FOREWORD & TRAVEL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

FOREWORD
Instructions to reader.
When you first click the link you will see a few chapters but to complete the story you have to return to the beginning (Home) to access the later chapters one by one. The clickable chapter titles are listed on the right hand side of the very first page under my photo. 

This story is rewritten from notes and photographs taken at the time, all digitised by me from the original 35mm negatives. Unfortunately the first film is missing (probably just misfiled) and with it the photographic record of the first days in Kathmandu. 

BRIEF TRAVEL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
In October 1989 we visited Nepal for four weeks, the longest holiday of my twenty three years at British Steel. I had long had travelled starting with with a cycling tour of the south east coast immediately after reaching the age of fourteen, then the minimum age for membership of the YHA. Eventually followed by a cycling tour on the down the Rhine in my last year at school, hitch hiking into the Arctic Circle before a month's work experience from university in Sweden. Immediately on graduating I emigrated to Canada and our first summer holiday three of us graduate engineering students drove across the USA with 'Drive Away' the car delivery firm. First hop from Detroit to Indianapolis with a brand new pink Cadillac like Elvis Presley's, then Memphis to Fresno returning a stolen Plymouth to Fresno (near San Fransisco) via Route 66.

Marriage and raising a family reduced the options for a while until the kids were old enough for walking holidays, first an Easter holiday staying at farms along Offa's Dyke. Soon backpacking as a family in the old sense of absolutely carrying of everything to support living on your backs, from tents, cooking utensils and all weather clothing to food and most vital of all drinking water for main summer holidays along the Grande Randonnes (GRs) long distance footpaths of France.

When the family eventually left home we spent several holidays touring by flotilla sailing in the wonderful seas around Greece and Turkey, crowned eventually by two delivery trips for Island Sailing taking large brand new Beneteau yachts from Toulon to Athens in April, a time when the Mediterranean is far from a picnic.

STARTING BACKPACKING THE LAZY MODERN WAY

Nepal 1989 was the first venture in a new style of adventure holiday based on backpacking, pay as you go with no firm advance plan, nothing pre-booked except the flight, not even the first night.

The style has persisted for 25 years mostly being 60 day duration since retirement. Though in recent years with 8kg wheelie bags replacing far heavier rucksacks.

KATHMANDU, BHAKTAPUR and PATAN,

5 October 1989 Stayed overnight with my brother in Wokingham and caught the 9:45 train to Gatwick. Arrived to find no mention of the flight which turned out to be the inaugural direct flight London-Kathmandu for Royal Nepal Airlines with the Nepal King's cousin as pilot, booking through BA desks. 

6 October In the queue we found ourselves next to the proprietors of Roama Travel who organised trekking holidays whose brochure we had seen before deciding to do it alone. They were teachers, who else had the holiday time to get familiar enough with an exotic destination to turn their interest into a business. They were seeing their son off on his first visit, his sister who lived in Kathmandu had been the firm's representative in Nepal for five years.

Armed only with the 5th Edition of the Lonely Planet of Kathmandu and the Kingdom of Nepal, then just 140 A5 pages including two pictures, a cartoon and a few hand sketched maps - compare that with today's 1000 page juggernauts! But it was full of vital information for travelers. More than a little nervous on our first venture to foreign parts without even having booked accommodation, we were relieved to hear the Roama Travel owner conceded we were doing it the best way. He even proffered details of suitable accommodation near Thamel, not in fact followed up initially - though we did check it out later. 

Eventually took off at 12:00 and it being the inaugural flight were all given champagne to celebrate. We stopped at Frankfurt for an hour to pick up extra passengers who took many of the occupied seats whilst we were still in the airport. It looked like a booking crisis but there were seats for all and the upset was soon forgiven with a second serving of champagne.

 
On arrival in Kathmandu I changed £50 at 45 Rupees/£ and escaping a mad scramble for custom from touts we broke away and boarded a bus into the city for just 15r. However a young boy with a card for Nepal Peace Cottage pursued us onto the bus and showed us to place our rucksacks on the large diesel engine. We agreed to see his hotel first so we all got off near the Rami Rokari temple where he bundled us and two young English lads into a taxi, our rucksacks protruding from the boot. The taxi hurtled into incredibly medieval back streets of old Kathmandu and we were discharged at Chetrapati a short walk from the hotel. 




We were shown and accepted a large double room with little besides a comfortable clean bed, a shower and toilet for 10$ a night plus another 4$ for two breakfasts in a quiet location just beyond Thamel with a roof garden overlooking a small paddy field. 

