This is part two of my journey through Nepal. Go to part 1.
Trekking the Middle Hills between Jiri and Lukla
Here’s a typical day of trekking, which starts with me sleeping in a trekking lodge. The roosters in the village start going between five and six. I’m not sure why a village needs that many roosters. One always finds my window makes noise just outside. I’ll be out of the sleeping bag at 6:30, get dressed, then breakfast. By the time I’m done other trekkers come trickling into the common room. We chat, I go back to pack up my pack and the duffel bag for Nara. Nara comes to collect his load and ties his naamlo (headstrap) to the duffelbag. I clear the bill with the lodge owner, and we’ll be on the trail by 7:30. The air is nice and cool, but the temperature quickly rises and by 8:30 it starts to get hot and humid in the valleys. We stop at a bhatti for a cup of Nepali milk tea, hike some more, then more tea, etc.
Lunch is usually between twelve and one. Some days we’ll have reached our destination, but other days we continue on for a few more hours in the afternoon. The weather has been clear all morning, but in the afternoon clouds start to build. We check into the trekking lodge, I get settled into my room, come back out and have a cup of tea. I then decide on an afternoon excursion, perhaps check out the village we’re in, or a hike up a hill. If I’m not feeling well I may crawl into my sleeping bag with my book. I may order a dish of hot water and wash my face, shave, wash my body, my hair, and then my socks. By five o’clock, other trekkers will have arrived, and a game of cards is going on in the common room. The clouds have now rolled in now and visibility outside is nil. At the higher elevations, a kid will come and fill the stove with dried yak dung, pour on some kerosene, and strike a match to light it. We put aside the cards and order dinner, perhaps garlic soup and fried potatoes. After dinner there’s usually more cards. I drink lemon tea. One hour after dark I may walk outside to go pee, and all the clouds will be gone and there are stars everywhere. I contemplate the scenery and go back in. I try to keep my eyes open for a while, but 8:30 is a late night. Time to hit the sleeping bag and do it all over again the next day.
Hillside, near Lamjura La.
A typical hillside in the middle hills of Nepal. The dots on the hill are farmhouses. This hillside is about 2000 m high and the ridgetop is at about 3500 m. These are elevations typical of the highest peaks in the Canadian Rockies! The trail to Namche Bazaar goes right over top of the ridge, after which there is another valley and ridge. Then another. And another.
Junbesi.
The village of Junbesi lies at the bottom of the Lamjura La, the highest hill between Jiri and Namche. It is surrounded by pine forests, and the Sherpa people here grow apple trees. The freshly squeezed apple juice served at the trekking lodges is refreshing after a long day of hiking.
Butterfly and wild marigolds.
One lazy morning in the village of Kenja I wandered down to the river. I contemplated going swimming, but the water was fast and I was coming down with a cold. Instead, I sat and reflected on the scenery, and started photographing some bugs that were buzzing around. At the start of the trek after all the planning and anticipation at home, after the long flight to Kathmandu, and after the bumpy busride to Jiri I was bursting with energy, keen to cover as much ground as possible each day. But after only a few days on the trail I had settled into a relaxed pace, doing most of the trekking in the mornings and spending the afternoons exploring my surroundings.
Corn.
Corn is drying in a basket alongside the trail, near the village of Bandhar.
Porter crossing a suspension bridge.
Much has been written about the strength and perseverance of Nepal’s porters, almost to the point where it seems to be a cliche. But until you see with your own eyes what kind of physical labor these guys are capable of… Even toward the end of my trip I would still rub my eyes in disbelief. It must be a hard life, and it only pays a few dollars a day.
Packs resting on a chautaara.
On the left is Nara’s load followed by my backpack, a 80L expedition pack that I use for multi-day trips in the Canadian Rockies. On the right are two porter loads. Nara estimated these loads to be about 60 kg each. Porters sometimes carry loads up to 90 kg, supported only by a headstrap (naamlo) that puts all the force straight down the spine.
Making Lokta paper.
A boy is making paper from the bark of Lokta trees. The bark is pounded in a cylinder, and the pulp is then spread out to dry on the frames. Behind the boy is some finished product, which may end up in the souvenir shops of Thamel.
Chorten and mani stones, Trakshindo La.
The Mani stones in the foreground are inscribed with the Buddhist mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, which translates to Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus. They are found alongside the trail and always must be passed on the left. They are a sign that the area you are in is inhabited by Sherpa people.
