Bangkok has really grown on me. Coming back from Nepal, an even more frenetic, noisy, dirty place, made me realize how good I have it here. Some more evidence:
1) My lunch today cost me $1 Canadian Dollar. I had so much I am still full (at 4:30pm) and I have some for dinner.
2) I booked a flight to Chiang Mai for a weekend. It cost me $60 Canadian Dollars to fly there, return, for the weekend. It would cost me that much to drive to Windsor and Back at home.
3) I just took a motorcycle taxi home. It took me 30 minutes to get from school home. No helmet, sun on your face, weaving in and out of traffic. So enjoyable.
Come visit!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Namaste
We just got back from a great trip to Nepal. We left on April 4th and were there for 10 days. Jess and I arrived in Kathmandu and were immediately taken aback by how undeveloped it was. There are very few stop lights - people just use their horns to announce their arrival at an intersection. The butcher shops all had a number of goats tied up outside the shop and were slaughtered on the street. There is a lot of poorness there but the people still seem quite happy and colourful. I haven't been to India yet but I think this was good introduction to it.
On our second day we did a Kathmandu tour. We visited Boudanath - a buddhist temple high in the hills around Kathmandu, Durbar square - one of the former palaces of Nepal's monarchy, the Hindu cremation grounds, a giant stupa that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we were blessed by the world's only living goddess. It was quite a day...let me tell you. After this long day we were glad to be leaving for Pokhara.
We flew to Pokhara from Kathmandu (the airport was complete chaos - trips going everywhere in Nepal, delays, yelling, pushing.) On the way we got some excellent views of the mountains through the clouds. Pokhara was very similar to Taupo (where I lived in NZ) in many regards. It was much quieter than Kathmandu. We were only there for a day before we started our trek but it was very relaxing.
Our trek was 6 days and 5 nights. Not as hardcore as a lot of people we met on the route but still a good length of time. By my calculations, we walked about 46km through the Himilayas and climbed about 3000m. On the first day we walked from Nayapul to Ulleri and stayed the night there. It was a big climb for the first day but we still had fresh legs so it wasn't too bad. The guesthouses in general are very nice - not like tenting it or huts at all. Most had proper beds, attached bathrooms, and a dining hall where you got anything you wanted to eat (even steak!) On the second day of the trek we walked from Ulleri to Ghorepani - another big climb. Ghorepani was my favourite of the little mountain villages that we stayed in. The towns-people were building a stage and seating area for their New Years celebration (it is Nepali New Years today - Happy 2066!) That night in Ghorepani, it rained, snowed and hailed. We were really worried that we would have to walk in it the next day.
The thing to do in Ghorepani is to climb up Poon Hill for sunrise. From there you get a great view of about 7 or 8 peaks. When we woke up at 4:45am though it was really cloudy and there was no point in going up. Luckily on our walk that day from Ghorepani to Chuile we climbed to the same height and by that time the clouds had cleared so we could get our first really good views of the mountains. On the way to Chuile we descended and climbed and descended and climbed some more. We saw Langar Monkeys, birds, buffaloes and cows. We made it to Chuile just before it began raining and hailing again. The guesthouse was a bit sparse to put it nicely but once they started the fire it was quite cozy. On day 4 of the trek we walked from Chuile to Jhinu. By this time we had very heavy legs but we got a lot more great views of the mountains and the weather had cleared completely - this was our favourite day of the whole trek. We arrived in Jhinu and immediately went to the hot springs where we soaked and chatted with a bunch more trekkers. That night we had a big campfire in the front yard of the guesthouse.
No trip anywhere in Asia would be complete without a bout of Dehli belly and mine hit that night subsequently making the next day's walk the hardest. We had to walk from Jhinu to Dhampus, which ended up taking us 9 hours. Jess' legs were very heavy and sore, and I didn't have any energy because of the food poisoning. But we made it and are better people for it. Dhampus was the biggest village that we stayed in. On the way there, we talked to a guide who said, "Dhampus is very noisy with all the 'Beep, Beep!'" We asked "Oh, are there cars there?" And he replied "Well, one, sometimes." But we stayed outside of the town and it was very quiet. On the final day we walked from Dhampus to Phedi and caught transportation back to Pokhara. It was an amazing walk and I am really looking forward to going back and doing something else in Nepal.
We arrived at our hotel in Pokara and as soon as we got in the room I sat down on the bed and slept for 1.5 hours. It's amazing how your body knows that once it can stop moving and rest, it will. That day we slept some more and wandered around Pokhara some more. Our last day in Pokhara we met up with our guide again and he showed us around a bit. We went to Devi's Falls and cave near it. We went to a Tibetan refugee village and helped them weave some carpets. (She said I was a natural! Must be all my knitting experience...) Then we went for lunch and finally got dropped off at the airport to return to Kathmandu. We were in Kathmandu for the night and then flew back to Bangkok yesterday afternoon.
Some of you are probably wondering if Bangkok is okay, and yes, it it. We saw some military presence by the airport on the way home but nothing else. It was, in fact, the smoothest ride from the airport to home yet! It is the Thai new year here so Sawatdee Pii Mai everyone! Thai new year is called Songkran and is celebrated mostly by giant water fights. This originally has to do with the ritual of pouring water of elder's hands as a sign of respect but has turned into giant water fights. (One of my students gave me a super soaker on the last day of the term.)
