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| Testimonials |
A THOUSAND MILES FROM HERE THERE IS ANOTHER PERSON SMILLING.
Thank you so much for the photos you gave me when we left Kathmandu . I will put them in my photo book with all the photos of my trip to Nepal so I'll always remember you when I think of Nepal. As soon as I have the pictures of the trekking to Nagarkot , I will send them to you. It is difficult to get used to life in Holland again. I have travelled to many countries, but somehow Nepal has stolen my heart. In Holland everyone always seems to be in a hurry and the only thing that seems to matter is WORK and MONEY. In Nepal- and especially Kathmandu- I felt very relaxed. Although I realise that in Holland we are much better off financially and that you and so many other people have to work very hard, you seem to enjoy life much more than we do in Western Europe and your people certainly have much more respect for nature. Your singing, laughing and helping hand helped me through the days of walking and climbing ( I am certainly not good at that !). I am sure I will come back to Nepal sometime later. I don't think it will be next year, but maybe within a year or two . I will keep your address in my photo book and I hope we will see each other again. Give my best wishes to Nabin , Binod, the cooks and porters and everyone else who made our holiday in Nepal wonderful experience ! Thank you, |
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LEGAL & GENERAL NEDERLAND, The Netherlands |
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DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
We came, we saw,we didn't conquer.Jamie Lafferty on his Himalayan trek.
'THIS isn't really trekking though,is it?" says my girlfriend Katy as we set out towards the village of Ghandruk in the Annapurna region of central Nepal. We're with two gentlemen from Dolpa Treks, one of the most established trekking companies in Nepal: Dawa, our guide, and the seemingly mute Minbhadur, who has lashed our backpacks together, thrown them over his skinny 51-year-old shoulders and is already sauntering off over the horizon. He wears nothing more than a pair of beaten leather loafers on his feet. We look at our sturdy boots and smile.
It's early afternoon and already the peaks we are heading towards are covered in cloud. Nepal has reliable seasons throughout the year (including a monsoon in July and August that makes even this kind of gentle expedition impossible) and locals say that this afternoon occlusion is equally dependable. Still, it's a nice day and the views up the valley are gorgeous.
The dirt path into the hills is well-used by dozens of locals heading to and from their villages. Many have sacks of rocks and other raw materials strapped round their heads, but uniformly offer a cheery "Namaste" as we pass. Most of the small shack-based shops have an English speaker to help sell water or energy-laden chocolate bars and, to my pleasant surprise, there are occasional rubbish bins attached to telegraph poles. This is all good. I like this.
We've been walking up a gentle incline for an hour, sweating lightly in the afternoon sun, whenwe reach the start ofThe Stairs. Initially, the craggy slate stepsdon'tseemto stretch too far, and while we both quickly feel our quads burning, it's nothing out of the ordinary.
But every time we turn a corner there's another ramshackle flight. It quickly becomes demoralising and we soon start to get a little testy. I offer to carry Katy's bag; she refuses. I call her stubborn; she calls me a nag. When she accidentally sits on a stinging nettle, neither of us expect to see the funny side for a couple of days. And still the stairs come. The light sweat has turned into a torrent. "Namaste" now sounds like a condescending taunt. The price of water from the shops seems to increase with the elevation too. I'm not sure if I like this after all. Seeing thatwe are toiling,Dawa suggests a break.
The 44-year-old comes from the Everest region and so can rightfully lay claim to the name Sherpa. He has two children back in Kathmandu and can't honestly say he enjoys living in the polluted city. But that's where Dolpa Treks is based and so must he be. His wife runs a small shop to support the family while he guides trekkers around his country. This is important, as when he's not working, he doesn't get a wage.
"When is your next group arriving?" I ask. "Not for about two months," he replies with a half-smile.
We head off again. Short, affable and unstoppable, Dawa walks ahead with feet slightly splayed, happy to answer questions. One thing about Dawa, he never lies, never exaggerates for our benefit; the distance we have to go is never shortened to make us think we are closer than we actually are. For example: having been told we're half an hour from our next stop, we make a vessel-rupturing effort until our next standstill.
"How far now?" I pant, tongue lolling slightly."About 25 minutes," replies Dawa. Minbhadur, meanwhile, remains permanently elusive. Every time we reach some new horizon, there he is sitting on a wall, our bags at his feet, a crooked smile on his face. I'mnot sure if theNepalese do smug, but this feels like the tortoise and the hare, where the hare is the unrelenting victor.
On and on the stairs climb, past a sign that reads there are 12,000 steps between our starting point and Ghandruk, our destination (we have 4,252 to go). Occasionally the path flattens for a few hundred magnificent metres and once in a while, we even make small descents. Just when it seems all hope is lost, it starts to rain. Katy is on the brink of tears. I think I am too.We've made it to the edge ofGhandruk, but our lodgings are at the village's highest peak.
We're tired and wet when we check into Gurung Cottage, but more than anything we're grateful. After a quick, quiet dinner, we're in our room where the hot water is on the blink and it's so cold we can see our breath in the air. After putting on dry clothes, we fall asleep within seconds.
Morning comes fresh and early, but when we gingerly open our cottage door, our suffering is carried away on the mountain breeze. In front of us stands the glorious double peak ofMachapuchare, the Fish's Tail.
The mountain is sacred to Hindus and has never been climbed, though a 1957 British- led ascent stopped within sight of the peak, proving it possible. To its left lies the larger Annapurna South, the world's 101st highest peak at 7219m, climbed in 1964 by the Japanese.
Dawa andMinbhadur join us for breakfast. We walked for six hours yesterday and are scheduled to do eight more today. I confide inDawa that it won't be possible – it's just too hard for us. Instead, we will shorten the journey by a day and go back the way we came, rather than complete the planned circular route. If he or Minbhadur notice our embarrassment, they do a good job of hiding it.
We may have failed to complete our trek, but that was our fault. Nepal, for its part, was perfect
"We think you have a magic taxi," I say to the silent bag man. He laughs and shakes his head. His secret, aside from growing up in Nepal's notoriously toughMustang region, is dal bhat, the national dish.Typically it comes in three or four little bowls, containing boiled spinach, the dal itself (lentil curry), a poppadomor two, rice and sometimessomecurried chicken. Minbhadur also has a bowl of raw chillies, just for fun.
We saygoodbye to themountainsandbegin plodding back downthe valley.Dawa's advice for next time – and we both insist there'll be one – is to prepare properly, and be ready for trips to take longer than initially planned. Even for fit, experienced trekkers, aches, pains and altitude sickness can all cause problems, adding days onto the schedule. Many of the harder treks reach well above 5000 metres and stay up there for days at a time; Switzerland's famousMatterhorn peaks at 4,478m.
Humbling, breathtaking and occasionally harrowing, our climb to2020mmayhave only barely counted as trekking in the Himalayas – and, yes, we may have failed to complete even a"comfortable" trek. But that was all our fault. Nepal, for its part, was perfect. |
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JAMIE LAFFERTY, United Kingdom |
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DOLPA TREKS PVT. LTD. |
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POINT OF PRESENCE |
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Location
Chhetrapati, Kathmandu, Nepal
G.P.O. Box No.
4410
Telephone No.
977-1-4260567 / 4267367
Fax No.
977-1-4253227
Email
dolpatreks@mail.com.np
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