Well it's been 3 weeks since my last blog....oh so much to tell. Ok so from Bundi we went to Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. Famed for being the best place in the Indian sub-continent to see the elusive tigers due to their unnerving attitude towards humans & vehicles. They aren't scared of us or jeeps apparently. Anyway we spent 4 hours driving around zone 5 (a tourist gets picked at random from the jeep to select a zone before entering the park). Apparently zone 5 has 7 tigers dwelling within its jungles...I say apparently as we clearly didn't see any. We did manage to spot lots of deer...both spotted dear & the biggest dears in Asia as well as the beautifully coloured kingfisher(yawn). It was still exciting to be roaming through the tiger's habitat. The locals just roam around on foot with non protection at all, "crazy people", is what we thought, at the time that is.
It was non stop from Ranthambore, we travelled to Agra where we visited the Taj Mahal, worth every penny, even though tourists do get ripped off. We pay about 50 times more than the locals but we did get a free 300ml bottle of warm water & some cotton shoe covers, which meant we didn't have to remove our shoes. Above the Taj peregrin falcons roam majestically over head. It is an amazing building & we managed to watch the sun go down & even get stuck in a sand storm at night with no lights to guide us out. The only intimidating part of this was walking the gauntlet from the Taj back to our taxi past all of the dodgy restaurants & cafes who are known to drug tourists in order to rob you blind (one of the harsher ways the Indians acquire our hard earned western money). We escaped unharmed & managed to visit Agra Fort the following day before our night train to Varanasi. Two days & one night was more than enough to experience the flavour of one the most ancient cities in the world. It certainly looks & smells like it. We stayed on the ganges & took a two hour boat ride down the river at dusk. Just in time to row past a floating human corpse, as well as dead pigs, dogs oh & a cow. In the old part of the city there is an area famed for its religious activities...in short there is always at least one dead body burning in a fire by the river. Well Varanasi is one of the most holiest places in the world & hence a few things go on which one may perceive to be a little out of the normal. A ride down the river does make you question if you are in a Hollywood movie. It was even hotter here than Rajasthan, probably around 48 degrees c. So hot we had to throw cold water on to our hotel room floor to cool the place down. Good character building nonetheless. From Varanasi we travelled by the overnight train in first class (not as luxurious as it may sound) to Gurakphur where we (& 14 other people) hired a local taxi to Sonauli. The taxi consisted of a normal 4x4 rammed with 16 paying customers, a driver & a bag boy on the roof. This 3 & half hour journey to the Nepalese border seemed to go on for ever. Finally we arrived & got a cycle rickshaw to the border crossing point, which was the most effortless part of the trip. From Sonauli, after several agruments with local touts, we got a bus to Chitwan National Park (a listed world heritage site). Chitwan is a must for any visitor to Nepal. Our first morning consisted of riding bare back on an elephant & washing it in the local river, which is infested with crocs. We also visited the elephant breeding centre (yes girls that does mean baby elephants), rode through the jungle on elephant back & spotted 6 rare one horned rhinos & several other species. A visit to a Tharu Village was arranged & we got to see these amazing people & how they live still in their mud huts, obviously with tv's & mobiles. They actually came from Rajasthan 100's of years ago & eventually became immune to the plague of malaria which once roamed through Chitwan before the government eradicated it around 60 years ago. The most nerve racking part of the trip was the canoe ride down the river. The local canoes are so narrow & sit about 2 inches above the water. Any slight heavy movement would tip them over. So when we approached a croc & the guide got us closer for a photo it is safe to say that I was close to soiling myself. We broke the journey by venturing to dry land & spotted a rhino bathing in a swamp, a truely memorable moment to be so close to such an amazing creature in its natural environment. We canoed further down the river to start our jungle trek. We then spent over 2 hours retracing our route down the river but on land. No tigers, leopards, bears or snakes were spotted but we did encounter a rhino grazing in long grass. This was especially scary as they often charge humans (they feel threatened because of their bad eye sight). Probably not as scary as a wild elephant which are known to rip trees out of the ground with scared tourists clinging on. On one track we spotted 3 fresh snakes tracks, the last was so big we didn't know what it was - apparently a python's track. A lone trekker, accompanied by 2 guides, showed us pictures he had just taken of tiger prints a 2 minute walk away but still no sightings of the elusive tiger. The final night in Chitwan was spent in a jungle tower, a 3 storey tower smack bang in the middle of the jungle. We spotted a rhino with her baby, a huge monitor lizard which was right next to us & scared the life out of us. In the morning a rhino strolled right past us while searching for good breakfast grass. We were slightly unlucky with the weather as it rained meaning we didn't afford the luxury of the moonlight to see some animals & most animals hide under trees during the rainfall.
