Krung Thep Maha Nakhon

Alternatively Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit, shortly City of Angels or for westerners Bangkok is our first destination in Thailand. Arriving to the Suvarnabhumi International airport in Bangkok feels as if the time machine fast forwarded and spat us out a couple of centuries in the future. We already felt pink having the opportunity to fly the Royal Thai Airlines hoping for special treatment and the corporation did deliver on our expectations. We felt double twisted partially not having been pampered with the luxuries of the "Western" world in the last three months, on the other hand being very badly mistaken for thinking there is nothing which would outgrow the development, as we know in our Western world.

Though Bangkok is probably too big to label it hyper-modern, having various very different districts, marvelously merging the traditional Asian element with the ultra modern. There is Chinatown with its' buzzing markets selling food we had not even the possibility to guess if they were animals or vegetables, the touristy Banglamphu, where we also ended up for accommodation purposes, or the futuristic Siam Square with its shopping malls and air conditioned sky train. This is our fourth day here and we still have not quite got a grip; as usual, in the first few days we stick out like an exclamation mark for tourist rip-off, than in addition we stumble about the eating having mostly no English menus or English speaking staff and the food does not look like anything else we saw before - though whatever we taste is heavenly. Thirdly, the city is like an open air sauna with over 35 Celsius degrees and so humid that if you are not wet due to constant perspiration then you are because of the moist from the air. Hence we decided to apply some immediate changes: we halved our backpacks and bought a couple cloths on the weekend market matching the climate, which was a hilarious experience with its endless variety of product offered on an incomprehensible size of territory. We stopped eating at restaurants with four times higher prices than the street stands, which are delicious, safe and you just point at the other customer's plate if you like it to be safe with your order. And to scare out the scams from irresistibly smiling and polite locals Tomek instructed me to behave just as unfriendly as I am when I am not especially nice. :))) (First I got offended, but eventually the trick works...)

We paid our visit to Ko Ratanakosin, the ancient royal district with its splendid temples and Royal Palace - which we had to leave due to the royal family's coming-and-going under serious security arrangements and scrolled through the amulet market selling zillions of different artistic realization of Buddha and quite impressing variety of lingams. Yesterday evening we ended up in one of Bangkok's largest shopping malls, the MBK for all the services our rustic honeymoon did not allow us to enjoy until recently; just to name one we spoiled ourselves with a one our Thai foot massage. We crossed the river to visit the Wat Arun with one of the numerous ferry services criss-crossing the water and functioning as one of the most effective transportation means in the otherwise busy, but very decently organized traffic.

After four days out of the "forest" we feel the call of moving on; tomorrow we take a night train to the South to the island of Ko Tao, famous of its clear waters and being relatively off the beaten track.

Kathmandu Valley

We decided to spend our last few days of Nepal in Kathmandu, while waiting for our Thai visa and shredding tears over our failed visit to Tibet. We rented a scooter hoping to have a smoother way around with a small vehicle, which served us right. Driving in Kathmandu in general is as crazy as it gets; a lot of honking, jams, taking over from left and right, but once you acquired the unwritten rules of the game it is not as stressful as it looks. And asking for the direction does not require the hassle to get off the bike; there is always another rider 10 cm away on your left and on your right, in your back and front :)

Our first destination was the famous Kathmandu landmark: Bodhnath, the largest Buddhist stupa. It feels like little Tibet, full of monks in red and orange robes and surprisingly few tourists walking around turning the praying wheels. The stupa is surrounded by a lovely round square (if that makes sense in any other language than English...) with a relaxed but cheerful ambient - kids feeding pigeons, elderly Tibetan ladies chatting and laughing aloud, small shops selling beautiful handicraft and random tinkling of the bells after each donation.

On our way back we stopped by at Pashupatinath, Nepal's most important Hindu temple complex which stands on the banks of the holy Bagmati river. Unfortunately most of the temples are for "Hindu only", but for cashing a handsome 250 NRS fee you can enter the site and enjoy the splendid view of the various temples, cremation ghats (where members of the Royal family were cremated after the massacre in 2001), monkeys and locals dressed as Hindu gods for being photographed. It felt a little bit like being in India again, though the Newari architecture has unmistakeably found its way beautifully melting with the Indian Hindi temple style. On our way out our curiosity led us to an elders home located in an ancient temple building complex, which was such a shocking view that we could not escape for some time. The rectangular building was occupied by very badly fed elders, sleeping all over in little chambers, cooking tea on the stairs or entertaining themselves with singing religious songs. Though it seemed we were the ones most oppressed by the experience, the tenants were cheerfully welcoming us with the usual "Namaste!"- which I find the nicest greeting, meaning "I greet the God in you".