View of NEXT DOOR from rooftop of NEPAL PEACE COTTAGE

The lad then tried to persuade us to take a trek with the Sherpa Trekking agency at 24$/day all inclusive including sherpas and tents. A Pokara - Muktinath in the Annapurna Range would take 16 days. Wisely we did not accept at the time but the next day met fellow travellers who had paid 26$/day. They had been advised to camp as the Tea Houses would be full at the height of he season.

WASHING in THAMEL

WASHING in THAMEL

At night we explored Thamel a favourite backpacker centre at first without locating the street of restaurants  then we discovered Le Bistro but they were full and eventually ate at Narayans which was highly recommended by the Lonely Planet (LP). We had lasagna, a spinach, mushroom and cheese pancake and a beer for 110r (£2.50) which was deliciously made of fresh ingredients the taste of the eggs being particularly outstanding. We spoke to a Tibetan practicing his English who recommended New My Place where the next day I had the special, Tomato Soup, 6oz steak and chips, apple pie and tea for 60r. Joan had spring rolls and a superb vegetable biriani for 38r.

Sunday 8 October
Kathmandu was a huge culture shock quite unlike anything we had seen before the streets teeming with life, happy children but some were collecting plastic bags from large rubbish bins and a mixture of adults some looking ill, very impoverished and unhappy.
The centre Durbar Square was full of life and lots of temples, it was not long before we discovered temples were all over the old city.   

THE BUTCHERS IN THAMEL

What a day of shopping was to followed. First we passed an interesting street market but soon learned not to dare look at any item without being deluged in bargaining from stall holders in front to the crowds behind. Nevertheless we did buy one interesting ornament on sale everywhere, a toy made of interconnected straight wire sections which could be assembled into a variety of 3D shapes eg a Lotus flower. Initially bought at a stall for 10r though initially offered for 20r, but later on we were asked 100r and even 150r for the same device by passing sellers who when offered 10r they walked off - so we had got the price right.

MAIN MARKET KATHMANDU

MAIN MARKET KATHMANDU,  DUCK for SALE

GOATS TAKEN TO MARKET to sell for FESTIVAL

MAIN STREET of MODERN KATHMANDU NEAR BUS STATION

HOUSE DECORATION IN OLD KATHMANDU

In contrast we were the only tourists in the colourful market near Rami Likari, the main trade being live chickens and ducks carried in wicker baskets, and saris and made up clothes. We bought a woven table cloth for 200r bargained down from 255r. 

Next to the shops, pricing bags for around 100r, trousers 90/95r and the heaviest yak wool sweaters for 450r. Then jewellery with pendants at 30/50r in amethyst, ruby, sapphire and moonstone.

Then a demonstration of special embroidery needles which one stuck repeatedly through the cloth leaving loops which were finally cut off to leave a velvet like finish. She wanted 350r for two such needles and some patterns, but before we could start bargaining a very determined man insisted in trying to sell me a Gurka knife and followed us around eventually offering it for 150r having started at 600r. It was a beautiful knife in a brass decorated holster and he was desperate to sell it to get money for the festival. Later we were followed by a man with three lovely statues carved from yak bone he started at 600 but eventually offered them for 180r. Those we would probably purchased had he not made such a nuisance of himself, he too was desperate to sell.

The festival action was obviously at the Monkey Temple Swayambhunath where crowds were picnicking.

Monday 9 Oct
The weather has changed to dull and rainy. Start to think we need to get organised or all four weeks of this extra long annual holiday will slip by. Offered a 9 day trek, Tea House or organised cam[ing for 24$ a day or 40$ a day for a 16 day trek to Muktinath, reduced on bargaining to 28$.
Went to Durbar Square again then Freak Street which seemed particularly run down, or maybe it was just the thought of all those hippies and drugs! At the Kumari restaurant they would have sold Gateau Basque our long time favourite cake except that it was closed.

APPROACHING DURBAR SQUARE

APPROACHING DURBAR SQUARE

DURBAR SQUARE KATHMANDU

DURBAR SQUARE, KATHMANDU

Established the Supermarket Bank was only open to change travellers cheques and cash for the next five days but we couldn't change our Eurocheques. We hope to do so soon as we have over committed our available travellers cheques, availability of money is becoming a worry, we did however confirm our return air tickets at the Nepal Airlines office. 
In the afternoon walked up the very steep steps to the Monkey Temple passed several beggars on the route along with quite a few French and English tourists but far outnumbered by Nepalis. 

SWAYAMBHUNATH or MONKEY TEMPLE

The centre piece was a central brass sphere with eyes painted above a dome which was white with pigeon droppings on the stucco plaster. All around were shrines and a place with a squat Buddha priest full of candles signs of worship. There were shops selling souvenirs, almost western in style when compared with the hassle of Durbar Square.

VIEW OF KATHMANDU from MONKEY TEMPLE

We walked off more or less on our own towards the monastory,  passed Nepalis boiling a dozen eggs, seemingly picnicking and down to a courtyard where we were admiring the view unaware of the build up of monkeys. 

