam padded box with rails perched atop "our"  elephant. Then the handler urged the elephant forward and she  lumbered off, followed by the calf.   Within minutes we saw our first animals, spotted deer, then a one-horned rhinoceros grazing in 10-12 foot tall elephant grass!  During the nearly 2-hour ride, we saw a mother rhino & her calf, many wild boars, hog deer, monkeys, and birds.

Saturday morning we had another opportunity to view wildlife when we took a jeep safari ride.   During the drive, we saw 20+ species of birds & 2 crocodiles.  This type of croc, we were told is called a mugger.

We saw another kind of crocodile when  we visited a breeding sanctuary for endangered gharials.  Gharials are odd looking reptiles.  These crocs have a long skinny, almost stick like,  snout with a bulb at the end and hundreds of spiny teeth!  During our tour we heard a Bengal tiger roaring loudly.
After a sumptuous buffet lunch we walked down a dusty dirt road outside the park to visit a traditional Tharu village (the 3rd largest of the 40 ethnic groups in Nepal).   As we toured, we learned about these people, their history & a bit about their daily  life.

Then we boarded dugout canoes, carved from magnolia trees, for a quiet, peaceful float down the Rapti River which borders the park.  Since both Khamel, the naturalist, and Rajendra, who accompanied us, are expert birders, we saw lots more birds.  As we enjoyed a spectacular sunset,  a huge crocodile slid off a sandbar into the water.  This would have been  the perfect ending to our Chitwan NP visit.  However, as we neared our take-out, we spotted two male rhinos facing off from opposite sides of the river. They looked huge and dark standing in the water.    Our guides said they'd never witnessed this. What a special ending for our visit to the Nepalese countryside!

Travel day to Pokhara

Day 5-Fri Oct 17, Pokhara (elevation 2,700')

Today's been a travel day to get from Kathmandu to Pokhara where we'll start our trek into the Annapurna Range tomorrow, Saturday, Oct 18.  I'm anxious to use the Internet at our hotel to post to the blog since we'll be without Internet service until late next week.  After a delicious buffet breakfast at the Crowne Plaza hotel this morning, we had some free time to enjoy the hotel grounds where we did some bird watching, reading & journal writing.

One of our group relaxing near the pool at our Kathmandu hotel before our afternoon flight to Pokhara

Then we had a fascinating lecture about Nepal Culture from a fellow at Nepal's university.  She was the third speaker we've had as part of Road Scholar's commitment to education + travel.  Soon it was time to take our bus to the airport for the short, 25" flight to Pokhara.

Queuing up at Kathmandu airport for our flight to Pokhara

Flying over Kathmandu, a sprawling city of 1.5 million in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley

We were happy to arrive in Pokhara on Yeti Air

After getting settled in our room & having a cup of tea on our balcony, we walked into the beautiful, green, quiet  lakeside town to explore.

Our cozy Temple Tree Resort room

Relaxing with a cup of tea & a good book on our balcony

 Everyone in our group commented on how it's such a huge change from the frenetic hustle, bustle, noisy, crowded, dirty Kathmandu.

First chance to do some shopping in Nepal !!

Phewa Tal (a freshwater lake) & the mountains that border the south side of Pokhara

Came upon an unexpected eco-message in the Lakeside section of Pokhara 

Sunset over Phewa Tal, Pokhara 

We strolled along the lakeside promenade enjoying the sunset over the lake & views of the Himalayas before returning to our hotel for dinner.  That's all for now until we return here next week.

Phewa Tal, Pokhara from the lakeside promenade