Bhaktapur and Katrina's here

So, I got a bit slack after my adventure on the river. Made it back to Pokhara after the river trip. Portaging the dam on the Marsyandi took a while, so take your time and use a really long throw bag (60m or 2x30m), portage on river left. After the river I took sometime to recuperate, doing a Upper seti trip before Katrina arriving in Kathmandu. I needed to get to to Kathmandu before she arrives as I needed to sort out my Indian visiting visa, and researched that it would take atleast a week. I said goodbye to the Germans who were heading to Kathmandu around the same time to attempt some rivers in East Nepal like the Bhote Kosi etc. David got sick the night before the bus trip over the pass, and I wasn't far away. The very day of the bus trip to Kathmandu I got D. So I made the bus stop at the next toilet so I could relieve myself. If I had cared I would have been embarrassed but as I felt I was knocking on death's door it didn't matter. I wasn't far away though from V as the next day after I started the Indian Visa monkey business in the morning I spewed the entire day, requiring both D&V to utterly clear anything living inside of me. It was then I decided to embark on a pharmaceutical 'War on Terror' to take down the terrorists inside of me. I popped pills that I thought were going to help....afterwards feeling like rubbish and drinking water. I lay in bed for two or three days in the Hotel before Katrina arrived. I don't really remember much now (as I'm writing this almost 6 months later) but these are the fun things travelling you need to build your body up to handle. Thankfully I was well conditioned living in Queenstown after maintaining a healthy winter weight. Anyway, so things worked out ok, I picked up Keys and thought a few days in Bhaktapur would be a great way to introduce her to Nepal and see something both of us haven't seen.

Enjoying milk tea at our hotels roof top restaurant - pagoda in the background

Pagoda Guest house - where we stayed in Bhaktapur

duttatraya square Katrina sporting first purchase of the trip

Ross sitting outside hotel in front of pagoda

looking into Taumaudi square from restaurant

Ross below the pagoda

Taumaudi square from the pagoda

Famous peacock window

temple with lots of bells - purpose?...to keep ross awake

walking to bus stop - ross over photos :-)

King Curd !!! - Faye you would love this stuff - thick and creamy - heaven

Ross with the King Curd in front of Pohkari 

Calf in Kathmandu - thinks hes a motorbike?

Day 16 November 1, 2011

Day 16 November 1st , 2011

Location: Bridge over Khudi river in Khudi Village, near the Marsanydi river.

Found out local restaurant uses Oznamoto in their cooking. Turns out its just MSG! No wonder I'm feeling awful in the mornings (happens to me when I have MSG). Feels like a hangover. The Germans (Flo & David) should be back by tonight or tomorrow lunch time so I guess I'll see how the river goes. I've been ready the guidebook on the river run so I should be alright. Things could be very different though, as I got invited to do the Thule Beri with a rafting crew on a mission to distribute clean water tools to villages as they descend the river. I saw a t-shirt the other day which sums up the country people's struggle. It listed 3 things: 1st Get out of Bed, 2nd Survive, 3rd Go to Sleep. For the majority of our race this is how we live, those in the developed world are the strange ones.

Day 15 October 31, 2011

Location: Khudi ('Kudy'), at a local restaurant.

The other two headed up to Jagarot in attempt to paddle the section above Bhulbhule. I later found out when they met me in two days time that they had to walk most of the rapids until the Nadi Khola confluence. Another group who paddle the same section from Syange down managed to do the whole thing but this was 5 days after the germans attempted it so I'm guessing the river has dropped a little bit recently. I have two days before the germans reunite with me but I don't really know for sure whether they will actually arrive.

I did a small section of the Khudi khola from above the village about 3 kilometers down. It was mainly class 3 with a hole or two. Pretty boney so I didn't really think it was worth the walk. The others managed to get a jeep ride up the Marsyandi river to Syange after missing the "only bus".

I have also been making samosas with the local restaurant's family and learning more about Nepali food. They do not really do desserts here unlike India.