ATTRACTIVE RED ARSED MONKEYS - BEFORE THEY STARTED FIGHTING

VIEW OF RIVER FROM BRIDGE leading back to THAMEL

The red arsed monkeys started to fight amongst themselves the suddenly turned on us. Terrified Joan ran off screaming as recently advised by David Attenborough for dealing with Baboons leaving me equally terrified as their sole target. I escaped from the square swinging my only weapon, my new SLR camera, around me. We never forgot that lesson and now rarely think of monkeys as harmless cheeky animals.

VIEW OF RIVER FROM BRIDGE leading back to THAMEL

That evening we were invited to eat with the hotel manager, sharing a meal with Marion and Johnathan the English couple we had sat next to on the plane and with Sim the Nepali lad who had lead us to Peace Cottage. We ate a meal of dahl sauce, vegetable curry, buffalo meat and rice beer (almost milk coloured with the taste of ginger beer). The buffalo meat looked like beef but tasted sweet. The English couple had been to Patten and were hiring bicycles (14r per day or 55r for a mountain bike) intending to ride to Baktapur the next day. We showed them the embroidery needles we had bought for 25r having been pursued for a man originally offering them for 250r. In the final transaction I noticed he had switched the original silver needles for cheaper ones and I insisted on the originals. He was clearly dismayed and on reflection I knew I had driven too hard a bargain and felt bad about it, but he did try to trick me. 
Several times when bargaining in Asia I have felt ashamed - they are so desperate for ready money they will sell at a loss if pushed too far. More recently I remember bargaining for a lovely leather belt in a market near Cusco in Peru when the feisty young woman, who had done the leather work beautifully, took me to task for exploiting my position of power as a rich tourist, and I suddenly settled for near the original asking price.

That night it rained and poured making us thankful we were not trekking in a tent. But morning brought a beautiful sunny day. 

10 October
After a panic thinking we might have lost a passport we finally managed to changed travellers cheques and armed with the equivalent of £140 and 50$ went to the market and bought bananas. I remember thinking carefully about the safe way to eat such fruit, the banana itself was fine but how to avoid contamination from the well handled skin hence peeling with one hand leaving the other pristine, a sure sign we were newcomers to Asia fearing the worst from food.  
We were uncertain which bus to take to Bhaktapur being unable to decipher the names on the buses so walked back to the main road and caught a crowded trolley bus. 

TROLLEY BUS TERMINAL IN KATHMANDU

LEAVING TROLLEY STOP at BHAKTAPUR

The trolley dropped us on the main road at the junction, but it was a pleasant 30 minute walk into town.

WALK INTO BHAKTAPUR

ENTRANCE TO BHAKTAPUR

Our LP guide said Bhaktapur was the dirtiest though the most authentic of the local towns but we found it far more attractive than Kathmandu, cleaner, with none of the hassle and a very interesting layout of spacious squares with impressive temples. We had tea with the rest of the Europeans at a cafe in their Durbar Square.

DURBAR SQUARE BHAKTAPUR

There was a big collection of dropped handlebar bicycles which turned out to belong to an English cycling club on a 21 day tour of Nepal. The bikes had come as luggage on Bangladesh Air flight to Dacca. A young traveller started to play bongos well sitting at the top of the stairway to the biggest temple and soon attracted a large Nepali crowd.

BONGO PLAYING TRAVELLER ATTRACTS CROWD

BHAKTAPUR TEMPLES

A procession from a local church was led by a steel band with pipes, they held a service outside a temple with music. Nepalis far outnumbered European tourists. We bought a jacket to take back for our daughter Judy paying 225r having bargained down from 300r, there was none of the huge x10 price rip off we had observed in Kathmandu.

At the trolley station we bought 8 guavas, the first we had eaten, for 5r from an old lady. The return trolley was just as overfull but this time we made contact with the locals especially an eleven year old schoolgirl speaking excellent English with a near perfect accent, she had been learning it for seven years, ie from the very onset of schooling. A waiter from a guest house was anxious to talk to us but was unfortunately difficult to understand.

A long walk back to our Nepal Peace Cottage guest house followed by dinner at New My Place. Spring Rolls filled with cashew nuts and steak. I recorded that Joan started the meal feeling sick, then burped and was magically cured.

Wed 11 Oct Record illustrates concern over whether we had brought sufficient convertible funds having paid 16x24$ or 768$ for the 16 day trek. This was for two porters and a guide. 

At breakfast we meet a 30+year old Englishman just up from Delhi who was going to door the entire Annapurna Round on his own.
Today's task was to purchase our trekking permits which each cost 90r/day plus 200r for entrance to the Annapurna Conversation Park making a total of 940r or nearly 34$. Leaving just 200r/day (just over 7$/day) for costs during trek.
 