Pokhara was our next destination. We spent two nights in a hotel by Lakeside (which reminded me of the Lake District just alot bigger & cheaper) before we set off on our 8 day trek. Pokhara actually sits at around 820 meters above sea level so you do have a slight hand when trekking from here. We started in Nayapul (1070m) & strolled up the dirt track past numerous school children hiking to school (some walk 2 hours or more to school then 2 hours plus home every single day). We reached the army check post where they check your trekking permit. The initial pains & aches started as the trail gradually got steeper. We passed Chimrung (1130m) Syauli Bazar (1220m) Kimche (1640m) & Chane before reaching our night time resting place of Ghandruk (1940m). The hotel was actually pretty nice with an en-suite shower & hot water. The first day wasn't too bad & infact most days only consisted of 5-6 hours walking. We (ok well I would get up about 5am) breakfast was around 6.30 & we would normally plan to leave around 7 but Trudy liked to take her time so it became 7.30 then 8ish. We would walk with several rests until lunch where we took an hour break & normally reach our destination by 2-3 pm. So the days weren't too testing & infact with a small pack of 10-12 kgs it made the trek very enjoyable. Our friendly guide, Leela, carried Trudy's pack...purely so she could practice her Maori stick dance ready to defend us from the wild leopards & bears. Hence why she also like to adopt the defensive position at the rear of our small coloumn. The second night we stayed at Chhomrong (2170m) & didn't really make much height as we went down a huge steep valley & back up it again. Day 3 landed us in the village of Himalaya (2920m) where we started to feel more isolated & we met some nice Tasmanian men & a German couple. The fourth day was the trek to the base camps. We passed Machhapuchhre BC (3700m) first but its shallow position in the valley means that the views are rarely great. We stormed through after a spot of lunch & made our final ascent to Annapurna BC at 4130m. We weren't here long before the weather started to come in. Within 5 mins of snow falling the ground was covered & visibility was impossible. We huddled together in the dining hall with other trekkers & passed the hours with games of cards & chess accompanied with hot chocolate. One Canadian girl, Nancy, had been at ABC for a month while her boyfriend, Ignacio Ochoa de Olza (a Spanish climber), attempted to reach the summit of Annapurna I. We learned that he had already climed 12 of the world's 14 8,000m peaks successfully & without oxygen. This meant that if he summitted Annapurna I he only had one more peak to climb & he would be the 8th person in the world to achieve this great feat. The next morning we woke to prestine clear views of the Annapurna range. We were utterly surrounded on all sides by these huge rocky white peaks. It truely was an amazing experience & we were so lucky with the weather. We saw Nancy who informed us that her boyfriend along with the two other climbers, a Swiss & Russian, were 500m from the top & had spent the night on the east summit. The view was clear & although it looked sunny it also looked windy but we were positive they would summit that day. It had taken them 4 days to reach the east summit from ABC, amazing really considering a Russian team had previously spent 11 days climbing & hadn't reached that far. Annapurna I was the first of the 8,000m peaks to be conquered by man & is considered to be the most difficult due to the numerous avalanches & the technical skill needed to summit. Most deaths occur on this mountain in preportion to the people who climb it. Which leads me on to today's (24 May 08) edition of The Himalayan newspaper. The front page reads "Two climbers dead on Annapurna, Everest trails". Yep unfortunately Ignacio or Inaki was one of them. Apparently he died from brain and lung damage. He tried to reach ABC, but suffered a seizure and was unable to descend the mountain below camp four at 7,400 meters (24,278 feet). His two companions remained in a tent perched on the side of the mountain until Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck arrived carrying medicines to try to save him. However, Inaki died after five days immobile and semiconscious. Mountain rescues at 7,400 meters are practically impossible as few people are able to climb to that height and the air is too thin for helicopters to fly. Such a sad time for the mountaneering world yet these climbers are aware of the danger they put themselves under. It just reminds us how vulnerable we are to the wrath of mother nature. On a lighter note...
An amusing snippet from Wikipedia regarding my malaria tablets, Lariam. "Mefloquine may have severe and permanent adverse side-effects. It is known to cause severe depression, anxiety, paranoia, agression, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, peripheral motor-sensory neuropathy,[2] vestibular (balance) damage and central nervous system problems. For a complete list of adverse physical and psychological effects — including suicidal ideation — see the most recent product information. Central nervous system events occur in up to 25% of people taking Lariam, such as dizziness, headache, insomnia, and vivid dreams.[citation needed] In 2002 the word "suicide" was added to the official product label, though proof of causation has not been established. Since 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA has required that patients be screened before mefloquine is prescribed." I may try & get some new ones. Thanks to Ode & Wilfid who pointed this out. Descending the Annapurna range was much easier & we actually took our time. On the second day we branched off from Chhomrong down to Jhinu (1780m) and spent the afternoon in the hot springs accompanied by our new found trekking companions, Ode & Wilfrid - a nice French couple. We even managed to sneak a couple of beers in to the springs & it was a welcome relief to soak our aching muscles. All in all the trek was very enjoyable and relatively easy considering the altitude & lack of oxygen at high altitude (I don't think it was less than 50%). The further we ascended the better we slept. I think this may have been due to the increased oxygen in the body, placing us in a state of euphoria. The only other rime I have experienced this was travelling from Mammoth Mountain in California to Death Valley (the lowest place on earth, which is actually below sea level). Like India, Nepal has a large homeless or wild dog population. They are much cleaner than those found in India (like the people - no dig just a fact). They also like to follow trekkers between villages, which are never more than 2 hours apart on the ABC trail. We thought this was very sweet until we discovered that they used us as protection. The dogs are known to be attacked by the spotted & snow leaopards roaming Annapurna so they don't stroll outside the villages without a human escort. Leopards don't attack humans & actually avoid us until they are too old to hunt their normal prey or injured which is when they wander in to villages at night time & eat humans.