If anyone is planning a trip to Nepal, I would highly recommend our guide. He has a website but I can't remember what it is so just ask me for his email.
I have updated my Flickr photostream with pictures from the trip. I tried to trim it down as much as possible but there are still 128 photos. Sorry.
We go back to school on Monday and I have only 42 days left. So happy about that. Bring on the summer!
On our second day we did a Kathmandu tour. We visited Boudanath - a buddhist temple high in the hills around Kathmandu, Durbar square - one of the former palaces of Nepal's monarchy, the Hindu cremation grounds, a giant stupa that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we were blessed by the world's only living goddess. It was quite a day...let me tell you. After this long day we were glad to be leaving for Pokhara.
We flew to Pokhara from Kathmandu (the airport was complete chaos - trips going everywhere in Nepal, delays, yelling, pushing.) On the way we got some excellent views of the mountains through the clouds. Pokhara was very similar to Taupo (where I lived in NZ) in many regards. It was much quieter than Kathmandu. We were only there for a day before we started our trek but it was very relaxing.
Our trek was 6 days and 5 nights. Not as hardcore as a lot of people we met on the route but still a good length of time. By my calculations, we walked about 46km through the Himilayas and climbed about 3000m. On the first day we walked from Nayapul to Ulleri and stayed the night there. It was a big climb for the first day but we still had fresh legs so it wasn't too bad. The guesthouses in general are very nice - not like tenting it or huts at all. Most had proper beds, attached bathrooms, and a dining hall where you got anything you wanted to eat (even steak!) On the second day of the trek we walked from Ulleri to Ghorepani - another big climb. Ghorepani was my favourite of the little mountain villages that we stayed in. The towns-people were building a stage and seating area for their New Years celebration (it is Nepali New Years today - Happy 2066!) That night in Ghorepani, it rained, snowed and hailed. We were really worried that we would have to walk in it the next day.
The thing to do in Ghorepani is to climb up Poon Hill for sunrise. From there you get a great view of about 7 or 8 peaks. When we woke up at 4:45am though it was really cloudy and there was no point in going up. Luckily on our walk that day from Ghorepani to Chuile we climbed to the same height and by that time the clouds had cleared so we could get our first really good views of the mountains. On the way to Chuile we descended and climbed and descended and climbed some more. We saw Langar Monkeys, birds, buffaloes and cows. We made it to Chuile just before it began raining and hailing again. The guesthouse was a bit sparse to put it nicely but once they started the fire it was quite cozy. On day 4 of the trek we walked from Chuile to Jhinu. By this time we had very heavy legs but we got a lot more great views of the mountains and the weather had cleared completely - this was our favourite day of the whole trek. We arrived in Jhinu and immediately went to the hot springs where we soaked and chatted with a bunch more trekkers. That night we had a big campfire in the front yard of the guesthouse.No trip anywhere in Asia would be complete without a bout of Dehli belly and mine hit that night subsequently making the next day's walk the hardest. We had to walk from Jhinu to Dhampus, which ended up taking us 9 hours. Jess' legs were very heavy and sore, and I didn't have any energy because of the food poisoning. But we made it and are better people for it. Dhampus was the biggest village that we stayed in. On the way there, we talked to a guide who said, "Dhampus is very noisy with all the 'Beep, Beep!'" We asked "Oh, are there cars there?" And he replied "Well, one, sometimes." But we stayed outside of the town and it was very quiet. On the final day we walked from Dhampus to Phedi and caught transportation back to Pokhara. It was an amazing walk and I am really looking forward to going back and doing something else in Nepal.
We arrived at our hotel in Pokara and as soon as we got in the room I sat down on the bed and slept for 1.5 hours. It's amazing how your body knows that once it can stop moving and rest, it will. That day we slept some more and wandered around Pokhara some more. Our last day in Pokhara we met up with our guide again and he showed us around a bit. We went to Devi's Falls and cave near it. We went to a Tibetan refugee village and helped them weave some carpets. (She said I was a natural! Must be all my knitting experience...) Then we went for lunch and finally got dropped off at the airport to return to Kathmandu. We were in Kathmandu for the night and then flew back to Bangkok yesterday afternoon.
Some of you are probably wondering if Bangkok is okay, and yes, it it. We saw some military presence by the airport on the way home but nothing else. It was, in fact, the smoothest ride from the airport to home yet! It is the Thai new year here so Sawatdee Pii Mai everyone! Thai new year is called Songkran and is celebrated mostly by giant water fights. This originally has to do with the ritual of pouring water of elder's hands as a sign of respect but has turned into giant water fights. (One of my students gave me a super soaker on the last day of the term.)
If anyone is planning a trip to Nepal, I would highly recommend our guide. He has a website but I can't remember what it is so just ask me for his email.
I have updated my Flickr photostream with pictures from the trip. I tried to trim it down as much as possible but there are still 128 photos. Sorry.
We go back to school on Monday and I have only 42 days left. So happy about that. Bring on the summer!
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