Getting the permit was itself an all day experience. The Immigration Office opened at 10am and officially closed at 2pm. We arrived at 11:45 to find the large room crowded and only slowly established that there were in fact two queues, one for the Bank and the other for the Permits. By 13:30 we had actually got application forms at the door and by 2pm had got passed the door but had seen little movement! The arrival of overtime did the trick they distributed actual permits for us to fill in and by 3:45 but we were told to return at 6pm to pick up our passports and permits. Which we did but ours almost the last weren't received until 7:45! Had we arrived later that morning we would probably have to try again the next day.

Whilst waiting we had chatted to a Swiss coupled who had hired two porters for a party of four for 4$/day to trek right around Annapurna from Demre staying at T-houses anticipating it to take 28days including four rest days. 

Dinner again at New My Place for the Nepali special of Baht(rice), Dahl spiced with ginger, Takari (a vegetable curry) with Dahi (yogurt), Pappari (poppodoms), Rorti (Nan type bread and Khakatorw marn (chicken curry).

12 Oct
We talked to a Scottish limousine driver who was also intending to do the Round on his own, hiring a guide if needed on the higher ground for about 60r/day including food. He thought hiring guides here in Kathmandu cost more the twice that at about 5$ per day. He had the Lonely Planet Trekking in the Nepal Himalayas, we had not then thought to get a copy since we were unsure that we would be trekking. In hindsight we could have got round in the 16+ days we had available had we been faster off the mark.
He had also made plans for a 5 day four nights with Happy Hops for 130$ including two days rafting and another two days in Chitwan game park.
On finishing an assignment in Jordan he had spent six months with his wife in South America using local transport starting from Bogata, safe and no problems.

The rest of the day we spent at Patan going by crowded bus for 1.25r and walked to the centre which was again full of temples. A young boy and an old man guided us round the Golden Temple

ENTRANCE COURTYARD TO GOLDEN TEMPLE

GOLDEN TEMPLE, PATAN?

The boy then proposed a guided trip around town. He had excellent English and was a good guide though we considered we had paid him far too much, far more than his father could earn for working day - though I would be less harsh in judgement these days.

DURBAR SQUARE PATAN

MAHA BAUDHA PATAN

He took us round the Buddhist temples and told us those who killed animals would return as such in their incarnation, those who don't give to the hungry return in the next life with necks unable to swallow.

The market was good, without too much pressure we bought several pendants in brass and silver. We also saw a workshop where a man was making educational balancing toys in wood of the type Galt made famous in the UK where we bought a set of elephants and monkeys. Finally we bought hand made cards incorporating double sided paintings on cloth.

That evening in Kathmandu we went to the Utse restaurant and had a great Chinese meal, soup or spring roll, sweet and sour pork, chicken with mushroom and bamboo shoots, rice, apple pie, Fanta and a large pot of tea.

We were sharing a table with two German students and enjoyed an excellent conversation, they had spent six weeks in India and were starting another two in Nepal. They recommended Kashmir and Rajastan, though the girl confessed to taking three weeks to get used to the culture change though ended up loving it. Though they had found it very difficult to find cheap accommodation which was also clean. They had now found good accommodation in Kathmandu for 75r/night, though had started less satisfactorily. Their highlight in India had been a week on a houseboat in Kashmir for 150r/week including good meals, a few years later political disputes between India and Pakistan had rendered that once tradition a rare practice.  Their whole eight weeks would have cost.

On return from the Utse restaurant an incident was pleasantly remembered, for Shyam  tapped my arm hoping to make me jump. He took us to his his simple room, about 12 foot square with a simple lino floor covering, his clothes hung from a line across one corner and there was a simple table with a primus stove for cooking. There were two young friends with him both mountain guides working for the Yeti agency. He insisted I took a photograph with him in front of beds of tulips, not real tulips but simply an artificial back cloth from a photographic studio. He also gave us his full name and hoped we would recommend him.

SHYAM

His ambition was to own a guest house which would cost around a million rupees (£20,000) but at a salary of 600r per month that seemed an impossible dream. He did not get commission from neither Nepal Peace cottage or as an assist in the selling of our trek.

TREKKING from POKHARA to TATOPANI

Friday 13 October 1989
What an auspicious day to start our trek writes Joan! 
After packing one day rucksack each for us to carry on the trek and two plastic carrier bags, one with our boots to wear and the other with heavy sweaters and trousers to be carried by the porters it was 1am. Our two large rucksacks were to be left for the duration of the trek at the Peace Cottage. The mornings alarm was set at 5:15 leaving just four hours for sleep.

