Nepal

When we first set off on our journey to “drive around the world,” five years ago, many people asked which country we were most looking forward to. Nepal was one of those most anticipated countries. Our impression of this mountainous country was that it was remote and rugged with spectacular mountains - some of the most famous in the world, Mt. Everest, Annapurna . . . That was all true and the Himalayas are incredible. What also surprised us was the beauty of the deeply spiritual culture, the fascinating and ethnically diverse people of the mountain villages, and the beautifully built religious and medieval shrines and temples throughout the cities and countryside. The capital, Kathmandu was an intriguing city, a mixture of old and new, each neighborhood with its distinctive atmosphere and feel and we loved aimlessly wandering the back alleyways.

We are both happiest out on the trail and in the mountains and hiking in Nepal was fulfilling a lifelong dream. Even though we are now in our 60’s and not up to some of the most challenging trails, we carved out time to get out there and soak up the views. And found that we could actually do more than we thought. We plan to return some day and trek some more! Nepal goes to the top of our list of countries to come back to.

Nepal is predominantly Hindu - with a little over 80% of the people practicing Hinduism, and over 8% Buddhist. But the temples and shrines to both religious existed side by side and symbols of both were everywhere - billboards, storefronts, paintings on people’s homes. Our favorite and common bumper sticker was “Buddha was born in Nepal.” Our first stop over the border was visiting Lumbini, the town where Buddha was born and the Maya Devi temple built over the site of his mother’s village home where she gave birth to him.

We left Lumbini to head for Kathmandu. We were dealing with some complicated travel logistics, needing to get our visas and permits to cross Tibet and China and also trying to squeeze in a trip to Bhutan and go trekking.

Unfortunately we quickly found that roads in Nepal were generally atrocious. Many sections are under construction, roads are frequented by large container trucks and crazy passenger buses, and the paving that currently exists is crumbling into axel breaking potholes. The drive from the border to Kathmandu was agonizing - 300km taking close to twelve hours. But finally we made it and began planning our trek in the foothills of the Annapurna region.

We do not carry backpacking gear in the truck so first we headed into Kathmandu’s Thamel area where the small streets are lined with outdoor stores selling every kind of new and used, genuine and knock off gear imaginable. The shop keepers were informative and honest, telling us that their gear prominently branded with famous names like Northface and Osprey were actually made in local factories.

Researching trekking logistics in Nepal was not easy and some information online was conflicting and confusing. We heard that we had to apply for permits through a guide service, that we needed a TIMS (Trekking Information Management System) card which took several days to secure in addition to regional permits. We contacted a recommended guide agency about a three day trek and were quoted $600 each for fees, guiding, accommodations and permits. In sticker shock, we decided to see what we could do on our own.

We went to the Tourist Information Center in Kathmandu to find out about permits and in 20 mins had our Annapurna regional permits and were told we did not need the TIMS. Total cost for the Annapurna permits was $22 each.

Given our time constraints with meeting up with our guided group for Tibet and flying to Bhutan, we opted to fly roundtrip out of Kathmandu to Pokhara, the jumping off point for hiking in the Annapurna region. Roundtrip tickets for the 20 minute flight cost $100 each and saved us 1200 km roundtrip on back jarring roads. We left the truck behind at Yeti Overland, a popular and friendly overland campsite and shop near the Kathmandu airport. The Kathmandu airport was friendly and easy to navigate, we showed up 90 minutes prior to our departure time and they smiled and just put us on an earlier flight.

Below we give a detailed breakdown of the five day hike we chose - very easy for any hiker - in case it is helpful to others. It is worth saying that we were almost the only hikers we ran into who did not have a guide with them. For us, the choice to go without a guide was mostly a personal preference - we enjoy the challenge of figuring out routes and logistics on our own. With decades of backpacking experience, we embraced the fun of the slightly unknown. We are quite sure that we could have found a guided service for less than the original quote, but that was not the point for us. For us, the adventure of being on our own, at our own pace with quiet and peace along the trail was the most important criteria. But we would also say that there are a lot of good reasons to choose to go with the guide, most importantly supporting the industry and the people who make their living guiding tourists. The guides we ran into were knowledgeable and interesting and we are sure we would have learned a lot from them. But below is a route that is easily accomplished by anyone with some basic trail finding skills. (Most of the trails were well sign posted.)