Day 14 October 30, 2011

Bused to Besishar today, cost us 500 rupees each with locals maybe paying 50 if that. Guess we're supporting the local economy but can't help feel we could be inflating prices a bit for the next foreigner to come by. The bus took 8 hours, with the ride being pretty horrific. It was truly an experience I will hope to forget with the bus overloaded and all manners of people with goats chickens and everything but the kitchen sink. One thing I noticed were the black plastic bags they handed out for people to puke in, then just discarded out the window. It is a little disappointing to see as a kayaker from New Zealand I try to not to litter at all as it invariably ends up in a river somewhere down the line.

Got to Besishar with a few people telling us the bus station up the Marsyandi river was about 2km away, then after me going half way there almost found out after returning to the guys there happened to be a bus that was going up the river. Cost us 1200 rupees for 3 people, which was pretty steep considering the distance was maybe 10 or 15 km. This was a bit annoying, but after we found a few things had been nicked from our boats so we argued and managed to regain some of the money.

The annoying thing about the whole debacle was not the fact we had lost a few carabiners but that the bus driver and conductor stood around for 30 minutes looking like the were thinking about it really hard but not really moving or doing a thing until we relented our demands for a refund. It wasn't their fault but they did not help the situation but make it worse by creating a bigger scene.

I guess this is the fun part of traveling when you really never know what will happen.

Day 13: October 29, 2011

Made camp night before just before we got to the Annapurna permit area. Camped just below Lamarkhet on the Madi Khola river.

Dinner with the Germans, Florian and David (L-R)

rice and beans...mmm

Just below Lamarkhet camping on the Madi khola

I was feeling pretty average but I definitely got a wake up call on the first rapid. These two geramns were a level or two above my skill set and mental toughness. There were about 2 or 3 rapids I felt incredibly uncomfortable. We did not scout anything but read and run all the rapids mainly. I think the more scared I got the better I paddled.



One rapid of note was a double drop with two holes that included a wave at the top of the rapid that you needed to punch through. I had a lot of speed going through the wave and ploughed over the top of the hole and mistimed my boof stroke over the first hole too late. I landed off balance and went for a quick right hand roll using the momentum of the capsizing kayak. It was the quickest roll I think I had done, but I was on fire with adrenaline so I don't remember much of the rapid except the last bit. I rolled up with enough time to see the next move and boof over the last hole without any trouble. After that drop I needed a breather for sure to recover from the adrenaline. After that rapid I started to relax a bit more and run rapids without too much hassle. I definitely needed a large kayak for this trip and even though I paddle a small boat in New Zealand I know now that the diesel is a good size for me on this type of river.

Lunch spot on Madi - the river relented after the double drop rapid but was never completely flat

The local kids very interested in a new toy to play with - At the take out of the Madi Khola at Karputar

 After the double drop rapid there were still some more grade 4 rapids but it became less continuous. The team worked really well with one of the germans usually David probing the rapid and me following Florian about 5 meters behind. We accomplished the paddle of about 25km in about 4 hours without too much hassle and a quick relaxing lunch break. Another group of U.K. kayakers who left at the same time never made it to our camp spot in Karputar so I assumed they took their time. If you are doing this run there is a rock on river left with an image of a kayaker on it saying Karputar.

We made camp on a nice sandy beach and had many visitors to offer us a place to stay, and some kids who camp to play with the kayaks but be careful as they can be quite mischievous.

Flo and I made our we into town to scout out where the bus left to Besishar as we wanted to do the Marsyandi river after the river. We asked 3 different people and got 3 different answers one of which we knew to be right as we had talked to another group who had done the same. We had been told the bus from Karputar to Besishar left at 6am. In the back of my mind I never really knew if we were going to make it to the next river, but I guess that is the fun part of paddling in Nepal when the logistics of kayaking are much more difficult than the river paddling.

Day 12 October 28th 2011

Off to do Madi Khola (grade4/4+) creek, taking a jeep to the put in. I'm paddling with Flo and David from Germany. Their on a world tour, started in Norway, in Nepal now, and will go to New Zealand then Chile next year. They are definitely better than me at kayaking, but are super chilled and happy to slow things down for an amateur kayaker like me. Anyway got to get some last minute supplies hope I make it in once piece after this trip.