Our third and arguably the most impressive destination in the Valley was Patan, the City of Beauty what its Sanskrit name, Lalitpur means, very well deserved. Legend says the city was established by the great Buddhist emperor, Asoka in 250 BC, but the majority of temples and buildings are the heritage of the 16th century Mallas rule. We think its beauty competes of Kathmandu's with its over a 1200!!! temples and shrines scattered all over the city, with its artistic vein famous of its craftsmanship and trade of handicraft. The Durbar square is a massive concentration of the most impressive temples - unfortunately again mostly for "Hindus only". It captivated us so much that we decided to return to visit the Patan Museum the next day to find our way in the complex, interlinked symbolism of Hinduism and Buddhism, which live so peacefully together in Nepal that you can hardly tell the difference.

Tomorrow, after a month in Nepal we fly to Bangkok. We wish the best for the coming elections which hopefully brings some stability to Nepal. It is a country with tremendous attractions for much more visitors than at the moment dare to take the risk to come here. And the risks are really not so severe if you have enough humor for things like the daily scheduled blackouts - more punctual than you can imagine - Swiss watches cannot keep up with the precision.

Tansen

On the of 21st of March we took a deep breath and instead of making our return to Pokhara the same way we came, we decided to make a round trip with a stop-over in Tansen. All together we ended up making a more than 400 km trip in 6 days returning to our "home" by the 22nd.
We had a 6 hours ride in front of us with a wonderful serpentine along a gorge with an azure river climbing the mountain for the last 2 hours. We were warned that strange things can happen on the way having the festival of colors, one of the biggest Hindu holidays, called Holi, in Nepalese Fagu. We were a bit at a loss how to celebrate Easter this year, but our Nepalese friends made it sure that we did not have to suffer from lack of entertainment; traditionally Holi stands for celebrating colors and water. The former represents emotions, the latter welcomes the coming Monsoon and in practice colored water in smaller or bigger balloons is thrown on each other. Luckily we looked exotic enough to be let free by kids hijacking the highway by banners and stones at the village borders, but we had to give in on the mountain road. On the last 2 hours of our ride small settlements followed each other with raging youngsters collecting money and masking you in all colors, women singing and dancing - not less demanding, though without the coloring part. It took us some time before we understood why did I get a big punch on my back driving through one of the female cordons and next time we got through with 20 NRS and a handful of red powder in my face and a big smile from the guys. We agreed to take our Holi experiences as a substitute for Wet Monday...

By the time we arrived to Tansen the city was in full speed celebrating and Tomek also got some purple in his face, so we looked equally embraced by the local folklore, receiving welcoming comments from the receptionist when finally we found a place where we could wash ourselves. Clean and happy after stuffing our bellies we made ourselves lost in the steep narrow streets of Tansen to discover an absolutely non-touristic, medieval-like town and its' Newari architecture. To be fair, the place has a great charm and potential, but what comes to its historical heritage there is a lot to improve - especially in order to establish it as an attraction for visitors, as it ought to be.

On the 22nd after a morning walk and a good breakfast we took off to our last day ride, a gorgeous route to ride a bike; it is a good 5 hours trip if you are not in a rush through mountains with lovely small villages with amethyst color rivers, with awesome smelling evergreen forests, terraced valleys all through the way. We were soooo happy - no traffic and cordons whatsoever - that we decided to continue discovering countries on the bike; you get a great deal more out of a place sticking your nose out of the bus or car.