Day One - Bhiratani to Ulleri, 5 miles, 3700’ elevation

We disembarked from our 45 minute jeep ride, had our Annapurna permits stamped in at the trailhead and set off. Initially we were surprised at how developed the trail was - much of it was stone steps winding through mountain villages.

We were impressed with the considerable infrastructure on the first day of hiking but also a little dismayed to see roads being built into the villages along the trail. We spoke to guides who explained that they were losing segments of hiking trail on the Annapurna circuit as people were able to come farther in by vehicle, on the upside it made getting supplies much easier for the local villages, but hikers were starting to take jeeps farther in and bypass tea houses dependent on them for business.

Day 2 - Ulleri to Ghorepani - 5 miles and 2800’ elevation gain

Day 3 - Ghorepani to Poon Hill - 1000’ elevation gain, then to Banthati, total 7 miles and 2000’ elevation loss

This was our early morning - up and out at 5am to hike 45 minutes up Poon Hill for the sunrise over Annapurna. It was worth it! Although they had just punched a road in to town so that people could arrive in jeeps and hike to the summit - greatly increasing the numbers at the top of the hill.

Day 4 - Banthati to Ghandruk - 7 miles

At the end of the day we popped out in Ghandruk - a traditional village with gravel road access. Our first real hot shower!

Day 5 - walk out of Ghandruk to road, locals heading to the bus

We made our way out to the road and opted for a shared jeep with a local family. Two hours later we were back in Pokhara at the airport. Since we were three hours early for our flight back to Kathmandu, they just smiled and put us on an earlier flight.

Repeatedly people asked us “what no guide?” but they were just curious. No one who checked our regional Annapurna hiking permits was concerned. It seems that the TIMS is still technically required but they are not currently issuing them or enforcing the requirement so you are free to trek on your own if you have your regional permit.

In general, the costs are reasonable. Guest houses ranged from free to $20 with the average being $7 for a night. For the two of us including the permits, jeep trips to and from trail heads, guest houses and 3 hot meals a day (breakfast always included with the accommodations) it cost $240 for four nights on the trail. The hike is a treasured memory for us.

We always said we would get to Nepal before we were unable to hike and we made it. Aging on the road is no joke, sometimes we feel it more than others. We are both facing a decline in physical fitness that comes with age and try to balance our desire for youthful adventure with pragmatism. Sometimes we realize we are in denial and have to turn back from a physical adventure, but this time it worked out for us!

So we returned to Kathmandu, ready to meet up with our son, Trevor who had been hiking in the Mt. Everest region and explore the city before crossing into Tibet.

We did not do a good job cataloging each temple and site in Kathmandu. We visited all three medieval Durbar Squares and they were fascinating but they felt over touristed. Somehow for us the joy was in the wandering the neighborhood where people were living in ancient buildings, selling fruit from elaborately carved storefronts and appreciating the sense of history. We walked for miles with the soundtrack of Bob Seger’s 80’s soundtrack “Kathmandu” running through our heads - marveling at intricately carved doors, witnessing the people praying at temples, gasping in delight as we turned a corner and saw another ancient building tucked away in an intersection clogged with motorcycles.

Well that is our photographic journal of Kathmandu. Satiated with the city - for now - we loaded up our son, Trevor and started making our way to the border with Tibet where we were schedule to join a group of overlanders to cross with a guide (required).

Nepal was way too little and way too brief. We know we only scratched the surface and hope to return for more trekking (maybe after Dawn replaces her knees?) Thanks for reading, next up, another lifelong dream - Tibet.