Our First Trek

As we mentioned in the last blog, thanks to a sublime blend of generosity and maternal fears of our inevitable hypothermia, my mother-in-law hooked us up with enough gear to set off on our first mini-trek with our previously mentioned guide, Sangram. Thanks again mom!

The trek began in the village of Sakhu. To our surprise, there was a Hindu festival taking place in the village at the time we arrived and Sakhu was bustling to say the least.




Hundreds of Hindus donning their best and most colorful garb lined up to gather offerings.
















After donating the offerings to the gods, some of the Hindu women took part in ceremonial bathing (wearing sarongs) in the dammed creek there.

The festival was so fascinating to watch we lost track of time and got off to a later start than anticipated. Worth it.






The walk began and pretty much stayed in the hills surrounding the Kathmandu valley. Although the rainy season is over, there were still plenty of vivid green terraces to keep the eyes entertained along the way.








<------ Sangram saw this pack at the beginning of the day in the hotel room before our first step. I quote, "No, no, no, not even a trek really, just a little walk, this bag is not necessary! No!" To which I replied, "Dang it Sangram, do I look like a weakling? Do I look like I don't know what I'm doing? I can handle a big bag." And I could too, damn it! For a little while. The intense scenery made my wildly over-packed sack feel lighter.



















Along the way, we walked through many villages and exchanged some pleasantries with some locals. The kids held their palms out for sweets, pens, or anything else interesting we could potentially give them.

To their dismay, even in that massive pack of mine, I had nothing of interest to them. Sorry guys.






Okay, so Ty mentioned this in the last blog, but I'm really, really digging on goats lately. Partially because I think they return the sentiment and are consequently quite pleasant to me. Our vibrations seem to be on the same frequency - we get each other, the goats and I.

I think they're very smart too, smarter than dogs yet more humble than monkeys. Also, I appreciate the fact that these particular goats and I share a similar pigment deficiency. Besides darky, darkerson over their in the back - I don't know what his deal is. Show off.

Traipsing through a dried up river canal on hour number three of our first five hour trekking day. Five hours seems like only a spit in the ocean as far as real trekking is concerned, but for us it was plenty, and breaking in Nepali footwear is no easy endeavor. At this point I felt compelled to teach Sangram the idiom, "My dogs are barking." Lost in translation I think.











After what seemed like a lunar year, we finally staggered into our hill-top guesthouse and I was able to remove those blasted blister-bombs and the sack of bricks I'd been humping around. I wish Sangram would have warned me about the dangers of over-packing. Oh yeah.








Ty looking like everything is entirely copacetic here in the lodge. I don't blame her.












We thought this was cute enough, but we were glad it wasn't our digs. Where do you sleep, in the deep fryer?











After a spirit rejuvenating snack and some warm tea I was feeling so... alive. This is my impression of the prayer flags. Sangram thought it was average at best.









Nepali prayer flags look even cooler with a Himalayan backdrop.
















The area where our guesthouse was located and our destination for day 1 was called Nagarkot. It sported the most magnificent views we've seen so far. Dang we wish we had a camera capable of capturing the beauty of this place.

What a sweet spot to bed down for a night!







Toward the end of the first day, we really wanted a nap and a rest, but Sangram is like the energizer bunny; he insisted that we check out the sunset by sneaking into some swanky resort (I told you he was sneaky!)

It was worth it. I didn't think the view could get any better...






Boo Ya! It did.












We hunkered down atop a stone wall and watched the sun dancing across the faces of these giant mountains. The Himalayas are so cool.











Okay, so this picture seems random and boring, but it was our first tiny glimpse of Everest. Because it's very far away, you can only see a sliver of the big daddy between the two largest peaks in the photo. It doesn't seem like much, but even a small glimpse of the highest place on earth was exhilarating for us.







Glowing from the experience of day 1 in the hills.












We woke up the next morning a little sore but excited to tackle another big day of glorified walking. This is our guesthouse from the outside. We let Sangram pick our guesthouses and then vehemently negotiate for fair prices in Nepali. He has connections and charm so we got some pretty reasonable deals.






If you know me, then you know I don't get up early unless I am forced to for work or if there is a fire. I found the fact that I didn't have to leave the comfort of my sleeping bag to see the sunrise a convincing enough justification to open my eyes a touch earlier than normal.














Along our trip we passed through another village and snapped a picture of this bus to demonstrate the sheer volume of people they can cram on these things. The last one we rode had an estimated 70 people on it!

After the first time riding them, it actually becomes kind of an enjoyable if not an entirely bumpy and claustrophobic experience.





Everything in Nepal looks like a postcard.

The quaint villages and mountain air were a welcome contrast to the intoxicating fumes of Kathmandu.









What do you think of those biker gloves? Dad, I know you "really hate those gloves" so you'll be happy to know I lost them already. I've elected to go with fluffy mittens instead. Happy?










I thought this house was the bomb (people still say that right? Jackson students, what do the kids these days?)











Okay, so contrary to every gentlemanly code imaginable, I allowed Ty to carry the backpack for a while (the whole second day in fact). There are no excuses for this and I am not proud of it.














Day two led us to the village of Duilekhel. For the most part it was a little lackluster, but Sangram had a plan. We climbed up approximately one million stairs or so (Ty is most likely upset with my blatant hyperbole, but that's what it felt like) and arrived at the top of the earth. There was merely one guesthouse up there. Sangram said it was the only guesthouse which wasn't "boring." To his credit, once again, the rooms were spectacular and the price was low.

