Royal Chitwan Park

After gaining some speed and confidence riding the bikes without any major problem to Bhandipur, we decided to further endeavour to the Terai region in the South, to Royal Chitwan National Park. We got almost at ease with the traffic and road conditions: you ought to blow the horn if overtaking someone, because they do not hear you nor look into the mirror; buffaloes, cows, suicidal chicken and dogs have rights over all other vehicles, though if you beep to them they mostly follow the left hand rule - yeah, I forgot to mention that there is left hand rule in Nepal. You can imagine a couple of funny traffic situations when Rita insisted driving on the right lane despite of a bus coming ... The scenery was marvellous, though we had to concentrate hard on the in the road or not rarely fight our way through rocks where all of a sudden without notice the road ended - then a couple of meters later it continued due to land slides or stone avalanches. Anyway, after 4-5 hours of riding we ended up on dirt roads taking over elephants and we understood that we must have arrived to Sauraha, a small village next to the park, where we planned to accommodate ourselves for a couple of days.

We found the best accommodation we ever had during our trip with very helpful and friendly hosts and after a cool shower and some food we sat back on the bikes to ride to the Elephant Breeding Center to watch baby elephants. Soon we became the main attraction, when Tomek decided one cookie is enough for the not that small baby elephant and the baby started chasing him all around the yard, Tomek running in the front of the elephant which was attempting to catch the bag of cookies with its' trunk. When understanding that all the tourists are laughing at him and the cookies will not be his, the baby got so offended that later did not want to accept the cookies even from Rita...

Nevertheless we got so much into the elephant idea that next morning we decided to participate the elephant bathing at the river, where the village elephants go for a bath every day following their morning work. This would be already enough of an attraction, but the real fun starts when you join them and they play with you. I do not think I am able to describe better than the photos the fun of sitting on the back of an elephant who is giving you a shower with its' trunk full of water and than goes down on all four knees and puts you under water. To finish with they let you wash them (with a piece of rock), being petted, lying on their sides, completely exposed and enjoying. Not much different from what the tourists are going through - becoming children for a few hours forgetting all about themselves.

Quite exhausted after 2 hours we headed to our jeep safari to the jungle, where we saw crocodiles, rhinoceroses - one of them started chasing our jeep with a not too friendly intention, a python, all kinds of birds and termite homes, a captured baby tiger who became a human flesh gourmet together with her mom and two siblings killing a dozen of villagers before being hunted down. Next morning we enrolled for a 2 hours elephant ride in the jungle, which was quite an experience; if you expect a joyride, forget it. It is shaky, you have to cling hard to the small box 4 of us were seated in not to fall and constantly watch for branches hitting your head, as surprise surprise you travel as high as the top of the smaller trees. We were disappointed how the elephants were treated by the drivers who, often were pinching their skin so hard that it was bleeding, but we learned also amusing things, like that they understand 40 to 5o Hindi words, how silently they walk, that they go through basically anything from thick forest to rivers and their fellows in the forest do not run away despite of us sitting on the top. We witnessed a rhino cooling in a mud pond right next to us not moving even the ear when we passed by.

To make our stay more exciting Rita's bike broke down a couple of times leaving us in-between two villages on a dirt road, but after being able to maneuver through some 30 cows on the road we acquired a liking of the feeling that if anything can happen everything will do eventually happen. :)))

P.S.: Did you know that lizards in Nepal speak to each other? That they give a sound similar to a bird singing and can walk up-side-down on the ceiling?

Bandipur

After our arrival back from the mountains to Pokhara we decided to chill out a bit and acquire new skills. We were contemplating long whether one of us should acquire them and teach the other or both of us should go for the training. In the end we both went to the school for intensive one day training. It was a great experience and a great school run by a British Dutch couple who set their own business in Nepal after quitting their successful corporate careers.

They have given us courage to build on our new knowledge. We rented two motorbikes a day later not without hesitation and drove around Pokhara. The following day we embarked on an 80km ride passing several levels of induction to riding a motorbike. First we went to the post office in the center getting acquainted with the hectic Nepalese traffic (a' la Indian big cities), then moved on to the highway in the mountains. We practiced our skills by trying to avoid the cows, buffaloes, dogs, goats and chicken beside watching out for the usual participants of the traffic (starting with horse carriages ending with lorries). At the end of the highway we encountered a 10km serpentine ascending to Bandipur which lies 1000m above the seal level. All in all we made it and we were rewarded by a very nice evening in a very romantic town that seems to have been left undisturbed by last couple of centuries.