Our trekking guide arrived at 6:45 with a taxi and we picked two huge loads to be carried by our porters in baskets supported from a band around the forehead. One was a young teenage boy apprehensively making his first trek, he slept all the way to Pokhara on the large bus, no doubt he had been nervous and unable to sleep the night before and no wonder being worried about such a heavy load. It made me feel I should have been carrying the large 75 litre rucksack bought second hand especially for this trip with heavy sweaters, warm sleeping bags and anoraks and little else. Indeed why we were employing porters at all to carry tenting and cooking equipment, instead of the alternative staying overnight at T-houses.

STOP ON ROUTE TO POKHARA

The bus ride was an experience in itself, we waited outside the empty bus before being allowed to board at 7:30am and had arrived at Pokhara by 4pm. This was rated as one of the best roads in Nepal though the middle section was very bumpy to say the least. The road was full of buses like our own the roofs piled high with luggage, the the local buses being packed with standing passengers.

There were three 30 min breaks for comfort stops and food, comfort involved our introduction for the very first time to 'Thunder Boxes in restaurants/shops, holes in the ground to stoop over, usually the last bit of even ground before one suspected it sloped rapidly into the stream below. Our re-alignment to Asia was ongoing, for the first time we were seeing the rural aspect. We passed two modern looking hydro-electric generation plants under construction by Siemens in marked contrast to the rudimentary road bridges constructed from steel I-beams carrying wooden planking.

Once in Pokhara we drove into a walled field which protected us from the crowd of touts a waiting outside displaying greeting cards for hotels at all prices between 50r and 50$ per night mostly priced upwards of 10$. The guide negotiated for a taxi and somehow tied the porter huge baskets into the boot leaving space for us five passengers each with his own personal bag/rucksack. First stop was shopping, evidently not part of the bargain with the taxi driver but he grinned cheerfully enough. The stop took about 45 minutes to buy loaves, other food and a bed roll. 

SHOPPING IN POKHARA

After a 15 minute drive we stopped at the check point barrier beyond which the taxi was not allowed. Our guide and the driver amicably agreed the price and he drove off satisfied.

UNLOADING TAXI

As a group we walked to the T-House and the Nepalese set up camp in the rear. We were soon surrounded by Tibetan girls and old men both laying out  their wares on the floor. We bought a belt each and a bracelet made of four yak bones dividing it into quarters joined in a circle by five parallel cords of beads. 

JOAN'S BRACELET taken later to show off butterfly

Another party arrived two young South Africans and an American who had just qualified as an attorney to take centre stage with the Tibetans. The South Africans were obviously very liberal in their views and wanted it to be reflected in the policy of their government, but they were not optimistic because the hard core were Afrikan speakers. They had been in Turkey to Eckinchik and the Dalyan river, whereas the American had been on a tour of Greek islands, Eygpt, Kenya, India and now Nepal in the past two months.

FIRST NIGHT'S CAMPING at POKHARA

Wonderful black tea and biscuits were served before a fine dinner of rice flavoured with honey, bacon, egg, vegetables plus a salad with dressing, followed by a mixed fruit salad and more tea. In the evening moonlight the high Himalayan mountains were clearly visible. The guide warned us to keep our money, passports and trekking permits under our night shirts and to sleep with the camera between us. He said ten years ago there were no thieves in Nepal but the problem was now increasing, as we had read of India they would cut the tents with razor blades in order to gain entry.

Our guide Santabir had lived in Bhaktapur but without a local hospital his two children had died at the ages of three and five so he had moved to Kathmandu to get health care and his last child was still living. He started to teach me Nepalese.
nemaste, an exchanged greeting like hello
dani bat, thank you
ramro,  good
gari ramro, very good
na ramro, no good
payla sooti, first time trek
dakshin, south
eh kup cha dinas, a cup of tea please
himal, mountain
ukalo, climbing
oralo, descending
cha kaneh, drinking tea
toolow dauga, big basket
pal, tent
sanu batto, small path
bani, water
tato bani, boiled water
usino pool, boiled egg
Tibetan bread, drop fried bread  (for a long time we heard only tipton bread without understanding its derivation)
ama, old woman
didi, young woman (sister) 
bayui, girl children
bhat, rice
dahl, dahl
tarkari, curry
dahi, yoghurt 
We had a comfortable night of expectation sleeping simply on bedrolls, but had to leave the tent several times to get rid of the tea and nerves!

14 October We awoke at 5am to a spectacular early morning view of the Annapurna mountains, Annapurna South (Dakshin), most spectacular of all Macchapuchhare (Fish Tail) with its steep summit.

