Visit to Nepal, autumn 2008
Index:
Kathmandu, arrivalHelambu trek
Kathmandu, preparations for the next tour
Lumbini, Sacred Garden
Bardia, national park
Kathmandu, preparing for departure
Marigold flowers in Thamel, Kathmandu.
I buy gymshoes in Thamel. That is my first activity after arrival. It helps to reduce the overweight of my luggage during the flight.
Arrival in Kathmandu
Arrival in Kathmandu approx. 11:30 hour, after a travel without particular events. In Bahrain we could spend the waiting time in a hotel room in the city.Kame was waiting for us at the airport. We go to Tibet Guest House and after the lunch we enter Thamel. There is hardly car traffic. There is a strike because two students have been recently assassinated and many people assume that the maoïsts are involved.
I buy gym shoes and after looking in several shops also an inflatable mattress. That mattress proves to be a bad bargain - I should have spend 1000 NRs more.
Anita does not succeed in buying firm walking shoes. She decides not to replace the present ones for the time being.
Other tourists in Patan.
Patan and Pashupatinath
Before noon we visit Patan. The mountains remain, almost completely hidden behind the haze. That there was hardly car traffic yesterday has had not enough effect on the haze.In the afternoon we go to Pashupatinath, where I take many pictures of a cremation. Afterwards it is too late to visit Bodnath too. We go to Multiadventure and I buy a small backpack. The last details for the Helambu trekking, which starts tomorrow are discussed.
Child, playing mahout in Patan.
Wood, for cremations, costs 10 roepies per kilo in Kathmandu.
Track of our Helambu trekking.
Our trek in Helambu
Download the recorded GPS track.
(Between Sermathang and Kakani I did not replace empty batteries in time. So, 3.1 km, 1:50 hours are missing)
Illustrated journal: show ...
Durbar Square, as seen from the roof top terrace of Kasthamandap restaurant.
Shakti Travels and Durbar Suare in Kathmandu
The whole morning is needed to find the office of Shakti travels. We had to pay our bill and we wanted to discuss some details of our stay in Bardia. We had already booked via internet. In the office we meet the owner of Bardia Jungle Cottages, Khadka Bahadur Khadka, also called "Premi" (the translation of Bahadur is "the strong"). A part of the afternoon we spend in the neighbourhood of Durbar Square. This time we go to the roof terrace of the Kasthamandap restaurant. We have not only a good view over Durbar Square but also a very good sight on Swayambunath, thanks to the clear weather.
Pilgrim at Bauddhanath Stupa
Bauddhanath Stupa
Until early in the afternoon we are at the Bauddhanath Stupa and surroundings, among other things Shechen monastery.We have lunch at Kame's home. That lunch was prepared by the wife of Kame, with the help of Naati. After lunch I will visit, together with Kame Sherpa and Pradeep Tamang, two firms that offer solar panel kits. We are looking for a good price offer for the systems we are interested in.
In the Maya Devi Temple a marker stone shows the exact place where Buddha was born.
Elephant safari at sunrise, in Bardia.
Multiadventures Picnic.
Multiadventure staff with their certificates.
Multiadventures Picnic
Arjun picks us up and drives us to the picnic, which Multiadventure organizes for its employees to celebrate the end of the trekking season. The place is somewhere in the neighbourhood of Dahacok. Depending on their performance during the season, the employees receive prices and bonuses.The guest from the Netherlands is asked to assist and I also have to give a short speech. I do not believe that they ever have had a shorter one. The other speakers compensate that largely.
On a hillock in the neighbourhood, we have a nice view of snow covered mountains and of a large part of the city of Kathmandu. It was a clear day and we see Ganesh Himal, Manaslu, Annapurna and Langtang very well.
Dahacok lies in the hillocks west of Kathmandu, North of the highway in the direction of Pokhara.
Part of Kathmandu, as seen from Dahacok, a hill West of the city.
Lam Chowk, at Durbar Square, Kathmandu.
The last days
We stroll melancholically, by Kathmandu because we will leave tomorrow. We try to find the last souvenirs. I make only pictures from a roof terrace at Durbar Square.
Panch Muki Hanuman temple.
In the morning I go shopping with Kame, Pradeep and Kama Dawa, for good iron stoves.
At noon, when I must stop, we know that we can get one for six to seven thousand roepies. The others will shop further to discuss the last details and to get a price offer as low as possible.
I tell them that I do not need to be consulted before placing the final order. They know that it must be simple but functional stoves and they know better than I what is important for the villagers and what not.
With the promise to keep me informed we say goodbye.
[You can find further developments concerning the stoves and solar panels under "News" in the item of 16th february, 2009]