Varanasi, India

Greetings from Varanasi

Well here I am in India after a couple of days climbing the hills of Nepal to get here.

The scenic route from Kathmandu to Daman and then to Raxaul Bazaar in India takes you over the Daman Pass - at 2488 metres it doesn't sound high but boy-oh-boy is it a climb - and a corresponding drop on the other side + more.
The morning I left Kathmandu it looked somewhat similar to the first time I was here in 2004. I'm not sure what the protest was and I wasn't about to hang around to find out - lest a another curfew be imposed.
The view from Daman

Daman
The view of the mountain ranges from Daman is reputedly the best in Nepal - as far as the the number of peaks you can see. The nine highest peaks being visible on a clear day - and yes it was magnificently clear my day. I did end up being in Kathmandu until the 13th - when the embassy opened for pre-poll, so I left Kathmandu about 11am - later in the day than I'd like to have. The good thing about leaving late was that it meant I ended up riding into Palung - below Daman - in the dark and staying there the night. That meant the climb from Palung to Daman was done in the morning not in the afternoon - really good news for getting views. The air is clearer and the mountains less likely to be covered with cloud in the morning, and it was a fantastic ride up broken up by a huge number of stops to take photos (and rest). With the photo/rest stops it actually took me about 3 hours to do just over 10km from Palung to the pass. The best views are from Daman township not the pass itself and the clouds rolled over the peaks as I climbed from Daman to the pass - perfect timing for Daman.

On the other side of the pass it's down, and boy is it....

"Down" from Daman to India

There's the occasional little piece of "up" to remind you that your legs have just done the climb but it is the longest down I think I'll ever do. (you do it at a controlled speed though as you really can't trust the road surface nor any drivers that may be coming the other way. I've seen way too many bus crashes here in Nepal - so many I've actually lost count - and I've only travelled the roads here on 4 days - head on collisions, roll overs, run off the side, you name it the buses here do it.)

The next night in Hetauda (Nepal) left me at the bottom of the hills, with just a relatively nice 10 or 20km "up" the next morning, then essentially flat all the way to where I am now. The hills are lovely and the road to and from Daman were spectacular for scenery - but the legs do appreciate the flat when they get it. My first two days out of Kathmandu I only rode 70 to 80km and I was (very) pooped. I wondered if the month of no riding had taken all my condition away. - But it was just THAT hill, the day from Hetauda south I did 100km reasonably comfortably - well as comfortably as 100km ever is with a heavily laden bike. (and on roads yet to be discussed)

The border of India is pretty much a free for all with large masses of people going hither & thither with no checking. There's a guy looking for anybody that appears foreign - like me - and he calls and beckons them over to Immigration - to do the paperwork. And yes Nepal and India both still do it as paperwork. A big bound book and you get to be one line in the book, passport number dates etc. On the India side of the border I actually had to look for the immigration office in amongst all the shops and things in Raxhaul Bazaar - they didn't have anyone grabbing the foreigners that passed. Even changing money I had to go looking. The road through Raxaul Bazaar I cannot describe and convey to you the condition. It is the worst road I have ever seen anywhere - either in the 12000km so far this trip - or at any other time. I think its even beats the Maasi Mara road in Kenya. The worst part is that the the road was typical of all the ones I used in the state of Bihar (and yes I was on the highways - I dread to think what minor roads are like)

At last some bitumen in India

The road takes its toll on my cheap rear tyre - Supervisors watching me change to one of my high quality spares. But the cheapy got me from Istanbul to here.

I think Bihar is also the mosquito capital - with its low lying flooded areas and lakes and rivers everywhere. I was in hotels the first few nights - but still sleeping in the tent (with the tent inner erected on top of the bed, and using hiking boots hanging by their laces to keep it up).


Bihar - mosquito heaven

The first night I tried to seal off the room and kill the mozzies inside, but it was fruitless, a few hours and two more killing sessions later i got the tent out. Now i just do it - and get a good nights sleep.

Fortunately I'm now in Uttar Pradesh and the roads are a lot better - I even saw a road sign today (in Uttar Pradesh). In Bihar there are no roadsigns of any description, nothing to say what road goes where, nothing to say speed up or slow down, no warnings about bumps or turns, no give way no stop, nothing !!! (the compass is your best friend in Bihar)


- A typical roadscene in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh
- Its not yet 9am but the cricket has started

Varanasi

The old and very holy city of Varanasi - and lots of Indian & International tourists. The Indian tourists in the Ganges, the international tourists watching from the side.

It's festival time here too. "Deep Dewali" which I believe roughly translates to "Festival of Light".

There was plenty of river side entertainment on the banks of the "Ganga" the night I arrived in Varanasi. And I finished the evening eating a meal from a high priced restaurant (180 Rs) with a local internet cafe owner instead of eating at a cheap roadside seller (20Rs) and spent the next 36 hours in bed. When I'm feeling a little more normal I'll be back on the bike... Maybe tomorrow...

Jeff
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http://www.whereonearthisjeff.com/

Annapurna circuit and sanctuary complete - preparing to ride again

Well, I'm back from my trek around Annapurna Circuit and resting up, ridding my self of the second dose of Diarrhoea in two weeks and preparing to ride from here down into India and beyond. 