And I couldn't hold back my excitement about those things.











Before dinner on our second trekking day (also about 5-6 hours or so) we took another mini-walk out to some local temples.















The symbol on the left is the Buddhist symbol for Om, the symbol on the right is a Hindu symbol. Like we said, many of the temples brilliantly respect multiple viewpoints.









On our last day of the trek, Sangram had a very special place in mind - Namobuddha. Another long day of walking awaited us.

Sangram's gate is bouncy - he kind of springs as he walks even when through traffic-laden Kathmandu. He has a warm smile that he flashes only occasionally, mostly while greeting his many, many Nepali friends that he seems to run into everywhere. His most distinguishable feature, though, is the deep, long smile lines etched like cat whiskers fanning from the corners of his eyes. He speaks softly and not too often.

As we approached Namobuddha, his being became noticeably altered.




He walked slightly more ahead of us than usual breaking out into occasional short snatches of song. "Naaaamooooooobuddhaaaaaa."

He began talking more about Namobuddha and its significance as a holy pilgrimage site. It became apparent to us that this was an important place for him. More on that later.





Now, as you can see by the pics above that we're getting spoiled in regard to lodging, but from what I can gather, this more closely resembles the type of lodging we will probably be staying in on our trip further into the mountains in March. We're lowering our standards on a daily basis until then. Incidentally, our current guesthouse is modest and quite reasonable at around 8 bucks a night. Who needs electricity all the time and hot showers when you get a lake view and an amazing Nepalese family to chat with?



Consistent with the rest of the trek, the walk to Namobuddha was beautiful.















Ty actually (this is not a joke) suggested that we raise chickens in High Valley Ranch when we get home. I think she's tipped over into the deep end. "Just for the eggs," she says to me emphatically, "we'd save a bunch of money on eggs. Oh, and we'd treat them very humanely and tend to them often." You think our neighbors get a little annoyed when our grass gets out of control. Lawn-wandering hens and roosters in the cul-de-sac screaming 5 a.m. cock-a-doodles are not a way to expedite an invite to the neighborhood 4th of July BBQ.

If you blow this picture up and look closely at the very tippy top of that hill way in the distance you can barely make out our destination, Namobuddha Temple. By this point, I was a little knackered. Sangram, can we stop for a granola bar or maybe a heli-rescue?









This is the same temple at a digital zoom.












Low and behold, after another ostensibly infinite amount of stairs (I'll check my inbox for the many personal emails requesting video footage of the stairs), we reached the top of this important temple.

Sangram was visibly enthralled by this point.






True to custom, we walked around clockwise with him and spun the prayer wheels.















At the top, these monks were fashioning rice sculpture offerings from rice paste.

The sculpture on the right is a symbol with positive connotations involving peace and continuity. The Nazis later reversed the pattern and desecrated the symbolic meaning.

The symbol in its true form is still used by Buddhist today and is wonderfully positive.




So, loosely and based on what I could make out from Sangram's telling, the legend regarding Namobuddha goes like this: long ago, there was a man taking shelter in a den. He was approached by a tigress and her many cubs who deplored the man to give them some food.

The man cut and offered a small piece of his leg. "This is not enough," replied the hungry tigress, "my cubs are starving to death."

With this the man offered his body under one stipulation...

"Please hang my clothes in the tree and save my bones so my family will recognize what happened to me."

Due to his generosity and his resulting good karma, the man was reincarnated as the Buddha in his next life.

The clothes hung form this tree represent his sacrifice. And the legend is that his bones became the stupa.



Namobuddha Temple has since became a significant pilgrimage site with the faithful trudging across great distances including the entirety of Nepal and even Tibet to pay their respects, hang prayer flags, and spread ashes of dead relatives. Some make the journey multiple times a year!













Sangram explained that although many of these people are poor, they part with 1,000 rupees (around 14 dollars) per string of prayer flags. We saw countless Buddhist cradling several rolls of these expensive symbols, many adorned with the written names of deceased relatives or personal prayers.








What a sight to behold.












There are etchings, statues, and symbols representing the tigress story throughout the temple grounds. Here is some more information expanding on some of the things I discussed above.
















This chimney is where many people come, some clutching woven bags of ashes. They sprinkle their loved one's remains in the kiln and pray. I didn't take pictures of the people for obvious reasons.









A good representation of the sheer volume of the flags.












A steep decline into the valley revealed the original Namobuddha temple (very humble temple with the gold roof on the side there) before another, more grandiose worshiping site and monastery was built later.








It was wonderful listening to the people celebrate, worship, and play music.




On the way back to the bus that would end our first trek in Nepal, we spotted this tree that was unlike any other we've seen so far. Sangram said it was his favorite tree.










Ty and I agreed.
















Our final day ended with another local (3 hour) mini-bus ride back into Kathmandu. The guy on the door has a fairly intricate system of whistles, pounds on the side of the bus, and shouts that he uses to communicate with potential riders, passengers, and the bus driver - we're yet to crack the code. If any one knows about this system, do share.



As of right now, we write from a cafe in the pretty lake-side Pokhara. The weather has been fairly misty with low visibility, so we may just spend the day walking around the giant lake or renting a little row boat. We'll probably stay here about a week and indulge in some day hikes to get in shape for the bigger one in March.

Hope everyone is doing well at home and this blog finds you healthy and happy,

Nick and Ty