MACCHAPUCHARE  and ANNAPURNA RANGE

Annapurna IV, Annapurna II and Lamjung Himal. We were greeted with more tea and biscuits, then washed in the river before breakfast of Muesli and milk with a vegetable omelet, toast and a marmalade tasting of tangerine like their green, pippy and very tasty oranges. The South Africans offered us their bowl of hot water for washing and the old Tibetan returned clearly hoping but failing to sell to the African girl without being too pushy and very willing to talk. The Tibetans lived in a refugee camp and had been there since 1959 meaning the sales girls must have been born there.

A little later, say 8am we walked though their camp of huts like a typical Nepalese buildings but with a very impressive government building. We walked an hour before more tea the on until stopping for lunch at 11am behind a T-house where there was a spectacular display of marigolds, huge colourful butterflies and dragon flies . 

MARIGOLDS and BUTTERFLIES

Whilst I was writing these notes our guide and porters were preparing a fine meal. Goats meat cut into large chunks and laid out on the floor and more finely cut on the stump of a felled tree, looked appetizing in sharp contrast to that we had seen in Kathmandu.

EARLY ON TREK

The mornings walk had been excellent, cool at the start on the old trekking road with its continual stream of people and mule trains returning home from the mountains.

MULE TRAIN

A typical train consisted of 20 mules, mostly empty but some with huge bales of wool, the rate estimated at 250 mules/hour, and realised it was their bells we had been hearing last night, having mistaken them for bells calling the people to worship.

Along the route we met one of Shyam's friends from the night before, he was an official guide taking two Europeans who carried nothing but a large camera headed to the Annapurna base camp. Our guide had no permit so he marched quickly ahead of us through each check point and waited discretely for us on the other side. This first check point was a simple hotel style registration.  

ZANTRA, JOAN, ZANTABIR (guide) and LALBADU

Whilst having tea we were surrounded by small children showing off their school books enjoying free English and Maths lessons from me. The kids along the route ask for pens or bon-bons and we are disappointed we had not much to give and try to sell us sticks as staffs.

BON BONS?

At our lunch stop Tibetans approached with their rucksacks full of wares for sale. Lunch consisted of cabbage soup, chips, allple fritters , rice with tomato, onion and banana, followed by slices of apple and guava and tea, we will eat well on thus trek thanks to our guides cooking.

The young porter is now happy confident he can cope with his heavy load and so happily washes up under a tree at the same time as the staff of the Nepalese restaurant, using gritty earth to scour the pans before rinsing them clean from water running out of a pipe.

FIRST UPHILL CLIMB

After a long stop for lunch we had a hard climb up a steep high cliff, I managed OK but Joan tired so the guide took her day rucksack on his back as well as his personal small rucksack on his front, but this is not to be compared with the loads the porters carry. 

TWO PORTERS LEAD JOAN FOLLOWS

BASKETS RESTED AS USUAL ON WALL, to EASE LIFTING

I think it was here that I decided to try lifting a porter's basket on my forehead but never again for not only was it very heavy but it was almost impossible to maintain balance whilst walking.

Having negotiated the really steep section we celebrated with a Fanta for 10r then carried on climbing till 5pm. We stopped on a fine flat field to camp just behind a Tea-House. That evening we were joined by an American medical expert with his two adult sons, one of whom worked for a South American fruit import agency in Rotherdam.

The medic gave us advice about altitude sickness and suggested using Diamax daily, the first sign was a pulse rate slower than 45/min and the onset of clumsiness later signs being vomiting and death. However few people experienced problems before reaching 3000 metres. He also showed us a book on climbing in which our tablets Halazone were not recommended. He filtered water for drinking through a hand operated pump, a precaution also needed trekking in Wyoming.

A young person who doubled as guide and porter said we only really needed a porter if staying in T-houses. He operated a trekking agency in Pokhara. But we had few regrets and another fine dinner reinforced the point, Marrow soup, trekking pizza, rice , chips, n vegetables. We slept well from 8pm till 6am the following morning when we were awakened by Lalbadu the older porter, so ended our first day trekking. (His was the first name recorded in my diary, we clearly had not gelled yet!).

15 October  Landrung
A steady climb during the morning with a couple of stops for tea. I took a chance on drinking water which had been boiled the night before, though being brown in colour it clearly needed filtering. A Brit who worked for the MOD in Hong Kong often came to Kathmandu on business associated with the Gurka regiments told us to be very careful with the water since he had had bad time with Amoebic Dysentery being unpleasantly ill for several days. He recommended a powder Jee van Gel sold in blue packets for fighting dehydration and anti-diarrhea medicine to seal you up. He was going to Annapurna base camp at about 5000m. 

HAND PLOUGHING WITH BUFFALOES

We went through several villages which had grown up to service trekkers like us. Lunch was again at 11:45 on a terrace used to lay out clothes to dry above a T-house. Once again our Nepalese went off the prepare the meal.