Harvesting in the Middle Hills
During the main trekking season in October and November it is harvest time in the middle hills. Crops that were planted in the spring have grown to maturity during the hot and humid monsoon that engulfs Nepal during the summer. The Sherpa people who live at higher elevations have already finished harvesting their potato and wheat crops by this time, and they are ready to make some cash in the trekking business. For the people of the hills these two interests compete. For instance, at Nara’s farm in the hills west of Kathmandu his family and his sibling’s families do the harvesting while Nara brings home the tourist dollars.
Rice.
Rice is the staple food of most Nepalis and it is widely grown in the hills. During the fall trekking season, rice is being harvested everywhere. For the trekker, a challenge is to try to score fresh rice for dinner, which is much tastier than last year’s stuff.
Millet.
Millet is also widely grown. Some of it is roasted and ground up to make tsampa, a breakfast cereal that is reconstituted with boiling water. Millet is also fermented to make booze. Thongba, a specialty of eastern Nepal, is fermented millet which is scooped into a big beerstein. Boiling water is added, and once the brew has percolated, you drink it up though a bamboo straw that acts as a filter. Tastes pretty good once you’ve had a few.
Corn.
Corn is dried and ground into corn flour. I never saw corn eaten fresh in Nepal.
Cutting and bundling rice stalks.
The whole family participates in the harvest. Although it is backbreaking work there is lots of fun and laughter.
Threshing.
Threshing is quite primitive: the bundles are whacked on a stone. The rice kernels are then scooped off of the ground. For some reason many people don’t put plastic sheeting beneath the threshing site. Even though women spend many hours picking out bits of gravel from the rice, I still managed to chip a tooth eating rice when I bit down on a stone.
Rai farm.
Corn cobs are drying on a rack. The brown stuff lying on the ground is millet drying. On the roof is a basket of chilis. The vine on the right produces fruit that looks like a green bell pepper but it is starchy like a squash. Nara says there is no English name for it. It is often curried (tarkari) and served with rice and beans (dhal bhat).
Water buffalo.
At lower elevations, water buffalo are the beast of burden. They provide milk and meat, and are used for ploughing fields. Yaks and yak-cow crossbreeds are used at higher elevations. The only place I saw cows in Nepal is in the streets of Kathmandu. They have been released by pious Hindus there. The cows like to browse on garbage, and they lie down and chew their cud in the middle of traffic.
Portraits of Nepali people
There are many different ethnic groups and castes in Nepal, and each have their own physical traits and traditional dress. On my journey I saw and met many interesting people, but photographing them was often not so easy. You can’t just shove a camera into someone’s face and snap a picture. Doing this upsets people, and when Nepalis talk about the rudeness of tourists this is one subject that frequently comes up. Children often readily agree to have their picture taken, but adults are often quite reluctant.
Four children.
On an afternoon walk near the village of Shivalaya, I came across these four children. When they saw my camera they jumped into formation, and all I had to do was point and shoot. Note the different expressions on the children’s faces.
School kids.
These kids were playing near one of the famous Hillary schools. The girls on the left are wearing school uniforms. The girl and the boy on the right obviously come from families too poor to afford proper uniforms. The boy is wearing an adult-sized cap, and his tie is fashioned from an old towel.
Rai woman.
I came across this lady when exploring the town of Bung. She did not speak English and she didn’t understand the Nepali phrases I tried to speak. However, she was fascinated by my camera. I tried to ask if I could take her picture and she appeared to agree and straightened herself out, but once I pointed the camera at her she became quite shy and looked down.
Gentleman, Arun Valley.
While walking around the town of Baluwa Besi in the Arun valley I came across this elderly man. I tried speaking to him in Nepali, and he was absolutely delighted. He asked me to take his picture. Once I got set up he put a very proud look on his face. He protested when I tried to leave; I think he wanted me to be his guest for the afternoon and stay for dinner.
Three Tibetan women.
I met these three young women in Thubten Choling, a village of Tibetan refugees near Junbesi. They were quite outgoing and giggly, and were happy to get their picture taken. But when the abbot of the village monastery came around, they turned beet-red and scattered.
Sherpa woman.