Bandipur is a living museum of Newari culture. It was a former stop-over for the traders between Tibet and India. Nowadays it lost its significance due to new routes. The town is car free and no new buildings are being constructed except for renovation of old ones. The rain has not stopped us from exploring the little paths in the town and admiring breathtaking views of the lowlands surrounding Bandipur. In the late evening we had a very nice traditional Nepalese candle light dinner - dal bhat - matching the medieval atmosphere there was not a single power generator in town. The silence was making us deaf, the darkness uneasy. Since all the guesthouses and hotels were booked out we ended up staying the night at a traditional house which was not designed for people over 150cm tall. I guess our ancestors a couple of hundreds years ago were a bit shorter than today. Besides the candles, our room was decorated with Nepalese royal family photos.

Next morning following a bunch of nicely dressed girls in uniforms we discovered the local Notre Dam School set up by Japanese nuns. It turned out to be the best kept building in town with over 630 students from the age of 5 up to 18 with an outstanding international teacher collective.

Our next destination is a 3 hour ride to Royal Chitwan National Park.

Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

It took us 6 days to climb to the Annapurna Base Camp. Our starting point was a bit below 1000m above sea level - our final destination was at 4130 meters; high enough to make me feel what AMS is.

We decided about the route and overnight stops quite much depending on our physical and mental condition, which is needless to say was not always in perfect synchrony and shape ... Our first day was quite short due to the fact that we wanted a smooth start from Pokhara - both of us recovering from some sort of sickness - but it was straight four hours of uphill climb - right to Dhampus were we spent the first night. We learned fast a couple of principles about the mountain: the earlier you weak up, the better chances you have to see the 8000 m peaks and finish your daily "penitence" around 3 pm, by when usually the rain, but at least threatening clouds covered everything. While walking (with 14 kg on your back) you are sweating like a dog, but as soon you stop you start freezing and with very few exceptions there is no heating nor hot water at most of the lodges. There is no safe drinking water, so the boiled and filtered water you buy at the lodges will change its' color to urine's, thanks to the iodine. And finally, every step you take towards the heart of the mountain, the further away you get from civilization: more specifically, you cannot change your mind halfway, when you had enough. The way to get out is the same as to get in. There is no other transportation means than your own feet, in more critical situations you might end up in a big basket on the back of a Sherpa, who carry unbelievable weights, like a sick women we saw one day.

Lodges are quite an interesting concept - they are all very similar in the way they are organized - all have almost the same menu (due to the fact that the lodges and the prices they charge are controlled by some central organization - so every menu has a funny stamp on the front page). The only heating is a kerosene burner under the table of the dining room during the evenings for extra charge. The higher we got the closer the temperature fall to zero - and the higher the prices became - no wonder as somebody had to carry all the stuff on his back.

The second day from Dhampus to Tolka was mostly spent in the clouds; though we were walking in a rhododendron forest just blossoming with wonderful huge red flowers, we hardly saw more than 2 m around us. We decided to call it a day around 3 pm and enjoyed the hospitality of the village medical man and his family at a gorgeous lodge with hot water in bucket. Believe or not we were as happy as kids in the swimming pool, with this solution. In the evening we joined the most weird celebration; it was the day of Shiva, a day off at school and a national bank holiday, which peaked in bonfires all over the mountain-side, singing, beating drums, dancing and smoking pot - because Shiva is the God of marijuana for Hindus. So as the only non locals we found ourselves in the middle of a circle of women, dancing, chewing sugar cane burned in the fire and tried to grasp what is going on. It seriously felt like a medieval witch Saturday, until men arrived and we decided to sneak back home in the pitch dark with our head torch (whoever invented that piece may be blessed!)

With a fresh 7 am departure we took off the next day to Jinhu, where we hoped to sink in the hot springs. We arrived at 4 pm with a 1 hour egg veg. noodle soup and cheese lunch break (as all the days) by when it started raining and we had to run against time before it would get dark. Nevertheless we decided to walk the extra 45 minutes to the river, where three steaming tiny pools were waiting for us, only us, as we were the only and last ones who would walk 1,5 hours in rain for sitting in hot water while cold water is poring from above. It was worth, no matter what, all our pain was gone and we saved ourselves from a cold shower, too....