ZANTARA and ZANTABIR COOKING

LALBUDU ROLLS BREAD DOUGH

They brought us two chairs and an old table they covered with the aluminium coloured plastic which normally covered their huge baskets, and topped with a blue cloth which obviously had other uses. I hung the sweaty clothes out to dry on the empty line, though by now I was walking simply in a vest and using sun cream to fight burn. 

Breakfast had been huge corn milky porridge 'tsampa', boiled egg and a flan with guavas a major constituent. We were now awaiting lunch amid rhododendron trees, the hillside behind was covered in trees made alive by the continual sound of crickets.

That afternoon was a steady descent on rocky paths to Landrung. We crossed several small rivers. Landrung was a big town where many trekkers stayed, all the camping sites were full so for the first time we slept on beds in a Tea-house, simply wooden bunks with a matting cover then old defective lino and finally our bed rolls and sleeping rolls.

TEA-HOUSE ?

Three parties were cooking in the building without chimneys which was therefore full of smoke. The Americans were there again, plus an Aussie couple and someone from New Zealand who lift early at 10pm. 

The Aussies had just finished jobs working with Aborigines in northern Western Australia. He had just seen a ranch from start up to break even under Aborigine management. Few whites run ranches to make money since over use of land and changing water courses meant it could support only one animal per three acres. The girl had worked as a district nurse and doctor. they had travelled in Singapore, Indonesia and Kashmir where they too stayed on a house boat for 200r/week, but were not too happy with their treatment being taken around from one engagement party to the next they ended up spending 300 to 600r/week in old style boats with a house keeper who prided himself on the level of service. Kashmir hiring boats was obviously the relaxing, luxurious thing to do, but by the time we retired and went to NW India just seven years later in 1996 Kashmir was a war zone with ownership disputed by India and Pakistan.  

After another good dinner we went to bed at 8pm. I had a very sore throat from the smoke, but I was well pleased to find it was better in the morning.

16 October, Chhomro
Real porridge for breakfast but not a lot more for they too had got tired of the smoke. The morning was at first downhill to cross a river and then a steep climb up, we are told that the climb to Chhomro is one of the hardest stage but we are going to leave to go west by an trail unmarked on the map. At 11:15 we stopped at Jhinn Danda for lunch. As usual the woman was breast feeding her baby far past beyond the age they would have been weened in the UK. Yesterday we saw a woman breast feeding whilst cutting vegetables and fruit and placing them to dry in a large semi-circular basket. 

LALBADU and YOUNG ZANTARA ON HIS VERY FIRST TREK

We discussed the route to Muktinath convinced by now we would have to make far more rapid progress if we were to meet our objective. I think they felt we were too old (at 52 & 54) to be serious about trekking and agreed on a route. Tonight Kumnu, then Phalante, Tatopani, Kalopani, Morpha, Kagbeni and Muktinath taking 10 days to go up but in future we would have to stay in T-houses rather than camp and cook. Another fine home cooked lunch Dahl soup, lightly curried  vegetables with many green beans and a spring roll with egg, vegetable, and potato filling.

After lunch was another hard climb to Chhomro where we parted roads with everyone else as they were heading for Annapurna Base Camp and went north up the hill. 

THE AMERICANS ?

ZANTABIR, ZANTARA and LALBADU

We turned west on the north bank of Kyumnu Khola at first climbing but later descending to another river. The maximum height reached was about 6,400 feet, our final camp was at 5,900ft meaning we had made just a net 500ft that day. Both Joan and I are feeling well and walking strongly. Not surprising since at that sage we were active mountain climbing 12 or so miles every Sunday with the Ramblers and Gower Society usually in the Brecon Beacons. Joan had been doing a months  additional training for this trip in the YMCA gym at Swansea.

CORN DRYING

We camped by the fast flowing river Zantabir our guide erected the new larger tent he had purchased from his brother, we washed sweaty bodies and clothes in the pools at the side of the river. There was a small bridge which survives the monsoon with difficulty, is secured by hawsers around a large rock. 

JOAN RELAXES BY THE STREAM

A newer bridge just upstream has been constructed, but this one was good enough for the buffaloes.

JOAN CROSSING BY TYPICAL BRIDGE

Another nice dinner and the bed by 7pm but not before I had sewn a button onto my trousers. A young man coming back from a day hand plowing in the fields had been watching me and indicated that he wanted a needle. He was delighted with one and a small length of cotton wound around a small stick and a pack of mints for his cough. Then a woman from a local house came for one and she too went away delighted, a needle is a wonderful high tech tool if sharpening a wooden stick is the alternative.

My throat was again sore at bedtime but better again in the morning. The new tent was a great improvement with room for our rucksacks and boots.