Day 11 October 27th 2011 - Upper seti run again

Location: Tibetan Pema Restaurant, Pokhara.
I sit after paddling 6 consecutive days, just did another upper seti run day trip with some U.K. paddlers and there was carnage. I bombed down safety boating with the raft contingent with them losing a punter and then ending up side surfing a hole for a few minutes. The raft managed to get stuck twice as well. The kayakers group was ok, except one guy managed to nail his elbow on an over hanging rock and has probably ended his Nepal kayaking trip.

I was still pretty tired after the kali, but managed to roll myself out a hole after missing my boof stroke. I feel more in control now of the kayak just need to push myself a bit more and nail the more difficult lines.
Anyway so I won't be posting for a while as I'm off to do a Madi Khola run grade 4/4+ technical river with some german paddlers I met David and Florian. Should be good, then off to do Marsyandi river Grade 4/5 for two days afterward. So I might be back in 5/6 days time to update. Hopefully I'll live, but if I don't all the best!

Day 8-10 24th-26th October: Kali Gandaki

Got on the bus to do the upper kali from Baglung down to the confluence of the andi khola - there is a dam there now. This trip was special because I met Carol Hirst from Tasmania. Throughout this trip I find her an inspiration to me because she was born with hip displacia in her left hip.

carol

Carol paddling

So in plain english her hip did not form properly. So after an operation when she was young she was able to rock climb and trek, but when she reached 30 it started to give her problems so she took up paddling. I met her after she had just tri-cycled from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu for 24 days. This is incredible for a lady with hip problems, then to top it off she a medical researcher studying M.S.

So anyone thinking they have it bad, she showed me that many of us can do things you might think impossible.

The first day on the river probably the most exciting, with a little brother rapid being the first grade 4. I didn't take a photo I know silly me.

It was a pretty easy line, without too much trouble. Many of the rapids on this day were read and run except for the rapid after big brother. A land slip had created a new rapid on the river and had drowned another rapid. Big brother was a mere ripple but the rapid afterward was neat. Was an easy left line with a few waves to throw you around and a nice 2 meter tall green wave at the end to get some air off.

Playish wave at first camp

First day's camp

 Camping was pretty luxurious, we were provided 3 meals a day with a cooked breakfast and dinner. The meals were adequate but western styled so I kind of wished it was more Nepali cuisine. We had dhal bhat once though.

2nd day, mostly read and run rapids with nothing more than grade 3

Last morning camp with mist

Last day of mostly flat water but nice weather and good conversation

Andi Khola meeting the Kali Gandaki at the end of our trip

Seat were in short supply at the beginning of the Tiha Festival

After the trip I returned to Pokhara for some R&R. I stayed at the Lake Valley hotel as usual. I found out while I was away that the father-in-law of the old man running the hotel passed away. It was sad, but different to the way western culture and religion treats death. As part of a ceremony the old man shaved his head as part of the death. Also there is something I don't know know much about but it is called Tikka. It is the red dot on the forehead. The position on the forehead indicates a person's marital status I think.

Day 7 October 23rd 2011

Today I did another upper seti run with Paddle Nepal a rafting/kayaking/canyoning company. The guides are extremely easy going and very good paddlers on the river. This time down I felt more confident in a longer boat (wavesport diesel 80) and more time on the river. This time down we had an extra paddler from Russia called Mita. Nice guy and pretty keen on boating big water runs in Siberia. Tomorrow I head to the Kali Gandaki river Grade 4/4-. It is going to raft supported so pretty luxurious compared to what I'm used to. And I'm not the only kayaker.

Day 6 October 22nd

 Woke up at 6am, felt pretty haggard after spending the evening with Michael, and then getting to know the local family I'm staying with. I talked a lot with the father then with his son who took me to the local for a beer and some 'rakshi'(local hooch). Stayed up late and found a lot of things in common and what life is like in Nepal. I woke up to the mountains as well being quite clear.

Mountains to the north of Pokhara

Pointy mountain I don't know name of

Got on an afternoon run of the upper seti, the local river run, 30 minutes from Pokhara. Flow was medium level but I was itching to get on and a little scared. Was paddling a pyranha burn small but felt it was too small for me. Once I got on I started to remember how to paddle. The rapids themselves were pretty straight forward for the most part apart from interesting moments. I was just bombing down the rapids following a safety kayaker and I like to know what is ahead. I then realised that he just boofed over a hole, with me following not knowing what to expect. It was the wake up call I needed to keep my concentration high. The last grade 4 rapid was fun even if I got surfed in a hole half way down. If you're confident on grade 3/3+ this river will push you, but definitely help you train to become a grade 4 boater.

