Mar 2008

"Hello. We are Maoist. We want peace and sustainable development for Nepal. We are on campaign for election. We dont want to fight."
And thus I was introduced to my first Maoist. Contrary to popular opinion he didnt try to extort money from me. We even shook hands twice and I bid him the best of luck on his blazing campaign trail as he wandered down the path on his pony, teenage flag-bearer/hero-worshipper by his side. The conflict between the government and the Maoist's is currently on standstill, at least until the April election is over, and that means that the Maoist party is trying to gain favour with the Nepali population to get as many seats as possible in the upcoming elections. They're communist, so the red hammer and sickle flag is displayed all over the country. Nepali's take an interesting view on politics here. Communism seems to be popular here - partly because so much money is squandered by politicians, leading the population to want equal wealth distribution, and therefore a rise in communist sentiment. And strangely enough, people dont seem to harbour much of a grudge against the Maoist's despite the fact that many civilans have died over the years. Many Nepali's seem to understand their issues. Anyway, I never felt at risk of any danger, and neither do other tourists.

The Annapurna circuit is beautiful beyond comparison. There is a lot to it. Typically the hike takes 16-21 days. I organised a guide in Kathmandu and a day later was taking the bus to Besisahar - the first town on the trail. I know I've have had my fair share of ranting and raving about bus drivers in previous blog entries, but now I think I've seen it all. My guide, Bhuben, organised a trip on a public bus - a seven hour trip from hell! The bus was a classic - straight from the 60's - so you'd think the bus driver would take it easy. But no, this only increases his desire to push the limits. The most useful tool in a Nepali bus driver's arsenal is the horn/hooter. Every horn has an annoying, repetitive tune...! When you arrive at the bus station in Kathmandu you feel as if you're in the middle of a parade band! It is used almost without stopping for the entire journey. There is no need for braking as long as this tool still works. A gap always seems to appear as the vehicle/motorcyclist in front of the bus (usually) pulls over and lets the bus go forth. When the bus enters a mountainous region, you really start to worry. Suddenly you're driving alongside massive cliffs and the bus is showing no signs of slowing down. Overtaking on hairpin corners or blind rises is par for the course. I plugged in my mp3 player, this was just too much for me...
I'll never curse a Sowetan taxi driver again.

So the trek was incredible. To get an idea of the terrain, the Annapurna area has three of the world's ten highest peaks. You are almost always looking at a snowcapped mountain somewhere in the distance, and as you get closer to the pass, you are surrounded by enormous, snowy peaks. For much of the trek you are at what mountaineers call 'high altitude,' meaning you need to let your body adjust to the rate at which ascend. So you take it easier the higher you go.
I generally tried to hike for the morning and a couple of hours after lunch before settling at a guest house for the night, then departing again after breakfast the next morning. My days varied between 11km per day and a maximum of 22.5km. In total the trip is about 205km of hiking.
The teahouses and guesthouses are owned by Nepali's and are rustic, but this all adds to the trekking experience. The villages where you stay are usually in a scenic part of the trek alongside the Marsyagandi or Kali Kandaki rivers, and often include a temple or Tibetan Buddhist monestry. Many of the villages are completely mind-blowing... they resemble medievil towns complete with ancient stone walls and cobblestone streets. The environments change constantly as you scale up to higher and higher altitudes, going from sub-tropical bush, to pine forests, to arid and rocky desert landscapes, and finally to the snowy peaks of the Himalaya's. My backpack initially weighed a ton - so I left some old shirts behind after three days, meaning that by the time I got on the bus 16 days later (no chance to wash clothes before this) my few clothes and I must have smelt like a vast herd of unwashed desert camels.
The pass, Thorung La, was the toughest part. It took a solid 10 hours of heavy trekking to get through the day. The pass is one of the world's highest - 5416 meters - I think that's higher than some continents! I felt the effects of altitude mountain sickness (AMS) through a pretty severe headache, so couldn't hang around the peak for too long, and headed down the other side into the world's deepest valley. The effect in terms of your breathing is unbelievable - sometimes you are gasping for air just from walking a few meters. Hats off to Tenzing and ol' Ed Hillary!! The west side of Annapurna presented some amazing desert scenery, gale force winds, the best hot springs in the world (surely??!), and beautiful viewpoints. What a trek - and there are plenty of other options that I hope to do in Nepal again one day.

Met some classic fellow trekkers on the route as well, by the time I finished the trek, our party had extended to six: Bhuben my local guide, Wolf the German, Ed the Englishman, Kiwi's Jason and Pipp, and me. Good laughs, and what steaks we had upon getting to Pokhara! (16 days of Dal Bhat can kill you! - ie. lots of rice and potatoe). Apple pies, croissants and hot showers were a pleasure on that first day back!

