On the road again...

We should be off sometime again soon, hopefully to work in New Zealand. Watch this space :)

Quick fling with India and the return home sweet home

 Well what can we say about India, it lives up to India:

• It's dirty: rubbish thrown everywhere, people going to the toilet erm... everywhere, a lot of pollution.
• It smells.
• People stare at you.
• People see money when they look at you.
• In Nepal, when you say you're from England people say "good country". In India a tuc tuc driver said "England bad. English crazy people. You all think you know everything. No one knows everything. I know everything about English".
• They have a really interesting history and some wonderfully impressive buildings.
• People seem to really believe in their religions.
• We met some lovely locals too, like Indian Jesus who was so nice about the fact the power went and we had to wait 3 hours for our meal and the hotel receptionist who spoke to us about his country, religion, his secret girlfriend, history, religion, music, while we waited around for our night train.
• It's incredibly cheap.
• It's full of extremes: 5 star hotels next to slums and poverty.
• It's definitely a challenge.

So, after 12 weeks in Nepal and 10 days in India, we decided to come home in time for Christmas. We still really want to travel but think we'll stick to shorter trips with higher budgets. So for now it's the end of that adventure but definitely a start to a new one. Got lots of work to do and we're very pleased to be back home. At the start of the trip, we didn't have much good to say about our homeland but now we do. We're far too snobby and love good food, hot showers, clean sheets, drinkable tap water...

Having said that, can't wait to get away somewhere again.

Well what did you expect, this is Kody and Hayley, two of the most indecisive people you'll ever meet. Ah well, at least we're both like it.

Goodbye Nepal

Can't believe it's been 2 and a half months already. It's been really good but there's been some bad too. I guess that's just life though. Met some great people who we'd like to see again in the future (we have food to sample and soap to make). We'll be leaving Nepal in just over a week and on to India. Hold on tight, I'm sure it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Some things about Nepal:

• Mountains: We can't get enough of them. No where else in the world has them quite like here. We definitely recommend trekking. What better way to meet the real locals and other travellers.
• The head wobble: Totally addictive. After a while of being here, you'll find yourself doing this. Instead o nodding or shaking your head, you wobble your head from side to side and answer the question. Or something like that, it's hard to tell sometimes.
• Cows and dogs: Lots of them in the streets.
• "Namaste": From the people who just want your money and then there's the genuine people who just want to meet you. 
• The kids: "How are you?", "Where are you from".
• Peddlers: Very persistent, even if you've walked past about 10 times that day and said no every time. We don't want to buy something just because it's cheap. And where would we put it all, our bags are already full of books haha. 
• Dal Bhat: How could I forget "Dal Bhat power, 24 hour". It's mostly pretty damn tasty and great if you're veggie.
• Milk tea: (Kody will stick to the mint). To make it Bondana style: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk, spoon of sugar and some tea leaves, all boiled together. Nom!
• Bus journeys: The only real cheap way of getting from A to B Bistarai Bistarai (slowly, slowly) but it still often feels too fast for the roads you're on. Some of the scariest roads we've ever been on. People sat on your lap, in the aisle and on the roof. Oh and goats in the boot.

Helambu Trek

Day 1: Sundarijal (1460m above sea level)-Chisopani (2140m)
Day 2: -Golphu Bhanjyang (2140m)
Day 3: -Magin Goth (3420m)
Day 4: -Tharepati (3640m)-Melamchi Ghyang (2530m)
Day 5: -Tarke Ghyang (2590m)
Day 6: -Timbu (1580m) then bus back to Kathmandu

So we left our hotel room in Kathmandu about an hour later than we had planned as Kody had to finish reading a book. Splashed out on a taxi to the start of the trek and got there about 9.30am. The first day of the trek was through the Shivapuri National Park, home to the valleys main water source, 177 species of bird and several orchids. They say there's lots of monkeys and maybe even leopards and bears. The first part was up very steep steps, which got us out of breath very quickly. We managed to miss the lunch spot as our map made out we could get lunch somewhere else. So had lunch when we arrived in Chisopani at about 2pm so not so bad. The first night it hailed and we were surprised how cold it was already. Shared a lodge with a big group who had just done the Langtang-Gosainkund-Helambu trek. They were celebrating their last night with their porters with some beers and music and dancing. They sang the donkey, monkey song which brought back Annapurna memories for Hayley! Good fun to see.