From Jinhu we made it to Bamboo the next day, maybe the most stretchy walk, finishing at almost 6 pm. We were again running from the possibility to say farewell to the daylight before getting out from the forest, which was more of a jungle with languors and all kinds of beast as we learned later (e.g. Himalayan black bear, leopard, brown bear, wild elephant, etc.) The last stretch to Bamboo was almost a test for our marriage - here the psychic and physical conditions were equally under test - but we luckily made it just before dark, soaking wet from the rain to the Buddha Guest House in Bamboo, where we had hot shower and excellent food.

On our 5th day we targeted Deurali on 3100 m, the last settlement before the base camps. Here we left the jungle behind and entered the land of snow, crossed avalanches and rivers on shaky bridges, started to feel that the air is getting thin, but from our lodge we saw the clouds from above, the peaks covered with snow behind us and more stars on the clear black sky at night than possible.

For the 6th day we had the two base camps to climb with more than 1000 m elevation from Deurali: the Machhapuchhare Base Camp on 3700 m, and finally the Annapurna Base Camp on 4130 m. Here we had to take alternative routs due to avalanches, should have done the walk before noon, when the snow melts and new avalanches are possible, but we did not. Rita got it in her head, that there is no oxygen and she cannot breath, which slowed us down having the question at 12.30 pm at M.B.C whether we risk to make the last bit to A.B.C in the melted snow or not. Well we did, though it was the second test of our marriage, and it took us double the time (3 hours walking in snow till your knees, your boots in icy water in the bottom) as it normally takes, but the reward was breathtaking - hahaha... Let the photos talk for themselves, I anyway knocked myself out with light symptoms of AMS after a great chess match with Rita. Luckily we did not have to descend in the middle of the night and the following morning we could enjoy the views of the glacier, the 6000 m plus peaks surrounding us in 360 degrees and the small sanctuary. It felt like in an ancient Greek theatre. We were glad not to have set the target to climb the remaining 4000 m, not at this time at least... It took us another 3 days to climb down with night stops at Dovan and Chhomrong, with a record double speed compared to the way up and when we reached 2000m mark the summer has finally arrived. However happy we were to leave the peaks alone, arriving to Naya Pul at 6 pm on the 9th day where we found a Toyota Corolla from '73 to bring us back to Pokhara, getting back down made us feel uneasy. All the hassle of busy streets, people everywhere made us want to go back "to our mountains" - only the hot shower, warm hotel room made us feel that for now we definitely want to stay in the lowlands.

All in all - it was an amazingly changing environment - you never knew what will happen in the next hours - like for instance a sudden haze making us soaking wet from tip to toe - but after a good 6 to 8 hours trekking you always loved your food - no matter what it was. By the end of most of our days we looked just like the poor beast on the picture that was carrying our luggage :) Of course this is a joke - in reality we were one of the few that made the trek without using porters or guides, but it just added to the similarities between the buff and us.

Pokhara

We decided to leave something to discover in Kathmandu for the next time and took a 7 hours bus ride to Pokhara, the second biggest city in Nepal. We stay in tourist quarters with lots of cozy restaurants all by the lake. We found a very nice hotel where we have spent already a couple of days preparing for our trek - having some bicycle rides around the city, trekking to World Peace Pagoda and recovering from Tomek's third ?! food poisoning. Visiting a private hospital is a scary experience here - I cannot even think what the public must be like. We managed though to find a doctor trained in Lvov in Ukraine so Tomek entertained himself in a mix of Russian, Ukrainian and Polish (he loved Polish TV shown in Lvov).

We both agree that the hotel we found is the nicest so far during our trip - quiet, clean and cozy with 24 hours hot water (it is much colder up here so it is quite important factor). Electricity though is very scarce - we are having here more blackouts than both of us have ever seen in our entire lives...I think it cannot get much worse than this for a local population. Hopefully, the new agreement reached here between the quarreling parties and the government will improve the situation soon.

Today after arriving at 5.30am at the gate of a closed airport and waiting, then already at the airport until 10.30am for our flight to Jomson, to depart we learned that since three days not a single flight to that destination due to weather conditions has taken off. So we have new plans. We canceled the tickets and decided to start tomorrow with a 10-14 days Annapurna Sanctuary Trek to the Annapurna Base Camp. It might therefore take some time before we are back online. We leave you time to digest our pictures more thoroughly :)