This Sherpa woman runs a trekking lodge in the village of Bhandar. Nara and I had ordered Dal Bhat in a different trekking lodge, and while waiting for lunch to get ready I walked around the village and ran into this lady. She was very friendly and showed me the grounds of the local gompa (monastery), then took me to her own lodge and then asked what I would like to have for lunch. I apologized, and not wanting to offend her and leave her empty-handed I bought a soft drink and ran back down to join Nara.
Tihar in the Arun Valley
After trekking in the high country, I walked out to the road via Salpa Bhanjang and the Arun Valley. Bill Tilman, the first western trekker in the Everest area of Nepal, came this way in 1950 but the route is not much used by trekkers these days. There is 10 km of relief on this route, and now that air service to Lukla is good almost everyone chooses to fly out.
The fact that not many westerners go here makes it excellent trekking country. I saw maybe one other trekking party each day, and no-one else south of Tumlingtar. The accommodations were often primitive, and I made good use of my tent at times. Food was limited to Dhal Bhat, Ra Ra noodles (flavourless instant kind), and when we were lucky some eggs or chapatis for breakfast. I’ve been told that trekking in the main Everest area was just like this in the 1970’s.
Just south of Lukla, the route leads through Sherpa country over several steep mountain passes to the Rai town of Bung. Beyond Bung is the Salpa Bhanjang, a 3500 m pass with a 2000 m ascent similar to the Lamjura La on the Jiri route. From then on it’s all downhill, first along a rushing stream called the Irkhu Khola, then along the large Arun River which drains part of Tibet. I came across some Maoist rebels here, but luckily they didn’t bother me. This is a subtropical area where banana trees grow alongside the trail and local little mandarin oranges are for sale at trailside stalls. There are some nice swimming holes along both these rivers. Beyond the town of Tumlingtar a road is under construction, and we picked up a bus in Pakri Bash, a filthy roadside town just north of Hille.
The busride back toward Kathmandu was exciting. For part of it I rode on the rooftop, wedging myself between luggage and bags of produce while ducking branches and powerlines which whizzed overhead just inches above the bus, leaving me to wonder whether, if I were to get caught up in one, if I’d get decapitated or electrocuted first. Fortunately nothing nasty like that happened.
Bung.
Bung is a large Rai village that sprawls out over a hillside perhaps 500 m high. The land is very fertile here, and the trail leads through countless terraced paddies planted with rice and millet.
Trekking lodge in Bung.
Along the Salpa Bhanjang route the accommodations aren’t quite as posh as on the Jiri trail. The funky Pumori Lodge in Bung, though, was quite comfortable. Nara has just chased a chicken out of the common area. The village store is the room on the left.
Men playing carom board.
Even though it was harvest time, these two men didn’t seem that busy. For an entire afternoon they sat in the main street on the village of Bung playing carom board and drinking cup after cup of Nepali milk tea. The rules of carom board are similar to 8-ball pool except that chips are used; the cue chip is flicked with the index finger. This game is very popular in Nepal.
Villagers gambling.
The festival of Tihar, also called Diwali, is one of the most important yearly festivals in Nepal. Laxmi, the goddess of money is honoured, and on the first day of Tihar people gamble in the streets. Nara is making a wager (bottom right). I was sitting on the balcony handing bills down to Nara, and he would hand me back the winnings. I was doing very well for a while and then my luck ended.
Folk dancing, Tumlingtar.
As a part of Tihar celebrations in the town of Tumlingtar, these villagers are performing folk dances in the street. They are dancing to tunes sung by a group of boys behind the sign. The audience claps along and sings the refrains of all the songs. A plate with a candle, food offerings and money is put on the floor, and one by one the bystanders would put some more money on the plate. This would cause cheers, the beat would pick up, and people were dancing all evening long. Proceeds went to the red cross.
Flower garlands.
Tihar is a time for family visits, and the trails were busy with travellers going to visit their relatives. Flower garlands are presented as gifts, and even dogs and water buffalo get a tikka on the forehead.
Trees in morning mist.
Two gnarled trees appeared out of the morning mist in the Arun Valley just south of Tumlingtar.
Bamboo bridge.
Nara is standing on a bamboo bridge that spans the Irkhu Khola. Around his neck is his naamlo (tumpline or headstrap) he uses to support his load.
Crossing a bamboo bridge.
Crossing these bridges is loads of fun. The bamboo beneath your feet bounces as you walk across, and the handrail goes from side to side. Had one of us fallen in, it would have been an ordeal.
Continue to part three of my journey through Nepal.