The second day we met a Dutch couple who we then ended up bumping into for the rest of the trek and staying at the same lodges. One of them is a sub teacher and the other has his own carpentry business so they go traveling every winter! Would be nice to have jobs that make that possible. The first part was downhill then a whole load back up. Don't we just love the Nepali flats! Hot bucket wash that day as not many places seemed to have showers. We stayed in a small lodge with the Dutch couple in Golphu Banjyang. Talked to the lovely Sherpa couple who owned it about their family and how the politics of the country doesn't change much up in the mountains. An enjoyable evening and we didn't even go to bed until the late hour of 9.30pm.





The third day, we had a bad start when we missed a path but a couple of local boys led us back to the right way. The Lonely Planet said we should be able to make it to the highest point, Tharepati but we got to Magin Goth at about 3pm and the lady told us it'd be another 3 hours and to do all of that in one day would be very hard. We'd already walked up a very steep art for quite some time so decided to stay the night at Magin Goth. Very glad we did. The lady who ran the place was very nice and she had a son who was almost 3 who was obsessed with monkeys. He kept attacking us and Kody showed him pictures to keep him amused. A very happy, energetic and clever little boy. The mother kept saying how she has two children and if we can ask people in our country to sponsor them to go to school. So if there's any takers, let us know?

We woke up to amazingly clear skies, after the first two days of mist. Just in time for gorgeous views on the way to and at our lunch spot, Tharepati (3640m). After lunch, was a whole load of downhill to Melamchi Ghyang. We met people climbing up this too, we don't envy them. 3 hours of downhill was still pretty painful though.

The next day it was rather warm but not so hard walking, a little bit down then a little bit up (Nepali flat). This town was meant to be one of the biggest in the Helambu region but it seemed rather deserted. Reminded us of a horror movie. When we got to the lodge, sat outside for 10 minutes before someone finally came. Two young girls seemed to be running the place so no idea where the parents where. Went for a walk to a tiny shop and only really saw 5 people walking around the temple. Very strange.

Up early on the last day. Started with quite flat walking then far too much downhill, a killer to the toes. A very warm day with lots of sun. Reached the bus stop just after midday. Now Nepali people can be the nicest, most helpful you ever meet. But then sometimes, when money is involved, suddenly people can't really speak English, the bus might not run as not enough people so you might have to pay 700Rs per person for a jeep (300s for the bus). Then "Oh that bus, yeah Kathmandu but there's no stops". Get on the bus, sit about for a bit then go. Wasn't quite Langtang-core but the first part was pretty wobbly and rough, the kind that makes you glad you don't have big tits and think "well, when it's your time, it's your time". There was a stop o the way after all. We got dropped off "near Thamel" which turned out to be an hours walk so we shared a taxi with our Dutch companions and arranged to meet for a meal with them the next night. Definitely an adventure and overall a good time :)

First blog from outside of the UK

So after nearly 8 weeks, we're finally getting round to posting our first blog from Nepal. So much has happened, I'm not really sure what to write.

We started our adventure in Kathmandu. This was a bit of a culture shock for Kody at first, which is funny now we're used to it. We were then relieved to get out of the city and in to the countryside when we started our Langtang trek. But first, it was the bus journey from hell. Scary, scary stuff that you couldn't even describe, and the bus journey back to Kathmandu was even worse. The trek seemed about the right level of toughness for us and a good length too, with 6 days of actual trekking. Sadly, there was quite a bit of rain on the way up and, instead of a free day to explore the area at Kyanjing Gompa, we had an extra day of sitting in a cold lodge at Langtang Village. However, the next day we awoke to amazingly clear skies and the views at Kyanjing Gompa were totally worth it all. We had a wonderful, helpful guide and met some lovely people too, although we did have a creepy porter.