Day 5 October 21, 2011

Location: The local restaurant.

Woke up again 2.30am but to a torrential monsoon downpour I had never experienced. The noise was unbelievable and by 7am the majority of the water dried. The place I was staying was cheap (300 NPR) so only 4 USD a night but shall I say the facilities were a little lacking, I just wasn't ready for squatting just yet. So I moved to a different place called the Lake Vally View or something for a little bit more a night but nice bathroom shower ensuite and comfortable. I think it was the best decision I have made this holiday so far as I've managed to get along very well with the local family that run the place. Didn't manage to get on the river today but I'm sure tomorrow will be an upper seti day for me. Anyway just a short post today as nothing much happened besides going shopping for some clothing items. If anyone wants to know, I bought a decent rain coat for 1000 rupees so only 13 USD. Same for some long trekking pants, and sun glasses were 7 USD, and a watch only $6 US so it's pretty inexpensive and down jackets depending on the quality around around $30 USD but I'm sure if you bargained hard you could get one for 20 or 15 dollars. Anyway, I haven't been uploading photos my whole blog but I have been editing my old posts and adding in photos in with captions. All the best.

Ross

Day 4 October 20, 2011

Location: Pokhara, local restaurant.

Offered hash count: 0 (been on the bus from Kathmandu all day)

So woke up as per usual, 2.30am. Snoozed till 5am then packed up my kit and checked out of the Holy Lodge to make my way to the bus stop. Had to be there by 6.30am so I planned to get lost as I had to navigate the maze of streets to get there. I understand now how tourists' visiting New Zealand feel when there is not day light to help, I got lost 2 or 3 times just trying to get out of Thamel.

My made bus and was pretty happy with how things ended up, as I got put with a nice chap from the US but living in Australia on a teaching mission in Nepal. His name was Michael and he was volunteering to teach English to Tibetan refugees in Pokhara.


The initial climb out of Kathmandu was great but the highest part of the journey was the most 'adventurous' part of the trip. Once over the pass out of the Kathmandu valley we traveled down a road much like skipper's canyon near Queenstown, with the only difference being it was tar sealed and it was the main highway to Pokhara. Along the way we could see fresh landslides and broken down trucks on the road and insane overtaking maneuvers around blind corners. I only hoped if we crashed we did not hit an LPG tanker...

So hoping to get on the Upper seti tomorrow yey! good night.

Day 3: October 19 2011

Location: The 'local' (warung) restaurant round the corner from the Holy Lodge. Plan today is to visit Durbar Square and maybe Patan Square. We'll see how far I get I suppose. One goal of mine was to not get sick before my bus ride (8 hours) to Pokhara and I've managed that so far. Had some channa (chickpeas boiled then fried and curried) for breakfast and boiled egg. Found out what my favorite is made from, Alu (potato curry) is got gera(?), oznamoto(?), chili powder, and nepali besar. Tomatoes and red onion are fried with the spices then the potatoes are added after being boiled. Chuck on some coriander like herbs (called Taniya) at the end with rock salt.

 Photo of the local restaurant with map in foreground

I have a meeting with this lady from the U.K. making a film documentary about a community north of Kathmandu this afternoon so should be good to get some local knowledge from another traveler's point of view.

Location: I'm at Durbar Square in Basantapur. The architecture is stunning.

Met a nice guy called Bideshi, took me to a local warung for dhal bhat (lentils and rice) with curried chicken and buffalo. Bideshi was a guide at the Square and relied on tourists for an income. I didn't want a guide but offered to buy him lunch. We had a good chat about what life is like for him and what his family is like. I get the sense there is not really any difference in the lives of many Nepali since the Maoist majority government was elected. There seems to be an elite class which runs the country much like the previous monarchy and use the military to do it's bidding.

Look mum just for you!

After lunch I hunted my way back to Thamel looking for jackets without success and decided to go without until it gets cold or wet enough to warrant getting one. Anyway good night, and tell you more after the bus tomorrow.