 

In fact the 19 day literary for the Trek of Annapurna Circuit was way too conservative and by day two I was already one day ahead of schedule and heading into day four territory.  My guide, named - very appropriately - Pasang Sherpa, was very flexible and didn't mind what I did in the 19 days, so we decided to do the circuit and then head into Annapurna Sanctuary and the Macchapuchare &  Annapurna Base Camps. 

 

On day 1, I met a French couple, Olivier and Odile, also planning the combined circuit and sanctuary trek so we spent most of the next 19 days together in some way.  Walking together, or staying in the same village/hostel/room.   The added bonus with O&O was that they had just arrived here in Nepal from France with bicycles and were doing this trek before commencing their bicycle trip around the Himalaya's. (Cycling Nepal, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China and finishing in Pakistan - taking the next 9 months).  So we had heaps to talk about.    They were great company for the trip and I became their official trek photographer as they'd lost their cameras in Kathmandu immediately before the trek.  You can see a few more of my photos - including different ones - on their French language blog. http://o2tourdelhimalaya.over-blog.com/

The trek wasn't as much of a doddle as I'd thought it might be - given the popularity of the circuit.  It had lots of very steep up and down, and places with thousands of steps  (which use exactly the same leg muscles as bike riding - yippee).  The trek also includes Thorung La a high pass at 5300 metres.  But, as I said above, the 19 days was very conservative and would have had me spending most of each day sitting in teahouses instead of actually trekking had i not changed it to include the sanctuary. 

 

I'm glad to think that I made it with no real knee problems especially since I had ruled out ever trekking in Nepal about 8 years ago  - but then I'd never have dreamt that I'd ride 12000km through Europe to Asia then either.

 

Thorung La at 5300 metres is not as high as Mt Kilimanjaro which I did 10 years ago, so I was hopeful before hand that I'd be OK at altitude.  As it turned out I picked up a bout of Diarrhoea in Menang a few days before the pass and got symptoms very much like altitude sickness AFTER I'd done the pass.  Because this is such a popular tourist trek they are well equipped to handle cases of AMS (acute mountain sickness) with medical centres in Menang and in Thorung Phedi (typically 2 or 3, and 1 day before the pass).   After the pass in Muktinath though - where I got sick - there is nothing like that.    Reading a bit more - in another trekkers guide book - about the typical diarrhoea here in Nepal it too has head aches and vomitting as symptoms, and I copped it pretty bad toilet wise, so I think in hindsight that what i felt was belated AMS after the pass was in fact just those other stomach problems.  Dosing myself with Cyprofloxin and Metronidazole cleared that up within a couple of days and I was once again able to enjoy the trek.   Now back in Kathmandu it seems like I have another bout of it - no doubt from lunch yesterday in a bus stop half way between Pokhara and Kathmandu.   The joys of travel in Nepal - one of the worst places in the world for Diarrhoea.  (I don't expect India to be much different)

 

But for the next couple of days I'll be here in Kathmandu.   I opened the bike box yesterday - it survived the flights and storage - so it will be assembled in the next day or two ready for heading south.

 

Below are are few photos from the trek - there's more in the Annapurna Trek Sub album of Nepal (just click one of these to get there)

 

Also Attached to this is a kml file  of the trek for anybody familiar with Google Earth.  You'll be able to see pretty much where the trek went - give or take a little.

 

 

  Day 1 trekking through the lower valleys with luscious green rice paddies

 

 Trekking in cycling gear is actually very comfortable - and cycling leg warmers work great above 5000 metres 

 

 along the route before the pass you have the Annapurna range on the left and stunning views

 

 The Annapurna range from the northern side

 

 rehearsals for a village festival in full progress.  The men dancing and singing the women in hysterics at the side of the room.   (and the kids rubbing the strangely bald head of the man taking photos - there are no bald Nepalese)

 

 Menang and Annapurna 1

 

 a day of acclimatisation takes us up 1000m above Menang to "Ice Lake" at 4600m and back.

 

 back on the track towards our pre-pass stop, Olivier & Odile my trekking buddies from France

 

 Thorung La,  5300 metres

 

 Down the other side of Thorung La you enter a wide river valley for a couple of days of "less interesting" views and Bloody strong headwinds.

 

 

 Poon Hill provides the masses of early morning tourists specy views of the mountains.

 

  Heading away from the circuit path toward the sanctuary

 

 Olivier and Odile in the sanctuary (Annapurna Base Camp or A.B.C)

 

 An icy creek at A.B.C

 

 Back into the lower valleys as we head out and down to finish the trek.

 

 The decorated taxi ride to Pokhara

 

 The bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu the next day, mechanical problems.

 

 

For those in Australia, take a listen to the track Too Happy Too Soon by Liz Stringer - a local Melbourne Singer Songwriter.  It's a track I've been carrying with me since I left Aus over 6 months ago on my little mp3 player and seems somewhat relevant at the moment.   I'll need to leave Kathmandu before I can "do my bit" to help - and wont be in a suitable part of India.   I leave it to you.

 

 

jeff
 

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www.whereonearthisjeff.com