Originally published on Facebook  May 31 · Singapore · 

That’s a wrap.

For the few that are aware, this is old news, but for many it will be a surprise. After 19 years, exactly, I have hung up my “fry guy” hat and turned in the keys. As of June 1st I can no longer be referred to as DQ Dave. I suppose someone will pen a new name, Retired Dave, Mid-life crisis Dave, Diver Dave… or choose from the many other nicknames I’ve acquired over the years. Your choice. 

It was a great ride, but it’s time to write some new chapters and explore other parts of life, and the world. With Canada finally thawed out enough for a visit, I’ll be spending most of the summer there before returning to South East Asia, bouncing between diving and touring on the big orange motorcycle. (If there just was a way to combine those two things.)

No, I haven’t lost my mind completely, I’ve just worked a lot of years to be in a position to be able to take an “Adult Gap Year (or more)”. I’m lucky enough to be able to do it now, when I’m still young enough to not be the oldest dirty old man at the beach bar and able to get a leg over the bike.

2017 is pretty much plotted out, and we’ll see what 2018 looks like as we get closer. Watch this space for some sort of new blog, I’ve been challenged to write more, and it’s an easy way to share. 

Meanwhile, I’ll be looking for couches to crash on and any leads on Seniors Discounts.

Fins Up, and rubber side down.

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The Twilight Zone

This is a bit of a bookmark post, really, as I have been meaning to start blogging again, but feel like its wrong to just jump in 5 years later without some explanation. Perhaps you’ve come here from somewhere other than Facebook, and it would be quite confusing if I just started up again. 

However, I have some posts already to go, and others that need to be written, but from this bookmark forward, there may be some issues with the time line, and continuity, so I thought we will just chalk it up to the Twilight Zone and move forward.

I'm going to Kathmandu!!

Ok, I went to Kathmandu, and a bunch of other places. And I owe you a few stories, but let's start with Nepal and work backwards.

So, Nepal. What does that conjure up when you think of it? Cold? Mountains? Bob Seger tunes? Well yes, all of those, plus jungles, rhino's and a whole lot of people. A population just under 30 million, so almost all of Canada jammed into an area slightly larger than PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia combined. Or Iowa, but not as flat. If you've never read up on it, I would suggest you google it. There are some unbelievable stats, and some amazing stories.

My story starts with an email from an old friend in Toronto, who was planning an adventure. Combined with my quest to travel to places I wouldn't normally get to from Canada. A few air miles later, I'd invited myself along, and was reading weather forecasts and deciding if my blood had thinned out too much for something like this. The agenda was a few days in the city, then a 5 day trek to a mountain range called Annapurna. I know many people automatically think of Everest, but that wasn't in the cards. I did get a glimpse from the window of the plane and that would suffice for now.

We flew to Kathmandu, the only international airport in Nepal, where we spent a couple days adjusting to time zones and touring the historic points. One of the things that was most evident from the moment I touched down was the poverty. Depending who you believe, up to half of the population is unemployed, and the annual average income is under $ 1000 USD - a year. What comes with that is a lack of many basic necessities, water, toilets, infrastructure. It's one of those places that quickly reminds you how lucky you are, even if you're from Iowa.

With poverty comes resourcefulness. For example, a cheap and easy "truck" to get you and your stuff around town.

Of course not everyone needs a truck, so the pedi-cab is pretty popular, leading to some tough traffic jams

 And then the motorcycles, more bikes than I think I've ever seen.

Nepal was a kingdom for many years, and has quite a rich and colourful history, staying semi neutral against some big neighbours. Having said that, there is some tragedy as well, including civil war and the demise of the most well known King, and most of his family, in an unfortunate "firearm incident". One of the things I enjoy when I travel is the local museums, and I'm always curious how countries choose to present the "unpleasant" things in their history. In Kathmandu the Royal Palace is the museum now, and it was a mix of photocopies and badly laminated posters, combined with some impressive artifacts and historical mementos. The Nepalese Royal Massacre received only a copy of the newspaper article and a handful of pictures of the funeral pyre.

Back in the streets, amid the sacred cows, and unholy pigeons, I had to marvel at the mix of architecture, and the survivability that was clear in so many places. Temples mixed with shops and street vendors, even a living princess, all competing for space and the attention of the tourists and the locals.

 

 

 

I was expecting the stereotypical begging and pawing at the tourists, but instead found people who were happy, smiling, had pride in their country, culture and craftsmanship. Even amidst crushing poverty there is focus on education, and almost every kid I saw had a school uniform on. 

The colours are the most striking thing about the city, and it was impossible to capture it in a few frames. 

 

Admittedly, the last guy charged extra for a smile, but you get the idea. Overall it's a fascinating city with a long sordid history, and it is a great mix of the backpackers, tourists and a few stray hippies from days gone by.