Day Two: October 18, 2011

Location: 'Hole in the Wall' (Warung for those Indonesian speakers) cafe near Holy Lodge.

Offered Hash count for today: 2

So woke up at 3am KTM time (10am NZT), its very quiet in the evenings after dark. Was woken by an orchestra of barking dogs. The entire previous evening I spent trying to get some sleep was filled with rickshaws squeeling and motorcycles and cars tooting as they navigate the 1 and a half lane wide roads around Thamel. The sleep in the Holy Lodge was comfortable enough, so I snoozed till 6am and decided to go for a walk. It's great to explore when there aren't throngs of people and vehicles about. Went after my walk to have some breakfast at the local ('warung') eatery and had potato curry called Alu and milk tea called Dudh Chiya said 'dut chi-ya'. Then my 2nd serving I had chickpea curry called Channa said 'cha-na' mixed with alu and green chiles and red onion. Chiles were a bad idea...

My stable meal for breakfast, channa (brown stuff) and Alu (yellow stuff)

Plan today is to relax, walk to Swayambhu (Swa-yam-bu) or Monkey Temple.

Location: Nepali food place in Thamel.

Went to Swayambhu walking the whole way. Saw a shop selling leather bags and thought of Katrina, as we've been looking for the perfect bag for over a year.




Met a nice guide called Paatu who showed me around the temple and adjacent monasteries. Even invited me home to have Dhal bhat or lentils and rice which tasted amazing with some alu. I bid him farewell and went exploring. I find Kathmandu to be much less frantic walking around then by travelling by other means. Managed to buy a shirt and then some dinner at a local Nepal and had egg Thukpa (noodle soup). Going to bed now...

Day One: October 17 2011

Location: Kathmandu, in the Everest Kitchen.

So the flight over was great, had a chance to sleep. The next flight was a little more interesting. I was anxious to see the Himalayas for the first time and the photos I took will never do them justice.

On arrival I was friendly with these two Aussie Nepalese and they helped me through immigration a little. It was pretty quick and was expecting worse considering it was peak tourist season. Got through, picked up my bag walked out the door with the customs officials waving us through. Made my way to the Holy Lodge hotel with the help of the Aussie guys and bid them farewell. On getting in the taxi (random car) there were two Nepalis Bibek and Visnu. Bibek as the drive began became a sort of guide for hire and guessed that there was some travel agencies that send them out to source customers. The culture shock hit me and faded once we got talking about the similarities between Nepali and Indonesian. Through this travel agency I decided to book the 'Tourist' bus to Pokhara for Thursday morning and decided to make my own way around Kathmandu without a guide.

Can't wait to get on the rivers now, such nice hot days and it feels like Auckland on a hot summer day. Oh yeah glad I got the rabies injection now, stray dogs are everywhere! I would upload some photo's but I don't trust my usb stick as it has just wiped all the data on it.

I will add some photo after I get it sorted.

Steamed vege momos

Dinner was steamed vege momos and honey curd for dessert.

Honey curd for dessert

Then after I paid I was given cloves and some nuts I couldn't figure out how to eat. Asked the waiter what it was and told me it was Supari. The nuts were as hard as rock so I gave up in the end. So far everyone is nice and within the space of about 10 minutes I was offered hash about 3 or 4 times...guess I look the type!

Neat shoes

While shopping I also managed to find some neat shoes I think Katrina might be interested.

1st post of my trip overseas

Hi, So I'm leaving in a few hours, here's a photo of everything I'm taking pretty much. When I arrive in Nepal I'm hoping to make it to Thamel in Kathmandu where I'll find a room somewhere and get my self some jackets as I only have a t-shirt and thermal at the moment.

Yesterday I managed at sneaky day trip to Kaituna river outside of Rotorua just to remind me how to paddle, river was high (1.3 on the gauge or 1300) and managed to tweak my shoulder so I was a little bit scared to paddle down the rest so I just ran the slalom course a couple times and was happy as can be when you haven't paddle the kaituna in over two years. Here's a photo of how rainy it was and the level too.

Kaituna put-in, very high flow and still raining...

Cool, I hope you all enjoy catching up on my blog while I'm travelling.