Pokhara is something of an adventure capital, it offers paragliding, kayaking, white water rafting, all that sort of stuff. Its situated on a lake, and its beatiful. I've just completed rafting and paragliding. Awesome fun! See pics below.

The rafting was a bit of a letdown - I had hoped to do some big rapids, but there were only level 2 and 3's. Obviously, the water was freezing but that didn't stop inter-raft water battles. I found myself flung into the river on a few occasions, but got my own back! Was also a great experience camping under the stars on deserted river banks at night.

Nepali's are also amazing people. You can't compliment them enough. They are genuine and kind, and always willing to help a stranger out - no reward is expected. To be honest, it was refreshing meeting Nepali's after dealing with what I call 'The Land of Fake Smiles'... ie. Thailand - I always felt as if someone was trying to rip me off.

Kathmandu was amazing as well. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it. Without going into too much detail, you can see some pics below of the famous sites I got to see. There are incredible places in the city: Boudnanath Stupa and Pashupatinath Temple top the list. Seeing burning funeral pires (with the occasional limb sticking out) on the riverside was a very strange experience indeed.

Anyway, off to the World Peace Pagoda here in Pokhara now... must go.

Liveaboard dive cruises are awesome. There are three things you do for the four days you live on the boat: dive, sleep, eat. The trip involved diving Thailand's best reefs off the west coast - the world-famous Similan's and Surin Islands - the water is warm and the visibility is from another planet. Our first dive I could see the another group dropping into the water from about 35 meters away. That's very far for diving...

Unfortunately, nothing big appeared other than a large leopard shark. The dive sites have the reputation for large animals such as manta rays, and whale sharks. Not this time to all the divers' disappointment. Got a hell of a fright actually as the dive guide motioned shark underwater (place hand like a fin in front of your face!) and all I initially saw was an ominous large sillouette of a shark above the shipwreck we were diving (adding to the eeriness). Luckily it was just a leopard shark, a very beautiful and peaceful shark.
The night dives were the best for me - its completely surreal entering the water with the boat lights illuminating everything beneath it and then searching the reefs with underwater torches. We surfaced in the middle of a torrential downpore the one night - very cool! There was a really sombre mood as the boat headed back to land, we all had a great time out there.
I also snorkeled with a greenback turtle on the second day - that was amazing. It was completely unfased by being close to people in the water. It even pushed me with one of its fins when it got really close at one point.

So I've seen 7 snakes in the last few weeks, a couple of them very close. The first one was at Ko Pha Ngan - I saw some movement in my bungalow as what appeared to be a lizard shot under my mattress. Nope, not a lizard - it was a little snake!... I called the bungalow owner and he sorted it out (brutally smashed it with a broomstick). Didnt sleep too well for my last few days there!
About a week ago, I was walking at night through the campsite at the remote island of Ko Tarutao when I almost stepped on a long green snake crossing my path. The next day, went to a remote beach on the island and there was a python hanging from a tree on the beach.
Then the last few days - I've been diving off the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea and saw three sea kraits... one of the world's most deadly animals! Apparently you're fine though - their fangs are too small to puncture a person's skin (urban legend??). Would have been good to know before I saw it...
Then yesterday, another snake sneaked past my feet in Khao Lak.
Anyway, enough of this nancy-boy talk...

Ko Tarutao was just the medicine I needed to get away from the resort crowds. Its a beautiful and virtually untouched strip of islands run by the National Marine Parks board. Totally remote - we'll see how long that lasts - one of the islands is already being developed by resorts. Anyway, it was good.

Spending one night in Khao Lak led me to investigate the effects of the Tsunami on the area. Khao Lak was the town that made much of the news from Thailand in December 2004, having suffered more than half the casualties for Thailand. I think about 4,500 people died. There is a significant flatland extending behind the town towards some hills a few kilometers from shore. Evidence of the strength of the tsunami lies in a 25 meter Thai Police cruiser, which lies almost 2 km's inland from the water. It was literally pushed that far by the waves and makes it easy to see how impossible escaping the wave must have been for people staying/wprking close to shore. It was pretty heady stuff. I also went for a walk on the main beach, and came across a completely deserted and destroyed resort. It was also quite heart-breaking walking through the broken bungalows and beach bar, realising that many people never could have escaed in time. It's a huge resort and occupies a large part of prime beach. I didn't hear why it still hasn't been re-developed, most of the other resorts have been rebuilt now.

So... now the real traveling begins. This time tomorrow I'm in Nepal and will be making plans for the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalaya's. Wish me luck, and don't expect news back for at least three weeks - the circuit takes at least 17 days to complete.