Pics of Langtang
After the trek, we thought we'd prepare for 4 weeks of hard voluntary work (haha) by resting in Patan. Here we bumped into our friends we met the first night and had lots of lovely chats. Patan Durbar Square was definitely worth the visit and so was the museum. We should have left more time for that though.

Patan

Then more shock came when the "hostel" we were supposed to stay in for our voluntary project turned out to be nothing like the website shows. Oh and we got told not to go to Chitwan and to basically sit around near Bhaktapur for a month. Or maybe spend an extra 16000 rupees each to do a "5 day" trip to Chitwan and Pokhara. We insisted on Chitwan and we're really glad we did, even if it was a bit of a disappointment too.. Turns out that i-to-i don't send much of the money this way. 4 weeks of voluntary work, ended up only being 1 week, due to not enough money for materials, and the festival. Lots of sitting around, reading, playing cards and board games. Oh and knitting! Hayley's started knitting Kody a scarf for Christmas haha. The lovely Subha, a lady who worked at the school, gave Hayley some needles and we managed to find lots of bright colored wool in the nearest town.

The first weekend down near Chitwan, we visited the National Park. We started really early in the morning then got a very sketchy canoe ride for 10km. We really thought we were going to topple in, which isn't fun when you have passports and cameras on you and there's crocs in the water! Next was a 20Km walk through the jungle. We managed to see lots of monkeys, a rhino but sadly no Sloth Bears (Kody has gained an obsession for these animals). At the lodge that night (yes we stayed in the jungle for a night), a rhino came really close so we got a great view. The Nepali people really like to please you though, which can be a good and a bad thing. In this case, they decided to start throwing things at the poor rhino, to try to get it turn round so we could have a better view. Not such a good thing. Another early morning and a jeep ride through another part of the park. Saw lots more monkeys, various birds and several nice looking villages. We chilled for a bit then had an elephant safari in the afternoon. Not the most comfortable thing when you cram 4 adults (plus 1 child on ours) into a basket type thing and you wobble lots. Did get a lot closer to the animals that way though and it's quite peaceful once you get used to it.

Chitwan pics

So for the rest of the time, we did a few more days of work then lots of sitting around, like we said. We did meet some friends that I'm sure we'll see again (reunion 1 and reunion 2...). But now we're back in Kathmandu and it's just the two of us (starts singing) again. Quite lonely but hopefully we'll meet some more people on the next trek (it's not cheating honest!). Applied for our Indian visas on Tuesday so back to pic them up next Tuesday then start our Helambu trek on Wednesday. Solo this time. Oh and Kody got a tattoo yesterday. Will try to blog a bit more often.

Kathmandu

Another post before we even leave sunny Norfolk...

So today we found out our working holiday visas have been approved. didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm far too excited about this all, it's rather silly. So anyway, we have a year from today to enter New Zealand.

We're thinking Nepal, India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia then over to New Zealand, where we'll work as well as travel. Let's hope this plan works out okay. Been looking at a voluntary project in India with DAAN (http://www.daanfoundation.org/index.html) which was recommended by the Danish girls I met on my last trip. And also various wwoofing sites.

All very exciting.

Had our first rabies jab last week and back again for the second tomorrow.

6 weeks til we're in Nepal :D Will try not to post much more til we're actually there and doing stuff haha.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Our handfasting was lovely and we had a great time in Cumbria. A good practice run for traveling.

We got back to Norfolk on 4th July and since then have been counting down the days til Nepal. 9 weeks today til we fly :) So excited, cannot wait.

Anyway, we decided it was time to be brutal so we've been going through our stuff and the charity shop is going to love us because we have several bags to give them. We also had to chuck quite a bit away. Crazy how much junk you collect. We're pretty much just keeping our travel stuff (obviously), the few clothes we feel we'll wear until we go and some memorbale and important items for when (or if?) we come back. Oh and, how could I forget, several boxes of Kody's books, which Mum says she's going to get another book case for.

As well as throwing stuff, we've been buying the essentials for taking with us. Not too much more to get now, mainly sleeping bag and some kind of water purification. So our bags are both out, waiting and we get to look at them every morning and think "not long now" :D Next trip is 3rd August to the delightful travel nurse to arrange some more pin cushion time.