Nepal & Tibet
Posted by Kirsty on July 18th 2007
Written on the 2007 London to Sydney expedition
Nepal has been a definite favourite for most people – beautiful landscapes (jungles, lakes and mountains), so many activities to do (national parks, trekking, rafting, fishing and all things elephant) and less people than India (which lets face it, wouldn’t be hard).
It was good to get back to nature with our first night spent camping in the jungle lowlands of Nepal. Wildlife spotting in Royal Chitwan National Park involved all manner of safaris – walking, jeeps, elephant back and dugout canoes. Bathing with the elephants in the river was a scream.
About half the group had not had their fill of wildlife and made their way west to the Royal Bardia National Park in the hope to catch a glimpse of the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger. Alas, to no avail. However, those on the walking safari were apparently hot on the trail of a tiger, following fresh spore and all– very exciting. Many other animals were spotted including the Asian rhinoceros, Blue Bull (very rare large antelope), large herds of Spotted Antelope, Langur and Macaque monkeys and a large variety of birds (sorry, I can’t name them all Tom – our resident twitcher).
The group rejoined in Pokhara, a quaint little town set beside the Fewa Lake and back dropped by the Annapurna Range – stunning. Much shopping; boating on lake drinking beer – oops sorry, fishing; trekking; and overnight rafting and camping was done. We also celebrated John’s 40th birthday (you old fart) here over a humungous steak and a few beers and 2 for 1 cocktails. Pokhara was the perfect place to relax and chill out after a few months of travelling – a holiday from the holiday.
Onto the infamous Kathmandu where we met up with the trekkers who left us in Delhi to ‘walk’ the Annapurna Range and ‘climb’ the Mt. Everest Base Camp (he he he). Let it be known I have been told in no uncertain terms that the Annapurna trek was technically more difficult than the Base Camp trek. Whatever!!! But I am proud to announce that all trekkers made it to their final destinations with no problems at all and enjoyed it immensely. You guys rock!
Kathmandu for many involved more shopping (cheap trekking gear and clothes of well known brands), sight seeing of the many intricately designed temples and of course, Sam’s Bar (THE overland watering hole). What are we going to do tonight? Same as we do every night. Go to Sam’s Bar.
The adrenalin junkies of the group were hungry for more Nepalese adventure and threw themselves off a perfectly good bridge attached to a bungee cord and then to top it off threw themselves off a cliff over the Karnali River near the Nepal/Tibet border. Craziness. But judging by their mood when the rest of the group caught up with them in a cool little bar by the river, an excellent time was had by all. Loved watching the videos, especially yours Rixy (Nnnnooooooo!!!!!).
It was sad to say good bye to Nepal but no rest for the wicked, onto Tibet we go. Tibet is the land of high mountains and plateaus, smiling Tibetans and yaks. After crossing the border (Friendship Bridge), a hairy drive at night (due to road closure during daylight hours) took us onto the Tibetan Plateau surrounded by the amazingly high mountain peaks of the Himalayan Range, truly the ‘roof of the world’. The average height of the plateau is about 4000+ metres above sea level. A few of us suffered mild symptoms of altitude sickness but after a day or so of acclimatisation we were ready to ascend to the Mt. Everest Base Camp to view the ‘North Face’ (5200 metres). The main road up to base camp was closed to large vehicles (i.e. our truck) due to the Chinese rebuilding it and making it a bitumen/tarmac road for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. They plan to highlight Mt. Everest to the world by taking the Olympic Flame up to Base Camp as part of the Olympic Torch Relay – there are rumours that they plan to take it all the way to the summit. So by using 4X4 vehicles and pony & carts we made it to Mt. Everest Base Camp (Qomolangma in Tibetan) – a much more civilised way to do it (than trekking). And in true EOE style, the clouds surrounding the mountain top cleared just as we arrived and covered over again as we left. Spectacular!
We are now in Lhasa (meaning ’scared land’ in Tibetan), the capital of Tibet, spending a couple of days sight seeing the many Buddhist monasteries and the famous Potala Palace.
Having a ball!!!
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