Tuesday 17 October,  Toudapani nearly Deorali
Again woke to tea but with the sunlight shining off the hills on the western end of the valley. It was interesting to watch the farm come to life with the arrival of sunlight, the kids came out and  

MORNING at FARM CHILDREN PLAY ANIMAL FREE

The men brought the cattle out from the cattle shed and ushered them slowly over the bridge.

BUFFALOES CROSS RIVER ON WAY TO GRAZING GROUND

I took my day's ration of photos that morning, I had a rationed myself to six shots/day or I would run out of film and although shots were missed as the opportunity past never have I taken such a great set of a holiday. The contrast with today's shoot and shoot made free by digital cameras is stark. 

I felt a lack of energy from the moment I got up being afraid of spraining my ever troublesome ankle once again, the result of foul line out play during a rugby match at university, so badly was I walking around camp. No way to face three hours of continuous climbing, though after two hours we were at least back in the shade of trees. I was walking well enough but needed to up the energy and breathe deeply to keep up with the guide. I had a slight headache which persisted as I wrote these notes during the lunch stop at Toudapani, 8,200feet, which overlooks hillsides covered in rhododendrons, and again took the chance of drying wet washing in the sun.

RHODODRENDRONS and ANNAPURNA PEAKS

 Fanta was 15r, up from 10r as we got further from the source of supply, they are carried uphill by porters who return with empties, in the reusable bottle style of the times, say 40's Britain.

The afternoon walk was again uphill to Banthit through dense rhododendrons, the exposed roots of which were a danger of tripping, especially in short sharp downhill sections. I persuaded him to go further to Deorali at 9,800ft but it started to rain and we stopped in an isolated Tea- House attracted by the sight of a fine wood fire.

TEA HOUSE and DONKEYS

The only other residents were a German couple and a girl from New Zealand who were resigned to living on 180r/day, but when we saw they had nothing but mashed potato for dinner we were not too envious. Our guides rice, spaghetti with sauce, vegetables and a thick pancake were nearer the mark. 

At lunch that day Zantibar had asked us for 2,000r which he would repay in Kathmandu, we gave it reluctantly pointing out we had brought just 2,500r in total on the trek. He said Shyam would pay him 5,000r on return, the other 11,000r had been paid to him in advance. He said the porters were paid 100r/day. To complete the picture we had paid 21,471r with the remainder being split between Shyam and the hotel.   

Joan was finding the climbing particularly hard and I didn't find it easy. Having established a good lead I went off the track for a shit and was caught with my trousers down. Later that evening I went twice again followed by a really big one in the morning, that explained why I had been so lacking in energy. I had been passing my bowels each day but obviously not well enough.

Wed 18 October, Chitre, Khali Gandarki and Tatopani
A pleasant morning after the rain of yesterday but Joan had not slept well and was a little concerned with a pain in her sternum. I think it probable that we are both feeling the effects of altitude and I am getting out of breath on the shortest climb, like the one after breakfast in order to get a view of the highest mountain, Daulagiri as Zantabir confirmed later. That morning in four hours we covered a good distance almost all downhill at first on very small tracks through dense rhododendron forest and later through clearings where cattle could graze then back uphill where they grew cereals on strip farms. 

At Chitre we joined the main route and are now once again accompanied by mule trains.

CHITRE?

In fact as I sit in this Tea house drinking tea waiting for lunch I photograph the mule trains through a door as they make their colourful way up the hill.

PASSING MULE TRAIN

A German couple eat dahl bhat and vegetables from a long and well spelt menu then the dog clears their trays on the floor.Joan and I are wearing flowers given by some young girls in one of the small villages. in fact Shika where we are lunching is the largest we have seen recently.

In the early morning through a narrow section strewn with rocks I had to concentrate very hard on my footing to avoid spraining my ankle, in fact so frequently did I slip that I didn't give much for my chances of completing this trek. 

The afternoon however was much easier now we were back on the mule route and it was all downhill until about 4pm when we got our first view of the spectacular deep Khali Gandarki gorge passing by a new low bridge as the higher one had been swept away.

FIRST VIEW OF KHALI GANDARKI GORGE

So into Tatopani almost a city with 3 phase electricity lines along the main street though nothing appeared to be connected to them. We camped on a small lawn under some orange trees and I couldn't resist a little scrumping though from the fallings.

OUR FIRST EVER CLOSE UP OF BANANA TREES in TATOPANI 900m

Joan did not approve! The tea-house was called Daulagiri though the mountain in view was Nilgiri. There were a lot of people here but it was hard to think of them as serious trekkers for all were wearing brand new caving lamps as decoration. That evening we had the most delicious dinner, a large fritter stuffed with banana, rice and a little curry. Next morning just a handful of us were up at 6am - just as well since there was no queue for the toilets.

CORN DRYING