Then, it was time to head to Pokhara, the next town before the jumping off point.We had a choice, we could fly or take the bus. It's only 145 km as the crow flies. The bus will be a great opportunity to see the country. HA! This isn't Iowa, and the crow does not deliver backpackers. We were fortunate to get on a "Tourist Bus" which is far more upscale than the city bus, with seats only slightly closer together than a discount airline. With the twists and turns it's 210 km and still takes well over 6 hours (with 2 stops for food and facilities). Again, hard to put it in pictures, but the elevation gains and losses as the bus crawls out of one valley and into the next was amazing.

If you zoom in on this picture, you'll see the thin line of trucks and buses headed up the hill, Fortunately we'd already rolled passed these folks and were headed to Pokhara.

This was the first chance for me to really see the ways of the people in the country. To eke out a living, many people "terrace" the land, creating small ledges on the steep hills. If you look above again you'll see the houses on the right, and then above them terraces all the way up. Each step is about 4 or 5 meters wide, sometimes less, no more than 2 turns with an Ox and a plow.

Pokhara is a significantly smaller town, and seems to exist for 2 reasons. One is the obvious jumping off point for many treks so Gear shops are everywhere. Secondly is the World Peace Stupa way up on a ridge, and below it Temple Island. Both are popular destinations for people to reach there spiritual side. Or drown in a rickety boat, but no incidences were reported when we were there.

With the sun rising over the Himalayas, the day had arrived for the start of the trek.

We needed to take a Taxi to the first village, which meant another hour so on mountain roads, but the fun part of the taxi ride is the vehicle itself. The Nepalese have taken a different approach and use the SMALLEST possible cars for all taxis. Do you remember the Nissan Micra? Ever wonder where they all disappeared to? Never once did I see anything larger that was for hire. So take 4 people plus gear and a driver and cram them in, for an hour long roller coaster ride.

 If you want to follow along on Google earth or something, good luck. From this point on, most of the towns don't show up. I did steal this from the web, and traced our route in Red. If you want to see where that starts from click HERE and see the Google map. 

So, the basics of the trek, there are four of us, me - big white guy, Kim, from Toronto, and then our Guide Kalu and his brother Chalak - he is our porter. Yup, that's how you do it in Nepal.We started in Birethani, and hiked up to Ghandrung, over to Tadapani, then Ghorepani, and finally to Tatapani.

Here is Kalu checking us in at the TIMS (not the coffee chain) - the Trekkers' Information Management System. It's a system for tracking and collecting fee's for people who trek through. Certainly still a better deal than Algonquin Park. Kalu is a pro, and I must say it was a very smooth few days. He has a website at www.nepalazimuthtreks.com - and if you're thinking of going anywhere in the region I highly recommend him. Poke around on his website - the official version of our trip is the Annapurna Balcony. 

Trekking is sometimes called Teahouse hiking or just plain awesome compared to "Backpacking". Your job is to carry your day pack, and skip along the trail while the porter hauls the heavy bags and the guide does all the navigating, translating and negotiating. At night, you sleep in a "hotel" or guesthouse and order all your meals off a menu. Now before you run off looking for a Hilton, let me explain the parts that aren't in the brochure. 

The first thing you need to remember is this is a Mountain Trek. Over the course of 5 days we climbed and descended the CN Tower 3 times. With an increasingly heavy day pack. I'm actually convinced Chalak was adding rocks to mine, but I never caught him. This trip is a relatively mild trip, by comparison, but we still did 1500 meters of elevation. 
The trail itself varied widely, from roads, and dirt paths, to "steps" made from stacked stones, and a few other random obstacles tossed in for fun. The Nepalese think nothing of throwing a few hundred stones around and creating a cobblestone path for miles in the woods.

Mind the cow please

Not the stairway to heaven

'scuse us, just heading to school

 While it's perfectly normal to pass school kids when I am out for a run in Singapore, they are not normally 6000' feet above sea level, and racing each other with a shear cliff on one side. Just when you started to feel good about yourself, a pack of giggly kids would race by, in flip flops or Crocs, or leather dress shoes, perfectly groomed uniforms and singing. At least the cows and the donkeys didn't sing.

The cows and the donkeys certainly made the trail interesting. Shortly after lunch on our first day, we left the area serviced by roads, and as we climbed, had to share the trail with trains of donkeys. While I have hiked with jack asses before, this was a new experience. The first rule of Donkey Fight Club I learned was they always have the right of way, and they prefer the edge side of the trail, not the side closer to the mountain.

 

The donkeys (and the porters) carry everything you see in most of the rest  of these pictures. Food, building materials, cooking gas, beer. For the majority of our tour every single thing you touch, use, or see rode up the trail.

Cooking gas

Chickens = breakfast & dinner if you time it right

  As we passed through towns, fields and valleys, it was jaw dropping most of the time. I did say that the mountains themselves are no more spectacular than the Rockies, but the scenery, the people, and the way of life was what made the experience amazing. 

Yes we started at the bottom, crossing the river in the first few minutes

Terraced Villages

Rice harvest

Just not a way to make a living

As we got to a Village each night our guide would eye up the Guesthouses and choose one, usually one he knew and strike a deal. The expectation is you would also eat there, and there really wasn't anywhere else to go. Depending on the town, there would be a handful of guest houses, some sort of a craft market and little else.

Don't stand too close to the road

 For the most part the accommodations were what we would call "rustic". Likely a notch below your uncles cottage, but still comfortable, and we didn't have to carry or pitch a tent.

Now Before you go thinking this is living large, let me share with you the “facilities”.  Hot and Cold showers and the now omnipresent squat toilet. And not an en suite squat toilet, but down the hall in the common area typically. One or 2 shared between 20 and 30 new friends.

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Now I know many of you are starting to think I'm obsessed with toilets but if you're reading this blog as part of your planning for your own adventure, I want to share a warning. There are 3 things you need to do to get in shape for a trip here.

1. Cardio - we all know the higher the elevation the less oxygen. At these heights there is no need to worry about running out of air, or acclimatizing. Below 3500 M the average person is just fine. However, it's still physically demanding, so run, hike, whatever, and build up some fitness.
2. Squats - or leg muscle training. Up is up, and if you avoid stairs on your way to work, or stand on an escalator, then you need to start climbing something. When you're on the trail and the trail slopes upwards, you'll be begging for steps. When you get to steps you'll be wishing for slopes, and at many points of the day you'll be wishing for an escalator, but that's not going to happen.
3. Squatting - not to be confused with the training in step 2. Think back to the last time you really worked your legs. Stairmaster, Skiing, Hiking, whatever. Remember the "burning thighs"? the aching calves? Good, now drop your pants, and squat over a hole in the floor. This takes coordination, dare I say practice. The health care people will tell you that a squatting movement is more natural, and effortless, but you need to try this at home. Before every muscle is threatening to mutiny. Spread some newspapers on the floor and give it a go. Figure out how to hold a newspaper, where you're going to put the coffee cup.... trust me, you want to work all this out ahead of time instead of at 5 am in an open air bivy, with no light, and 8*C temperatures. 

In keeping with the theme, what goes in must go out, a few words about food. The people of Nepal have a rich and diverse history. It's a mix of many many cultures, and you would  think the cuisine would vary as much as the bloodlines. But they don't. It's been estimated that as many as 24 million of the 28 million people eat the same thing every meal, every day.

Ladies and gentleman I give you - Dal Baht (spelling and presentation will vary)

Lentil soup, vegetable curry, white rice, seasonal vegetables steamed or stir fried and "acha" (Indian style pickles). It's cheap and hearty, but repetitive. The good news for the tourist is the guest houses have actually standardized the menu, for the most part, and you could get a variety of western and asian inspired dishes for relatively reasonable prices. Remember everything comes up by donkey train, and I was quite surprised how fair the prices were, although they did rise with the elevation, due to the transportation levy. (Donkey Union)

Water has been another common question, and it was plentiful and cheap. Almost every village or town had a black plastic pipe with free flowing water. Locals drink it straight but most tourists treat it. You can pay for "boiled" water, but the smokey taste actually triggered a couple asthma attacks, and there were more than a few stories of regret from people that didn't filter or treat. We used a UV light and had no issues.

So the routine was set, most days we woke around 7, ate and stumbled around to stay warm, and then hit the trail. Some mornings we saw some amazing sunrises.

 Anywhere from 4-6 hours walk, with many breaks and lunch along the way. The locals are pretty enterprising and there was always a tea house or a market when you needed it.

 Sometimes the tea house would appear like a mirage, and occasionally, just to test your sanity, they would hire the same contractor the 3 little pigs did and build it out of straw.

A quick recharge with a cold beverage, a pack of oreos, pringles or a plate of Dal Baht, and then it was back to the trail. As we neared the end, on the final day, we began to see signs of motor vehicles and glancing down the trail we saw one of those engineering mysteries spanning a river we had to cross. I think it was this moment in time we made the decision to catch the next bus for the final ride to the hot springs. (Fortunately for you, there are no pictures of that hot spring)

I have to admit, the bus rides in Nepal are an experience unto themselves. The next day we caught a series of buses and taxis to complete the journey back to Pokhara. We started out with a dozen people in a bus that sat 20. By the time we arrived, we were closer to 40 people, although the lady in front of me didn't really use her seat, what with her head, and lunch, out the window.

We were lucky, the goat took the early bus

With the journey over, Kim and I went  our separate ways, she had more time than I did, and I decided a "commuter" flight was the best way back to Kathmandu. That spared me more bus adventures, and I'd had scarier flights in my past. One final night in KTM, and then home again to Singapore.

I may do a more "technical" version of the trip, for people who are thinking about the same loop, or have questions about trekking. There is surprising little information about the route we did, so if you have questions drop me a line.

If you're thinking about going, do it. It's a magical, mystical place, and the people are so friendly. Do the exercises I described above, and pack an extra sweater. You won't regret any of it.